Peru Pushes for More Investment; Banking Reform in Mexico; Golf Courses Part of Tourism Promotion in Cuba

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for June 26-28

Colombia's Peace Process Makes Significant Headway

After a half century of setbacks, so serious that they were manifested in a war that has taken a toll of hundreds of thousands of persons dead, exiled, or displaced, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the guerrillas of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) reached an initial agreement on the central issue of the conflict--which in 1964 led to the birth of the rebel organization: land ownership and use. On May 26, when the two sides, meeting for talks in Havana, Cuba, acknowledged signing the far-reaching agreement, the entire political spectrum, except the far right, applauded. Days later, on June 18, the government and the guerrillas resumed talks to work on the second point on the preset agenda: integration of the guerrillas into legal life and the guarantees they will receive, once demobilized, to participate in political activity. -Andrés Gaudín    Read More

Court Ruling, Political Potshots Challenge El Salvador’s 15-Month-Old Gang Truce

An experimental tregua (truce) signed last year by rival street gangs has cut El Salvador’s horrific homicide numbers by more than half. And yet, for all of its apparent success, the 15-month-old gang truce currently finds itself on shaky ground. A mid-May ruling by the Consejo Suprema de Justicia (CSJ) forced the government’s point man on the project, then Security Minister David Munguía Payés, to resign. Shortly afterwards, El Salvador’s main opposition party began to openly attack the truce, saying there will be "no more negotiating with criminals" should it win back the presidency in the February 2014 national elections. Gang leaders say they are still committed to the cease-fire, though just how much control they exercise over their tens of thousands of criminal underlings remains an open question. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar      Read More

Mexican Candidate Loses Election to Head World Trade Organization to Brazilian Rival

President Enrique Peña Nieto was hoping that strong support from the US, the European Union (EU), and Japan would be sufficient to elect Mexico’s Herminio Blanco as director of the World Trade Organization (WTO). But the vote from those countries—which comprise the majority of the members of the Group of Eight (G8) nations—did not give Mexico’s former trade secretary enough votes to overcome the strong backing that Brazil’s Roberto Azevêdo received from African countries and members of the five-nation bloc of emerging economies (BRICS), which include Azevêdo’s home country of Brazil, plus Russia, India, China, and South Africa. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala Declares Investment Promotion in "National Interest"

With the aim of reversing economic actors' loss of confidence following the slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter of this year, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala in late May declared investment to be in the national interest and announced seven measures to boost it. The measures announced by the president include creating a task force to oversee mining-investment projects in energy and infrastructure. The president also announced a supreme decree aimed at reducing bureaucratic hurdles for obtaining approval for environmental impact studies (estudios de impacto ambiental, EIAs). The decree calls for approving EIAs in less than 100 days. -Elsa Chanduví Jaña     Read More

Cuba Gambles on Golf and Moneyed Travelers to Increase Tourism Industry Income

Banned by Cuba's communist government for more than five decades, golf has returned to the island in style and has become the tourism industry's new, big venture. It is projected that the construction of eleven golf courses at five-star megadevelopments will attract well-heeled tourists who will leave more cash on the island. The Cuban government is holding talks with a dozen foreign companies, including Canadian, French, Italian, and Spanish firms, regarding the creation of eleven golf-related real estate developments, according to sources within the Ministerio de Turismo and as quoted by the official newspaper Granma. -Daniel Vázquez    Read More

President Enrique Peña Nieto, Congress Considering Reforms to Banking System that Would Boost Lower-Cost Credit, Promote Growth

In early May, President Enrique Peña Nieto and leaders of the three major parties teamed up to introduce a banking-reform bill that would boost bank loans in a country where credit availability is far behind other major economies in Latin America. Among other things, the legislation would offer commercial banks more incentives to lend to individuals and businesses as well as increase the role of government development banks in helping expand credit. The measure, which has yet to reach the floor of the Chamber of Deputies, also contains clauses that would increase the accessibility and accountability of financial institutions. -Carlos Navarro    Read More

Corruption Cases in Mexico, Costa Rica; Nicaragua Cracks Down on Press; Outgoing Chile President Urges Political Continuity

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for June 19-21

Uruguay Strengthens Ties With U.S.

