Uruguay Opposes TiSA and Effort by U.S., European Union to Control the Flow of Digital Information

The strong domestic dispute that, during the first six months of Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez’s term, muddied the waters of the Frente Amplio (FA) ended in early September. On Sept. 7, the president and his ministers adopted as their own the recommendations from an FA congress and closed the controversial negotiations on Uruguay’s eventual participation in the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), an accord promoted by some of the biggest US and European service-industry corporations.   NotiSur, October 2, 2015

By Jake Sandler
On the surface, the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) appears to be a tool to renovate and enhance the services sector of existing international trade agreements, particularly the more ephemeral and immaterial aspects of global services commerce such as the trade and migration of digital information and Internet services across national borders. Therefore, we might think of TiSA as a transnational data-flow agreement.

TiSA’s overall promotional framework is that the agreement would stimulate the growth of the services sector (by far the most robust and important sector of the US, EU and many other highly developed nations’ economies) by opening up channels of access and better regulating for fair practices.

However, this agreement--predominantly designed and pushed by the US and the EU, along with Taiwan, Israel, Chile and New Zealand--has come under harsh criticism for its suspicious focus on regulation mechanisms to control of information flow. This is a subject that whistleblower Edward Snowden has made so potent a topic for many people throughout leftist communities in the Western hemisphere.

Uruguay’s recent decision under President Tambaré Vázquez of the leftist Frente Amplio coalition to drop out of the deal is highly representative of the general criticism of the agreement. The decision of  the Vázquez administration is certainly not motivated by economic interest, as Uruguay would likely benefit from new opportunities to invest overseas and new markets for exporting their own services. Uruguay views TiSA as a threat to information privacy and freedom of information. The South American country also fears that this deal would give the US and the EU a disproportionately strong amount of control over international data flow.

With Uruguay decision to drop out, six other Latin American countries remain part of TiSA: Chile, Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Panama.

Controversy, WikiLeaks
In June of 2014, WikiLeaks released a document from the TiSA negotiations called the "Financial Services Annex," This document reveals that the talks were shrouded in secrecy, a clear departure from the World Trade Organization’s traditional template. The break-away group of  WTO nations  conducting the TiSA talks, led by the US and the EU, is often referred to as the Real Good Friends of Services Club.

Furthermore the WikiLeaks report investigation found that:

• TiSA is designed for and in close consultation with the global finance industry, whose greed and recklessness has been blamed for successive crises and which continues to dominate rulemaking in global institutions.
• A sample of provisions from this leaked text show that governments signing on to TiSA will: be expected to lock in and extend their current levels of financial deregulation and liberalisation; lose the right to require data to be held onshore; face pressure to authorise potentially toxic insurance products; and risk a legal challenge if they adopt measures to prevent or respond to another crisis.

Ban on Access to Source Codes 
TiSA also contains stipulations that require an open access for source codes of all member nations. For example, the Mayor of Munich has already taken the step of making a mandatory switch of all public systems to open source systems like LibreOffice or OpenOffice.While this can be considered a part of the framework of creating openness and transparency, the second edge of the blade is that it also knocks down national and subnational barriers of protection against the reach of other nations into their own public information flow.

U.S. Producers Seek Countervailing Duty on Imports of Mexican Sugar

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Article from SourceMex, April 9

The dispute between the US and Mexico on sugar trade has erupted again following a request by the American Sugar Coalition (ASC) to the US government to impose anti-dumping and countervailing duties against imports of Mexican sugar. In a petition filed before the US International Trade Commission (ITC), the ASC alleges that the Mexican government is subsidizing sugar production, costing the US sugar industry about US$1 billion in net income for the 2013-2014 crop year. The complaint points out that government subsidies have resulted in a bumper sugarcane crop and large surplus of sugar in Mexico, which has led the Mexican industry to increase exports significantly. Mexico produced a record crop of 7 million tons of sugar in 2012-2013 Carlos Navarro Read More

Costa Rica Begins Process to Join Alianza del Pacífico Amid Skepticism, Opposition

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Article from NotiCen, March 27

Costa Rica’s outgoing government is keen on becoming a member of the exclusive club of Latin American economies in the Alianza del Pacífico (AP), much to the skepticism and, in some cases, outright opposition voiced by some quarters. On Feb. 10, in Colombia’s northern Caribbean city of Cartagena de Indias, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla--whose four-year term ends May 8--signed a declaration for Costa Rica to adhere to the AP’s Framework Agreement, thus beginning the process to become a full member of the regional economic and trade integration bloc. George Rodríguez Read More

