Disaster in Paradise

 "The fire in Valparaíso could be seen as a tragic natural disaster that caused massive damage without any distinction/ But if you take a look at who was most affected, the unjust reality is that ‘the losers,’ in this case, were the same people who always lose: the region’s poorest families." -," Ignacia Ossul and Rafael Silva, former directors of the anti-poverty organization Techo-Valparaíso

Known for its brightly-colored homes, iconic hillside elevators, and cherished history as one of the South Pacific’s most important seaports (particularly in the pre-Panama Canal era),  the Chilean coastal city of Valparaíso is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and major tourist destination.

Valparaíso, a city of artists and sailors, and Viña del Mar, with its flashy beachfront condos, casino, and upscale restaurants, are a study in contrasts. They complement each other, however, when it comes to the kind of imagery Chile uses to market itself to the world: that of a culturally rich country with a colorful past and—thanks to a prolonged period of economic growth that has endowed it with Latin America’s highest per capita income (between US$15,000 and US$20,000, depending on estimates)—an even brighter future.

Missing from that image, though, are the deeply impoverished communities—like the ones that burned in last month’s firestorm—that exist on the outskirts of Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Santiago, and other major Chilean cities.

A furious wildfire burned its way through several Valparaíso neighborhoods last month, killing 15 people and leaving more than 12,000 homeless. Chile’s second major disaster in as many weeks, the fire also served as a painful reminder that, for many, the country’s much-heralded economic "miracle" is still very much a mirage. Read more from Ben Witte-Lebhar in the May 23 issue of NotiSur. 

Other articles in the Latin America Data Base for May 21-23 include a report in SourceMex on  how a ban on stoways on the train known as La Bestia is affecting Central American migrants and an article about the arrest of a third former Mexican  governor on corruption charges. In NotiCen, we examine whether a decline in violent crimes in the Dominican Republic necessarily represents a drop in criminal activity. We also report on Costa Rica's newly installed President Luis Guillermo Solís and what he is doing to promote transparency and accountability. NotiSur examines the debate on whether the age of criminal responsibility should be lowered in Uruguay..

-Carlos Navarro

(Subscription required to read full LADB articles. Click here for subscription information)

Environmental Protection or Economic Development?

"We can guarantee that the development of this project will harm the health of the Cabo Pulmo reef, particularly via the runoff of contaminants."  -Coalition of environmental groups

Environmental experts and academics are worried that a mega project proposed in Baja California Sur could cause irreparable damage to the only living hard coral reef in the Gulf of California.

The Instituto de Ecología at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the University of California Institute for Mexico, and the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation and others are worried that the proposed 22,000-room resort would drain precious and scarce water supplies from the area near Cabo San Lucas in Baja California Sur, and wastes from the sprawling facility would damage the natural environment in Parque Nacional Cabo Pulmo, including the coral reef.

Others see things differently  The project, which is backed by Chinese capital, has strong support from  residents of the communal farm (ejido) La Ribera and a handful of elected officials. Supporters of the resort see opportunities for economic development in an area where jobs have been scarce lately. They have denounced the opposition from environmental groups "financed by outside interests."  See more about this debate in the  May 14, 2014 edition of SourceMex.

The tensions between environmental protection and economic development are present in other areas of Latin America. A case in point is Ecuador, where the administration of President Rafael Correa appears to have the upper hand in pushing through a proposal to allow oil drilling  in the rain forests of the Parque Nacional Yasuni.  See more about this debate in the May 16, 2014, edition of NotiSur.

Other articles in the Latin America Data Base for May 14-16, 2014, examine the continuing repercussions for Wal-Mart from a bribery scandal two years ago, the charges of corruption against former Salvadoran President Francisco Flores, the election of opposition candidate Juan Carlos Varela in Panama, and the upcoming elections in Colombia.

-Carlos Navarro

(Subscription required to read full LADB articles. Click here for subscription information)

Congress Unanimously Approves Legislation Requiring That Civilian Courts Try Criminal Complaints Against Military Personnel

(Subscription required to read full articles. Click here for subscription information)

Article from SourceMex, May 7

The Senate and Chamber of Deputies each unanimously approved changes to Mexico’s military code that would allow civilian courts to try members of the armed forces when a crime is committed against civilians. Under the new guidelines, approved in April in both legislative chambers, military prosecutors are obligated to turn cases over to civilian courts when where a member of the armed forces has committed a violation that should be heard outside the jurisdiction of a military court. The change is seen as an important step in addressing what had been considered a major deficiency in the protection of human rights in Mexico. While the military has been implicated in the violation of civilian rights in Mexico through the years, the situation worsened during the administration of ex-President Felipe Calderón, who made extensive use of the military in drug-interdiction efforts. Soldiers and marines not only went after drug traffickers during those years but also committed acts of violence and torture against civilians. Carlos Navarro Read More

Award-Winning Mexican Director Challenges President Enrique Peña Nieto to Answer Questions Regarding Energy Reforms

(Subscription required to read full articles. Click here for subscription information)

