Colombia-Venezuela Dispute Gets Hearing in Argentina

July 27, 2010

Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner met this week with both sides of the simmering dispute between Colombia and Venezuela. Colombia has alleged that the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) is operating out of bases on the Venezuelan side of the border, and in response, President Hugo Chávez has cut off all diplomatic relations with the Uribe government.

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Cold Front Claims Lives in Southern Cone

July 20, 2010

Record low temperatures, hovering around 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-6 degrees Celsius) for the last two weeks, have killed more than 100 people and hundreds more cattle and other livestock, causing an agricultural emergency in rural areas of the Southern Cone. The cold snap is gripping Argentina, southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, and Bolivia with states of emergency being declared across the region.

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Gay Marriage Legal in Argentina

July 15, 2010

Today, Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage when 33 senators voted in favor of the bill, with 27 opposed and three abstaining.

The new law grants gays and lesbians all the same legal rights, responsibilities and protections of marriage as heterosexual couples. With the strong support of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, it is expected to be published in the official bulletin and enter into force within days.

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From Paraguay. World Cup Fever Comes to a Close

July 6, 2010

As soon as I arrived in Paraguay last week, I could see that the country was in the grips of football fever. It was impossible to forget, even for a minute, that the World Cup was on and that Paraguay’s team was doing extremely well. Every public space was draped with a Paraguayan flag. Every bar had its television on, blaring sports commentary. Taxi drivers and night watchmen carried around transistor radios so as not to miss the latest developments.

The 2010 World Cup will not soon be forgotten. Even with the Quarterfinal loss to Spain last weekend, Paraguayans proudly welcomed home their team yesterday. After all, this team advanced further than any previous Paraguayan squad. This is a big deal for Paraguay, which otherwise suffers from an identity crisis.

“Nobody knows what our country is,” said Bechy, a young woman waiting for a flight out of Asunción’s airport. “People always confuse us with Uruguay.” It doesn’t help, she added, that Paraguay is sandwiched between regional superpowers Brazil and Argentina.

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World Cup: Uruguay Loses, Latin America Out

July 6, 2010

Well, it was fun while it lasted.  What was shaping up to be the year of Latin America in the early rounds of this year’s World Cup will see two European teams fighting for the championship on July 11.  The best that Latin America can now hope for is a 3rd place finish for Uruguay.  That'd be a terrific result for Uruguay, of course, the best finish for that nation since they last won it all in 1950.  But for Latin America as a whole, the result is underwhelming.

Brazil’s surprising defeat at the hands of the Flying Dutchmen, Germany’s wipeout of Argentina and Spain’s close call with Paraguay ensured that Uruguay, which defeated Ghana in penalty kicks, would be the regional standard bearer in the final four.  Tiny Uruguay outlasted the region’s soccer giants, and started off well in its semi-final match, tied 1-1 with the Netherlands at half time.  Alas, their luck ran out with two superb quick strikes from the Dutch in the second half that put the game out of reach, despite an injury time goal that closed the gap to 3-2 and a furious final rush from Uruguay at the end.  Throughout the tournament, Uruguay proved to be a highly skilled and creative team, particularly effective on dead balls in the final third of the field.  For their part, Holland has tied its best previous finishes, in 1974 and 1978, when it lost championship games to West Germany and Argentina, respectively.  Will they finally be successful in 2010? 

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MERCOSUR Goes Four for Four

June 29, 2010

Four chances, four victories.  As predicted, all four original MERCOSUR nations have now gone through to the round of eight in the World Cup, joining three teams from Europe and one from Africa.  Only one team from South America has been eliminated (Chile), and it was bounced by another team from the region (Brazil).  Head to head against competition from outside the hemisphere, South America continues to impress.  From the opening round, the region has been a dominating presence in this year’s tournament.

It wasn’t always easy or pretty, witness Paraguay’s shootout victory over a motivated Japanese team, but to this point, South America has gotten the job done.  Moving forward to the final four, however, will be another thing altogether.  There are no “gimme” games at this point; both the Brazil-Netherlands and the Argentina-Germany games could be legitimate championship games this year, were the teams not destined to meet in the round of eight.  It’s possible that the winners of these two games could well meet up in the actual final. 

