Anti-corruption Team to Visit Haiti, Venezuelan President Uses Decree Power To Fight "Devastating Economic War,"

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

Organization of American States Anti-corruption Team to Visit Haiti, Once Ranked Most Corrupt Country

The Organization of American States (OAS) is sending members of its anti-corruption team on a tour of Caribbean nations, and one of its stops is Haiti. In 2006, the massively impoverished French-speaking island country ranked as the most corrupt of the 163 nations included in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), a yearly study the Berlin-based nongovernmental organization Transparency International (TI) has put out since 1995--two years after it was founded. Meanwhile, the Haitian government is pressing Congress to complete passage of a bill for corruption prevention and suppression, which the Senate approved in May 2013 but has yet to be voted on by the lower house.George Rodríguez Read More

Self-Defense Groups Attempt to Protect Residents from Criminal Organizations in Guerrero State
While most of the front-page headlines in Mexico have centered on the ongoing violence in Michoacán state, a similar chaotic situation has developed in neighboring Guerrero state, where local communities have formed self-defense militias, known as autodefensas, to defend themselves against the drug cartels and criminal organizations that are extorting and terrorizing communities around the state. A study by the semi-independent Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (CNDH) discovered that self-defense groups are present in more than half of Guerrero's 81 municipalities. The study, released in mid-December 2013, said the 46 municipalities where autodefensa groups are present account for almost two-thirds of the state's population of about 3.5 million. Carlos Navarro Read More

Venezuelan President Uses Decree To Fight "Devastating Economic War"
Locked in an exhausting standoff with Venezuela’s primary economic power brokers, the Venezuelan government, for the first time since the launch of the Bolivarian Revolution in 1999, is finding itself at odds with some of its own supporters. The country's chaotic economic situation is fueling discontent not just among the government’s opponents but also among some of its traditional supporters. To reverse the situation--and save the country from a "devastating economic war" launched by leading business and opposition groups--President Nicolás Maduro recently signed a pair of decrees. The first introduced a "band system" to regulate currency exchange. Government backers support the measures, even if they do not necessarily grasp their true meaning. The second limits companies to a maximum profit margin of 30%. Opposition leaders are up in arms, saying the decrees amount to "stealth devaluation." Andrés Gaudín Read More

Belize’s Booming Tourism Industry Strains Country’s Precarious Wastewater-Management Facilities
San Pedro, a town on the southern part of the island of Ambergris Caye, in the Belize District, used to be a sleepy fishing village until word of its natural beauty got around and it became one of the most popular tourist destinations of the Caribbean, widely recommended in most travel guides as an ideal location for scuba diving. This transformation has come hand in hand with a change in the population of the town, and today, according to official figures, San Pedro has a population of about 13,381, the second-largest town in the Belize District and the largest in the Belize Rural South constituency. However, this inevitably means that the dynamics of the island’s environment have also been altered as Ambergris Caye has increasingly suffered the effects of pollution from a number of sources: the oily trail left behind by boats and cruise ships, domestic sewage originating from toilets, sinks, and other domestic sources, solid waste, agrochemicals, and industrial effluents. Louisa Reynolds Read More

President-Elect Michelle Bachelet Announces Cabinet Choices
After routing the right in December’s runoff election, President-elect Michelle Bachelet now faces the considerable challenge of turning her broad campaign coalition--a loose affiliation of center-left and left parties known as the Nueva Mayoría--into a viable governing bloc. The incoming leader took her first major step toward that goal late last month, introducing a Cabinet chosen to appease her traditional power base while at the same time reach out to her more recently acquired allies, namely the far-left Partido Comunista de Chile (PCCh) and Izquierda Ciudadana (IC). Benjamin Witte-Lebhar Read More


Federal Government Reaches Truce with Yaqui in Aqueduct Dispute
President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration has reached a truce with Yaqui Indian communities in their dispute about water rights in the Río Yaqui. The dispute centers on the Acueducto Independencia, a waterway that captures 634 gallons of water per second from the Río Yaqui and diverts it through 130 km of pipeline between Presa El Novillo and the state capital of Hermosillo. After months of negotiation, the Peña Nieto administration and Yaqui representatives finally reached an agreement on Jan. 21, guaranteeing that the water extracted from the Río Yaqui would only be used for human consumption in Hermosillo and that the administration would respect court rulings spelling out the rights of the region’s Yaqui and campesino communities. Carlos Navarro Read More

