It's Sunday, I've got my cup of Colombian coffee, and yes there is a lot of news out there. This isn't meant to be a comprehensive list of news, just stuff I found and read this morning; I'm keeping most of the links in English so everyone can share.
Starting from the top and working my way south...
US governors were to meet with their Mexican counterparts to discuss border security and immigration. However, only Bill Richardson actually stayed for the whole meeting. The rest showed up for photo-ops and left early.
From the LA Times, but copied in the Miami Herald, the Zapatistas have lost face after not accomplishing anything for the poor with their decade long guerrilla movement.
Some 30,000 police files have been found in Guatemala, confirming many human rights abuse allegations from the 1980's.
Tim notes that Salvadoran President Saca is requesting money from the Millenium Challenge Accounts to build a "dry canal" or a highway to move goods across the country.
Former Costa Rican President and Nobel Prize winner Oscar Arias has an op-ed in the Washington Post that argues for CAFTA, but says development aid must be combined with free trade in order to lift Central American nations out of poverty.
The Miami Herald covers the FARC's growing international reach including some criminal activities outside of Colombia.
The Boston Globe covers the growing concern over Chavez's politicization of the military and his arming and training of left-wing civilian paramilitary groups. BBC reported on Venezuelan doctors marching against the growing presence of Cuban doctors. The Chicago Tribune discusses Telesur, the Venezuelan funded TV station that goes live on July 24th and will be about as fair and balanced as Fox News.
Presidents from the Andean Region will meet Monday in Lima.
BBC says Lula's popularity remains strong despite scandals in Brazil. Brazil is planning $3 billion in sanctions to protest US cotton subsidies. A Brazil bank was conned by one of those Nigerian scams. Fortunately, Nigeria prosecuted and convicted the woman in the biggest international fraud case ever.
MABB has a good post on Bolivia-Chile relations.
A new poll shows Michelle Bachelet is easily outpacing the other candidates in Chile's presidential election. Barring political disaster, she'll be Chile's first female president (hat tip to Randy Paul).
Earlier this week, but Argentina admitted to major failures in their investigation of a 1994 bombing that killed 85. Most people believe an Islamic extremist group, possibly linked to Iran, was behind the bombing.
And finally, regionwide, Andres Oppenheimer says the Latin American braindrain may end up being a net positive. Marcela Sanchez discusses the search for a new model that learns from the failures of the Washington Consensus and that combines free market economics with political reforms and economic justice for the poor.
3 comments:
Regarding the cotton subsidies, that's 3 billion in sanctions.
Good catch. Corrected above.
Not that good, but thanks anyway. I couldn't help but think of that moent in the first Austin Powers movie when he demands "One million dollars" and everyone laughts at him.
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