Dominican-Haitian Immigration Dispute; Concerns Grow about GMO soy in South America; Mexico Holds 'Black Friday' Sales Weekend

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

Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for November 20-22

Chile's Former President Michelle Bachelet Zeroes In on Second Term with Decisive First-Round Win

Opposition candidate and former President Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010) cruised to victory in Chile’s Nov. 17 first-round presidential election, scooping up nearly twice as many votes as her closest rival, Evelyn Matthei of the governing Alianza coalition, and sending the rest of the crowded field packing. Bachelet, leader of the center-left Nueva Mayoría coalition, won nearly 47% of the vote, well ahead of Matthei (25%) but short of the 50% mark needed to win the presidency outright. "We knew the challenge of winning in just one round would be complicated. We gave it our all and came very close to doing it," she told reporters following the Nov. 17 vote. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar Read More

Questions Raised Throughout South America Regarding Use and Abuse of Agrochemicals

What began as a straight-forward journalistic investigation into modern farming practices in Argentina has turned into something of a regional rallying cry for critics of the US-based firm Monsanto and other large multinational agricultural firms involved in the production of genetically modified (transgenic) seeds and potent agrochemicals, which tend to be used hand in hand with those seeds. Critics worry about the adverse effects Monsanto products such as Roundup--a powerful and widely used herbicide made with the chemical glyphosate--could be having on humans, animals, plant life, water supplies, and the environment in general.  -Andrés Gaudín  Read More



Haiti and the Dominican Republic at Odds Because Ruling Deprives Persons of Haitian Descent of Dominican Citizenship

Two months ago, after Juliana Disguise-Pierre, a Dominican national of Haitian descent and the mother of four, appealed for having been deprived by the Dominican Republic’s Junta Central Electoral (JCE) of Dominican identification and voter cards, the country’s Tribunal Constitucional (TC) issued a ruling that has placed that country and Haiti, its Caribbean-island neighbor, at odds. In its Sept. 25 decision, the TC does not recognize as Dominican citizens persons born as of 1929 of foreign parents "in transit" or with irregular immigration status in the Dominican Republic. The  measure overwhelmingly applies to daughters and sons of Haitian nationals, the largest foreign community settled on Dominican soil. Different estimates put the total of Haitian-Dominicans at more than 200,000, while the rest of citizens of foreign descent number some 35,000. -George Rodríguez   Read More

Mexico’s "Black Friday" Campaign Boosts Consumption Ahead of Holiday Season 

In what some observers have described as a "government-supported Black Friday," retailers in Mexico sponsored the third annual El Buen Fin sales-promotion weekend, offering deep discounts and favorable interest terms on consumer goods and services. The campaign, started in 2011 under President Felipe Calderón’s administration, was intended to revive the economy by encouraging consumption. The federal government supports the effort by providing some funding for promotional activities and giving government workers their Christmas bonus in advance. Any retailer can participate in the effort by simply registering on a Web site created by several business organizations and the Secretaría de Economía (SE). The program has its share of critics, which point out that the campaign causes many families to incur unnecessary debts. -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Congress Includes Special Fund for Border States in 2014 Budget 

The inclusion of a special fund to help residents of northern states that border the US helped ensure easy passage for the 2014 expenditures budget (Presupuesto de Egresos de la Federación) in the Chamber of Deputies. The budget—approved by wide margin of 441 to 26 with four abstentions—obtained support from the majority of the deputies from the center-right Partido Acción Nacional (PAN). The PAN had adamantly opposed President Enrique Peña Nieto's proposal to charge a uniform value-added tax (impuesto al valor agregado, IVA) of 16% to all states in Mexico. The northern states were previously charged an IVA of 11%. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Guatemalan Army Intervenes in Customs Offices to Curb Smuggling

With falling tax revenues attributed to smuggling, President Otto Pérez Molina decided that five of the country’s 12 customs offices would be temporarily taken over by the military in an effort to curb corruption. The legality of the measure has been disputed, and even business representatives, those most affected by smuggling, argue that this is not a viable long-term solution. -Louisa Reynolds   Read More

Saving an Endangered Species in Nicaragua; Peru Disbands Human Rights Subcommittee; Mexico Strengthens Ties with Cuba, Venezuela