Panama Canal Expansion Grinds to a Halt, Indigenous Group to Oppose Ecuadoran Oil Push, AH1N1 Virus Reappears in Mexico

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

Musicians Hold Concert to Promote Caballeros Templarios Cartel in Michoacán State

On Feb. 2, the music-promotion company Andaluz Music organized a megaconcert featuring popular performers of narcocorridos, including the groups Los de la A and Calibre 50. The narcocorridos are part of the música alterada movement, which uses a narrative format to highlight the lifestyle and violent actions of organized crime, including acts of revenge and retaliation against rivals. The show, which lasted about 10 hours, was held at the Pabellón Don Vasco in Morelia, a venue owned by the state of Michoacán. During the performance, Ríos and Los de A made no secret of their loyalty to the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel, Given the controversial nature of the concert, it was remarkable that authorities gave their approval so easily, even using state police officers to provide security. Carlos Navarro Read More

Costa Rica's Elections Go to Faceoff Between Leading Candidates Whose Positioning Was Unexpected

Costa Rica’s presidential election goes, for the second time in this country’s political history, to a faceoff between the two most voted candidates, since none of 13 hopefuls managed to round up more than 40% of the vote. The results of the Feb. 2 election were not a surprise regarding the need for the second round, but the candidates’ positioning was astonishing. After having led most pre-election polls, San José Mayor Johnny Araya of the ruling social democratic Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) suffered a major blow, along with his party, when he did not win the preliminary electronic results. Instead, Luis Guillermo Solís, a political scientist and university professor and a representative of the the center-left opposition Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC), received the most votes. The runoff between Solís and Araya is set for April 6. George Rodríguez   Read More

Argentina Devalues Currency; Braces for Opposition Attacks

Following Argentine legislative elections that narrowed the gap between the opposition and the ruling party, power groups and major media have pushed President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) to devalue the country’s currency. Though opposition parties gained ground, they did not win the election.The government had held that its efforts to maintain monetary stability was a major achievement allowing it to enrich foreign-exchange reserves and develop social policy. However, on Jan. 24, persistent market movement culminated with the end of monetary stability, one of the pillars of the Kirchner administrations that began in 2003 with the late President Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) and continued under his wife who was elected following his death in 2007. Andrés Gaudín   Read More

Indigenous Group Uses "Living Forest" Model to Oppose Ecuadoran Oil Push

Under renewed pressure from government-backed oil interests, the Kichwa people of Sarayaku, in the Ecuadoran Amazonía, are employing a new tool to defend their lands and lifestyle: an alternative-development model that challenges the classic concepts of wealth and poverty espoused by most western governments and international organizations. The Ecuadoran government has decided to include Sarayaku--along with the territories of other indigenous groups in Ecuador’s southern Amazonian area--in a new oil concession process. The people of Sarayaku, as a result, are mobilizing to prevent drilling on their lands. As part of their strategy, they have come up with a development proposal that stresses the sacred nature of their territory, that re-evaluates concepts regarding quality of life, and that respects their spirituality and right to make independent economic decisions. Luis Ángel Saavedra   Read More

Panama Canal Expansion Work Grinds to Halt

The expansion of the Panama Canal, which handles 5% of the world’s maritime trade, was suspended on Jan. 20 because of an acrimonious dispute between the Spanish-led building consortium Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) and the Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP), the autonomous agency that manages the canal, regarding who should pay the US$1.6 billion needed to complete the ambitious project. The expansion of the 80 km cargo route that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans included the construction of a third set of locks that would accommodate larger post-Panamax ships travelling from North America to Asia and was originally expected to cost about US$5.25 billion. However, the overruns could increase that to almost US$7 billion. Louisa Reynolds  Read More

AH1N1 Virus Reappears in Mexico in Early 2014; No Health Emergency Declared

There was a time when the mention of AH1N1 flu brought extreme concern, even a sense of panic, to the Mexican public. This was especially the case in the aftermath of the pandemic that followed the outbreak of the virus in central Mexico in March and April 2009. The AH1N1 virus infected 70,000 Mexicans, resulting in 1,300 deaths that year. The AH1N1 virus has reappeared in the first several weeks of 2014, with health authorities reporting almost 3,700 cases of influenza between Jan. 1 and Feb. 7, including more than 3,110 of AH1N1 infections. Despite the moderately high number of flu deaths, the outbreak did not attract the same type of front-page headlines as the 2009 pandemic. "The major difference between the situation we experienced in 2009 and now is that we have access to better medical information and an ample supply of vaccines, which have been distributed throughout the country," said Enrique Ramos Flores, tourism secretary in Jalisco state. Carlos Navarro   Read More

