Multilatinas in Mexico and South America

When we think about multinational corportations, our thoughts center on European, US, Canadian, or Japanese business enterprises conducting business and investing across borders. A number of Latin America-based companies are also prominent among the businesses that have a presence beyond their home country.  These Latin American mulinationals are often known as multilatinas.  In this week's issue of NotiSur, Andrés Gaudín examines the rapid growth of multilatinas,  based in South America's two largest economies. These include  Brazilian companies Vale, Petrobras, Weg, and Embraer and Argentine companies Tenaris/Ternium, Impsa, and Bagó.  Embraer (ERJ) has become the world's leader in regional jets (fewer than 120 seats). Today, virtually every major U.S. network carrier now includes Embraer jets in its fleet.  In addition to Argentina and Brazil, multilatinas are based in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, and other countries.  Here is a list of some of the leading multilatinas, courtesy of América Economía.

Cemex plant, Cheshire, England (Wikimedia Commons)

CEMEX (Mexico) – Drawing in around US$15 billion annually, CEMEX is ranked as number one on América Economía’s 100 Latin American Multinationals of 2014. CEMEX is a giant in the building and construction materials industry its home country of Mexico and in three other continents. During Presdent Hugo Chávez's administration, Until his death last year, the company was led by Lorenzo Zambrano, whose grandfather founded his cement business in the early 20th century, profiting from the reconstruction of Monterrey after the Mexican Revolution.

LATAM AIRLINES (Chile) – LATAM Airlines Group is airline holding company with subsidiaries throughout South America. The air carrier was formed in 2010 following the merger of Chile’s LAN and Brazil’s TAM. Annual revenues are over US$13 billion, more than triple that of the next largest airline holding consortium in Latin America, Colombia’s Avianca-TACA group.

AVIANCA-TACA (Colombia) – Avianca-TACA AirHoldings was also formed in 2010, following the merger of Colombia’s Avianca and El Salvador’s TACA.Avianca-TACA is a subsidiary of Synergy Group, a conglomerate founded and owned by Avianca’s founder, Germán Efromovich, a Bolivian-born son of Polish Jewish immigrants who holds citizenships in Brazil, Colombia, and Poland.

TELMEX (Mexico) – Mexico’s telecommunications giant has had tight control over the Mexican telecommunications market for years, but its monopoly is coming to an end. Company chairman Carlos Slim Helu, a Mexican of Lebanese descent, and his family has frequently made the Forbes Magazine list of the world's wealthiest individuals.

GRUPO BIMBO (Mexico) – Mexico’s largest baking company also has a broad presence in global markets.  The company, which owns Thomas' English Muffins and Entenmann's cakes, is evolving into a dominant player in the US bakery market with its planned acquisition of Sara Lee's North American bakery business for US$959 million.

BRIGHTSTAR (Bolivia) – Bolivia’s only multinational to make an appearance on América Economía's power rankings, this telecomm growing giant was founded by the current CEO of Sprint, Marcelo Claure, in 1997. With headquarters in South Florida, the La Paz native grew Brightstar into a multibillion dollar multinational by focusing on developing markets in Bolivia, Paraguay and the Caribbean during the late 1990s. The company then struck a deal with Motorola Latin America in 2000, which opened up markets in the rest of the region.

Citgo Station, Tankstelle, Germany (Wikimedia Commons)

PDVSA (Venezuela) – Petroleos de Venezuela is Venezuela’s state-owned oil and natural gas company. PDVSA’s activities include resource extraction, exploration, refining and international exportation. Founded in 1976 following the nationalization of Venezuela’s oil industry, PDVSA purchased 50% of USA’s Citgo in 1986, and the remainder in 1990.

SUDAMERICA DE VAPORES (Chile) – Compañia Sudamerica de Vapores (CSAV),  founded in 1872, is the largest shipping company in Latin America and one of the oldest multinationals in the region. CSAV, which has the world’s 20th largest shipping fleet, expanded rapidly after the 1914 opening of the Panama Canal, making large gains on the coastal routes from western South American to Panama. After a century of unprecendented growth, CSAV entered into a merger agreement with German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd, another shipping firm that earned its stripes during the global trade during World War I.

Wikimedia Commons

AJEGROUP (Peru) – Ranked number 10 on América Economía's power rankings, this company is of two Peruvian multinationals to appear on the list, Ajegroup is dedicated to the production and distribution of alcoholic and soft drink beverages. The company's Agua Cielo brand of bottled water is sold widely throughout Latin America and its Big Cola soft drink is a popular product in India.

GRUMA (Mexico) – The world’s largest producer of corn and flour tortillas is headquartered in San Pedro Garza García, just outside of Monterrey. Gruma owns a variety of brand names that sell well in US, China, England, Central America, and Venezuela. The Mexican multilatina has drawn wide attention in global stock markets, as Gruma's shares gain value in accordance with the worldwide increase in tortilla consumption.