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

Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for November 13-15

President Enrique Peña Nieto Grants Pardon to Teacher Wrongly Accused of Killing Seven Police Officers in 2000

In the first test of a new law that expands the power of Mexico’s chief executive to grant pardons, President Enrique Peña Nieto ordered the release of Alberto Patishtán Gómez, a teacher accused of participating in the murder of seven police officers in El Bosque, Chiapas state, in 2000. Patishtán—a member of the Tzotzil community—claims he was wrongly accused of a crime that he did not commit. The teacher was charged with the murders based on testimony from a single witness, the son of El Bosque’s mayor, even though many other eyewitness accounts placed Patishtán far away from the scene.  -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Costa Rica’s Election Campaign Gets Off to Rocky Start

Costa Rica’s election campaign, officially launched early last month, got off to a rocky start, with two presidential candidates resigning--one permanently, the other returning--and a congressional hopeful about to be kicked off of his party’s list. With 13 candidates nominated for this Central American nation’s top job and 27 political parties vying for the 57 seats up for grabs in the unicameral Asamblea Legislativa (AL), the election process is marked by what is seen as the definitive end of Costa Rica’s historic bipartisanship--a process started two elections ago when numerous parties entered the legislature.  -George Rodríguez   Read More

High Court Ruling, Secret Document Discovery Overshadow Argentina's Midterm Elections Results

Argentina’s governing coalition lost ground and yet held on to its congressional majority in midterm elections held Oct. 27. The governing coalition--just as it did four years ago, in the 2009 midterms--lost the country’s five largest districts, areas that together represent nearly 63% of the electorate. Within days of the vote, Argentina’s political scene was shaken by a pair of noteworthy incidents that quickly turned the public’s attention away from the election results: The Corte Suprema de Justicia (CSJ) ruled that a controversial media law,is constitutional and thus immediately applicable. Less than a week later, Defense Minister Agustín Rossi publicly announced the discovery of a complete and perfectly preserved archive of secret documents produced over the course of Argentina’s final civil-military government (1976-1983).  -Andrés Gaudín  Read More 

A Race To Save Nicaragua’s Largest Land Mammal

Born and raised outside Managua in Nicaragua’s Zoológico Nacional, Maya and Carburito will soon be traveling east--aboard a military helicopter--to the Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur (RAAS)--where they will swap their familiar chain-linked enclosure for the leafy wilds of the Wawashang forest. Two-year-old Baird’s tapirs, the youngsters are unwitting protagonists in a public-private initiative to save the trunk-nosed herbivores from extinction. Using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology, researchers involved in the Proyecto Tapir Nicaragua will keep close tabs on the pioneering pair as they try to settle into their new environment. There is no guarantee the introduction will work. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar    Read More

Human Rights Subcommittee Disbanded in Peru After Fujimorista Appointed to Head Group

The controversial appointment of fujimorista deputy Martha Chávez --who vowed to investigate alleged irregularities in Peru’s truth and reconciliation commission--as head of a congressional human rights subcommittee was ratified Nov. 11, days after it appeared that a previous vote in her favor had been overturned. But the subcommittee was later disbanded in what was considered a victory for human rights. Chávez was a party leader under Fujimori, who was condemned in 2009 to 25 years of prison for crimes against humanity. - Elsa Chanduví Jaña    Read More

President Enrique Peña Nieto Moves to Strengthen Relations with Cuba, Venezuela

President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration has taken steps to repair relations with Cuba and Venezuela, which deteriorated during the administration of ex-President Vicente Fox (SourceMex, Nov. 16, 2005) and were uneven at best during the government of former President Felipe Calderón . In early November, the Peña Nieto government reached a series of cooperation agreements with Cuba, including an accord to pardon about US$487 million of Cuba’s debt to Mexico. The administration also announced plans to begin trade talks with Venezuela in 2014. However, some complications developed in the effort to restore trade and diplomatic relations with Venezuela following reports that the Venezuelan military shot down a private Mexican plane flying over its airspace.    -Carlos Navarro    Read More

Protests Continue in Brazil; Mexico Cancels Refinery Project; El Salvador Deals with Deaths of Sea Turtles