News about military-cooperation programs between the US and Uruguay is making headlines, especially the political debates on the issue, in this small country with a long history of clearly anti-US sentiment. While the assistance plans, troop training, provision of materials, and even the possibility of building a military base have come into the spotlight in recent months, they have been developing since 2005, when, after nearly two centuries of institutional life, the left and political progressives took power for the first time, through the Frente Amplio (FA) and President Tabaré Vázquez.   -Andrés Gaudín    Read More

Nicaraguan Authorities Criticized for Press Crackdown

Rights groups are sounding the alarm about a pair of apparent press-freedom violations, both involving news photographers who--on separate occasions last month, just days apart--were prevented from completing their respective assignments after being pushed around up by Nicaraguan security personnel. On May 24, photographer Manuel Esquivel was forcibly removed from Managua’s Complejo Judicial (central courthouse) while attempting to cover an event involving Zoilamérica Narváez Murillo, the estranged stepdaughter of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. In a second incident, Agence France-Presse photographer Héctor Retamal of Chile was deported--after being held incommunicado. Retamal was seized by security personnel while trying to cover a meeting between President Ortega and Palestine Foreign Minister Riad al Malki.  -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar    Read More

In Final State Of The Nation Address, President Sebastián Piñera Makes A Pitch For Political Continuity

Taking the podium last month for his fourth and final State of the Nation speech, President Sebastián Piñera delivered a resounding toot of his own horn, citing an array of facts and figures to make the case that Chileans are better off now than they were when he took office three years ago. The approach looks to have paid dividends: a poll released in early June showed a six-point bump in Piñera’s approval rating. But with Chile’s next election just five months away, the president’s conservative coalition still has some convincing to do if it hopes to stay in power beyond March 2014, when Piñera is set to leave office.   -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar   Read More

Charges Against Ex-Tabasco Governor Andrés Granier Test President Enrique Peña Nieto’s Commitment to Fight Corruption

The governing Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) has once again been linked to charges of massive corruption, which could affect efforts by the party and President Enrique Peña Nieto to regain the trust of the Mexican public. The latest case involves former Tabasco Gov. Andrés Granier Melo (2007-2012), who is under investigation, along with several associates, for embezzling billions of pesos. The ex-governor is said to have diverted about 20 billion pesos (US$1.5 billion) in public funds for personal purposes, with the whereabouts of US$1.9 billion pesos (US$143 million) still unknown. But the discontent with the governing party might not necessarily translate into votes against the PRI in upcoming elections, particularly the July 7 gubernatorial race in Baja California state, because the alternatives, including the opposition parties, are considered part of a corrupt political establishment. Rather, citizens are finding other ways to demonstrate displeasure with the government, including registering animals as candidates in upcoming mayoral elections. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Borrowing Private Plane for Costa Rican Presidential Trips Abroad Backfires for President Laura Chinchilla

On May 11, the Presidencia de la República issued a brief communiqué reporting that Costa Rica’s President Laura Chinchilla was on her way to a private visit in Peru and was scheduled to meet with that nation’s President Ollanta Humala. The high-level talks would include strengthening the bilateral diplomatic link and the passage in May by the Costa Rican unicameral Asamblea Legislativa (AL) of the Costa Rica-Peru free-trade agreement (FTA), according to the official report. The president returned two days later, and 24 hours after that, a series of events began to unfold that would rock the local political scene. On May 14, several opposition legislators, both rightist and center-left, requested that the Ministerio Público (MP) and the Procuraduría de la Ética Pública, part of the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR), investigate the trip.   -George Rodríguez   Read More

Mexico, ILO Sign Agreement to Help Boost Formal Jobs, Increase Social Benefits for Workers

