NewsTrust - Latin America - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Mainstream)

Editorial: An Assault on Democracy

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Iht Editorial - Jan. 23 (Opinion) - President Rafael Correa of Ecuador is trying to stifle a free press in his country and across the region.

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Rural Peru gets connected | Mattia Cabitza

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The Guardian - By Mattia Cabitza - Nov. 28 - More than 100 communities in rural Peru now have renewable energy and internet access, thanks to an aid programme that is being rolled out across the eight poorest nations in Latin America The connection was not of crisp video quality, but the chorus of schoolchildren from San José de Huamaní, near Ica in the south, could be heard loud and clear: "Good morning," they chanted. Hundreds of kilometres away, they were greeted with applause, through video link, by a brightly lit conference room full of Peruvian and European Union officials. They were meeting in Lima to announce the completion of an aid programme that is taking renewable energy and the internet to 130 rural communities in Peru. With funding from the EU, the Euro-Solar programme is being rolled out across the eight poorest nations of Latin America, such as Peru, at a cost of €36m ($47.6m/£30.9m). The aim is to benefit more than 300,000 people whose communities are not connected to the electricity grid. Via satellite ...

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Noam Chomsky denounces old friend Hugo Chávez for 'assault' on democracy

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Rory Carroll - Jul. 03 (Opinion) - Renowned American intellectual accuses the Venezuelan leader of concentrating too much power in his own hands Hugo Chávez has long considered Noam Chomsky one of his best friends in the west. He has basked in the renowned scholar's praise for Venezuela's socialist revolution and echoed his denunciations of US imperialism. Venezuela's president, who hasrevealed that he has had surgery in Cuba to remove a cancerous tumour, turned one of Chomsky's books into an overnight bestseller after brandishing it during a UN speech. He hosted Chomsky in Caracas with smiles and pomp. Earlier this year Chávez even suggested Washington make Chomsky the US ambassador to Venezuela. The president may be about to have second thoughts about that, because his favourite intellectual has now turned his guns on Chávez. Speaking to the Observer last week, Chomsky has accused the socialist leader of amassing too much power and of making an "assault" on Venezuela's democracy. "Concentration of executive power, ...

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Our Fantasy Nation?

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Nicholas D. Kristof - Jun. 06 (Opinion) - If Republicans seek a country with low taxes, little regulation and traditional family values, I have the perfect place for them. Body armor suggested.

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Jamaica 1st stop on US hospital ship's tour - Forbes

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:42:37 -0700

Associated Press - Apr. 14 - Jamaica 1st stop on US hospital ship's tourForbes... 04.14.11, 04:21 PM EDT KINGSTON, Jamaica -- An enormous US Navy hospital ship brought state-of-the-art medical care to Jamaica on Thursday, the first stop of a five-month goodwill mission to nine countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. ...Jamaica 1St Stop on US Hospital Ship'S TourWCBDUS provides medical 'Comfort' to JamaicaJamaica Gleanerall 100 news articles »

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Latin America shakes off the US yoke | Mark Weisbrot