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

Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for November 6-8

Venezuela Opens Way for Paraguay to Return to MERCOSUR

After a 16-month rupture in diplomatic relations with Paraguay, the Venezuelan government has reopened binational dialogue. In mid-October Foreign Minister Elías Jaua traveled to Asunción to resolve the reopening of respective embassies and the naming of new ambassadors. In other gestures of rapprochement, on Oct. 30, Jaua invited the Paraguayan government to participate in a ministerial summit of the Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR), and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes "to give him an embrace by phone." Maduro also urged other members of the trade alliance to "urgently bring the fellow nation of Paraguay back to the fold. -Andrés Gaudín   Read More

Rio Teachers Strike Sharpens Brazilian Protest Scene

Four months after the June protests in Brazil brought hundreds of thousands to the streets in a national airing of grievances, such mass demonstrations persist albeit on a smaller, more-focused scale. At the same time, marches continue to conclude with violent clashes between police and protesters. This trend is a result of both a tougher line by authorities as well as a proportionally larger use of black-bloc tactics, whereby masked protesters wearing black pursue direct action to destroy symbolic physical property such as banks, media vehicles, and police cars. The outcome has been widespread destruction of public and private property, mass arrests of civilians, injuries to protesters, and chaotic scenes on the streets of Brazil’s major cities, principally Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Brasília. -Gregory Scruggs Read More

President Enrique Peña Nieto’s Government Launches Major Operation against Caballeros Templarios Cartel in Michoacán State

In early November, the Secretaría de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA) and the federal police assumed control of the port of Lázaro Cárdenas in Michoacán state, in an effort to root out massive corruption and cripple the operations of the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar) drug cartel at one of Mexico’s largest seaports. The federal operation at Lázaro Cárdenas came just days after assailants—presumably members of the Knights Templar--damaged several electrical power plants owned by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), triggering blackouts in at least nine cities. The destruction of the CFE plants was followed by attacks on several gasoline stations. Analysts said the attacks might have been intended as a show of power by the cartels to citizen groups, which have risen in resistance to the cartel, and to the government. -Carlos Navarro Read More

Scores Of Endangered Sea Turtles Wash Up Dead Along Salvadoran Beaches

Conservationists and government authorities are pointing their fingers in very different directions following a recent die-off of sea turtles, hundreds of which have washed up on El Salvador’s shoreline in recent weeks. In mid October, fishers operating along the Pacific beach of El Pimental, in the department of La Paz, reported finding some 100 dead turtles in a single day. Partially decomposed corpses have also littered the beaches of San Diego, El Amatal, and Toluca in the nearby department of La Libertad. Officially, more than 200 turtles died during a troubling three-week span that began in late September, the Ministerio de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (MARN) reported late last month. Environmental groups suspect the real number of turtle deaths is higher still. Most of the dead animals were olive ridley and green turtles, according to MARN. Two other sea turtle species, leatherbacks and hawksbills, are also present in El Salvador. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar  Read More

President Enrique Peña Nieto’s Administration Apparently Cancels Construction of New Refinery in Hidalgo State

Without much fanfare, President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration appears to have put the brakes on an ambitious project to construct the Bicentenario refinery in Tula, Hidalgo state. The facility--one of the largest investment projects launched during former President Felipe Calderón’s administration—was to be constructed next to an existing refinery in Tula. The project was intended to boost Mexico’s capacity to refine crude oil and reduce reliance on imports of gasoline and other fuels. Mexico at present imports about 50% of the gasoline consumed domestically, even though the country is a major producer of crude oil. The fate of the project became apparent with the release of the 2014-2018 business plan for the state-run oil company PEMEX, which left out the facility. -Carlos Navarro Read More

Still Wounded by 2009 Coup, Honduras Heads for Elections that End Historic Bipartisanship

Honduras is headed for its first elections since the much-questioned vote four years ago, within the framework of widespread repression under the de facto regime set up through the bloody 2009 coup that shook this poverty-stricken country to its very foundations and caused deep, unhealed wounds. The vote was held five months after the illegal political-military action that on June 28, 2009, brought to an abrupt end to President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya’s populist government, constitutionally scheduled to finish the following January. Zelaya's wife, Xiomara Castro, is the only woman in the eight-candidate presidential race, which includes the coup’s military leader, former head of the Fuerzas Armadas of Honduras and retired Gen. Romeo Vásquez of the rightist Alianza Patrótica (AP). -George Rodríguez   Read More