The Mexican government and the International Labor Organization (ILO) have entered into a five-year agreement to develop greater social protections for workers in Mexico, expand the job market to create more alternatives for workers in the informal economy, and bring Mexico in line with international labor standards. Mexican Labor Secretary Alfonso Navarrete Prida and ILO secretary-general Guy Ryder signed the agreement at the ILO’s annual meeting in Geneva in mid-June. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Mexico Reconsiders Arraigo; Ecuador to Focus on Energy; Victims Won't Testify Again In Possible Rios Montt Trial in Guatemala

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for June 12-14

Mexico Reviews Practice of Detaining Suspects of Certain Crimes for Extended Periods

There is extensive debate in Mexico on whether the practice of detaining suspects in certain crimes for a period of time without charging them should be abolished. Prosecutors and other proponents of the controversial practice—known as the arraigo—argue that this is a much-needed tool to investigate and eventually prosecute those who commit serious violations of the law, including drug traffickers. But opponents argue that the practice, in any form, represents a gross violation of the civil rights of a detainee, especially since the arraigo has been applied to cases other than those linked to organized crime.  -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Bolivian Government Expels USAID as Relations with U.S. Hit New Low

After a long process of misunderstandings and deteriorating dialogue that had reduced bilateral diplomatic relations to their bare minimum, on May 1, during the International Workers' Day celebration, Bolivian President Evo Morales announced that the government was expelling the US Agency for International Development (USAID) mission. Two weeks earlier, on April 18, the president had said that he would have to seriously analyze USAID's presence in the country as well as "the US Embassy's presence, because relations with the US are desirable but not at the cost of allowing the intolerable interference of its agents in the country's internal affairs." -Andrés Gaudín   Read More

Ecuadoran Government to Focus on Energy in President Rafael Correa's New Term

On May 24, Rafael Correa was sworn in for a new four-year term as president, promising to emphasize productivity. Until now, he said, the priority has been on social investment. The president's proposed new direction also involves the Asamblea Nacional (AN), since it will have to debate modifications to laws to facilitate investment and enable pending projects such as large-scale mining to move forward. Correa's new vice president, Jorge Glas, said his his office would focus on energy production, with a goal for Ecuador to produce 93% of its electricity needs and then produce electricity for export.  -Luis Ángel Saavedra    Read More

Guatemalan Genocide Victims Will Not Testify Again if Trial of Former Dictator Efraín Ríos Montt Is Repeated

Fear and mistrust reign in the Guatemalan municipality of Santa María Nebaj, in the highland department of Quiché, in the wake of a decision by Guatemala's high court (Corte de Constitucionalidad, CC) to annul a sentence against Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-1983). The CC ruled that the trial must be rewound to April 19, when the court had already heard most of the testimonies and both parties were about to sum up their conclusions before the judges could deliver their verdict. The CC has not clarified whether, since a new panel of judges will take over the case, the trial will have to be repeated from scratch.  -Louisa Reynolds     Read More

U.S. President Barack Obama’s Meeting with Central American Leaders Seen as Possible Relaunching of US-Central America Relations

US President Barack Obama’s meeting last month in Costa Rica with Central American counterparts could have relaunched the relationship between the US and this region. That is the view several local observers shared with NotiCen after Obama met early last month with Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA) leaders over a work dinner at this capital city’s elegant Teatro Nacional. As was the case during the bilateral US-Costa Rica encounter hours before , topics ranged from introducing new elements in the fight against organized crime--mainly drug trafficking--in the region to development and environmental issues, such as fighting poverty, strengthening US-SICA trade, and producing clean energy.  -George Rodríguez   Read More