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FIFA President Considers World Cup Technology

June 29, 2010

The question of whether to institute in-game technology in the World Cup has been a consideration for FIFA year after year. Yet one of strongest voices against the idea is the federation’s president, Sepp Blatter. Given that this year’s World Cup has been riddled with disallowed goals and unflagged offsides, Blatter is starting to change his stance on the matter. Following two incorrect, game-changing calls in the round of 16, Blatter has publicly apologized on Tuesday to the fans and players of England and Mexico, who were both knocked out of the tournament on Sunday.

In addition to his apology, Blatter agreed to re-open talks on the one issue that he has actively opposed for decades: instituting in-game technology in all FIFA-sanctioned matches. Such technology could have prevented both of Sunday’s missed calls, which included a clear offside goal from Argentina’s Carlos Tevez against Mexico, and a disallowed goal for England’s Frank Lampard.

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Syrian President Begins Latin American Tour

June 25, 2010

President Bashar al-Assad of Syria begins a tour of several Latin American countries today with the goal of extending its diplomatic reach and attracting investment in Syria.  Assad is scheduled to arrive in Caracas, Venezuela, on Friday and will visit then Brazil and Venezuela—countries with significant Syrian expat communities. Syrian media also reports that he will be visiting Cuba.  The visit reciprocates previous official visits to Damascus by Fidel Castro in 2001, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2003 and Hugo Chávez in 2006. 

The president’s trip, his first to the region since taking power in 2001, comes as Damascus seeks to continue opening diplomatic channels with the West. This follows their involvement in brokering a deal with Iran to send low-enriched uranium abroad for reactor fuel, in cooperation with Brazil and Turkey.  Damascus is also seeking over $40 billion in investments over the next five years, nearly 80 percent of Syria’s annual GDP, to repair and replace Syria’s ageing infrastructure. 

The majority of the millions of Syrian-origin émigrés in Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela are businessmen, engineers, doctors, and politicians including former Argentinean president Carlos Menem.  President Assad also plans to meet with members of the Arab communities during his visit.

“Bilateral relations and developments in the Middle East and Latin America” will dominate discussions during the trip, according to the official SANA news agency.  Brazil plans to sign trade and technology cooperation protocols with Syria, and Argentina is anticipated to sign nine transportation, tourism and cultural agreements.

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Argentina Easily Advances to World Cup Knockout Round

June 23, 2010

After barely qualifying to play in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa this year, Argentina breezed through group play yesterday defeating Greece, 2-0 and securing a spot in the knockout round of the tournament.  The Albicelestes allowed only one goal in group play by the South Korean team, who will accompany the Argentines into the next phase of the tournament. 

Argentina’s performance is a turn around for a team whose entry into the tournament wasn’t secured until their last match in the World Cup qualifiers. Stars like Lionel Messi, Carlos Tévez, and Javier Mascherano, have regained their form and have thus far fulfilled expectations.

Arguably, however, Argentina faced no major challengers in group play. The next round will present tougher competitors like Mexico, where there will be no room for errors or slow starts. Overall, Latin America has performed better than most other regions, with six of seven teams either already advancing, or with good odds of advancing in the coming days.

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Uruguay, Argentina Move Forward on River Dispute

June 3, 2010

In a meeting on Wednesday between President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina and her Uruguayan counterpart, José Mujica, the two countries agreed to jointly monitor and manage the water quality of the Río Uruguay, a river they share.

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

May 6, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

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Mexico, Germany Host Climate Talks

Germany and Mexico jointly hosted this week informal climate talks aimed at deciding what steps should be taken in the lead-up to the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Cancun, Mexico, in December. The Petersberg Climate Dialogue held near Bonn, Germany, brought together representatives from 45 countries to discuss topics such as the carbon market, reducing emissions from deforestation, and technology. While the talks—initiated by Mexican President Felipe Calderón and German Chancellor Angela Merkel—did not produce any climate change agreements, they “built up trust” and helped to “bring movement to the climate talks,” Mexico’s Environment Minister Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada told Bloomberg. View a video of President Calderón speaking at the Petersberg Dialogue.