Article from SourceMex, May 7

In March of this year, the US-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón with an Oscar for his skill in directing the blockbuster movie Gravity. Cuarón’s achievement brought prestige to the Mexican cinema industry and was a major source of pride for fellow Mexicans. The director leveraged his time in the spotlight to enter the debate on energy reforms in Mexico. At about the same time that President Enrique Peña Nieto was sending Congress secondary legislation to enable the energy reforms approved by Congress at the end of 2013, Cuarón publicly questioned the initiative. The director took out a full-page advertisement in Mexico City-based daily newspapers La Jornada and Reforma on April 28 challenging Peña Nieto to answer 10 questions about how the government would open up the state-run oil company PEMEX to foreign investment and where the profits would go in this endemically corrupt country. Carlos Navarro Read More

Earthquake Cluster Ruins Homes, Rattles Nerves In Western Nicaragua

(Subscription required to read full articles. Click here for subscription information)

Article from NotiCen, May 8

Nicaragua remains on "red alert" following a cluster of pre-Easter earthquakes that killed two people, damaged nearly 5,000 homes, some completely, opened up a 20 km-long crack in the earth, and may have even caused an odd drop in the water level of Lago Xolotlán, also known as Lake Managua. The first of the quakes, measuring magnitude 6.2 on the Richter scale, struck on the evening of April 10. Hardest hit was the town of Nagarote, some 50 km northwest of Managua, the Nicaraguan capital, where damage was also reported. The quake leveled approximately 300 Nagarote dwellings and left another 600 uninhabitable. Nerve-rattling tremors have continued to shake the area. A magnitude 5.1 jolt struck on the night of April 13. Authorities registered another sizeable shake (4.6) on the morning of April 15. Similar magnitude events occurred on April 18 (4.3), April 19 (4.4), April 21 (4.3), April 23 (4.4), April 26 (4.3), and May 1 (4.7). Benjamin Witte-Lebhar Read More

In Corruption-Ridden Honduras, Priest Says People Are Sick of It, Opposition Deputy Promotes Bill to Fight It

(Subscription required to read full articles. Click here for subscription information)

Article from NotiCen, May 8

In mass the first Sunday of this month at the Catedral Metropolitana, local priest Carlos Rubio told a packed church that Honduras is burdened by numerous concerns ranging from violence to corruption and including social and economic problems, a situation that causes loss of hope in this Central American nation’s people. Less than a month before, Deputy Jari Dixon Herrera of the opposition Partido Libertad y Refundación (whose acronym LIBRE is the Spanish word meaning free), introduced a bill to combat corruption in the unicameral Congress . The legislator--a member of the party founded by former President José Manuel "Mel" Zelaya (2006-2009), toppled during the bloody 2009 coup and now a LIBRE deputy--told local media the initiative aims at eradicating the deeply-rooted phenomenon. George Rodríguez Read More

Mob Violence Intrudes into Argentine Penal Code Debate

(Subscription required to read full articles. Click here for subscription information)

Article from NotiSur, May 9

All Argentina is now riveted by 12 cases of mob violence precisely when leading Argentine jurists--of all political stripes and from all academic institutions--have drafted a revision to the country’s virtually obsolete 100-year-old Penal Code. Congressional approval of the proposed legal revision is pending. On March 22, a mob of 50 people in the central city of Rosario killed an 18-year-old masonry worker by kicking his body and head after an unidentified person in the middle of the street screamed that the youth had stolen a purse. Following that brutal event, eleven other cases that left victims either dead or gravely wounded and the perpetrators at large have been reported throughout the country, including one in an upper-class Buenos Aires neighborhood. Andrés Gaudín Read More

Rio’s Favelas See Uptick in Violence

(Subscription required to read full articles. Click here for subscription information)

Article from NotiSur, May 9

For decades, the favelas of Rio de Janeiro have suffered the stigma of violence as their residents suffered in the crosshairs of the armed conflict between government security forces and narco-trafficking organizations. In recent years, that situation has improved significantly with the implementation of the Unidade de Polícia Pacificadora (UPP) program, which invades favelas with overwhelming military force to evict drug gangs and then installs a permanent police presence. However, a late April incident in which a dancer on a popular television program and resident of the Pavão-Pavãozinho favela, near Copacabana, died in UPP custody is only the latest in a string of high-profile cases that have cast serious doubts about the efficacy, transparency, and legality of the military police in Rio de Janeiro state, which manage and staff the UPP program. Gregory Scruggs Read More

Critics Suggest President Enrique Peña Nieto’s Telecommunications Proposal Attempts to Legislate Censorship

(Subscription required to read full articles. Click here for subscription information)

Article from SourceMex, April 30

In May 2013, the Mexican Congress approved comprehensive reforms to the telecommunications sector with an eye on improving competition in the nation’s broadcast media. The passage of the legislation in 2013, which included some changes to the Constitution, was only the first step. The law cannot fully take effect until Congress approves secondary laws that allow implementation of the reforms, The Peña Nieto administration set the full debate on the secondary laws in motion by sending its 500-page proposal to the Senate at the end of March. While most of the bill was straightforward, a couple of controversial provisions created an uproar from advocates of free speech. One proposal attracted strong negative reactions, since it would allow authorities to block cell phone signals during protests, censor Web sites, and track cell phone communications in the interest of national security. Carlos Navarro Read More