New Telecommunications Law Lacks Provisions for Satellite Industry

The telecommunications reforms that the Congress approved overwhelmingly in March and April offer significant changes that could boost competition and efficiency in the television and radio-broadcast industries and telephone service. The new telecommunications law became effective on June 12, the day after the measure was published in the daily federal register Diario Oficial de la Federación. But critics contend that the Congress missed a chance to make important changes to Mexico’s satellite-services sector, which does not operate on an equal footing with international standards and is overly bureaucratic. Still, despite the lack of competition in Mexico, the prospects for the satellite industry have improved with the recent launch of a new satellite, Satmex 8, in March of this year.  -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Summary of Pacific Alliance Meeting in Colombia; 'Kirchnerismo' Still Popular in Argentina; Abortion Controversy in El Salvador

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for May 29-31

Pacific Alliance Will Eliminate Tariffs for 90% of Goods

The Alianza del Pacífico (AP), a bloc that includes Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Chile, will eliminate tariffs for 90% of goods and services exchanged among them from June 30 onward. The aim is for tariffs to eventually be phased out completely. During its seventh summit held in Cali, Colombia, on May 23, important steps were taken toward achieving regional integration, including eliminating tariffs among members, incorporating new members as observers, and signing a free-trade agreement (FTA) between Colombia and Costa Rica. -Louisa Reynolds  Read More

Mexico, Chile Reach Agreement on Beef Inspections Ahead of Pacific Alliance Meeting in Colombia
On May 21, the governments of Chile and Mexico signed a memorandum of understanding that committed the two countries to harmonize their meat-inspection procedures, a move that could eventually lead to an increase in exports of Mexican meat to the South American country. The measure, while insignificant on its own, was an important symbolic step in consolidating commitments by Chile and Mexico before the Seventh Pacific Alliance (Alianza del Pacífico) Summit in Cali, Colombia, on May 23. The meat-inspection agreement signed by Chilean Agriculture Minister Luis Mayol Bouchon and Mexican Agriculture Secretary Enrique Martínez y Martínez represents the commitment of the two countries to remove nontariff trade barriers for agricultural products.  -Carlos Navarro    Read More

Peruvian Government Gives In to Pressure From Right

The Peruvian government's interest in acquiring the assets that the Spanish transnational oil company Repsol was selling in Peru, which included La Pampilla refinery, a network of more than 200 service stations, and a gas bottling plant, brought a heated reaction from rightest parties and media as well as business leaders who saw the move as a statist threat to the economy. On April 22, President Ollanta Humala met in the government palace in Lima with Spaniard Antonio Brufau, Repsol president and CEO. The next day, national newspapers reported the beginning of negotiations for the government to acquire Repsol. The news unleashed a major controversy between opposition sectors that consider the state a bad entrepreneur and those who see the government initiative as an opportunity to contribute to the country's energy security.  -Elsa Chanduví Jaña   Read More

Despite Elite's Opposition, Kirchnerismo Still Has Wide Popular Support in Argentina

Ten years after former President Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) began his political project, which his wife, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, continued after his death in 2010, and five months before the Oct. 27 legislative elections, the political climate for Argentines continues to be exhaustingly tense, with an opposition that has the backing of all the powers that be. Amid a virulent smear campaign, based on unproven daily allegations of corruption, the government continues to enjoy high approval ratings, and the opposition--a collection of parties that range from progressive to various degrees of centrist to the far right--is unable to weave a unifying program that can electorally challenge the continuation of "Kirchnerismo." -Andrés Gaudín  Read More

Passions Flare Regarding El Salvador’s No-Exceptions Abortion Policy

The plight of a pregnant Salvadoran woman known only as "Beatriz" has drawn outrage from abroad and rekindled a raging debate at home regarding El Salvador’s zero-tolerance approach to abortion. Beatriz (not her real name), who is now more than five months pregnant, suffers from lupus, a debilitating autoimmune disease that has already caused serious damage to her kidneys. The fetus she is carrying is also unwell: it has been diagnosed as anencephalic, meaning it is missing part of its skull and brain and will almost surely die either before or shortly after delivery. Doctors at San Salvador’s Hospital Nacional de Maternidad have been hoping for months to perform what they believe could be a life-saving abortion. So far, however, they have held off--out of fear that they, and Beatriz, could end up in jail for violating El Salvador’s total ban on abortions. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar    Read More