LatAm Governments Join Chorus against Arizona Law

The Latin Americanist blog takes a look at rising criticism from governments across the Americas against the Arizona immigration law. Mexico voiced its opposition to the law, and Colombia, Brazil, the OAS, and UNASUR have rejected the law as well. During this week’s summit in Argentina, UNASUR leaders issued a declaration rejecting the law for its “criminalizing of immigrants.”

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

April 21, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

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2010 Energy and Climate Ministerial Convenes in Washington

Energy ministers from the Americas met in Washington D.C., on April 15 and 16 for the 2010 Energy and Climate Ministerial of the Americas. An article penned by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu explores the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, which has the goal of developing a clean energy network across the Western Hemisphere to cooperate and share information on energy initiatives. “[C]lean, reliable energy will provide a foundation for broad-based economic growth that will widen the circle of prosperity across our hemisphere and also reduce our carbon emissions,” they write.

Learn more about AS/COA’s Energy Action Group.

Bolivia Hosts Alternative Climate Change Summit

Ten thousand delegates from more than 100 countries gather in Bolivia this week for the first-ever World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, taking place in Cochabamba, Bolivia, from April 19 through the 22. The summit was arranged by Bolivian President Evo Morales as an alternative to the Copenhagen summit in 2009. The Democracy Center, based in Cochabamba, offers day-by-day coverage of the People’s Summit on Climate Change.

Far-Reaching Immigration Bill Passes in Arizona Senate

On April 19, Arizona’s Senate approved a bill that allows local police officers to search people for their immigration papers and also makes it a crime for employers to hire illegal immigrant day laborers. The Latin Americanist blog points out that while supporters of the bill say it will help lower crime, opponents argue that it will encourage “racial profiling” by police and target Arizona’s Latino population.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ), currently engaged in a reelection campaign and considered a longtime advocate of comprehensive immigration reform, caused a stir by backing the legislation and saying border security is a top priority. Politico reported that immigration reform advocates were “bewildered.” His political rival, Congressman J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), described McCain’s shifting position as “political gamesmanship…born of political convenience—driven by his need for personal political gain.”

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

March 31, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

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UN Hosts Donors Conference for Haiti

The United Nations plays host to an international donors conference at its headquarters in New York on March 31. UN Dispatch reports that reconstruction will cost the international community $11.5 billion and that the Oval office has requested $2.8 billion from U.S. Congress to support Haiti’s rebuilding efforts. More than a dozen countries are participating in the summit and are expected to raise $4.8 billion. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the UN’s envoy to Haiti, will co-chair a rebuilding commission along with Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is announcing a $1.15 billion pledge to Haiti to be disbursed over the next two years.

A new report by the International Crisis Group makes a series of recommendations with the goal of assuring Haiti’s political stability, particularly given that legislative elections were postponed in light of the January 12 disaster.

COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth writes in the March 2010 issue of Poder: “There is a significant opportunity in the wake of the earthquake to build Haiti into a modern, economically stable, environmentally sound nation.”

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Oil in the Falklands Yields Disappointing Results

March 30, 2010

British company Desire Petroleum announced yesterday that the oil found in the British-controlled Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) 300 miles off the coast of Argentina, may be unviable. Shares in the company fell by nearly half when it released a statement saying that oil found in the Liz 14/19-1 well “…may be present in thin intervals but that reservoir quality is poor.”

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

March 24, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

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Shift on Drug War Strategy Stems from Clinton's Mexico Trip

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led a cabinet-level delegation to Mexico this week as part of bilateral efforts to make progress in the ongoing drug war that plagues the Mexican border region and Ciudad Juarez in particular. After the meeting, Clinton described a new approach that would fall under the umbrella of the $1.4-billion security pact known as the Merida Initiative and incorporates strengthening institutions and communities. “We are expanding the Merida Initiative beyond what it was traditionally considered to be, because it is not just about security,” said Clinton. “Yes, that is paramount, but it is also about institution building. It is about reaching out to and including communities and civil society, and working together to spur social and economic development.” The talks also resulted in renewed focus to target arms trafficking and money laundering.