Cuba Seeks to Boost Trade Prospects; U.N. Report Urges Mexico to Protect Journalists; Paraguay Congress Clears Privatization Law

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

Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for October 30-31 and November 1

Central America Seeks to Become Biofuel Producer

With the price of fossil fuel rising on the international market, countries all over the world are seeking to boost the use of biofuel. For Central America, a region that boasts some of the world’s most efficient sugarcane producers and already has several ethanol production plants, this represents the opportunity to become a major biofuel exporter. Flavio Castelar, director of Brazil’s Arranjo Produtivo Local do Álcool (APLA), foresees that developed countries’ demand for biofuel will increase, which means that Latin American sugarcane producers will have to improve efficiency to produce the required volumes to meet the domestic demand and export the surplus. -Louisa Reynolds Read More

Bilateral Conflicts in Latin America Persist Despite Integration Efforts

Despite the proliferation of regional and global organizations designed to promote integration and good relations between countries, bilateral conflicts--territorial, political, economic, and environmental--persist in Latin America. In recent weeks, differences have re-emerged between Argentina and Uruguay and between Colombia and Nicaragua, reviving crises supposedly already resolved by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. -Andrés Gaudín   Read More





U.N. Human Rights Review Urges Mexico to Improve Protections for Journalists

Mexico’s inability to protect journalists and human rights defenders were among the issues raised during Mexico’s second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of human rights, held in Geneva on Oct. 23. The process, which comes under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council, allows a country to present an update on advances in human rights over a four-year period but also provides the opportunity for fellow members of the UN to offer their assessment on the state of human rights in the presenter. -Carlos Navarro    Read More

Cuba Seeks Greater Role in Transatlantic Trade with Mariel Megaport and Foreign Trade Zone

Mariel Bay, 45 km from Havana, will become Cuba's main port when the expansion now underway is completed at a cost of about US$950 million and, in addition, a foreign-trade zone will open to attract international business, foreign investment, and new technology, all part of President Raúl Castro's attempts to update the socialist economic model. The project is aimed at generating exports, employment opportunities, funding, technology transfer, and logistics systems and encouraging domestic and foreign companies to set up business, according to the legislative decree signed by the president and published on Sept. 23 in the Gaceta Oficial de Cuba. -Daniel Vázquez   Read More

Paraguay’s Congress Clears Controversial "Privatization" Law

Two months after assuming the Paraguayan presidency, businessman Horacio Cartes has convinced Congress to approve a law giving the government authority to rent out--for a period of up to 40 years and without legislative or judicial oversight--a vast array of state assets and services. Officially named the Ley de Promoción de la Inversión en Infraestructura, the norm is more commonly referred to as the Ley de Participación Pública–Privada, or PPP. Among other things, it allows the executive to offer leases on Paraguay’s two massive binational hydroelectric plants: Itaipú, which it shares with Brazil, and Yacyretá, which it shares with Argentina. -Andrés Gaudín   Read More

President Enrique Peña Nieto Issues Executive Order to Ban Slot Machines, Tighten Regulations for Casino Permits

In an effort to control one of the activities of organized crime in Mexico, President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration has enacted tighter restrictions on casino operations. Peña Nieto issued an executive order banning slot machines and limiting the ability of casino permit holders to rent out or cede their permits to other operators. By issuing the executive order, the president pre-empted the need for the high court (Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación, SCJN) to issue a ruling on the legality of slot machines, a matter that ex-President Felipe Calderón had brought to the court. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Controversy Over Gay Civil Unions in Peru; El Salvador Church Closes Human-Rights Center; More NSA Spying Allegations in Mexico

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

Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for October 23-25

South American Indigenous Groups Demand Recognition, Inclusion

In recent weeks, events throughout South America have pushed indigenous issues back to the regional forefront. In Brazil, indigenous groups demonstrated in defense of the country’s 1988 Constitution--which guarantees many of their rights--as a way to challenge large multinational companies that promote the use of genetically modified seeds. In Chile, ethnic Mapuches, the country’s largest indigenous group, are again challenging the conservative government of President Sebastián Piñera, demanding that the country’s anti-terrorism law--used to subject indigenous people to discriminatory legal procedures be scrapped. In Bolivia and Ecuador, indigenous groups have begun challenging the "friendly" governments of Presidents Morales and Correa. And in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, member states of the Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR) recently sat down with indigenous organizations to analyze an anti-discrimination initiative put forth by Venezuela. -Andrés Gaudín  Read More