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

Nicaraguan Cane Cutters Face Health Issues; Mexico Launches Anti-Kidnapping Campaign; Bolivia's Evo Morales Seeks Re-Election

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

Nicaraguan Cane-Cutter Movement Brings New Attention To Central America’s Kidney-Disease Epidemic

In Chichigalpa, Nicaragua’s tierra del ron y del azúcar (land of rum and sugar), hundreds of men who developed a "mystery" illness while working in local sugarcane fields are seeking compensation from their former employer, the powerful conglomerate Grupo Pellas. So far the cañeros (cane cutters), all of them with the debilitating medical condition known as chronic kidney disease (CKD), have failed to secure either money or medical attention. Their quest did, however, put them in the crosshairs earlier this month of a police assault that left one person dead and another, a 14-year-old boy, half-blind and fighting for his life. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar  Read More

Execution of Mexican Citizen in Texas Reopens Controversy on Capital Punishment, Consular Rights

The long-standing conflict between Mexico and the US regarding the death penalty resurfaced in late-January after the state of Texas decided to move forward with the execution of Mexican national Édgar Tamayo Arias. Tamayo, convicted of killing a Houston police officer in 1994, became the ninth Mexican citizen executed by a US state since 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. All but one of the executions have been carried out by the state of Texas, including the high-profile cases of José Ernesto Medellín Rojas in 2008 and Humberto Leal García in 2011. At the heart of all the cases was the failure by local law-enforcement authorities to comply with US international obligations, specifically the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Article 36 of the treaty, which the US ratified in 1969, requires that any foreign national who is arrested be given immediate access to consular staff from his or her home country. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales Announces Re-election Plans

As Bolivian President Evo Morales begins the last year of his second term, his re-election as president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia appears assured. If elected next October, he could continue in office until 2020. Both sympathetic and unfriendly political scientists and analysts--in Bolivia social tensions have reached an extreme in which there is no room for middle-of-the-road or undefined positions--believe that, based on current economic indicators and inclusive social policies that have brought the majority indigenous population into economic and educational systems, there’s no possibility that the right could oust the current government in an election. -Andrés Gaudín Read More

Building Collapses and Severe Shortage Worsen Housing Situation for Cubans

Buildings that received little or no maintenance for decades, faulty construction, frequent collapses, and an overall 39% of homes in Cuba in poor or fair condition are worsening the housing situation on the island, confirmed government reports and details from the most recent population census. Cuba has more than 3 million houses, of which 61% are considered to be in good condition, but the rest are in fair or poor condition. The housing crisis is a recurring theme in demographic studies on Cuban families because of the generational issues caused by several generations of the same family having to live together, including those who were previously married and, after divorcing, were never able to move into independent housing. -Daniel Vázquez  Read More

President Enrique Peña Nieto Announces New Anti-Kidnapping Campaign

President Enrique Peña Nieto has unveiled a new strategy to prevent kidnappings and find missing persons that will shift the focus to intelligence gathering. The new plan, announced in late January, seeks to learn from the failed strategies of preceding administrations, primarily those of ex-Presidents Ernesto Zedillo , Felipe Calderón, and Vicente Fox. The Peña Nieto administration does not exactly have a stellar record when it comes to kidnappings. In fact, the number of abductions during the president’s first year in office increased significantly from the last year of the Calderón administration. This increase in abductions is what prompted the administration to put together an anti-kidnapping strategy, which places less emphasis on prosecution of the crime and more on intelligence gathering and prevention. -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Rights Groups Say Peru's New Law Protects "Trigger Happy" Police, Military

Numerous national and international human rights organizations are questioning a new law that gives police and the military more leeway to use lethal force "in the line of duty." President Ollanta Humala enacted the norm on Jan. 13. Ley 30151 modifies Article 20, Subsection 11, of the Código Penal, which exempted police and members of the armed forces from criminal liability in cases where, "in the line of duty and using their weapons in a prescribed manner, one causes injury or death." The Defensoría del Pueblo, Peru’s autonomous ombud’s office, agrees that "law enforcement should be given the tools it needs to tackle organized crime, terrorism, drug trafficking and common crime, as well as address the violence that can result from social conflicts. But it warned that the new regulations put everyone’s lives at risk by allowing the use of weapons without regard to established policing regulations. -Elsa Chanduví Jaña Read More