-Jake Sandler

Also in LADB on March 4-6 

• Right’s "Pink Party" Experiment Unlikely To Unseat FA In Montevideo
• Fired Honduran Judges Question Effect of Negative Human Rights Court Ruling on Government
• Guatemalan Government Blames Gangs for Latest Spate of Violence
• Construction of Natural Gas Pipeline in Chihuahua Encounters Resistance From Some Raramuri Communities
• Low-Key Election of Supreme Court President Overshadowed by Nominations for Open Seat

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The Environmental and Political Reasons Behind the Decision to Halt the Dragon Mart Project

Transnational project  in Quintana Roo Photo: Jake Sandler

The Dragon Mart megaproject in Quintana Roo state is on life support.  A couple of weeks ago, the federal environmental protection agency (Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente, PROFEPA) determined that the project--funded largely by Chinese interests--was causing too much damage to the fragile ecosystem of the area.  In addition to halting the project, developers were ordered to pay a fine and restitution 20 million pesos.  Read more in the most recent issue of SourceMex.

Quintana Roo’s Endangered Deciduous Jungle
The actual environmental transgressions cited by PROFEPA have mostly to do with violations of NORMA 059, which protects native Mexican species of flora and fauna. In particular, the Dragon Mart developers have been cited for violating the law’s ‘Anthropogenic’ clause, which evaluates changes in the use of soil and their impacts on human settlement.

The wetlands, mangroves and swamps most affected on the property known as “El Tucán” are not heavily populated. However, they contain some of the region’s most important and endangered ‘deciduous jungle’ species and ecosystems. Despite the heavy handed environmental protection policies on the part of the federal government, many critics speculate whether or not there is more behind the recent decision to halt Dragon Mart’s development; as articles such as this one in El Economista show, Quintana Roo is the same state where transnational interests in planting transgenic soy have superseded legitimate opposition. Others have sought to prove that a political dispute between Peña Nieto and Vicente Fox is actually what is behind the recent decision.

A Mexican-owned development?
Juan Carlos López Rodríguez, director of the Dragon Mart Cancun megaproject, has repeatedly stated that the company behind this project, Real Estate Dragon Mart Cancun SA de CV, is a Mexican company, founded in Monterrey and funded by 90% Mexican capital. A recent article in the daily business newspaper El Economista explains the company’s ownership in more detail: 45% is actually owned by Real Estate Dragon Mart Cancun, while another 45% is owned by Monterrey-Cancun Mart (of which Lopez Rodriguez is partner). Finally, the other 10% is accounted for by Chinese magnate Hao Feng, president of Chinamex, a company interested in introducing Chinese products throughout the world, and the same company that brought the first Dragon Mart to Dubai in 2003. As the name of Feng’s company suggests, ever since its founding in 2000, this Chinese firm has had its eyes on Mexico, particularly those places most visited by international tourists and businesses. That was the first year of Vicente Fox’s presidency, under which Lopez Rodriguez was involved in a China investment scandal while serving as a customs officer.

Speculation of a PRI power play against PAN
Reports have surfaced that  individuals linked to Fox are involved in 90% of the investment.  Among the names mentioned are José Luis Salas Cacho, ex-director of Maritime Transportation, and Manuel Bribiesca Sahagún, son of former first lady and Vicente Fox’s wife Marta Sahagún. So, is it possible that President Enrique Peña Nieto's administration is wielding its power via PROFEPA to land a blow in what is actually a decades-old power struggle between the PAN and PRI? However, you consider this situation, it is hard for the public to ignore the incestuous relationship between Dragon Mart investors and former PAN functionaries under Fox. Meanwhile, environmentalists and local community leaders in Cancun are praising the federal government’s decision as a victory for the land and for the rights of the region’s inhabitants.

-Jake Sandler

Also in LADB on Jan. 28-30

• German-Manufactured Assault Rifles Recovered from Local Police in Guerrero in Aftermath of Student Massacre
• New Stage of Relations Between Washington and Havana Triggers Expectations of Cuban People
• Ecuadoran Government Rescinds Property Loan, Sparking Confrontation with Indigenous Group
• Government Unveils Anti-Crime Strategy As El Salvador’s Homicide Rate Soars
• Honor Court Ruling Highlights Uruguay’s Many Military Pension Perks

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Center for Justice and Accuntability Seeks Truth, Justice, Redress for Victims of Torture, Human Rights Violations

"The administration of Salvador Sanchez Ceren has the obligation and opportunity to make a difference, to improve the lives of the people of El Salvador – the people th ey fought for – and ensure that they see justice."  Center for Justice and Accountability

Several thousand people participated in a candlelit procession through the campus of the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA), the scene, 25 years ago, of one of the most infamous episodes in El Salvador’s dozen-year civil war (1980-1992): the predawn murder of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and and the housekeeper's daughter.  This week's issue of NotiCen examines some of the issues surrounding the anniversary, including efforts to overturn a blanket amnesty approved in El Salvador in 1993, which allows the perpetrators to remain unpunished.

 

Photo: Center for Justice and Accountablity

Among those participating in the procession in San Salvador on Nov. 18 was Almudena Bernabeu, an attorney and rights advocate at the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) in San Francisco, California. The CJA has played a leading role in recent years in efforts to prosecute the authors of the UCA massacre

The CJA is an international human rights organization dedicated to deterring torture and other severe human rights abuses around the world. The organization also advances the rights of survivors to seek truth, justice and redress, which applies directly to its work in El Salvador. 