Mexican Congress Approves Energy Reform; Peru Cracks Down on Social Protests; Costa Rica Spots Illegal Helicopter Landing Sites

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for December 18-20

CARICOM Nations Intensify Push for Slavery Reparations

Member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) continue to press their case for indemnities from European nations that engaged in the transatlantic slave trade following a Dec. 9 meeting of the CARICOM Reparations Commission. This meeting followed the international attention achieved by Caribbean heads of state during their September addresses to the UN General Assembly. Both Prime Ministers Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda and Ralph Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines used the UN bully pulpit to state their case. The latter will assume the rotating presidency of CARICOM in January 2014 and intends to make the reparations issue a cornerstone of his agenda.Fourteen countries have signed on to CARICOM’s position, which will focus on the governments of the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands. Several Anglophone Caribbean nations, Haiti, and Suriname, all CARICOM member states, were the respective colonies of the aforementioned European countries.  -Gregory Scruggs   Read More

Congress Easily Approves Energy Reform Plan; PRI, PAN Majorities Key to Passage

A little more than a year after taking office, President Enrique Peña Nieto has succeeded in reaching one of his most important goals: pushing through an overhaul of the energy sector, particularly the state-run oil company PEMEX . The reforms, which would allow increased private participation in Mexico’s energy sector, were approved by an overwhelming 353-134 in the Chamber of Deputies and 95-28 in the Senate. In gaining easy passage for his initiative, Peña Nieto benefited from strong numbers in both chambers of Congress, including legislators from the governing Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), the conservative Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), and their allies the Partido Verde Ecologista de México (PVEM) and Partido Nueva Alianza (PANAL). The parties formed enough of a majority to overcome strong opposition from the center-left parties--the Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD), Movimiento Ciudadano (MC), and Partido del Trabajo (PT). -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Crackdown On Peru’s Social Protests Intensifies Under President Ollanta Humala

Opposition to Peru's extractive industries, particularly mining, has resulted in a steady increase in socioenvironmental conflicts since President Ollanta Humala came to power. Authorities have countered by criminalizing social protests as a way to neutralize the people who are speaking out and weaken their social movements. During the Humala administration’s two-and-a-half years in power, nearly 700 people involved in social conflicts have been criminalized, meaning they have been formally accused of various crimes and subjected to judicial proceedings, according to the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDDHH). -Elsa Chanduví Jaña    Read More

Chile’s Once And Future President Michelle Bachelet Wins Election Runoff In A Landslide

If ever there was a case of victory foretold, this was it. On Sunday, Dec. 15, former President Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010)--the hands-down favorite long before she even announced her candidacy--completed her re-election bid with relative ease, besting her rightist rival Evelyn Matthei by nearly 25 percentage points in Chile’s presidential runoff election. Bachelet, 62, made history eight years ago when she beat current President Sebastián Piñera to become the country’s first female head of state. With her 62% to 38% triumph over Matthei, Bachelet’s name will now go down in the history books again--this time as the first president since Chile returned to democracy in 1990 to win a second term in office. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar   Read More

Costa Rican Authorities Spot Illegal Airfields for Helicopters; President Says Finding Makes Organized Crime Nervous

Within a month's time, six clandestine airfields for helicopters were discovered during police operations next to makeshift camps inside sprawling rural properties in a mountainous sector in Costa Rica’s northeastern Caribbean area, close to the border with Nicaragua. Costa Rican authorities said investigations are focused on the structures being a part of an international organized-crime network’s operation in Central America--trafficking drugs northward, money and weapons southward. The findings took place from Oct. 8 through Nov. 8, after members of communities in the area reported having repeatedly sighted at least one helicopter, flying just above treetops, coming from the border area. Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla said organized crime has thus been exposed in this country, and it makes them nervous. -George Rodríguez   Read More

Mexico, Turkey Commit to Negotiate Free-Trade Agreement in 2014

Mexico and Turkey have signed a memorandum of understanding to boost cooperation in trade, finance, security, and other areas including negotiating a free-trade agreement (FTA) and developing a joint strategy to combat organized crime. The two countries announced their new cooperation efforts in Ankara in mid-December following a series of meetings between Presidents Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico and Abdullah Gül of Turkey. This was the first-ever state-level visit by a Mexican president to Turkey. During the meeting, which came at Gül’s invitation, the two countries signed 12 cooperation agreements. Leading the list of agreements was the commitment to work toward an FTA in 2014. -Carlos Navarro    Read More

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

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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

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