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Mark Weisbrot - Apr. 08 - The current spat with Ecuador is symptomatic of Washington's failure to grasp that it no longer exercises regional hegemonyOn Thursday the United States expelled the ambassador from Ecuador, in retaliation for Wednesday's expulsion of the US ambassador from Ecuador. This now leaves the United States without ambassadorial relations in three South American countries – Bolivia and Venezuela being the other two – thus surpassing the Bush administration in its diplomatic problems in the region.US Ambassador Heather Hodges was declared "persona non grata" and asked to leave Ecuador "as soon as possible", after a diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks showed her saying some disparaging things about Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa. In the cable, she alleges that President Correa had knowledge of corruption by a former head of the national police. Although the Bush administration intervened in the internal affairs of countries such as Bolivia and even Brazil, it was somewhat better at keeping its "eyes on the prize" and avoiding fights that would distract from its main goal. The prize, of course, is Venezuela – home to the largest oil reserves in the world, estimated by the US Geological Survey at 500bn barrels. Washington's goal there for the last decade has been regime change. The Bush team understood that the more they fought with other countries in the region, the less credible would be their public relations story that Venezuela was the problem.It's nothing personal, really – Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez could have chosen to be the perfect diplomat and he would still be treated in much the same manner by the US government. And it's not the oil itself, since Venezuela still sells the US more than 1m barrels a day and there is a world market for oil, in any case. It's just that any country with that much oil is going to have regional influence; and Washington just doesn't want to deal with someone who has regional influence and doesn't line up with its own goals for the region – not if it can get rid of them. (This simple observation explains a lot about US relations with some other oil states: for example, Iran.) And they have come close to getting rid of Chávez, in the 2002 coup – so they are not giving up.But Washington is losing ground there, too. A big blow was the change in Colombia's foreign policy last summer, when President Juan Manuel Santos took office. An important part of Washington's strategy in Venezuela is to maintain tension between Colombia and Venezuela. They have a head start on this project since the 2,000km border between the two countries has been plagued by paramilitary and guerrilla violence for decades. Conflict between Venezuela and Colombia is also important to Washington's electoral strategy in Venezuela. When there is trouble between the two countries, as in 2009, when Venezuela cut off bilateral trade in response to the US effort to expand its military presence in Colombia, it has a negative impact on a lot of Venezuelans in border states. This helps garner some anti-Chávez votes in border states, as in last year's congressional election in Venezuela. And accusations of Venezuelan support for the Farc guerrillas in Colombia – despite Washington's failure to offer any evidence – are a key element of bringing its anti-Venezuela efforts under the "war on terror" umbrella.Although Colombia's previous president, Álvaro Uribe, was – in recent years – very much allied with the United States' strategy toward Venezuela, Santos immediately rejected it and decided immediately to make peace with Chávez. This turned out to be quite easy to do, despite their past fights when Santos was Uribe's defence minister. As anyone who follows Venezuela knows, Chávez is friendly to any head of state or government that is friendly to Venezuela. Santos's U-turn towards Venezuela is very interesting for several reasons. First, it shows how important regional economic integration is as a force for peace and stability in the area. The attempt by Washington and Santos's predecessor to expand the US military presence in Colombia led to a cutoff of $2.3bn of Colombia's exports to what had recently become their second most important trading partner, Venezuela. This was more than 11% of Colombia's exports, and the bulk of it was in livestock and textile products for which replacement markets were not so readily available. Venezuela also has very close relations with Brazil and most of the rest of South America, and they all felt the same way about Colombia's foreign policy. They were especially concerned about the US military expansion in Colombia – and even more opposed after US Air Force documents made it clear that this expansion was for "mobility operations … on the South American continent" and against the "constant threat" from "anti-US governments". Santos was basically faced with a choice of continuing to do Washington's bidding or being part of South America. He chose South America. The key role of commerce here, as South America continues to integrate economically, illustrates some of the most important "gains from trade". These are far greater than the neoclassical "efficiency gains", often exaggerated by advocates of "free trade" agreements. Also, Santos's choice to rejoin South America shows how geopolitical changes led by the left governments of the region have now encompassed even rightwing governments. This is a result of changes in institutions (foreign ministries, multilateral organisations such as Unasur, the Rio Group), ideas, and norms that have taken place over the last decade.Now comes Washington, demanding that Colombia extradite one Walid Makled, an accused Venezuelan narco-trafficker arrested in Colombia, to the United States. No, thank you, says President Santos – this guy goes to Venezuela. Santos cites Colombian law, stating that, first, Colombia has an extradition treaty with Venezuela, not with the United States; second, Venezuela got their extradition request in first; and third, Makled is wanted for more serious crimes (including murder) in Venezuela than in the US (drug-trafficking). All of these are facts that legally require extradition of Makled to Venezuela.This is most infuriating to Washington. To understand why this is so important to the state department, one has to look behind official pronouncements about Makled getting "a free and fair trial" in Venezuela and other nonsense repeated with charming innocence by the major media. Venezuela has a presidential election next year. For every important election or referendum in Venezuela – and there are many, but none more important to Washington than this one – there is an international media campaign, with the participation of the US government. (A recent WikiLeaks cable shows the Colombian government sharing with US officials its coordinated media campaign to link both Chávez and Correa to the Colombian Farc guerrillas.) Makled has already offered to sing about alleged corruption of Venezuelan officials (note that we haven't heard anything about his dealings with Colombian officials – there must not be any narco-corruption there), but only if he is extradited to the US. So, if they could only get him to Miami, they could have a splendid show trial that would be better than any international media campaign that the state department could organise.If all that seems like it's not worth the trouble, it's exactly what happened in 2008. US authorities used a sketchy show trial of a Venezuelan slapped with dubious "failing to register as a foreign agent" charges – but not with actual espionage – in order to broadcast allegations of corruption at the "highest levels" of the Venezuelan government. The allegations made headlines throughout the hemisphere and, of course, were a mainstay of the Venezuelan opposition-dominated media. Just think what the Makled trial could do: no one would ask what the witnesses were offered for their testimony, or whether there was any corroborating evidence for their allegations. It would be one big free-for-all smear-fest, with reporters gobbling it all up.But Santos is not co-operating, despite enormous pressure and, of course, the currently pending "free trade" agreement between the US and Colombia. Perhaps Washington wants this agreement more than he does.In any case, the Obama administration – like its predecessor – is fighting a losing battle. President Obama's recent trip to Latin America was hardly more successful than those of Bush. He gets better press – no riots in the streets or Mayan leaders cleansing the site with sage after his visit. But every president and foreign minister there can see that US policies haven't changed one bit.VenezuelaEcuadorWikiLeaksThe US embassy cablesUS foreign policyUnited StatesColombiaDrugs tradeHugo ChávezBrazilObama administrationExtraditionMark Weisbrotguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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Expand trade with Latin American allies