CJA uses litigation to hold perpetrators individually accountable for human rights abuses, develop human rights law, and advance the rule of law in countries transitioning from periods of abuse.
The case of the murdered Jesuits is just one of seven active cases in El Salvador.  The center is  involved in human-rights-related litigation in seven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.  In addition to El Salvador, the CJA is involved in cases in Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Peru (as well as the United States).  The other five countries where the CJA is involved in human-rights-related cases are Bosnia, Cambodia, China, Somalia, and Timor-Leste.

The CJA was founded in 1998 with support from Amnesty International and the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture to represent torture survivors in their pursuit of justice. The center is part of the movement for global justice for those who have been tortured or have suffered other severe human rights abuses.

"CJA is one of the few international human rights NGOs with a base of clients who speak out publicly against mass atrocities from a survivor's perspective," said the organization.  "At the heart of CJA’s mission is the belief that survivors themselves are the most effective spokespeople against torture, genocide and other abuses. CJA devotes resources to supporting clients who, as a result of participating in our litigation, are galvanized to dedicate more time and energy to anti-impunity efforts within their communities."

-Carlos Navarro 

Also in LADB on Dec. 10-12 

• Mexican Supreme Court to Elect New President, Welcome New Justice in 2015
• Tabaré Vázquez Back as Uruguay’s President, Reflecting Region’s Progressive Trend
• In Push To Spur Investment, Peru Weakens Environmental Protection
• Guatemalan Government Mired in Financial Problems
• Mexico Welcomes US President Barack Obama’s Executive Order on Immigration

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Farming Communities, Environmental Groups Continue Fight to Save Intag Region in Northwest Ecuador

 “Yesterday I was running down the path to bathe in the waterfalls, and passing a pile of leaves they turned into butterflies and flew away. This is a magical place. Thank you for sharing it.” Despite gains in corporate incursion, many Intag residents are hoping that this “magic” can continue to be their largest export to students and tourists from the US, Europe and Japan.  -Carlos Zorilla, organizer, Intag Cloud Forest Reserve & Education Center

Photo: Dina M - Flickr

Imagine an environmental paradise in northwest Ecuador, where the local farming communities are self-sustaining. This paradise is known as the Intag reegion, an area blessed with a microclimate diversity. As a result, local growers have produced a lush cast of mixed fruits and specialty crops-- from shade-grown coffee to papayas, blackberries and plantains, to the uncommon tree tomato. In fact, the tree tomato has been the third most valuable individual crop per hectare for small-scale family farmers, surpassed only by coffee and sugarcane. Such gastronomical specialties, along with a keen sense of self-sustaining environmental protections and local autonomy, began attracting a growing consumer base for exports, tourism and environmental activism both within Ecuador and in foreign markets.

Community farmers and land owners have benefited from a gowing market for ecotourism and specialty, fair trade and organic products, in addition to the region’s notoriety for grassroots environmental activism. The interest and foreign demand for Intag’s agricultural and cultural products is firmly evident in the Intagblog, which displays the important link between Intag community resistance, foreign environmental and human rights activists, and foreign consumer markets that specialize in organic, fair trade produce, crafts and environmental-based tourism. The area housing the Istag communities was the first region to be granted the status of an “Ecological Canton”.
 

Photo: Dawn Paley - Flickr

The problem for this community of 17,000 residents, is that the area is also attractive to the multinational mining companies, who have their eyes on the huge deposits of copper and other minerals in the area. The communities of the Intag region, operating under the defense and protection created via local resistance and organization efforts, fended off a Japanese company in the 1990s and Canadian mining concern Ascendant Copper Corp. more than a decade later.  The mining industry has not abandoned its efforts to gain access to the natural resources in the area.  This time, a mining company has obtained the support of Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa's administration.  In the second half of 2013, Ecuador's  Empresa Nacional Minera del Ecuador (ENAMI) signed an agreement with the Chilean mining firm CODELCO and, without consulting local communities, reopened the project in the second half of 2013.

In this week's issue of NotiSur (as well as a previous issue in March 2014), Luis Ángel Saavedra reported that intervention of ENAMI and CODELCO in the project comes at a time when Intag is fragmented and unable to sustain its long-standing determination to defend its territories. Will the residents of Intag finally lose out to the mining industry?  Even under these adverse conditions, the resistance continues, as evidenced by the emergence of the campaign entitled CODELCO Out of Intag.

-Jake Sandler

Also in LADB on Dec. 3-5...