Rights Advocates Question "Suspicious" Shutdown of El Salvador’s Tutela Legal

The Salvadoran Catholic Church has shuttered one of the country’s key human rights institutions, the Tutela Legal del Arzobispado, a legal aid office that operated for more than 35 years and collected a huge cache of documents regarding rights violations committed before, during, and after the country’s 1980-1992 civil war. The closure went into effect on Sept. 30, much to the chagrin of Tutela Legal’s approximately dozen employees, who say they were blindsided by the decision. Tutela Legal--known originally as Socorro Jurídico--was founded in 1977 by Archbishop Óscar Romero. The man who currently heads the archdiocese, Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas, offered little in the way of explanation for the shutdown other than to say, via a written statement, that the institution’s work was "no longer relevant." -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar  Read More

Non-marital Civil Union Proposed in Peru

A bill that would legalize non-marital civil unions for same-sex couples has split Peruvians into two camps: those viewing such unions a civil rights issue and others who say it is an attack on the family. Congressman Carlos Bruce, leader of the Concertación Parlamentaria bloc, presented a bill Sept. 12 to establish a legal institution of non-marital civil unions between same-sex couples in recognition of gay and lesbian civil rights and end existing discrimination against that sector of the population. But Lima’s Archbishop Juan Luis Cardinal Cipriani rejected the proposed law. "I do not agree; I don’t believe the people want it. I don’t believe it represents the majority nor do I think that it excludes anyone," he said in his weekly radio program. -Elsa Chanduví Jaña  Read More

New Report Reveals U.S. Spying Operations on ex-President Felipe Calderón

Critics hammered President Enrique Peña Nieto for an overly timid reaction to a report that the US National Security Agency (NSA) spied on him by intercepting his emails and cellular phone communications while he was still a candidate for president (SourceMex, Sept. 11, 2013). Now, new allegations have surfaced in a German magazine that the US was engaged in a massive spying campaign during ex-President Felipe Calderón’s administration (2006-2012), prompting the Peña Nieto government to talk tough again but not take any direct action against the northern neighbor. "This practice is unacceptable, illegitimate and contrary to Mexican law and international law," the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) said in a statement. "In a relationship of neighbors and partners, there is no room for the kind of activities that allegedly took place." -Carlos Navarro Read More

Chamber of Deputies Easily Approves President Enrique Peña Nieto’s Tax-Reform Package

On Oct. 20, the Chamber of Deputies approved a tax-reform plan that includes most of the controversial provisions that President Enrique Peña Nieto proposed. While the Mexican Congress debated the merits of tax reform, a discussion was also underway on whether the country is in the midst of an economic recession. Mexico’s GDP is expected to grow only about 1% in 2013, a stark contrast to earlier estimates that projected an expansion of close to 4% for the year. As has been the case, Mexico’s economic fortunes have been connected to those in the US, and the uncertainty created by recent developments in the US Congress—including the recent two-week shutdown of government operations—has had a direct impact on Mexico. -Carlos Navarro    Read More

Government Increases Military Presence on Dominican Republic-Haiti Border

At the end of May, the Dominican government decided to "reinforce" border security with 1,500 extra troops. This is far from being a recent event, as for years both countries have engaged in joint security operations. Minister of Defense Maj. Gen. Rubén Darío Paulino Sen told the local media that the troops sent to the border would be trained to prevent all sorts of crimes in the border area. This occurred amid a series of media stories regarding the "unchecked flow of illegal immigrants," particularly women and children, across the Dajabón border-crossing point. -Crosby Girón  Read More

Bolivia Seeks Regional Effort Against Corruption; Belize Region Becomes Hub for Contraband; Mexico Seeks to Preserve Indigenous Languages