Guatemalan Dictator Could Escape Justice; Tension in Michoacan; Paraguay Rejoins MERCOSUR

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for January 22-24

Former Dictator Efraín Ríos Montt Could Escape Justice

Two recent developments in the complex web of legal maneuvering surrounding the trial of former dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-1983) have made it even more unlikely that he will ever be imprisoned for human rights violations committed during Guatemala’s 36-year armed conflict. The trial, set to resume in April 2014, was postponed again until January 2015, purportedly because of the court’s busy schedule. With survivors facing threats and harassment, their attorneys fear that, if the trial is resumed, more than half the witnesses will be unwilling to testify again. In addition, on Oct. 22, 2013, the Corte de Constitucionalidad (CC) instructed the Corte Suprema de Justicia (CSJ) to overturn its prior ruling that Ríos Montt could not seek amnesty. -Louisa Reynolds   Read More

Tensions Remain High in Michoacán State, as Self-Defense Groups Confront Drug Cartel

The ongoing violent dispute between self-defense militias and the drug-trafficking organization Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar) in Michoacán state has escalated in recent weeks, and the presence of the Army and federal police appears to have worsened the situation. The Army insists that the self-defense militias are unnecessary and illegal and that the federal government will take charge of going after the Caballeros Templarios, an offshoot of La Familia de Michoacán, which once dominated the state. Local residents counter that self-defense groups, which have been formed in about one-third of the state, are necessary because federal authorities have been ineffective in eradicating the drug cartel, which continues to make life miserable for many residents. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Chilean Rights Groups Applaud Demise Of Government-Backed 'Anti-Protest' Bill

Two days after losing last month’s presidential runoff, the Chilean right suffered a second stinging defeat, this time in the lower house of Congress, the Cámara de Diputados, which voted Dec. 17 to reject a controversial law-and-order bill known popularly as the Ley Hinzpeter. The bill--a key item in President Sebastián Piñera’s legislative agenda--was first presented in late 2011 by then Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter (now minister of defense). It was designed to give authorities added leverage in clamping down on street demonstrations. The bill’s demise (the Cámara voted 51-43 against it) added insult to injury for Piñera’s conservative Alianza coalition, whose faint hopes of retaining the presidency had been dashed less than 48 hours earlier by the dismal Election Day performance of its candidate, Evelyn Matthei, who earned less than 38% of the vote in the Dec. 15 runoff -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar   Read More

Polls Show Costa Rica’s Traditional Political Center Threatened from Left and Right

Since the five-week revolution of 1948--sparked by a congressional decision to annul a presidential election--when the present Second Republic was founded, bipartisanship has occupied the Costa Rican political stage, in the center--both center-right and center left. Through the years this evolved so that the two traditional players--the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) and the social democratic Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN)--became the two election options. But massive dissatisfaction with the PLN and the PUSC, held responsible for a deteriorating standard of living and a rising crime rate, has opened the door for candidacies from the far left and the far right. Voters are considering the two options even though they continue to view themselves as ideologically "centrists." -George Rodríguez   Read More

Paraguay’s Decision to Rejoin MERCOSUR Revitalizes Trade Bloc

In just two hours, Paraguay’s Congress produced a bit of news that immediately made major changes to the region’s political map. Following a Senate decision eight days earlier, Paraguayan deputies on a split vote Dec. 18 agreed to rejoin the Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR), a trade association it helped create in 1991 along with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay . Venezuela joined in 2012. Immediately after voting to rejoin MERCOSUR, Paraguay’s Congress also decided to recognize the democratic government in Caracas, re-establish diplomatic relations broken 18 months earlier, endorse Venezuela’s MERCOSUR membership, and lift a declaration declaring Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro persona non grata. Together these measures re-established the equilibrium broken on June 22, 2012, when the rightist Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico (PLRA) and Partido Colorado (PC) toppled the constitutional government of President Fernando Lugo in a parliamentary coup d’état. -Andrés Gaudín    Read More