Unrest in Michoacán Forces Federal Government to Assume All Law-Enforcement Duties

 On the campaign trail and just before and after his election, President Enrique Peña Nieto promised to take a totally new approach in Mexico’s efforts to combat criminal organizations. For the new president, the goal was to stop the seemingly out-of-control violence and not necessarily to stop the flow of drugs to the US, which was the primary target of his predecessor, ex-President Felipe Calderón. But Peña Nieto inherited some of the problems prevalent during the Calderón administration, including the reality that stopping violence might not be possible without going after the criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking. This was especially evident in the western state of Michoacán, where growing civil unrest in the last few weeks forced the Peña Nieto government to take full control of law-enforcement activities in the state in May.  -Carlos Navarro  Read More

President Barack Obama Visits Mexico & Costa Rica; Paraguay & Chile Election Updates

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for May 8-10

Presidents Barack Obama, Enrique Peña Nieto Hold Uneventful Meeting in Mexico City

Before US President Barack Obama stepped on Mexican soil, he pledged that the agenda for his meeting with Mexican counterpart Enrique Peña Nieto would extend beyond discussions of security and immigration, which have been the topics most addressed during bilateral meetings in recent year. The whirlwind visit of a day or so to Mexico will most likely fade from memory, since no significant agreements came out of the meetings, at least none shared with the public. Very few people remember the outcome of Obama’s previous trip to Mexico in 2009, when he met with then President Felipe Calderón to discuss drug-related violence, a common strategy on climate change, and trade disputes.  Carlos Navarro    Read More

U.S. President Barack Obama and Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla Discuss Wide Agenda

Half a century after the first formal visit by a US president to Costa Rica, this month President Barack Obama became the fifth US leader to arrive in Costa Rica, to give a new turn to the bilateral tie. An innovative approach to drug trafficking stands out among the key topics on the agenda for the dialogue between officials of both countries, headed by Obama and Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla, a lengthy list of topics that included development, education, entrepreneurship, environment, health, and, of course, security.  George Rodríguez   Read More

Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt’s Genocide Trial Resumes in Guatemala After Two Weeks of Uncertainty

The genocide trial against former dictator Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-1983) and his former chief of intelligence José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez was suspended for 12 days and then went into a recess following a dispute over representation for the defense. After two weeks of uncertainty, Presiding Judge Jazmín Barrios resumed the trial and reinstated Ríos Montt’s defense lawyer, who had been thrown out on the trial’s first day for having a conflict of interest with one of the judges. Despite the setbacks, Ixil Mayas who survived the massacres perpetrated by the Guatemalan Army in the highland department of Quiché during Ríos Montt’s brutal dictatorship have not lost faith in the justice system. "Ríos Montt is shaking with fear. He’s nervous because his lawyers have been unable to halt the trial.   Louisa Reynolds   Read More

Horacio Cartes' Victory Returns Partido Colorado to Power in Paraguay

As if the political parties and candidates had been merely performing a screenplay, Paraguay's April 21 presidential election played out according to the script, as the pollsters and analysts had predicted. The traditional Partido Colorado (Asociación Nacional Republicana, PC), without new leaders and with the old vices that tied it to the most diverse forms of corruption, returned to power with the election of Horacio Cartes for a five-year term. The 56-year-old Cartes, a wealthy businessman and political neophyte, voted for the first time in his life in this election. Andrés Gaudín  Read More

Scandals Prompt Sudden Candidate Switch For Chile’s Governing Coalition

A congressional "no-confidence" vote, a timely high court ruling, and some embarrassing media revelations have hit Chile’s Alianza like a perfect storm, further dampening the governing coalition’s hopes of fending off opposition challenger, popular ex-President Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010), in November elections. Desperate for some momentum following Bachelet’s dramatic late-March leap into the presidential race (NotiSur, April 19, 2013), the two-party Alianza has instead been forced to backtrack--most notably by dumping its most popular presidential candidate Laurence Golborne, a former business executive who held several ministerial posts under President Sebastián Piñera. Benjamin Witte-Lebhar   Read More