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

Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for October 16-18

Bolivia Calls for Regional Effort Against Corruption

Bolivia plans to ask the 33 member-countries of the Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (CELAC) to establish common ways of dealing with corruption. President Evo Morales has called for a CELAC meeting in Cochabamba on Nov. 8 with transparency and corruption the only issues on the agenda. President Morales' administration has already proposed fellow Andean countries--Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Chile--adopt anti-corruption strategies that reach beyond their national borders. The administration believes that its war on corruption is the most successful such effort in the region and considers itself to be in a unique position to share its experience with neighboring countries. -Andrés Gaudín   Read More

Ex-Soldier Accused of Killing Chilean Singer Víctor Jara Faces U.S. Civil Suit

History may finally be catching up to a former Chilean Army officer--and long-time resident of the US state of Florida--who allegedly played a lead role in the 1973 murder of famed Chilean singer-songwriter Víctor Jara. Four decades after the iconic musician’s death, suspect Pedro Pablo Barrientos Núñez will finally be forced to explain himself in a court of law, albeit not in Chile--where he has a pending warrant for his arrest--and not with any immediate threat of jail time hanging over his head. In early September, the California-based human rights organization Center For Justice and Accountability (CJA) named Barrientos in a civil suit filed before a US district court in Jacksonville, Florida. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar   Read More

Free Trade Zone in Belize's Corozal District Becomes Hub for Contraband Trade

The Corozal Free Trade Zone, on the Belize-Mexico border, was created to develop jobs and stimulate national and foreign investment in the Corozal district, after the closure of the Liberated Sugar Factory in 1985 caused widespread unemployment in northern Belize and forced thousands of young Belizeans to migrate to southern Mexico and the US. Around 500 containers from China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Canada, Germany, and Paraguay are unloaded every year in this enclave. But there are plenty of indications that the zone plays a particularly significant role in the regional contraband, particularly illegal trade in cigarettes, liquor, clothes, toys, and electronic appliances. -Louisa Reynolds    Read More

Center-Left Parties Pushing for Public Referendum on Energy Reforms

President Enrique Peña Nieto might have sufficient votes in Congress from members of his own Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), its ally the Partido Verde Ecologista de México (PVEM), and the pro-business Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) to pass an energy-reform plan that expands private investment in Mexico’s oil sector. The support in Congress, however, might or might not translate to public support, depending on how the question is framed and who is asked. A handful of public opinion polls taken during the summer months are showing mixed results. While the polls might provide a cross section of public sentiment, center-left opposition groups are pushing for a more formal measure of public opinion: a citizen referendum. -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Researchers Seek Ways to Preserve Indigenous Languages in Mexico

There is strong concern in Mexico that indigenous languages are in danger of dying out if parents and teachers do not encourage younger generations to use these languages. A study by the Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas (CDI) found that parents and teachers in indigenous communities have been promoting the use of Spanish over a native language. The study, based on information provided by the national statistics agency Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI), divided each of Mexico’s indigenous languages into sets of age groups. CDI anthropologist Ludka de Gortari said Maya, the second-most-spoken indigenous language in Mexico, after Náhuatl, was surprisingly also one of the languages that appeared to be losing the most ground. -Carlos Navarro    Read More

Costa Rica Says Nicaragua Adds Insult to Injury, Maintains Diplomacy as Battlefield

Rising tension between Nicaragua and Costa Rica around Isla Portillos has reached new heights, triggered by events developing since last month. On Sept. 17, Costa Rica’s President Laura Chinchilla and Foreign Minister Enrique Castillo broke the news, during the weekly government press conference, that, doubling what it had done at the start of the Isla Portillos dispute

Nicaragua had carved two artificial canals through the area, linking the Río San Juan--which flows eastward next to a major section of the border--to the Caribbean Sea. The two drainage structures--one of them, some 20 to 30 meters wide, the other, half that width, both approximately 200 meters long--were captured in satellite photographs, and some of the images showed a dredge in one of the canals. -, George Rodríguez     Read More

NSA Spying Damages U.S. Relations with Latin America; Mexico Strips National Park Designation from Nevado de Toluca; Nicaragua-Colombia Territorial Row Continues