LADB Analysis: The recent proposal for comprehensive reforms to the telecommunications sector in Mexico originally seemed like a balanced and pragmatic solution to increasing competition, the creation of more channels and states, and generating further diversity in customer options. However, a small caveat within the bill is not sitting well with many. One proposal, contained in Article 197, attracted strong negative reactions, since it would allow authorities to block cell phone signals during protests, censor Web sites, and track cell phone communications in the interest of national security. For the Peña Nieto administration, which has pushed a fairly neoliberal agenda, this addition to the telemarketing reforms is a bizarre addendum to what should have simply been reforms that dealt with business practices and market competition. It is unclear whether the inclusion of this proposal was administrative oversight or whether the Peña Nieto administration had hoped to pass it under the radar. -Joe Leestma

Bolivia Pushes Claim to Recover Pacific Coast

(Subscription required to read full articles. Click here for subscription information)

Article from NotiSur, May 2

Although Bolivian President Evo Morales is not yet campaigning for a second re-election, all his recent official acts have the effect of proselytizing efforts to sweep up votes in the Oct. 5 elections. His most recent act had such importance that even the right-wing opposition was obliged to participate and applaud. On April 15, accompanied by a delegation of ministers and parliamentary leaders of diverse political sectors, Morales traveled to The Hague, Netherlands, to present the International Court of Justice (ICJ) with a voluminous historic and judicial account of landlocked Bolivia’s effort to recover its coast. The document asks the ICJ to force neighboring Chile to sit down at the negotiating table to discuss Bolivia’s demand for a sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean. Morales became the first head of state in the world to appear in person before the ICJ to make a sovereign claim. Andrés Gaudín Read More

Labor Unions Join Forces To Oppose Paraguay’s Controversial ‘Privatization’ Law

(Subscription required to read full articles. Click here for subscription information)

Article from NotiSur, May 2

Twenty years after a general strike against then President Juan Carlos Wasmosy (1993-1998) provoked a backlash of state repression that decimated the country’s labor movement, Paraguayan workers are once again making their presence felt. On March 26, the country’s various union organizations put aside their differences to carry out a massive work stoppage that paralyzed the country and served as a wake-up call for the government of President Horacio Cartes. Demanding salary hikes and other economic and labor improvements, participants also took aim at the recently approved public-private association law (ley de asociación público-privada, APP), a controversial measure allowing the executive branch to privatize a vast array of state assets and services for a period of up to 40 years . Union members want the APP repealed. Andrés Gaudín Read More

O.A.S. Anti-corruption Mechanism Visits Haiti, Where Corruption Is Deeply Rooted

(Subscription required to read full articles. Click here for subscription information)

Article from NotiCen, May 1

With a record as a corruption- and poverty-ridden country, Haiti was visited early this month by the Mecanismo de Segimiento de la Implementación de la Convención Interamericana contra la Corrupción (MESICIC), a work group of the Organization of American States (OAS). During its April 8-10 stay in this French- and Creole-speaking Caribbean island nation--where some 9.7 million of the 10.4 million population live in extreme poverty, 78% with an income below US$2 a day--the MESICIC commission met with government, judicial, and security officials, as well as grassroots, private sector, and professional organizations, academics, and researchers. Corruption is usually a sensitive issue in any country, and, whether in Creole or in French, corruption is particularly complex in Haiti, last year’s worst rated nation of the Central American and Caribbean region in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), the yearly worldwide report issued by Transparency International (TI). George Rodríguez Read More

Possible Role Reversals as Caribbean Economies Face Slow Growth

(Subscription required to read full articles. Click here for subscription information)

Article from NotiCen, May 1

The Caribbean economy grew only 1.3% in 2013, according to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). This rate is half that of Latin America, and the 2014 forecast shows a marginal improvement to 2.1%. As a result, many Caribbean governments are pursuing public sector cuts to stave off high debts and declining revenues, whether from sluggish tourism or lower global commodity prices. In December 2013, Barbados announced the dismissal of 3,000 government workers in order to correct a high debt ratio. The layoffs began in March, along with salary cuts for remaining public sector employees. Also in late March, Jamaica passed its third International Monetary Fund (IMF) test in order to receive further disbursements from the multilateral organization. Gregory Scruggs Read More

Former Michoacán Interim Governor Arrested on Charges of Colluding with Drug Cartel

(Subscription required to read full articles. Click here for subscription information)

Article from SourceMex, April 30

In April 2013, Jesús Reyna assumed the post of interim governor of the state of Michoacán while Gov. Fausto Vallejo recovered from an extended illness. Reyna, who had been serving as Vallejo’s government secretary, took the reins of government as violent clashes between the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar) drug cartel and self-defense groups were escalating . While Reyna, a member of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), publicly spoke of the need to mediate a truce between the two sides, widespread reports surfaced that the interim governor was actually in collusion with the drug cartel. According to the allegations, which came from the self-defense groups and members of opposition parties, Reyna had taken direct actions to protect the Caballeros Templarios. Carlos Navarro Read More