Parguay's Upcoming Election: Mexico Telecom Reform; Nicaragua Gold Mining Controversy

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen, and NotiSur for March 27-29

Lima Mayor Wins Partial Victory in Recall Referendum

Mayor Susana Villarán, the first woman to govern Peru's capital city, emerged victorious from a March 17 recall referendum, but several members of her coalition on the metropolitan council were ousted by the voters. About 82% of eligible voters participated in the recall of Villarán and 39 council members. Preliminary results show that 21 of those councilors will be recalled, most of them from the leftist coalition Fuerza Social (FS).     Elsa Chanduví Jaña    Read More

UN Rebuts Allegations Its Nepalese Blue Helmets Brought Cholera to Haiti

Despite the dire poverty of its population, Haiti had not been hit by cholera until nine months after the January 2010 earthquake ravaged this French-speaking Caribbean island nation. The outbreak has since killed some 8,000 people and affected hundreds of thousands more, dramatic figures that add to the 230,000-300,000 killed by the quake, which also left around 1.5 million homeless. About 300,000 are still lodged in tent towns in this country of 9.1 million people--described as the poorest in the Americas--where daily income for 78% is less than US$2       George Rodríguez    Read More 

Chamber of Deputies Approves Comprehensive Reforms to Telecommunications Sector

The Chamber of Deputies set in motion major reforms to Mexico’s telecommunications and media industries with the overwhelming approval of a version of the Telecommunications Reform Law proposed by President Enrique Peña Nieto. The measure, approved by a 393-98 vote, still requires approval by two-thirds of the Senate because at least part of the initiative requires amendments to Mexico’s Constitution. The Senate, which will consider the measure after the Mexican Congress returns from the Easter recess, is likely to approve the reforms, but only after extensive debate.  -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Nicaraguan Gold Rush Spells Profits, Protests, And Police Repression

A recent police crackdown on protesting guiriseros (artisan miners) in the central Nicaraguan town of Santo Domingo has raised new questions about the government’s "come-on-down" approach to foreign gold-mining firms, which have been raking in riches of late thanks to increased production and soaring prices. Early on the morning of Feb. 9, several hundred anti-riot police confronted a group of guiriseros at a roadblock the latter had erected months earlier at the entrance of Santo Domingo, roughly 190 km east of Managua. The artisan miners had been using the barrier to block the passage of vehicles and equipment owned by Canadian mining company B2Gold, which--through the acquisition of new government concessions--has expanded operations in recent years and begun exerting control of areas traditionally mined by guiriseros.     Benjamin Witte-Lebhar  Read More

Paraguay's Partido Colorado Likely to Return to Power in Upcoming Elections

On April 21, ten months after the June 22, 2012, coup that toppled democratically elected President Fernando Lugo and installed the de facto government of Federico Franco (NotiSur, July 13, 2012), Paraguayans will return to the ballot boxes. They will do so with the certainty that the Partido Colorado (Asociación Nacional Republicana, PC), in power from 1947 to 2008, including throughout the dictatorship of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989), will return to power and that the new president will be Horacio Cartes. Cartes is a powerful businessman with no political past but with alleged links to the smuggling, drug trafficking, and laundering money of the mafias. Moreover, this will be the first time in his life that the 56-year-old Cartes will vote.    Andrés Gaudín Read More

Despite Six-Month Investigation, Mexican Authorities Have Not Determined Motive for August 2012 Attack on U.S. Diplomatic Vehicle

The case involving the attempted murder of two members of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a Mexican Navy captain in Morelos state last summer remains only partially resolved despite intensive investigations conducted by the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) during the past six months. The armored sports utility vehicle came under attack as it traveled on a dirt road to a military installation in Morelos state. Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam confirmed that 14 assailants who participated in the attack were taken into custody, but investigators have not been able to determine a motive.  Carlos Navarro Read More