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 06:34:50 -0700

Associated Press - Mar. 31 - Expand trade with Latin American alliesBloomington PantagraphI'm pleased President Obama recently visited Latin America. He has indicated one of the goals is to double trade in the next five years. Having just returned from spending time in Panama and Colombia, I can recommend a simple action to increase trade. ...Cat CEO touts benefits of trade agreement with PanamaPeoria Journal StarCaterpillar Chairman Tells Congress Passage of Free Trade Agreements Would ...PR Newswire (press release)all 39 news articles »

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US foreign aid faces cuts as China's reach grows

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:35:05 -0700

Associated Press - Mar. 24 - US foreign aid faces cuts as China's reach growsThe Associated PressThe Obama administration has sought to step up its engagement in Asia, the Pacific, Africa, Central Asia and Latin America. Development aid is a key plank of its strategy. The State Department argues it is "as central to advancing America's interests ...and more »

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Mexico Drug Cartels Moving in on Guatemala Routes

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:31:01 -0700

NewsHour - Mar. 15 - Mexican drug cartels are carving out new territory in northern Guatemala, adding another layer of violence and crime to a country with one of the highest murder rates in the hemisphere.In December the Guatemalan government declared a two-month state of siege in the rural province of Alta Verapaz, bordering Mexico, in order to crack down on the growing influence of the notorious Mexico-based Los Zetas cartel."Drug traffickers have us cornered," Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom told the country's Congress in January. "Just the weapons seized in Alta Verapaz are more than those of some army brigades."The state of siege deployed hundreds of Guatemalan soldiers in the region and allowed them to carry out searches and detain suspects without warrants. By the final day in February, 18 people allegedly involved in Los Zetas were arrested and reported crimes decreased by 50 percent, said Leslie Pérez, spokesperson for Guatemala's Interior Ministry.But many question if those gains can last now that the initiative has ended."We are aware the these criminals are waiting for us to retreat so they can return, but no security units will leave," Colom told journalists.While residents said the siege did, at least temporarily, drive away many of the powerful cartel figures, people still fear a return to the previous levels of violence, said Lorne Matalon, a reporter for Public Radio International's "The World." Matalon was in Coban in February to cover the results of the siege."[Before December] there were weekly if not daily shootouts in the town square between rival drug dealers. There are numerous reports of women being snatched off the street and stuffed into dark SUVs," he said. "[The cartels] rule by fear, they would make sure that you could see them in the streets of Coban…. they knew they were beyond the reach of the law."Guatemala already had a massive problem with organized crime, especially in Guatemala City, but the Mexico drug cartels are a new, well-resourced threat looking to cash in on the country's strategic placement on the drug trade trail through Latin America. The country contributes to more than 60 percent of the cocaine trafficked to the United States from the region, according to the U.S. State Department.With Mexico beefing up efforts against the cartels within its borders, and the U.S. helping clamp down on illegal trafficking by air and water, the land routes through Guatemala are even more attractive."The climate in Mexico has gotten more competitive and so the forms of crime these groups are engaged in have expanded and there is a push to take control of strategic routes," said Nick Miroff, a Washington Post reporter who was in Guatemala last month and regularly covers the issue in Mexico. "Drug shipments are coming up from Colombia or Panama, landing in Honduras then coming over land."Add those factors to the weak institutions and justice system in the country and Guatemala is "the perfect place to commit a crime," said Adriana Beltrán, head of the citizen security program at the Washington Office of Latin America, a nonprofit that promotes human rights in the region."The likelihood of you being arrested and facing trial for any act is low," she said. "You have a private sector that often refuses to pay taxes, problems of corruption, oversight and accountability."Even Guatemala's newly-appointed attorney general, Claudia Paz, agrees."Guatemala's state is a very weak state. It doesn't have the resources to face problems as grave as that of narco-trafficking," she said. "For traffickers to move down here was very easy because there are some areas of this country where practically there is no presence of the state."Under the Merida Initiative approved in 2008, the United States has appropriated nearly $1.6 billion to help Mexico and the countries of Central America and the Caribbean combat organized crime groups and strengthen institutions. But less than 20 percent of the funds were allotted to Central America, with the vast majority going to Mexico.Citing the deteriorating security situation in Central America, an additional $165 million in U.S. assistance was designated for the region through the Central America Regional Security Initiative, formed in 2010."We understand that Central America is a bridge for many criminal elements," a senior State Department official told the NewsHour. "Therefore it would be virtually impossible or extremely difficult to contain criminality or violence in Mexico or the Caribbean or Colombia without being able to manage or improve the situation in Central America."The Guatemalan government has made some promising progress, including increasing resources for security, but more could be done, the official said, "including reforming the police and improving the ability of the government to prosecute effectively the crimes."Perez said a state of siege is being considered in other parts of the country but no decisions have been made yet. The military is keeping a presence in Alta Verapaz in the meantime, but in areas where there are not soldiers, drug cartels could face little opposition, said Matalon."The government's complete absence from vast remote areas means there is a power vacuum of sorts that Los Zetas have been able to exploit it," he said."They offer 'plato o plomo, money or bullets'. In essence they say to farmers whose land they want 'You can sell to us and leave this area walking, or you can refuse and you will be carried out of here feet first.'"