• Jamaica’s Plans to Decriminalize Marijuana, A Move With Regional Implications
• Densely Populated San José, Costa Rica, Neighborhood Becomes War Zone Between Local Gangs
• Political Establishment Faces Credibility Problems in Mexico
• Leftist Forces Three-For-Three In 2014’s Southern Cone Elections
• Labor, Safety Concerns Raised About Monterrey Subway System    

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Tejas Verdes

Memorial to Victims of the Dirty War in Chile  (Museum of Memory and Human Rights)

Tejas Verdes served as a hotel resort for wealthy residents of Santiago until 1973, when dictator Chilean dictators Augusto Pinochet took over the site to use for torture and murder of opponents of his regime. Tejas Verdes, which means "green roofs," is located near the coastal towns of Santo Domingo and San Antonio (about an 1 1/2 hours drive from Santiago).  When the Pinochet regime took over the site, authorities converted music rooms and lounges into torture chambers. Thus, Tejas Verdes became one of more than 1,000 sites used by the dictatorship to torture and murder opponents of the regime. The use of Tejas Verdes  for torture and murder continued until mid-1974.

The Pinochet regime appointed Manuel Contreras to oversee the torture and murder operations at Tejas Verdes. Contreras, who would later rise to become head of the infamous Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), hired several collaborators, including Army Col. Cristian  Labbé, who went on to become mayor of the Santiago suburb of of Providencia.  Labbé's role in Tejas Verdes came to the forefront again this month, when  an appeals court judge indicted him for his alleged involvement in a string of concentration-camp killings, including those at Tejas Verdes. (Read More in the Nov. 14 issue of NotiSur)  The indictment comes just a few months after authorities  discovered of human remains at Tejas Verdes.

Book describes Tejas Verdes
There is plenty of material to document what occurred at Tejas Verdes. The camp was the subject of survivor Hernan Valdes’ 1974 book, Tejas Verdes: Diario de un campo de concentracion en Chile, which was published in Spain and drew much international attention to the Pinochet regime. Much of the pretext of the detention, torture and mass murder was that the detainees, suspected of being communists or otherwise subversive, represented a threat to the state.

The memories of those times are in many ways still fresh for much of Chile, and still very much a part of national politics. Among those affected by the brutality of the concentration camps are Chilean President Michel Bachelet and her mother, Angela Jeria, who were themselves arrested and taken to another camp, called Villa Grimaldi. Bachelet’s father, Alberto Bachelet, was a general who was held captive and tortured to death for opposing the coup that toppled Allende. 

-Jake Sandler


Also in LADB on Nov. 12-14....

• Ebola Sets Off Alarm in Central America but Experts Say Region Prepared to Avert Arrival of Virus
• California Judge Throws Out Panamanian Ex-Dictator Manuel Noriega’s Lawsuit Against Game Creator
• Pollsters Face Scrutiny In Wake Of Uruguay’s FA-Dominated General Elections
• President Enrique Peña Nieto Cancels Concession for Mexico City-Querétaro High-Speed Rail Line
• Guerrero Tragedy Reopens Debate on Legalizing Drug Production

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Blue Helmets on Mexican Soldiers

Daniel Košinár  (Wikimedia Commons)

If you examine the composition of UN Peacekeeping forces, you would be hard-pressed to find any Mexican soldiers.  That is about to change with President  Enrique Peña Nieto's recent commitment to provide military and civilian personnel to UN missions.
The Mexican president made that pledge during an address to the UN General Assembly during the last week of September.

Peña Nieto, of course, would still have to comply with the Mexican Constitution, which prohibits any chief executive from unilaterally offering Mexican troops for peacekeeping forces. The president would require the consent of the Senate. Convesrsely, Peña Nieto and other future president are allowed to provide military and civilian personnel for UN humanitiarian missions without a vote from the Senate. How was Peña Nieto's decision received in Mexico?  There were many supporters and some detractors.  Read more in this week's issue of SourceMex.

Marie Lan-Nguyen (Wikimedia Commons)

Let's say hypothetically that Mexico had committed troops to UN peacekeeping operations a while back. Where would these Mexican soldiers be located? Currently, there are 16 ongoing UN Peacekeeping Operations, including Haiti, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, several Middle Eastern nations, as well as nine countries in Africa, from the Western Sahara to Democratic Republic of the Congo.

There are currently over 116,000 military and police personnel working under UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), and although many personnel are armed and trained in military operations, the DPKO’s main purpose and protocol does not normally involve active combat, but rather helping local security forces to establish the proper conditions for end of conflict and lasting peace. The UN does not have its own military force, and relies completely on contributions from member states.

There is some risk in committing military personnel to an area of conflict. In its 66-year history, the DPKO has suffered 3,177 fatalities, with more than two-thirds occurring since 1993. Uruguay, Haiti, Argentina, Guatemala and Spain have lost dozens of troops, although the majority of the casualties have come from Sub-Saharan African and Northern European nations.  While armed conflict has been the major reason for the loss of lives, more than 1,000 deaths  have occurred because of illness. The two places with the highest incident of fatalities have been Lebanon and the Congo.
-Jake Sandler

Also in LADB This Week...

Transforming the Sales Tax into a Value-Added Tax in Costa Rica: President Luis Guillermo Solís has a plan to boost government revenues: transform the current sales tax into a a value-added tax (Read more from George Rodríguez in this week's issue of NotiCen). So what's the difference?  Diane Yetter explains in the Tax & Accounting blog  "Sales tax is collected on retail sales at the time of the sale to the final consumer, and only the final sale in the supply chain is subject to tax. Sales tax is generally imposed on sales of tangible personal property and selected services. Value Added Tax, on the other hand, is imposed on each stage of the supply chain and ultimately charged in full to the final purchaser."