Top U.S. Envoy to the Western Hemisphere: Engaging the Americas

In an exclusive blog post for Americas Quarterly, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela writes about new ways for Washington to engage the Western Hemisphere. The post covers regional security, strengthening democratic institutions, environmental protection, and bridging the inequality gap.

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Peru, Argentina Mend Bilateral Relations

March 23, 2010

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner arrived at the Presidential Palace in Lima on Monday, becoming the first Argentine leader to visit Peru in 16 years.  The visit was meant to restore ties that were damaged during Peru’s five-week war with Ecuador in 1995, when Argentina sold arms to Ecuador despite being a mediator in the countries’ border dispute.

The president called her visit with Peruvian President Alan García, “a visit of institutional apology and historic reparation,” and the two leaders signed a Strategic Association bilateral agreement.  Fernández was scheduled to visit the Peruvian National Congress and meet with Lima Mayor Óscar Luis Castañeda Lossio on Tuesday.  

The Argentine president was accompanied on her trip by 140 representatives of Argentine businesses, who worked with their Peruvian counterparts to establish a bi-national business council with the goal of expanding economic cooperation between the two countries.  The Peruvian chapter will be led by Leslie Pierce Diez Canseco, general manager of Alicorp, with Franco Macri, president of the Macri group, heading the Argentine chapter.

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

March 17, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

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In Wake of Consular Killings, Calderón and U.S. Ambassador Visit Ciudad Juarez

Mexican President Felipe Calderón traveled to Ciudad Juarez Tuesday to express his “strongest indignation” over the March 13 murder of three people leaving a children’s party in the violence-plagued border city. Gunmen thought to have links to the Los Aztecas gang killed a U.S. consular worker and her husband driving in one car, and a Mexican man married to another U.S. consular worker traveling in a separate vehicle. The Federal Bureau of Investigation believes there’s a chance the murders were a case of mistaken identity, but investigations continue.

U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual joined Calderón in Ciudad Juarez and clarified that Mexican authorities are leading the investigation in Mexico while working in coordination with American officials on the U.S. side of the border. He also said Washington will keep cooperating with the Mexican government “to break the power of narcotrafficking organizations and to put an end to the violence they cause.” Both the White House and the U.S. State Department released statements regarding shared responsibility in fighting drug and arms trafficking.

Calderón’s visit to the border town marked his third this year and comes as public support wanes for a three-year-old military push to combat drug cartels. The battle has left 18,000 people dead since the president took office in 2006. On Tuesday, he gave details about “We are all Juarez,” a series of social programs designed to give the city’s residents better educational and job opportunities. The project was first launched in the wake of a January massacre of over a dozen teenagers at a party in Ciudad Juarez.

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Leila Guerriero y la vida de los otros

March 4, 2010

Cuenta la periodista Leila Guerriero (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1967) que a algunas personas, cuando se sienten conmovidas por una historia real, se les da por comentar “sería una gran novela” . Pero Guerriero no quiere escribir una novela. Y no porque no le guste la ficción —al contrario, se alimenta de ella vorazmente. Lo que le molesta a Guerriero de la frase (“sería una gran novela”) es la percepción de que el periodismo es un género menor y que una historia solo aspira a trascender cuando está mediada por la ficción.
“Yo no creo que haya nada más feroz, desopilante, ambiguo, tétrico o hermoso que la realidad, ni que escribir periodismo sea una prueba piloto para llegar, alguna vez, a escribir ficción”, afirma Guerriero en Frutos extraños (Aguilar, 2009), el compendio de sus crónicas escritas entre 2001 y 2008. El trabajo de Guerriero—que publica en El Mercurio y Paula, de Chile, en Vanity Fair y El País, de España, en Gatopardo, revista que también edita para el Cono Sur, en SoHo y El Malpensante, de Colombia—es la mejor prueba de que el periodismo no tiene por qué ser pobre, aburrido o unidimensional. Su libro Los suicidas del fin del mundo (Tusquets, 2005), sobre una población en la Patagonia argentina con un alarmante índice de suicidios de jóvenes, es ya un clásico de la crónica latinoamericana contemporánea.