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Stability powers new South American growth

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Seattle Times - Mar. 12 - From Paraguay to Chile and Brazil to Peru, a growing middle class armed with cheap credit and new confidence in the future is contributing to the most vigorous economic expansion in decades. Since 2002, about 56 million people across Latin America have risen out of poverty, according to the World Bank, and economists now talk of a new dynamic that reflects the stronger foundation of more-mature economies: increasingly affluent consumer societies..

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New South American exchange may give Mexico a jolt - Reuters

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 10:32:41 -0800

Reuters - Mar. 09 - New South American exchange may give Mexico a joltReutersLinking the exchanges in Bogota, Lima and Santiago will allow the enlarged market to leapfrog the Mexican bourse to become the second-largest in size in Latin America after Brazil's when ranked by market capitalization of its listed companies. ...and more »

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In Guatemala, Family Planning Clashes with Religion, Tradition

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 23:19:00 -0800

NewsHour - Mar. 08 - Listen to the Audio JEFFREY BROWN: Now, the second of Ray Suarez's global health reports from the Central American nation of Guatemala.Tonight, Ray looks at the many obstacles to family planning in that traditional society.RAY SUAREZ: Every day, Evelyn Roquel travels the rugged countryside of Guatemala's highlands teaching women about birth control. In a population where the fertility rate is the highest in Latin America, it's a daunting task.Evelyn works for Women's International Network for Guatemalan Solutions, called WINGS. Not surprisingly, the highest fertility rates are in the hardest-to-reach areas of the country, places reached mainly by boat, like the villages that surround Lake Atitlan.EVELYN ROQUEL, Women's International Network for Guatemalan Solutions (through translator): I travel to very far-off places. I typically go to places several times over and over again. When I first come to a community, I am met with a lot of resistance, but I keep coming.RAY SUAREZ: Here, populations are overwhelmingly Mayan and overwhelmingly religious. Women typically have eight, nine, 10 children.EVELYN ROQUEL (through translator): The culture and mind-set here makes birth control very difficult to discuss. It's so embedded that the number of children is what God gives you; it's out of your hand. So, for most women, this is a very new theme, which breaks with their traditional cultural values.RAY SUAREZ: On this day, Evelyn is greeted by a huge crowd of women in San Marcos. It's a scene that plays out again and again as Evelyn travels throughout the region.Most of the women here have no idea what birth-control methods are available to them, much less how to obtain them. But they are experts on their own lives. When Evelyn shows the crowd a picture of a pregnant woman with an infant on her back and a toddler in her hands, the reaction is immediate. They know women in that situation. Some of them have lived it themselves.Family planning isn't always a question of fewer pregnancies. Better spaced childbirth is better for their health and their children.Evelyn Roquel says they're brave just to show up.EVELYN ROQUEL (through translator): In these communities, it's the men who make the decisions about family planning. These women here, most do not have the support of their husbands. Many times, they come to me and say their husbands will accuse them of sleeping around and being prostitutes if they use birth control.RAY SUAREZ: In fact, it's such a sensitive subject that Evelyn's own safety is at risk. She requires women who ask for treatment or just for more information to sign a document proving they're voluntary participants. Those who are illiterate provide fingerprints.EVELYN ROQUEL (through translator): I am Catholic and Mayan myself. I sing in my church choir. But I believe that giving a woman the ability to decide the number of children she wants is critical. It's vital for her health.RAY SUAREZ: The United States government seems to agree. The Obama administration recently announced it wants to make family planning a top priority for global-health funding.Dr. Rajiv Shah is the administrator for USAID.DR. RAJIV SHAH, United States Agency for International Development: Family planning has been underinvested in and is absolutely critical to the safety, security and stability of many of the countries we work in around the world.There's so much data that shows us that as total fertility rates go down in countries, the health and welfare of children, families and, frankly, of the community overall goes up.RAY SUAREZ: Health officials say family planning saves lives.In the towns and villages strung along the shoreline of Guatemala's Lake Atitlan, you will find some of the Western Hemisphere's largest indigenous communities and the hemisphere's highest rates of maternal mortality, death in childbirth. But when you talk to women about