Investment in the Dominican Republic. Officials in the Dominican Republic are pleased about a recent increase in investment, but critics worry that the trend comes at the expense of human rights and the environment.  Read more from  Crosby Girón in NotiCen.

Argentina and U.S. Lock Horns amid ‘Default’ Fallout: Argentina’s current "default" crisis, which began three months ago when a judge in New York ruled in favor of a group of "vulture funds"—lenders that in 2005 refused to participate in a restructuring of the South American nation’s foreign debt—has gone from being a dispute between a sovereign state and private interests to a full-fledged face-off between the Argentine and US governments. Read more from Andrés Gaudín in NotiSur.

Center-Left Coalition Expected to Remain in Power in Uruguay: Uruguayan voters will head to the polls Oct. 26 for the last in a series of South American elections that also includes contests in Brazil, to be held Oct. 5, and Bolivia, on Oct. 12. The Frente Amplio (FA), in power since 2005, is hoping its progressive model—introduced by former President Tabaré Vázquez (2005-2010) and continued by the country’s current leader, President José Mujica—will earn the party a third-consecutive term. The FA’s conservative rivals, the Partido Nacional (PN or Blanco) and Partido Colorado (PC), are hoping to re-establish the political hegemony that kept them in power throughout most of Uruguay’s post-independence history (from 1830 to 2005). Read More from Andrés Gaudín in NotiSur.

Another term for Mexican Human Rights Ombud? Raúl Plascencia Villanueva, president of the semi-independent human rights commission (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, CNDH), is facing severe criticism from what academics and opposition legislators see as the commission’s deficient and inadequate job of defending human rights in Mexico. Will the Senate reappoint him for another five years or will human-rights advocates succeed in pushing through a change?  Read more from Carlos Navarro in SourceMex.

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'¡¡¡Ehhhh… puuuto!!!' (Cultural Bias?)

Fans, 2002 World Cup Source: Klafubra  (Wikimedia Commons)

This was the second match of the FIFA World Cup, held in  Arena das Dumas in the Brazilian city of Natal. A large portion of the estimated 50,000 Mexicans who traveled to Brazil for the international soccer tournament were on hand to cheer for El Tri in this contest against Cameroon on June 13..

The fans wore the national colors, carried some banners and signs--and brought their cultural bias. Every time Cameroon's goalkeeper Charles Itandje kicked the ball off, a loud taunting cheer of '¡¡¡Ehhhh… puuuto!!!' was heard in the stands. Puto is not a kind word.  It is often used to insult homosexual men.

The European-based anti-discrimination monitoring group Fare complained about the Mexican fans to the international soccer governing body, FIFA. FIFA officials agreed to investigate Fare’s complaint but ultimately declined to take any actions against Mexican soccer fans and the Mexican soccer association.

The macho cultural bias in Mexico and much of Latin America is to reject homosexuality, perhaps as a  sign of weakness.  So fans were not questioning the Itandje's sexuality when they used the common taunting cheer ¡¡¡Ehhhh… puuuto!!!  And Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was on the receiving  when Brazilian fans taunted him with the same phrase when Mexico played Brazil on June 17.  (Mexican fans might have started something. Japanese soccer fans have started to use the taunting chant in their stadiums).

And while the use of the taunt can be dismissed as "soccer tradition," it is important to realize that cultural biases are behind our acts of discrimination. The word puto remains very much an insult in Mexico.

And culture plays a role in biases against other groups in Mexico, such as indigenous peoples (especially those who reside in the cities) and women in general. Read more about discrimination in Mexico in this week's issue of SourceMex, and in a recent report from the Consejo Nacional para Prevenir la Discriminación (CONAPRED)

Other countries in Latin America have also had to deal with concerns of discrimination against  the LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex) community. This week, our LADB newsletters examine recent patterns in Peru and Honduras. In July of this year, the Peruvian government approved the Plan Nacional de Derechos Humanos 2014-2016 . But as Elsa Chanduví Jaña points out in this week's edition of NotiSur, this document  has come under criticism for its omissions: it lacks measures to protect vulnerable sectors such as the LGBTI community and domestic workers.

In Honduras, the LGBTI community is among the groups subject to increased attacks in the four years since the coup that toppled President Manuel Zelaya in June 2009. More than 30 hate crimes have been committed against the LGBTI community since the coup. George Rodríguez gives us more details in this week' edition of NotiCen. A report from Human Rights Watch on Honduras expands on this issue.