Guerriero reclama para el periodismo la categoría de arte, el arte de contar la vida de los otros con todas las herramientas de ficción que hacen que un cuento permanezca en la memoria, pero con el rigor investigativo que se espera de la no-ficción. Los sujetos de sus crónicas pueden ser inmigrantes chinos, clones de Freddie Mercury, magos mutilados o vendedoras de productos Mary Kay, y todos ellos nos revelan, con sus gestos y obsesiones y pequeñas o grandes tragedias, algún tipo de verdad sobre la condición humana.

Colanzi: ¿El cronista puede tomarse algunas libertades en beneficio de la narración, o se debe respetar el relato de los hechos tal y como sucedieron?

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

March 3, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

Leaders from Across Americas Reach out to Chile

In the days since an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile claimed roughly 800 lives and devastated infrastructure, leaders from across the Western Hemisphere have rallied to show their support for relief efforts. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton each traveled to Chile in the wake of the disaster to pledge assistance. Peruvian President Alan García, who has not traveled to Chile in a year due to a maritime-boundary dispute, also visited to pledge humanitarian aid, saying: “We need to strengthen our fraternity, our closeness, and in these moments of need, work toward a true union of peoples.” Bolivian President Evo Morales announced that he will donate half his salary to Chilean and Haitian earthquake relief efforts. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Peru are among the countries sending crucial supplies, such as satellite phones, field hospitals, medical equipment, and blankets.

Access an AS/COA Online resource guide to the Chilean earthquake, with links to maps, images, and additional sources of information.

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Chile’s Neighbors Step Up Relief Efforts

March 3, 2010

Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, and Ecuador are showing a display of solidarity with Chile in the aftermath of the February 27 earthquake.  On Tuesday, Bolivian President Evo Morales said he would donate half of his salary to aid Chile, and called for a five-day campaign in Bolivia to raise funds for earthquake relief in Haiti as well as in Chile.

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

February 24, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

The New LatAm Group on the Bloc

Latin American leaders convened in Cancun, Mexico on February 22 and 23 for the 2010 Rio Group summit, where they agreed to form a new regional alternative that excludes the United States and Canada and that some posit could serve as an alternative to the Organization of American States. The specific details of the body will most likely be figured out at a 2011 summit in Caracas.

AS/COA’s Christopher Sabatini discusses the newly created Latin American body on Worldfocus. “[The region’s] feeling its own diplomatic muscle and it wants to assert that,” says Sabatini.

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

February 17, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

Haiti Reconstruction Costs Higher than Anticipated

A new Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) study estimates that Haiti’s reconstruction could cost as much as $14 billion, far higher than earlier forecasts of $5 billion. The IDB study thus predicts Haiti’s earthquake will be costlier than the 2004 Asian tsunami.

Canada to Build Temporary HQs for Haitian Government

Following a visit to Haiti this week, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that his country will construct temporary Haitian government headquarters in Port-au-Prince after last month’s earthquake destroyed the government’s buildings. The provisional headquarters will cost $11.5 million.

Young and Jobless in Latin America

A recent report released by the International Labor Organization (ILO) shows that at least 600,000 young Latin Americans were unemployed in 2009, making them “hardest hit” by the global financial crisis, reports the Latin Americanist blog. The ILO report also showed that, of the 104 million youth in Latin America, only 34 percent attend school, only 33 percent work, and just 13 percent do both.

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Argentina’s New Central Bank President Seeks to Calm Markets

February 4, 2010

In her first public comments, Mercedes Marcó del Pont, the new president of the Central Bank of Argentina, promised today that she would bring about “reasonable” policy changes and that she was “thinking of maintaining the monetary and exchange rate policy with regards to the type of competitive managed float.”