their lives, it's easy to understand why so many continue to risk early death with eight, nine, 10 pregnancies.Concepcion Ramirez Riyanda's mother, Maria, died while giving birth to her 11th child. At the time, Concepcion was 19 years old and was given the responsibility of raising her seven younger siblings. Concepcion's now husband, Diego Chichom Ramirez, says the family was devastated.DIEGO CHICHOM RAMIREZ (through translator): When Maria, their mother died, the family disintegrated and was torn apart.RAY SUAREZ: But even with this firsthand tragedy, Concepcion defers to her husband about any family planning. Diego refuses birth-control interventions.DIEGO CHICHOM RAMIREZ (through translator): We will follow God's will. We believe this is natural law. And we have heard too many stories about birth control, like injections and pills that cause cancer.RAY SUAREZ: Stories about the dangers of birth control are often linked to religion, where family-planning methods such as monthly pills, tubal ligation, and IUDs have long been against church teachings.Oscar Julio Vian Morales is Guatemala's archbishop.OSCAR JULIO VIAN MORALES, Archbishop of Guatemala (through translator): The problem is the kind of birth control methods that are used, like forcing families to sterilization for life. Foreign governments should not insist on less children but on more education, more health services and work.RAY SUAREZ: For their part, health officials say family planning is one strategy to help turn around Guatemala's dire health needs. Years ago, more children meant more hands to work the land. But generation after generation, farms are divided into smaller and smaller plots. There's less food to harvest.And with big families comes more mouths to feed. Nearly half the population of Guatemala suffers from chronic malnutrition.DR. RAJIV SHAH: You know, if you look at Guatemala, 46 percent of children are stunted. And that means if you just put them against a wall and draw a line, they are, on average, significantly shorter than they should be for their age. And that is reflective of certain -- a certain type of chronic nutritional deficiency.RAY SUAREZ: At Hospitalito Atitlan, a small private hospital funded largely by international donations, malnutrition is a common sight. This 4-year-old weighs only 18 pounds, and she's lost one pound since August.Andres Botran is a former secretary of nutrition for the previous Guatemalan government.ANDRES BOTRAN, former Guatemalan secretary of food security: Malnourished children have 12 points less of I.Q. than a normal child. We will have a great majority of the population with diminished mental capacities. That is a risk not only for economic development, health, et cetera, et cetera, but the viability of our democracy.RAY SUAREZ: Even if women want birth control, getting contraceptives to remote areas poses a logistical challenge. So, mobile units are dispatched by the Guatemalan family-planning association, APROFAM.The group transforms local office space into operating rooms, offering tubal ligations and slow-release hormone implants.Dr. Lisbeth Contreras is one of the gynecologists for APROFAM.DR. LISBETH CONTRERAS, APROFAM (through translator): We cover the whole country, but it's difficult. There is a huge demand. These are bad financial times in Guatemala. And it's hard for families who have many children.RAY SUAREZ: Forty-three-year-old Dora Ileana Orellana came with her daughter-in-law, Julia Maria, to the clinic. Dora has a child the same age as her grandson, less than 2 years old, her seventh child.DORA ILEANA ORELLANA (through translator): My body can't hold children anymore. I'm too weak. Already, I have headaches. My bones hurt. And I'm worn out from housework.RAY SUAREZ: Both grandmother and daughter-in-law receive Jadelle, a hormone implant in the upper arm which acts much like birth control pills.DORA ILEANA ORELLANA (through translator): My mother had 13 children. But times are harder now. Everything is really expensive. And sometimes I'm in trouble because I have no money to feed my family.RAY SUAREZ: Over 40 percent of Guatemala's population is younger than 15. Family-planning advocates realize they must target the young.Here, in a community outside Antigua, school-age children become voluntary peer educators, steering their classmates away from early parenthood. This program is also run by WINGS.Janeen Simon, the executive director of WINGS, says schools are a platform for both genders.JANEEN SIMON, Women's International Network for Guatemalan Solutions: It's important for the kids to be comfortable talking about the topic amongst their peers of both sexes.This is a very machista society here, where the men, the boys are brought up to believe that they have rights over the girls or the women. And I think that helps also if -- if they're learning together and they can see that -- the power that the girls have through their -- through their education and their intelligence and their wisdom.RAY SUAREZ: Programs like these are likely to gain traction from the administration's Global Health Initiative. But with strong opposition from Congress on the overall levels of foreign aid, any future funding remains unclear.