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

Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for October 9-11

NSA Spying Damages U.S. Relations with Latin America

A wave of indignation spread through the region following revelations by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden that the US spied on Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and other South American leaders. In response, on Sept. 17, the Brazilian president postponed indefinitely her planned October official visit to Washington. A week later, in her speech at the opening session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Rousseff had harsh words regarding US foreign policy and President Barack Obama, saying, "In the absence of the right to privacy, there can be no true freedom of expression and opinion, and therefore no effective democracy." In an almost natural consequence of the general condemnation, Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño spoke for the Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (UNASUR) to say that the regional organization's political leadership had entrusted its Consejo de Defensa to analyze the possibilities for "confronting US espionage." Ecuador has the pro tem presidency of UNASUR. -Andrés Gaudín    Read More

Ecuador Forgets, Colombia Wins

With three controversial agreements, the Ecuadoran government decided to forget incidents that strained its diplomatic relations with neighboring Colombia. These include the aggression Ecuador suffered from Colombia's bombing of Angostura and downplaying the damages caused by the fumigations to eradicate coca fields in Colombia territory, but which affected the health and destroyed the crops of Ecuadoran campesinos living near the border. These agreements show that the Ecuadoran government has made consolidating trade relations and normalizing diplomatic relations with Colombia a priority, even when this again puts at risk the border communities, which will also see their ability to organize reduced because of the offers of insufficient economic compensation. -Luis Ángel Saavedra   Read More

No End In Sight For Nicaragua-Colombia Sea-Border Standoff

A maritime border dispute that was supposed to have been settled last year by the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) continues to fuel a war of words between Nicaragua and Colombia, whose respective leaders--Presidents Daniel Ortega and Juan Manuel Santos--dug their heels in still deeper in recent weeks with fresh legal challenges that threaten to extend the discord for years to come. Last November, ICJ, upheld Colombia’s claim to the Caribbean archipelago of San Andrés--even though its islands are far closer to Nicaragua--but established Nicaraguan sovereignty over much of the surrounding sea. The Santos administration made it clear from the start it was unwilling to accept the loss. The only way Colombia will accept changes to its boundary lines, Santos explained, is through direct negotiations with Nicaragua. Nicaragua says there is nothing to negotiate--except maybe how best to implement the ICJ’s binding decision. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar  Read More

Environmental Groups Protest Government’s Decision to Remove National Park Status from Nevado de Toluca

Two environmentally sensitive areas in central Mexico--Nevado de Toluca National Park and the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve--have come under increased scrutiny because of the potential for long-term damage to the habitats in the two sites. Nevado de Toluca, southwest of Mexico City in México state, made headlines after President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration moved to strip the national-park designation from the site to remove restrictions on development. The move was opposed by environmental groups in Mexico and overseas, which urged the administration to reconsider its decision. There was also renewed attention on the monarch-butterfly reserve after a new study revealed that small-scale cutting of trees was continuing in the protected site despite severe restrictions imposed by the federal government in 2007. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

U.S. Treasury Identifies Honduran Drug Kingpins, U.S. Ambassador Warns Against Aiding Traffickers

Sept. 19 was a hectic day in the struggle against drug trafficking in Honduras. The events began with the US Treasury Department revealing the identity of seven people and several businesses as part of the Honduran drug-trafficking gang Los Cachiros. Addressing a conference on money laundering early that afternoon, US Ambassador to Honduras Lisa Kubiske warned financial institutions as well as people helping to launder assets about the risk they place themselves in. Late that evening, Policía Nacional (PN) chief Juan Carlos "El Tigre" Bonilla told reporters that members of the Cobra elite police strike force along with Army troops had secured more than 100 assets--among them real estate that included a zoo, vehicles, bank accounts--worth more than US$500 million, successfully closing an intelligence operation launched seven years ago. -George Rodríguez    Read More

Government Reduces Growth Projections After Recent Storms

The Mexican government has reduced its growth forecast for 2013 because of the two storm systems that hit Mexico in mid-September, causing significant damage in a large area of the country. The Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público (SHCP) now projects GDP growth in 2013 at 1.7%, compared with an earlier estimate of 1.8%. Many private analysts suggest, however, that the SHCP has overstated its economic projections, particularly since the country’s economic performance was already much more sluggish than projected for the first half of the year. In a recent survey by the central bank (Banco de México, Banxico) among private economists, the average of projections for Mexico’s GDP this year was 1.4%. The economic projections have prompted a debate on whether the tax plan proposed by President Enrique Peña Nieto is what the economy needs to recover. -Carlos Navarro Read More