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

February 3, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

Costa Rica Gears up for Presidential Elections

Alex Leff blogs for Americas Quarterly about Costa Rica’s presidential campaigns ahead of the February 7 elections. Campaigns have taken a turn for the quirky, from conservative candidate Otto Guevara’s televised polygraph test to the Social Christian Unity Party’s Luis Fishman’s slogan that “the lesser evil is better.” While Guevara’s support in the polls rose from 13 to 30 percent in September, surveys estimate that President Óscar Arias’ chosen successor, Laura Chinchilla of the National Liberation Party, will win 40 percent of the vote.

Congressional Report Examines U.S. Policy toward Haitian Migrants

In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, a Congressional Research Service Report examines U.S. migrant interdiction and detention policies toward Haitians. Human rights advocates have raised concerns over these policies, saying Haitians receive inferior treatment when compared to other asylum seekers trying to enter the United States.

Read an AS/COA analysis about the U.S. debate over Haitian immigration.

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

January 27, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

Honduras Tries to Turn Page with Lobo’s Inauguration

Seven months after the overthrow of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya left Honduras in a state of political chaos, the Central American country inaugurated Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo as the new leader on January 27. In his first act as president, Lobo declared amnesty for all involved in what was widely regarded as a coup. He won the November election by a large margin, though its recognition was hotly disputed by several Latin American governments.

On the eve of the inauguration, the Honduran Congress also approved amnesty for Zelaya and those involved in his ousting. That, along with a Supreme Court decision to clear chief military officers of coup-related charges, is seen as a step toward reconciliation as the new president takes power.

Read an AS/COA analysis of the inauguration.

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

January 20, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

Aftershock Hits Ravaged Haiti

A 6.1-magnitude aftershock hit Haiti early Wednesday morning even as the country reels from last week’s ruinous earthquake. At least one person suffered injuries immediately after the aftershock. No deaths or damages were immediately reported. Even in the midst of chaos, officials around the world are considering what efforts can be implemented to aid Haiti’s long-term recovery. In a blog post on NationalJournal.com, COA’s Eric Farnsworth writes: “A long term project will require long term attention, and political will that goes beyond the provision of emergency relief efforts.” Foreign Policy features five views on how to help Haiti rebuild using emergency aid and development.

Piñera Victory Ends Concertación Rule

Business tycoon Sebastián Piñera won Chile’s runoff elections on January 17, marking the first win for a conservative presidential candidate since the country’s return to democracy. According to an article in The Washington Post, Chile will most likely continue to follow free-market policies that rendered the country prosperous since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship. COA’s Christopher Sabatini, quoted in the article, said Latin Americans “are making the choice to support market economies and rational leaders.”

Read an AS/COA analysis of recent and upcoming Latin American elections.

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Argentine President Cancels China Trip

January 20, 2010

Skeptical of leaving the country for 10 days, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner postponed her Asian trip on Tuesday, calling it “too long especially when the country’s Vice President does not fulfill the role that has been assigned to him.” She went on to say that Vice President Julio Cobos cannot serve his role and be a “dissident.”

Cobos and Fernández de Kirchner have been at odds most recently over her desire to force Central Bank President Martin Redrado to step down. But the vice president urged her to "reconsider the situation" and go to China, promising that he would not sign any decrees in her absence without consent.

The January 25-28 trip would have been the first state visit to China since taking office in 2007. Her agenda was scheduled to have included meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao. Numerous cooperation agreements were to have been signed.

Bilateral relations grew tense last month after an Argentine judge had requested that Interpol issue an arrest warrant for former Chinese President Jiang Zemin over treatment of Falun Gong practitioners. With concerns mounting about Argentina’s debt, neither side would discuss whether China was prepared to provide any aid or grant loans.

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

January 6, 2010

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

Fernández Pushes for New Central Bank Head

Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has sought to replace Central Bank Governor Martín Redrado after he turned down a presidential order to use $6.6 billion in reserves to pay off debt. Former Central Bank head Mario Blejer was named as a potential replacement. However, Redrado rejected the notion that he will resign and said that, according to the Bank’s charter, the decision to dismiss him lies with the Argentine Congress.