New Telecommunications Law Almost a Reality

In early May, the state legislature of México state voted to ratify the telecommunications law approved by the federal Chamber of Deputies and Senate earlier this year. The approval set in motion the last step of the process for Mexico to enact comprehensive reforms to the telecommunications sector. The approval of more than half the state legislatures is required because the measure involves changes to the Constitution. With strong support from all major parties in Congress, it now appears likely that the measure will be ratified by at least 16 of Mexico’s 32 state legislative bodies.  Carlos Navarro  Read More

Water Woes in Nicaragua; Dragon Mart Project in Mexico Suffers Setback; Brazil Catholic Church and New Pope

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for May 1-3

Nicaragua’s Water Problems Persist Amid Economic Upswing

After dipping into a recession in 2009, Nicaragua has enjoyed steady economic growth: GDP rose 3.6% in 2010, 5.4% in 2011, and 5.2% last year, the Banco Central reported. And yet not only has Nicaragua failed to improve its water services during the recent economic upswing, by some accounts, conditions have actually worsened. An estimated 15% of the population still have no access to "improved" water, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Most observers agree that the problem is primarily an infrastructure issue. Parts of the country have never been connected to any sort of water grid. The infrastructure that does exist is, in many cases, in dire need of maintenance and repair.  -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar  Read More

President Enrique Peña Nieto's Political Agreement with Opposition Parties in Jeopardy

The working agreement that President Enrique Peña Nieto forged with the opposition parties to try to push through important reforms for Mexico appears to be falling apart because of charges that a Cabinet member and a governor are engaging in corrupt practices favoring the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) in upcoming local elections. The agreement, known as the Pacto por México, enabled Peña Nieto to start off his administration on a positive note and demonstrated his willingness to cooperate with the opposition parties.  -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Venezuela's New President Nicolás Maduro Faces Tough Challenges Following Narrow Win

Forty days after the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the larger-than-life head of the Revolución Bolivariana who dominated politics in the last 14 years of Venezuelan democracy, voters in the Caribbean country had to return to the ballot boxes to elect a new president for the 2013-2019 term. Everything indicated that the governing party would repeat its success in the Oct. 7 election), when, with more than 55% of the vote, Chávez buried the electoral aspirations of Henrique Capriles, who received 44.3%. However, Nicolás Maduro, the Revolución Bolivariana candidate hand-picked by Chávez when he was becoming aware that he would not survive, defeated the opposition leader by only 1.83%. - Andrés Gaudín   Read More

Brazil's Catholic Church Waits to See How Pope Francis Addresses Multiple Challenges

Brazil's Catholic community closely followed the papal conclave to choose Benedict's successor. Until the last moment, the hope was that a Brazilian cardinal would be chosen to succeed Pope Benedict Pope Benedict XVI.. The name mentioned most often in the days leading to the election was Odilo Cardinal Scherer, archbishop of São Paulo. While the conclave's selection of Argentina's Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio as the next pope frustrated many Brazilians, the unprecedented choice of a Latin American to head the Catholic Church has been well-received. Among progressive sectors of the Catholic Church, influenced historically by liberation theology, Bergoglio's election was received with certain anticipation about what positions Pope Francis would take on the many challenges that the church faces in the world today.  -José Pedro Martins   Read More

Dragon Mart Project Suffers Setback After Local Authorities Deny Building Permit

Promoters of the controversial Dragon Mart project in Mexico suffered a major setback when the municipality of Benito Juárez in Quintana Roo state denied a building permit for the megaproject. The decision, announced in late April, raises some doubts on whether the project would proceed, although promoters have taken a couple actions that might allow Dragon Mart Mexico to survive: they filed a lawsuit against Benito Juárez, which includes the resort city of Cancún, and also raised the possibility of moving the project to some other site in Mexico. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Will the Dominican Republic Remain Part of Petrocaribe?