Also in LADB this week...
Nicaragua Attack: Were the perpetrators of two attack on supporters of the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) former contras? Some groups like the hitherto unknown organization calling itself the Fuerzas Armadas de Salvación Nacional-Ejército del Pueblo (FASN-EP) are certain the attacks came from regrouped contras. President Daniel Ortega's administration says, however, that the perpetrators were simply "common criminals."  Read More

Electrical Self-Sufficiency in Uruguay:At a time when all of the countries of South America, to one degree or another, are suffering the ill effects of inflation, small Uruguay has made a point of lowering consumer costs—at least for one vital service: electricity. The move went into effect July 1 and benefits not only household consumers but also commercial and industrial enterprises. Read More

Mexico Fines Dragon Mart Developers for Environmental Violations: The controversial Dragon Mart project in Quintana Roo state hit another bump in the road when the federal environmental-protection agency (Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente, PROFEPA) levied a stiff fine against the developers of the megacomplex for failing to comply with the federal norms on environmental protection.  Read More

-Carlos Navarro 

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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

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Uruguayan President José Mujica Agrees to Host Guantánamo Bay Detainees

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Article from NotiSur, April 25

Uruguay is expected to receive a group of between eight and 10 prisoners from the US military’s Guantánamo Bay detention camp in southeastern Cuba. The decision follows a series of long conversations between Uruguayan President José Mujica and his US counterpart, President Barack Obama. The talks had been kept strictly confidential until March 20, when Mujica decided to leak the story to the opposition weekly Búsqueda. The US Ambassador in Montevideo Julissa Reynoso later confirmed that negotiations had taken place. Uruguayan press sources suggest other countries around the world may also be in talks to accept as refugees the more than 100 detainees still being kept at the infamous prison, which is within the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in an area the US military has occupied since 1903. Andrés Gaudín Read More

LADB Perspective - While former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin was likening water-boarding terrorists to baptizing terrorists, President Obama, via several Latin American leaders, may have found a route to begin the downscaling of the detention center in Guantanamo Bay. Even though Mr. Obama’s campaign promises to close the detention centers have largely been marginalized post-election season, a deal between the U.S. and Uruguay in particular may offer a route for those who support the closing of the prison. Uruguayan President José Mujica has offered to accept between 8 and 10 prisoners as asylum seekers based upon, according to Mr. Mujica, “humanitarian reasons.”  There are approximately 120 inmates in Guantanamo who have been refused a trial. If Uruguay does indeed accept these prisoners, it opens a route for Mr. Obama and his supporters to circumvent the deadlocked Congress’s approval. While the US media and the political opposition has yet to confront this issue, the Uruguayan opposition parties have already pounced upon Mr. Mujica’s offer, painting it as publicity for Mr. Mujica and his party. Mr. Mujica, however, was jailed in total isolation for 13 years during the dictatorship of the 1970s and 1980s. It is difficult to believe that someone who spent more than a decade imprisoned alone would propose an offer like this simple for publicity. If this becomes an issue in U.S. politics, it is highly unlikely that Mr. Obama’s opponents – politicians and media alike – will not see this as further executive overreach.  -Joe Leestma

Brazil Behind in Construction for World Cup; Nine Journalists Killed in Mexico in 2013; El Salvador Elections Going to Second Round

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for February 5-7

Former Guerilla Commander Takes Round One In Salvadoran Presidential Election

Vice President Salvador Sánchez Cerén of the leftist Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) won El Salvador’s Feb. 2 presidential election by an unexpectedly solid margin but fell just short of the 50% plus one valid votes needed to avoid a runoff. The FMLN candidate drew nearly 49% of the vote, finishing a full 10 percentage points ahead of his main rival, former San Salvador mayor Norman Quijano of the hard-right Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA). Ex-President Antonio Saca (2004-2009), another conservative, finished a distant third (11.4%). Fringe candidates René Alcides Rodríguez of the Partido Salvadoreño Progresista (PSP) and José Óscar Morales of the Fraternidad Patriota Salvadoreña (FPS) earned less than 1% of the vote between them. Benjamin Witte-Lebhar  Read More

At Least Nine Journalists Killed in Mexico in 2013

Journalist rights organizations report that a least nine editors and reporters were killed in Mexico during 2013, although the number could actually be higher because the whereabouts of a handful of reporters who disappeared during the year are unknown. The organization Casa de Derechos de los Periodistas AC, based in Mexico City, reported the murders of six journalists during the first full year of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s presidency. Other sources reported at least three other murders, which adds up to nine confirmed killings last year, plus one journalist who disappeared and whose whereabouts are unknown. This compares with at least 17 murders of journalists in 2012, in addition to five others who disappeared. Carlos Navarro Read More

Honduras' New President Juan Orlando Hernández Pledges to Respect Human Rights While Providing Security

In his inaugural speech, Honduras’ new President Juan Orlando Hernández, often referred to as JOH, insisted he will keep his campaign promises, among them, his commitment to improve this Central American nation’s appalling situation regarding security--or lack of it. He also guaranteed that, in so doing, all actions would be carried out within the framework of the law and fully respecting human rights. But in human rights ranks, the president's words, at best, are not taken as sincere, and the forecast in this regard is somber.  George Rodríguez  Read More

Uruguay’s Conservative Parties Unite

Uruguay’s two conservative parties--opponents for their entire 177-year existence--have joined forces to defeat the Frente Amplio (FA), which has governed Montevideo, the national capital, for the past 25 years. The unprecedented alliance--motivated by the certainty that neither the Partido Colorado (PC) nor the Partido Nacional (PN or Blanco) could defeat the ruling progressive administration alone--is remarkable because the two parties have been on opposite sides of prolonged and bloody civil wars three different times. On Jan. 9, electoral authorities authorized unification of the two parties under the name Partido de la Concertación. The new party’s goal is to oust the Frente Amplio and recover control of the capital, home to nearly half the country’s 3.3 million inhabitants. Andrés Gaudín  Read More