Deportations of Mexican Citizens Set to Break Record during U.S. President Barack Obama’s Administration

Undocumented Mexican immigrants in the US, uncertain whether Congress will finally consider immigration-reform legislation in 2014, are facing high deportations, including deportations of many men and women who have been in the US longer than 10 years. Immigrant-rights organizations say deportations of Mexicans have surged during the current administration, approaching a record of 2 million people since US President Barack Obama took office in 2008. The latest data from Mexico’s immigration agency (Instituto Nacional de Migración, INM) indicates that 332,000 Mexican nationals were deported in 2013. And, as Mexicans fight to stay in the US, they are also making demands on the Mexican government—namely the right to make their votes count in Mexican elections. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Tight Election Expected in El Salvador; Zapatista Uprising 20 Years Later; Paraguayans Protest Corruption

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for January 15-17

Accusations Fly in Final Stretch of Tight Salvadoran Presidential Race

Less than three weeks before voters head to the polls to select a replacement for outgoing leader Mauricio Funes, El Salvador’s marathon presidential race remains too close to call. Norman Quijano of the far-right Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA) and Salvador Sánchez Cerén of the leftist Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) are expected to finish first and second in the Feb. 2 election, though not necessarily in that order. Neither, though, is likely to earn the 50% plus one valid votes needed to win the five-candidate contest outright, meaning the two top vote getters will have to square off in a runoff. The second-round election, should it be necessary, will take place March 9. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar   Read More

Ousting Of Bogotá Mayor Presents New Challenge To Colombia Peace Talks

As Colombia’s next presidential election approaches, the far right has yet to come up with a candidate who appears capable of giving the incumbent, President Juan Manuel Santos, a run for his money. Barring a major turn of political events, there is no reason to believe Santos won’t win the May 25 contest. The one thing that could derail his chances would be a collapse of the peace talks with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) . The far right is bent on dashing the Colombian public’s dreams of peace. Last November, the sector falsely accused the FARC of planning to assassinate former President Álvaro Uribe, A month later, the uribistas again tried to put an end to the peace talks by employing the services of Procurador General (Inspector General) Alejando Ordóñez, a government official who owes his post to backroom political dealings. On Dec. 9, Ordóñez sacked the country’s second-most-important elected official, Bogotá Mayor Gustavo Petro. -Andrés Gaudín   Read More

Zapatista Uprising 20 Years Ago Left Lasting Impression on Mexico

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) share one important date, Jan. 1, 1994. That is the date when both the agreement and the Zapatista movement officially became part of the Mexican reality. NAFTA and other efforts to open Mexico to foreign investment were part of the neoliberal economic policies promoted by ex-President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, which critics said would increase the gap between the wealthy and the poor. The EZLN used the launch of the agreement to push for greater economic and cultural rights for indigenous communities and to bring attention to the economic disparities in Mexico. Opinions are mixed on whether NAFTA has been good for Mexico, but most observers suggest that the Zapatista uprising had positive consequences for Mexico. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Paraguayans Protest Corruption

No Paraguayan living today can remember playing a significant role in an important political decision. Since the time of their grandparents, no generation until now had changed the course of history. As 2013 drew to a close, young Paraguayans made an unprecedented protest against political corruption. Disgusted by legislators’ efforts to withhold information from the public, citizens took to the streets on Oct. 22. Two weeks earlier, Congress had voted to criminalize any attempt to look into the background and/or assets of public officials. After the first protest--an unusual event in Paraguay--things moved quickly. Forced by popular protests to take action, Paraguay’s Corte Suprema de Justicia (CSJ) ruled the same day that information about officials, their activities, and their salaries are in the public domain. It also ruled the right of privacy cannot be used to block a person or news media representative from getting that information. -Andrés Gaudín  Read More

Former Haitian Dictator "Bébé Doc" Duvalier Fights for Funds Frozen in Switzerland

Jean-Bertrand "Bébé Doc" Duvalier (1971-1986), who at the age of 19 inherited the ruthless and corrupt dictatorship of his father François (1957-1971, president for life since 1964) and retained his grip on power for the next fifteen years, is in Haiti facing charges of corruption and seeing about US$5 million of his ill-gotten fortune frozen in Switzerland and about to be turned over to the Haitian government. -George Rodríguez   Read More

Federal Government Proposes Expanding Mexico City Airport; Environmental Groups Oppose Plan