The Dominican Republic faces uncertainty on whether it will continue to receive benefits from Venezuela's subregional initiative Petrocaribe, which provides oil to Caribbean nations at preferential prices. The Dominican government has used savings obtained through the Venezuelan assistance program to reduce the deficit by the electric-energy sector instead of spending the money on education, health care, and social projects to improve the living conditions of the poor, contrary to what funding from Petrocaribe is meant to be used for.  -Crosby Girón  Read More

Slow Progress in Colombia Peace Process; Panama Tax Haven for Germans; Questions about Press Prize for Veracruz Governor

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for April 24-26

Colombian Government, Rebels Struggle to Keep Peace Process On Track

Just when the government of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the guerrilla Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) were showing clear signs of progress toward signing an agreement to end a half century of armed conflict, "those who live off war"--as the president called critics who contend that such social conflicts can only be explained using military language--made several alarmist statements aimed at destroying the dialogue taking place in Havana, Cuba. Spokespersons for the government and the rebels had made it known that in May they might announce an agreement on the first of six points--the agrarian issue--included in the conversations begun in November 2012.   -Andrés Gaudín   Read More

Cuba's Food and Sugar Production Remain Below Expectations Despite Reforms

Obtaining food remains a cause for daily concern in Cuban homes because of insufficient domestic food production despite agricultural reforms and plans of President Raúl Castro’s government to spend a record US$1.9 billion this year for purchases on the international market, where prices have increased dramatically.   -Daniel Vázquez   Read More

Panama Becomes Tax Haven for Wealthy Germans

Some of Germany’s richest families, including the Porsche and Jacobs families, have opted for registering their businesses in Panama, a country where tax loopholes persist, revealed German daily newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung in a report published in March. The newspaper obtained the information from British hacker Dan O’Huiginn, who published data regarding German multimillionaires who had registered their companies in Panama on his blog.   -Louisa Reynolds  Read More

Questions Arise About Veracruz Governor’s Commitment to Protect Journalists

The weekly news magazine Proceso and the administration of Veracruz Gov. Javier Duarte Ochoa are at the center of the latest controversy involving the plight of journalists in Mexico. The controversy began on April 10, when Duarte announced that authorities had detained Jorge Antonio Hernández Silva, who was alleged to have killed Proceso reporter Regina Martínez in the state capital of Xalapa in April 2012. Under normal circumstances, Hernández Silva’s arrest would be a significant development in a country where authorities at all levels have failed to solve the murders of dozens of journalists. But a Proceso investigation raised strong questions about the arrest, primarily the inadequate evidence presented against Hernández Silva, a drug addict who was semi-homeless. -Carlos Navarro    Read More

State-run Oil Company PEMEX Inaugurates Electricity-Generating Plant in Tabasco State

In 2003, the Mexican Senate approved changes to the Constitution to allow state-run oil company PEMEX to produce its own electricity, and the decision appears to be paying off. Since that time, PEMEX has constructed a handful of small power plants to supply the oil company with electricity, but the largest project to date was a cogeneration facility inaugurated in April 2013, 10 years after the reform was approved. The plant--in the CPG Nuevo Pemex complex in Tabasco state, just outside of the capital city of Villahermosa—has the capacity to produce 300 megawatts of electricity and as much as 800 tons of steam per hour . -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Pardons Again on Political Agenda in Peru

In April, the hot topic in media news coverage was pardons, and the issue was firmly on the country's political agenda as well. A possible humanitarian pardon for convicted ex-President Alberto Fujimori was receiving extensive news coverage as were allegations that former President Alan García (1985-1990, 2006-2011) pardoned convicted drug traffickers. -Elsa Chanduví Jaña  Read More