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Fixes: What Makes Community Health Care Work?

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 18:30:15 -0800

New York Times - By By TINA ROSENBERG - Feb. 18 (Opinion) - Five factors that help programs in poor villages without doctors succeed.

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Losing out in Latin America

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Post - Dec. 21 (Opinion) - At last, the Obama administration has cut a deal with South Korea, paving the way for congressional approval of a long-stalled free-trade agreement with that crucial Asian ally. Now, what about Colombia and Panama? Alas, the administration's answer still appears to be "not yet." White House...

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Ecuador's Correa haunted by Honduras

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Mark Weisbrot - Oct. 01 (Opinion) - This was a coup attempt – encouraged by Washington's shameful support for the overthrow of Manuel Zelaya last year In June of last year, when the Honduran military overthrew the social-democratic government of Manuel Zelaya , President Rafael Correa of Ecuador took it personally. "We have intelligence reports that say that after Zelaya, I'm next,"

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No place for Washington in Colombia-Venezuela row | Mark Weisbrot

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Mark Weisbrot - Jul. 28 (Opinion) - A process of South American diplomacy could resolve the Colombia-Venezuela dispute. The US should keep its distanceIn March I wrote about the Obama administration's contribution to the election campaign under way in Venezuela, where voters will choose a new national assembly in September. I predicted that certain things would happen before September, among them some new "discoveries" that Venezuela supports terrorism. Venezuela has had 13 elections or referenda since Hugo Chávez was first elected in 1998, and in the run-up to most of them, Washington has usually done something to influence the political and media climate.The intentions were already clear on March 11, when General Douglas Fraser, the head of the US Southern Command was testifying to the US Senate. In response to a question from Senator John McCain about Venezuela's alleged support for terrorism, Fraser said:"We have continued to watch very closely … We have not seen any connections specifically that I can verify that there has been a direct government-to-terrorist connection."The next day he recanted his testimony after meeting with the US state department's top official for Latin America, Arturo Valenzuela.This made it clear that the "terrorist" message was going to be a very important part of Washington's campaign. Even the Bush administration had never forced its military officers to retract their statements when they contradicted the state department's political agenda in Latin America, which they sometimes did.Unfortunately, the campaign continues. Last Thursday, Colombia's ambassador to the Organisation of the American States (OAS) accused Venezuela at an extraordinary meeting of the OAS of harbouring 1,500 guerillas, and asked for the OAS to take action. The timing was noteworthy to many observers. President Lula da Silva of Brazil noted that it "seemed strange that this occurs a few days before [President] Uribe [of Colombia] leaves office. The new president has given signals that he wants to build peace [with Venezuela]. Everything was going well until Uribe made this denunciation."Venezuela responded by breaking diplomatic relations with Colombia. It had previously cut off much of its trade with Colombia over the past two years, in response to Colombia's agreement with Washington to expand its military presence at seven US military bases in Colombia. Since Venezuela had been Colombia's largest trading partner in the region, it is possible that the new president, Juan Manuel Santos, was looking to improve relations for business reasons if nothing else. He had invited Chávez to his inauguration.Of course, Uribe does not necessarily take orders from Washington, but it would be naive to assume that someone who has received more than $6bn from the US would not check with his benefactors before doing something like this. The fact that the US state department immediately took Colombia's side in the dispute is further indication that they approved. Even Washington's (rightwing) allies in the region did not take sides, with the government of Chile, for example, issuing a neutral statement; this would have been the normal diplomatic protocol for Washington too, if this were not part of a political and public relations campaign against Venezuela.Other governments clearly saw Colombia's action as a political move, and were upset with what looked like the OAS being manipulated for these purposes. President Lula was cited in the Brazilian press saying that the venue of the dispute should be moved to Unasur, because the US would tilt the negotiations toward Colombia and against Venezuela. Ecuador's foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño, strongly criticised the head of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, for not having consultation before granting Colombia's request for a meeting of the OAS permanent council. Patiño said that Insulza had shown his "absolute incapacity" to direct the organisation and to "look for peace in the region". Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, had even harsher rhetoric for Uribe, calling him "a loyal representative of the US government, with its military bases in Colombia designed to provoke a war between Venezuela, Ecuador and Nicaragua."This dispute highlights the importance of the institutional changes that the left-of-centre governments in Latin America are trying to make. The increasing importance of Unasur, displacing the OAS, has become vital to Latin American progress and stability. For example, because of the influence of the US (as usual, with a handful of rightwing allies) in the OAS, it failed to take stronger action to restore the democratically elected government of President Zelaya of Honduras last year.When Bolivia was having problems with attempts by the separatist, extra-parliamentary opposition – including violence and de-stabilisation efforts – it was Unasur that met in Santiago in September 2008 and threw its weight behind the democratic government of Evo Morales. When the US decided last fall to expand its presence at the military bases in Colombia, Unasur reached an agreement – which included Colombia – that prohibited these bases from being used for any actions outside of the country.As to the substance of Colombia's latest claims, guerillas and paramilitaries have been crossing the 2,000km border with Venezuela – much of it dense jungle, mountains and all kinds of difficult terrain – for decades. There is no evidence that anything has changed recently, and nothing to indicate that the Venezuelan government, which has extradited guerillas to Colombia, supports any armed groups – as General Fraser testified before he was apparently forced to take it back.On Tuesday Insulza – perhaps feeling like he had gone too far to please Washington – told CNN en Español that "the guerrillas come and go, and it is quite difficult to ask just one country to control the border … Uribe says he doesn't know why Venezuela doesn't detain the guerillas, but the truth is that Colombia can't control them either." He might have added that the US, with all its vastly greater resources and superior technology, doesn't have an easy time controlling the flow of drugs, guns, and people across its own much more manageable border with Mexico.On Thursday there will be an emergency meeting of Unasur, and hopefully a process of diplomacy will begin to resolve the dispute. Certainly there will be a better chance of success to the extent that Washington – and its political campaigns against governments that it doesn't like – can be kept at a distance.US foreign policyVenezuelaColombiaObama administrationUnited StatesMark Weisbrotguardian.co.uk ? Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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Kissinger cable adds to questions about 1976 Operation Condor - Los Angeles Times

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 20:53:39 -0700

Los Angeles Times - Apr. 10 - Kansas City StarKissinger cable adds to questions about 1976 Operation CondorLos Angeles TimesHowever, shortly after Kissinger's order that "no further action be taken," his top Latin America deputies moved to cancel US warnings to other countries as ...Cable ties Kissinger to Chile controversyThe Associated PressUS: Kissinger Rescinded Warning Against Condor AssassinationsInter Press Serviceall 187 news articles??

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Putin Visits Venezuela, With Oil and Arms on the Agenda

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Simon Romero - Apr. 02 () - The Russian prime minister will meet with President Hugo Chávez, who is seeking to expand ties as a way of countering Washington’s influence in the hemisphere.

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FARC Rebels Return Hostage’s Remains Four Years After His Death

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 08:06:12 -0700

Business Week - Apr. 02 - April 2 (Bloomberg) -- The remains of a Colombian police officer who died while a captive of the country’s biggest rebel group were handed over to the International Red Cross yesterday about four years after his death. The body of Colombian police