The federal government has proposed expanding the Mexico City airport in an easterly direction, constructing new facilities on land that the federal government has acquired near Lago de Texcoco in México state. The proposal has met with resistance from environmental groups and from the former director of the Comisión Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA), who fear that authorities will move forward without considering the consequences for the environment. Environmental advocates warn that the expansion could disrupt the migratory patterns of birds and threaten the water-distribution system for Mexico City and parts of México state.   -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Poverty, Migration in Honduras; NAFTA's 20th Birthday; Military Attacks Small-Scale Miners in Ecuador

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

NAFTA Completes 20 Years of Existence with Mixed Results

On Jan. 1, 2014, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) completed 20 years of existence, amid varying opinions on whether the agreement has been good for Mexico. The agreement has certainly brought significant benefits for a segment of the population, primarily middle class and wealthy Mexicans. Critics suggest the agreement has personally not benefited the majority of Mexicans. The question after two decades is whether on balance the benefits of the agreement outweigh its negative aspects, including reducing tariffs that severely harmed producers of corn and other important agricultural commodities and derailed Mexico’s efforts to attain self-sufficiency in food production. -Carlos Navarro  Read More

An Unstoppable Tide of Femicides in Dominican Republic

Femicide in the Dominican Republic is a serious problem that the authorities have failed to address. According to recent reports, the Caribbean country has the third-highest femicide rate in Latin America. In 2011, 230 femicides were recorded, according to the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR), which compiles statistics from the police as well as the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Forenses (INACIF). In 2012, 103 femicides were reported, and, during the first half of 2013, 140 Dominican women died as a result of acts of violence, a figure that includes 69 cases recorded as femicides. -Crosby Girón   Read More

Ecuadoran Government Alleges Mafia Involvement In Small-Scale Mining

Early last November, an incident between a military platoon and Shuar communities living on the banks of the Río Zamora, in southern Ecuador’s Amazon region, resulted in the death of an indigenous man named Freddy Taish. Later that same day, in a nationwide broadcast, the government blamed the incident on foreign "mafias" involved in arms and drugs trafficking and money laundering. Authorities say the outside criminal groups have infiltrated the Zamora area’s artisan (small-scale) mining industry. Artisan mining is a subsistence activity traditionally carried out by local indigenous and campesino communities. Domingo Ancuash, a longtime Shuar leader, believes the crackdown resulted from his community's vocal opposition to mining concessions granted in the region to multinational mining interests. - Luis Ángel Saavedra    Read More

Tens of Thousands of Undocumented Hondurans Caught and Deported in 2013

Migrating to the US in search of finding the opportunity they lack in their country to overcome their dire socioeconomic situation is nothing new to Hondurans. Neither is the risk of being caught along the lengthy, perilous way and sent back. Some 74,000 undocumented Hondurans were deported last year, marking an abrupt end--however calculated the risk--to their quest for labor opportunities and improved income to support their families back home. -George Rodríguez   Read More

Venezuela’s Chavistas Gain Strength; Opposition Split After Elections

Following municipal elections Dec. 8 in which Venezuela’s governing party confirmed its political primacy, the right-wing opposition is reconsidering a strategy that set Henrique Capriles up as the leader of the Mesa de Unidad Democrática (MUD). During the past five years, the opposition had focused its efforts on Capriles, a task that was not always easy. Voter turnout in the municipal elections reached a record of nearly 60%, with the governing Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV) winning 79% of the mayoral races in 337 municipalities. The ruling party had nearly 5.2 million votes while the opposition’s total came in a little under 4.1 million. Although not directly comparable, the gap between December municipal elections and the April presidential contest increased by nearly 1.1 million votes. -Andrés Gaudín    Read More

Telecommunications Regulator Announces Auction of Television Frequencies

When President Enrique Peña Nieto and the Congress proposed comprehensive changes to the telecommunications sector in 2013, they promised to enact a law that would bring greater democracy to the broadcast media. The telecommunications law approved in March 2013 included the creation of an independent agency, the Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFETEL), which was established to push for a more democratic broadcast sector. The IFETEL, which replaced the largely ineffective Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones (COFETEL), is taking its constitutionally mandated mission seriously, and this was reflected in the institute’s first major action. In early January, the agency announced the auction for 246 digital television frequencies around the country and in the process indicated that the two existing networks would not be eligible to participate. -Carlos Navarro  Read More