FIFA World Cup Causes Financial and Human Burden on Brazilian Cities

As the calendar inches closer day to by day to the opening match of the 2014 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in Brazil, questions mount about the impact of the global sporting event on the country’s 12 host cities. Brought to international attention by last year’s street protests, issues such as white-elephant stadiums, cost overruns at public expense, corruption in building contracts (NotiSur, July 1, 2011), human rights abuses against construction workers, and housing evictions in low-income communities persist. While the tournament draws are complete and soccer fans have depleted the first round of ticket sales, the behind-the-scenes preparation has been a far less smooth process.  Gregory Scruggs   Read More

Monarch Butterfly Populations at Biosphere in Michoacán Down Sharply

The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve sits at the edge of the territory controlled by the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar) drug cartel in Michoacán state. The recent violence that has hammered communities like Apatzingán and Uruapan has apparently not spilled over to the biosphere. The popular tourist destination is facing a different kind of problem this year, however. The number of butterflies migrating to the biosphere is at an all-time low, and some environmental organizations are warning that the migration of the butterflies to Michoacán and México state could disappear altogether. This could create a major problem for the biosphere, which earned the designation as a World Heritage Site in 2008.   Carlos Navarro   Read More

Latest Brazilian Response to U.S. Spying; Mexico Approves New Electoral Reforms; Racial Discrimination in Panama

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for December 11-13

Brazil Responds to U.S. Spying with International Diplomacy and Domestic Lawmaking

The September revelations that the US National Security Agency (NSA) included Brazil on its list of spy targets continue to fuel political drama in the country’s foreign and domestic policy, including a UN resolution on the right to digital privacy and congressional debates about a landmark Internet privacy bill. The spying scandal’s most immediate outcome, the unprecedented indefinite postponement of President Dilma Rousseff’s official state visit to the US, initially slated for Oct. 23, remains in limbo. Political analysts speculate that it is unlikely to be rescheduled before the end of Rousseff’s first term, which concludes in January 2015. -Gregory Scruggs  Read More

Central American Migrants Remain Under Siege in Mexico

As Mexico awaits movement in the debate on immigration policy in the US, some changes are in the works on Mexico’s own policies toward immigrants, including a proposal to strengthen the rights of persons about to be deported. Some see the proposal from President Enrique Peña Nieto as a shallow move intended to benefit a Peruvian-born television commentator who has come under fire for her  reporting tactics, while others view the change as a tactic to improve the business climate in Mexico for foreigners. Regardless, critics are urging the administration to take on a more urgent immigration-related matter: protecting the rights of migrants from Central America and other countries in Latin America who travel through Mexico to attempt to cross into the US. These migrants are often kidnapped and robbed, or worse—they are killed by criminal organizations following failed extortion schemes. By some estimates, 400,000 to 500,000 Central and South Americans cross illegally into Mexico every year. Some are seasonal farm workers, but the vast majority are passing through on their way to the US. -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Racial Discrimination: a Crime Without Punishment in Panamanian Society

Panama has made progress in the fight against racial discrimination but still lacks the necessary legal framework to bring perpetrators to justice. This was the main conclusion of a report published by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Panama’s Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores on Nov. 14. The report, based on an OHCHR visit to Panama in January this year, highlights a number of significant steps taken toward eradicating discrimination but also lists omissions and failings. The OHCHR welcomed the creation of the Comisión Nacional contra la Discriminación (CND), in 2002, and the approval of a law against discrimination in the workplace, as well as the creation of the Secretaría del Consejo de la Etnia Negra, a government bureau that works to advance the rights of Afro-Panamanians and defend the preservation of their culture. -Louisa Reynolds  Read More

Congress Approves New Set of Electoral Reforms

The Mexican Congress has approved another set of electoral reforms that would make the legislative branch more effective and open up the country’s political institutions to more democratic participation and scrutiny. The latest reforms, approved in early December, allow sitting members of Congress to run for re-election, eliminating the previous restriction that limited legislators to a single three-year term in the Chamber of Deputies and a six-year term in the Senate. Under the reform, states would be given the option to decide whether to allow direct re-election of mayors and deputies in state legislatures. The changes would also replace the Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE) with a more powerful and independent agency, the Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE). This reform is intended to create greater oversight of state elections, which have been managed by state electoral institutes. -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Nicaraguan Legislature Ready to Ratify President Daniel Ortega’s Constitutional Rewrite

At the behest of President Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua’s Sandinista-controlled legislature has given initial approval to a series of made-to-order constitutional reforms that together amount to an overhaul of the country’s political system. Among other things, the changes clear the way for Ortega--who has already won the presidency three times (in 1984, 2006, and 2011)--to seek indefinite re-election. The Ortega administration says the reforms will give Nicaragua a more "direct democracy" and institutionalize a model of government it now calls "evolving constitutionalism." Unveiled in late October, the proposals were "inspired by the values of Christianity, the ideals of socialism, and the practices of solidarity," the administration went on to say. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar  Read More