Buenos Aires Mayor Announces Presidential Bid

Mayor of Buenos Aires Mauricio Macri announced intentions of a 2011 presidential bid this week. A member of the conservative Propuesta Republicana (PRO) party, Macri hopes to face Néstor Kirchner in a second round and insists the former president “could never win” a one-on-one election.

Looking Back on Washington’s 2009 LatAm Policy

Writing for the State Department’s Dipnote blog, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela reflects on U.S. engagement in the Americas during the first year of the Obama administration. After recounting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Mexico in March and the launch of the Inter-American Social Protection Network, Valenzuela concludes “2009 has been an exciting year in terms of our relationships—both bilaterally and multilaterally.”

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Argentine Central Bank President Asked to Step Down

January 6, 2010

The government of Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner asked Central Bank President Martín Redrado to leave his post on Wednesday after he refused her request to transfer $6.6 billion in Central Bank reserves to help pay government debts. Argentine government debts are expected to rise to $13 billion this year.

President Kirchner appointed former Central Bank President Mario Blejer, to the post. But Blejer has rejected the appointment and Redrado has refused to step down. According to the Central Bank’s charter, Redrado can only be dismissed for misconduct or failure to carry out his duties after the President has consulted with a congressional committee chaired by the Senate President (Vice President Julio Cobos). In the past, Cobos has disagreed with some of the government’s economic policies.

Redrado, who says only Congress has the authority to fire him, says he plans to stay until September, when his term ends. The Merval stock index had fallen 2 percent by midday.

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

December 9, 2009

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

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Mercosur Rejects Honduran Elections, Stalls on Other Matters

Leaders of the Mercosur countries—Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay—along with Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez gathered for a two-day presidential summit in Montevideo. They rejected Honduras’ November 29 elections, saying the elections took place in an illegal context. The presidents also agreed to move forward on free-trade negotiations with the EU but made little headway on their external tariff code, infrastructure projects for smaller countries, or a mechanism for the body’s Parliament to approve legislation. Leaders from the bloc also said they expect Venezuela to become a full member of Mercosur, pending approval by Brazil’s Senate and Paraguay’s Congress. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he expected his country’s Senate to approve Venezuela’s accession as early as December 9.

Latin Americans Worry over Climate Change

With Copenhagen climate change talks underway, a BBC and Globescan poll found that global warming concerns most Latin Americans. Eighty-six percent of Brazilians and Chileans, 83 percent of Costa Ricans, 81 percent of Mexicans, and 72 percent of Panamanians thought it was a “serious problem.” But far fewer believed their government should play a leadership role in setting targets to address the issue. For example, only 53 percent of Brazilians and 25 percent of Panamanians answered affirmatively. This news comes as Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pushes for international agreements to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent compared to 1990 levels.

The Fall 2009 issue of Americas Quarterly explores environmental priorities for the Western Hemisphere.

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

December 2, 2009

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

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Lobo Wins Controversial Honduran Election

The National Party’s Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo came out the clear winner in Sunday’s controversial presidential election, pulling in over 55 percent of the vote to mark a double-digit victory over his leading contender, the Liberal Party’s Elvin Santos. Reporting from Tegucigalpa, AQ blogger Daniel Altschuler writes about speculation over voter turnout figures. The Honduran electoral tribunal placed the figure at 61 percent while observer group Hagamos Democracia announced counts closer to 48 percent. Read the National Democratic Institute’s assessment of the electoral process.

Leaders from 22 countries joined at the Ibero-American summit this weekend in Estoril, Portugal, where divisions ran high over whether to recognize the results of last Sunday’s election in Honduras. All countries present condemned the June 28 ouster of Manuel Zelaya, but the United States, Peru, Costa Rica, and Panama announced they would recognize the elections. Critics opposing the election object to it being carried out by the interim government even as deposed leader Manuel Zelaya’s political fate remains uncertain.

The Honduran Congress is slated to vote on Zelaya’s reinstatement today, December 2. The ousted leader’s term would run through the end of January. Last week, the Supreme Court advised against his return to power.

Access an AS/COA timeline of the Honduran Congress.

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

November 18, 2009

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas

October 28, 2009

From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.

Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email.

Mujica to Face “Pink” Alliance

During the first round of Uruguay’s presidential elections on Sunday, the Broad Front coalition’s José Mujica lost the majority needed to avoid a November runoff against the National Party’s Luis Alberto Lacalle. Mujica won a large majority at the polls, pulling in 48 percent—20 points above Lacalle. However, Mujica signaled concern about the “Pink” alliance made up of the National and Colorado Parties. While the Broad Front maintains a majority in Congress, it could lose its majority control in the lower house.

Read a new Americas Quarterly web exclusive on the Uruguayan elections by Adolfo Garcé of the Institute of Political Science at the University of the Republic in Montevideo.

Colombia, Venezuela Exchange Barbs over Espionage Accusations

Caracas announced the arrest this week of two officers from the Administrative Department of Security (DAS), Colombia’s intelligence agency. Bogota denied the allegations. Colombia’s ambassador in Venezuela, María Luisa Chiappe countered that Colombia is more concerned with identifying those responsible for the recent abduction and murder of ten amateur Colombian soccer players in a Venezuelan border town.

Tensions between Colombia and Venezuela have been heightened over a bilateral U.S.-Colombian agreement to give Washington access to seven of its military bases. Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva announced that the deal could be signed as early as Friday this week. He added that the deal was not a recent development, but an extension of US-Colombian cooperation against drug trafficking.

Read an AS/COA analysis of the military deal.

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World Cup Helps to Explain Latin America: Honduras Results Muddle Negotiations; Argentina's Win Provokes Maradona's Reaction

October 16, 2009

Honduras' soccer win in San Salvador on October 14, guaranteeing a World Cup berth for the Catrachos in South Africa in 2010, has potentially muddled negotiations to resolve the political crisis that erupted on June 28.  As I noted in this space last week and also in Sports Illustrated, the prospect of a Honduran berth in the World Cup would provide the de facto government with the opportunity to use the result to rally the population around the flag, potentially providing an excuse to remain intransigent in the face of immense international pressure. 

Indeed, with the declaration of yesterday as a national holiday, that is exactly what the Micheletti government did.  But wait, it gets even more cynical, because just as the determining game was getting underway in San Salvador, a Micheletti spokesman was walking away from an apparent agreement in principal that had been struck by the opposing parties earlier in the day to resolve the crisis.  The calculation now appears to be that the Honduran win will buy additional time for the de facto government in its efforts to keep the deposed president Zelaya holed up in the Brazilian Embassy. 

Micheletti’s gambit is only the latest example of a well-worn path in Latin America of attempting to transfer good feelings resulting from international sporting victories to support the government in power.  One need only think of the World Cup in Argentina in 1978, for example.  More broadly, former Eastern Bloc nations routinely used sport to promote the legitimacy and superiority of their systems internationally, and Cuba continues to do so to this day, though with less overt success.  It may be cynical and heavy-handed, but it apparently still works.

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Argentina Approves Controversial Media Law

October 13, 2009

Over the weekend, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner signed a government-backed bill into law that restricts the number of media outlets companies can own in a single market. The law also requires 70 percent of radio and 60 percent of television content to be produced in Argentina.  It further directs cable television companies to carry channels operated by nongovernmental organizations, universities and indigenous groups and calls for select companies to sell some of their media assets within a year. 

The bill passed the Senate by a 44-24 margin on Saturday after nearly 20 hours of debate.   Argentina’s lower house had passed the bill on September 17 after opposition lawmakers walked out in protest. 

Critics say the law will give the government too much control over the press.  The Vienna-based International Press Institute said the law will damage press freedom in Argentina and is specifically concerned about the power the government now has to grant licenses to radio and television stations. On Sunday, the country’s largest media company, Grupo Clarin, said it plans to challenge the law in court.  Clarin’s media outlets are widely considered to be critical of the president, who in campaigning for the bill said Clarin held 73 percent of Argentina’s cable, telephone and cable licenses. 

Supporters, on the other hand, celebrated the reversal of a dictatorship-era (1976–1983) law that allowed for media monopolies.

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