Climate Change, Mining Threaten Chile's Unprotected Glaciers

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Article from NotiSur, April 11

A prolonged rain deficit and a memorable media maneuver by the high-profile environmental group Greenpeace have together sparked an upsurge in public interest regarding Chile’s world-class collection of glaciers. Chile, home to an estimated 82% of South America’s glaciers, relies on the mountaintop ice packs as a vital source of fresh water, particularly in times of drought. Right now is one of those times. The coastal country is coming off its driest year since 1998 and third driest since 1866, according to the government’s Dirección Meteorológica. Worse yet, 2013 was Chile’s fourth drier-than-average year in a row, prompting authorities to declare official states of escasez hídrica (water shortage) in numerous districts throughout the central part of the country, from the semi-arid Región de Coquimbo, approximately 400 km north of Santiago, south to the normally green Región de Maule. Benjamin Witte-Lebhar Read More

Protests, Misinformation Fail To Force Regime Change In Venezuela

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Article from NotiSur, April 4

Venezuela’s conservative opposition--for all the help it has received from major national and international media outlets, which have taken the right’s message, amplified it, and spread it far and wide--has so far failed in its campaign to topple the constitutional government of President Nicolás Maduro. Not only that, but its big push, after gaining some early momentum, now appears to be losing ground. Andrés Gaudín Read More

President Daniel Ortega Sets Sights on Nicaragua’s Forestry Resources

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Article from NotiCen, April 3

Having just put the finishing touches on a power-enhancing overhaul of the Nicaraguan Constitution, President Daniel Ortega is now looking to extend control of yet another area of the country’s government apparatus: forestry administration. In a bill presented to the Asamblea Legislativa (AL) in February, the president’s office outlined a plan to take over all of the state’s various forest-management functions. Among other things, the reform will give Ortega power to decide which forest-based industries and logging companies operate where. The Ortega administration is selling the proposal as a way to promote "the rational and sustainable use of the forests" and thus crack down on "extraordinary" deforestation, which is affecting large sections of the country, including its many nature reserves (there are more than 70 in Nicaragua). Critics question whether the president’s close ties to ALBA Forestal, a joint Nicaraguan-Venezuelan logging company, may also be driving the decision. Benjamin Witte-Lebhar Read More

Illegal Cigarette Trade Linked to Paraguay’s President

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Article from NotiSur, April 4

A team of agents from the Netherlands' Special Police Task Force (SPT) spent the second week of February in Bogotá to exchange information and, together with Colombian authorities, analyze the movement of contraband Paraguayan cigarettes. The illegal trafficking, which has become increasingly overt, allegedly involves Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes directly. European investigators say major cigarette shipments legally imported to the Caribbean islands of Aruba and Curacao, two former Dutch colonies that are now autonomous territories, end up in the hands of the Colombian mafia now controlling nearly 20% of the Colombian market. Andrés Gaudín Read More

Historically Troubled Haiti-Dominican Republic Relations Seem Improving

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Article from NotiCen, April 3

After two high-level bilateral meetings this year, the historically troubled Haiti-Dominican Republic relations seem on the way to being fixed--or at least to starting the process. The improvement follows last year’s controversial Tribunal Constitucional (TC) ruling aimed at stripping Dominican citizenship from persons born in the Dominican Republic after 1929 to undocumented immigrants, a measure affecting mostly Haitians. The first encounter was held on Jan. 8 in the northeastern Haitian border town of Ouanaminthe. After more than seven hours of talks, a Joint Declaration was issued, saying that "a good portion of the meeting was devoted to the migration issue" and that the dialogue had taken place with "serenity and mutual respect." As had been agreed, the second meeting took place on Feb. 3 in the southwestern Dominican border province of Independencia. Dominican Minister of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo then told reporters that agreements were reached in several areas, including that of immigration. George Rodríguez Read More

Mexican Armed Forces Kill Two Top Leaders of Caballeros Templarios

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Article from SourceMex, April 2

President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration has taken decisive steps to weaken the country’s top criminal organizations by capturing or killing its leaders. In the two latest actions, military personnel killed two of the top leaders of the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar) in separate incidents. In early March, Nazario Moreno González, also known as El Chayo, was killed by soldiers near Tumbiscatio in Michoacán. A few weeks later, authorities tracked Enrique Plancarte Solís to a house he rented in the community of Colón in Querétaro state. Plancarte Solís, considered the cartel’s second in command, was killed by the Mexican military just a few steps from city hall. Carlos Navarro Read More

Mexico Opens Huge Solar-Power Plant in Baja California Sur State

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Article from SourceMex, April 2

Mexico inaugurated one of the largest solar plants in Latin America in March 2014, although there is a difference of opinion on whether this is actually the largest solar-energy generation facility in the hemisphere. Still, the construction of the Aura Solar I photovoltaic power plant is a giant step forward in developing alternative energy in Mexico. The plant will be equipped with 32,000 solar panels spread out over 100 hectares. The energy captured by the solar panels would be transferred to a substation, which would produce 39 MW of energy for the city of La Paz. Carlos Navarro Read More