Uruguayan Politics Heats Up 11 Months Before Election

Although Uruguayan political parties still have seven months to select candidates in open, obligatory, simultaneous primaries, and the general election is 11 months away, people are already talking about who might rule the country for the five years from March 2015 to March 2020. Both upcoming elections are already hot topics with pollsters hazarding predictions of victors in both the internal party and general elections. The possibility that the progressive Frente Amplio (FA) could continue governing the country for a third consecutive term has sparked worried conservative and rightist sectors--the traditional Partido Nacional (PN or Blanco) and Partido Colorado (PC)--to spring into action. In addition, seven small parties have filed to register for the elections. -Andrés Gaudín   Read More

UN Honors Mexico Environmental Advocate; Guatemala Seeks to Crack Down on Contraband Along Northern Border; Colombia Campesinos Strike

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for October 2-4

UN Forces Linger in Haiti, Despite Calls for It to Leave and Despite Reduction in Its Numbers

The second ousting of then President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, whom the US whisked away on board a plane in the midst of a rebellion led by the opposition Front pour la Libération et la Recontsruction Nationales (FRLN) in 2004, brought an international peace-keeping force to Haiti. Political instability led MINUSTAH to stay on, a presence whose need was strengthened by the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in January 2010 Now, Haitians and international human rights advocates are calling for the UN force to withdraw. UN Blue Helmets in Haiti are held responsible for sexual abuse of women and girls and for the cholera epidemic, which has claimed more than 8,000 lives and sickened hundreds of thousands more since it broke out some nine months after the devastiating 2010 quake. -George Rodríguez  Read More

Oil Exploration, Renewable Resources to Help Uruguay Reach Energy Independence

Uruguay is working toward a major change in its energy mix by installing wind and solar farms, biomass energy plants, and a regasification plant--actions that will thrust it to the forefront of countries generating and using clean energy. The program spearheaded by the progressive Frente Amplio administration aims to make South America’s second-smallest country more independent from foreign energy sources by 2016. In addition, Uruguay has opened up oil exploration for the first time. Based on geological studies that indicate a probability of economically viable oil fields, Brazilian and Venezuelan state oil companies and the French firm Total have already lined up for onshore and offshore exploration. -Andrés Gaudín  Read More

UN Environment Programme Honors Mexican Environmental Advocate for Work in Creating Biosphere

In mid-September, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) awarded the Champions of the Earth prize to Mexican environmental advocate Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo for her work in creating and developing the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve in Querétaro state in central Mexico. Ruiz Corzo, also known as maestra Pati, was one of seven people honored in 2013 for their environmental work. Ruiz Corzo was a co-winner in the inspiration and action category, along with Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food Italy. Brazilian Environment Minister Izabella Teixera was a co-winner in the policy leadership category. Ruiz Corzo is the second Mexican citizen to be honored by the UNEP since the prize was first awarded in 2005. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Colombia's Nationwide Campesino Strike Takes a Toll

Colombia is still coming to terms with a nationwide campesino strike, the first in recent history, that dragged on for 19 days, affected all sectors of the economy, and resulted in a painful number of deaths and injuries. The strike involved permanent roadblocks along dozens of routes and caused serious supply problems in the country’s principal cities. The events were triggered by a crisis that has left hundreds of families in financial ruin and is prompting a gradual exodus from rural areas. The campesino protesters blame their problems on the free-trade agreements (FTAs) Colombia signed in recent years with both the US and European Union (EU). -Andrés Gaudín  Read More

Crackdown on Contraband Along Guatemala's Northern Border

The Talismán-El Carmen border crossing between Mexico and Guatemala is a hub of activity. It’s 8 a.m. and a long line of Guatemalans on bicycles and cycle rickshaws are waiting to cross the border. Many are farm laborers who commute to Mexico on a daily basis to work on agricultural plantations; others go to Mexico to purchase groceries and other goods. Although these goods might be legally purchased in Mexican territory they are then sold in Guatemala’s local markets, which is a criminal offense as it creates a price distortion that affects local producers who are driven out of business. The Comisión Nacional Contra el Contrabando (CONACON), a multisector coordinating body that includes business representatives and various government security bureaus, estimates that some 30.000 Guatemalan families are involved in piecemeal contraband. -Louisa Reynolds Read More

Judge Questions Circumstances Surrounding Arrest of Teachers Union Leader Elba Esther Gordillo

In April of this year, President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration published a decree in Mexico’s daily register (Diario Oficial) that clarified and expanded the use of the recurso de amparo (recourse for protection), which strengthens constitutional protections under the law for a person accused of a crime. The changes, approved by the Senate in March and enacted by the Peña Nieto government a month later, included modifications to Articles 103 and 107 of the Mexican Constitution. One of the first big tests of the modified law came in September, when Federal Appeals Court Judge Francisco Sarabia Ascencio granted an amparo to Elba Esther Gordillo--the deposed leader of the teachers union (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, SNTE)--who was arrested in February on charges of corruption, money laundering, and racketeering. -Carlos Navarro Read More