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What Pope Benedict Must Do

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:02:30 -0700

Politics Daily - Mar. 30 - Pope Benedict faces an epic scandal as victims of clerical sex abuse in Ireland, Western Europe and America raise the issue of justice denied by secret tribunals that allowed predators to remain priests. Yet an editorial in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, scored the media for "an ignoble attempt to strike at Pope Benedict and his closest aides at any cost." Benedict is grappling with an unfinished crisis that drew media coverage in America in 1992; victims' lawsuits revealed bishops who had sheltered predators from prosecution. By 1994 the coverage had ebbed. Then, in 2002, The Boston Globe gained access to voluminous documents, exposing a vast clergy sexual underground. Pope John Paul II called the American cardinals to Rome for an emergency conference. In June, the U.S. bishops enacted a youth protection charter. Lay review boards would comb clergy files and probe new accusations. Bishops began weeding out sex offenders. The Vatican drew the line, however, at giving these review boards the authority to investigate bishops. That decision has come back to haunt the church. Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace as archbishop of Boston in late 2002, remains today part of the Roman Curia and pastor of a great basilica, St. Mary Major. In recent years, at least sixteen bishops who sexually abused children quietly "stepped down." One was a cardinal, Austria's Hans Hermann Groer, who has since died. A Vatican double-standard -- priests subject to defrocking, bishops quietly moving on -- has made the pope vulnerable to even greater criticism amidst a new round of investigative reports. Benedict's most immediate task is to change the Vatican's archaic system of closed tribunals, which prize secrecy. The pope is final arbiter on canon law, a sovereign who has the power of a one-man Supreme Court to intervene, halt or change a canonical decision. But changing that system is a much tougher reform than meets the eye. Ironically, for all the bad press he is getting, Benedict has done more to confront the abuse crisis than anyone else in the Vatican. But he must choose between governing and upholding his theological vision as a moral absolutist. As many a president and prime minister has learned, the shift from an ideological stance to a pragmatic one can be laden with risk. The root crisis lies in the church's view of apostolic succession. The pope and bishops consider themselves descendants in a spiritual lineage from Jesus's apostles. Apostolic succession is as much a part of Catholicism as icons and stained glass windows. But Judas was also an apostle -- a reminder that all humans, regardless of proximity to the Word, are capable of betraying the faith. Apostolic succession has fallen victim to hubris, the pride and entitlement of a religious elite who consider apology or penance a substitute for human justice. Bishops answer directly to the pope, also known as Supreme Pontiff. But this monarchical system of governance is colliding with two pillars of democracy, a court system and a free press. As abuse victims clamor for the punishment of bishops, information from America holds a stirring of hope. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released data that show a 32% decline in reported cases of clergy abuse from last year. Most involved priests were deceased or out of ministry. The USCCB reported six victims in 2009 who were younger than 18. Six too many, yes; but after at estimated $1.8 billion in losses from payouts to victims, legal fees and therapy for sex offenders, the youth protection charter is taking hold. Moreover, 96% of Catholic school students have "safe environment" training to warn against improper adult behavior. The Vatican has no youth protection charter, nor binding procedures for the world's bishops. Some church leaders, however, now see a crisis in that aloofness. Germany's Cardinal Walter Kasper bravely distanced himself from the Roman Curia in telling Italy's La Repubblica, "We have to seriously clean up the church." Benedict faces a stark dilemma. To "clean up," he must challenge apostolic succession, start a process of sacking bishops who abused children, and demote prelates who grossly betray the trust. Such as: * Frank Rodimer, who as bishop of Patterson, N.J., used church funds to pay $250,000 after he was personally sued in a case with a priest who for several summers had sex with a boy in a beach house they shared with Rodimer. The priest went to prison. Rodimer stepped down, on reaching the retirement age at 75, and simply moved into a house the diocese bought. * Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee, who used church funds to pay $450,000 in 1998 to silence a former male lover. When ABC News broke the hush money story in 2002, Weakland resigned his office -- but not his title. As archbishop, he was high-handed toward victims while playing musical chairs with pedophiles. * Anthony O'Connell, who resigned as bishop of Palm Beach, Florida, in 2002, admitting that he abused a seminarian years before. He moved into a South Carolina monastery. To defrock bishops who abused children would send a vital signal to all Catholics that Benedict is serious about reform. His recent letter to Irish Catholics, which followed lengthy government investigations of the church, was strongly-worded. Citing "grave errors and failures of leadership," he said: "I can only share in the dismay and the sense of betrayal that so many of you have experienced on learning of these sinful and criminal acts and the way church authorities in Ireland dealt with them." His words evince a deeper struggle: "I openly express the shame and remorse we all feel." Still, his delay on the offer of four Irish bishops to resign spurred more outrage, as did his role as archbishop of Munich, decades ago, in approving treatment for a pederast. Will Benedict demote bishops for "grave errors?" That would mean a new juridical standard. As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger he was decisive in running Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is housed in a 17th century palazzo where Galileo the astronomer was convicted of heresy. On issues ranging from the Vatican prohibition of birth control devices to Liberation Theology of Latin America, the C.D.F. used anonymous investigators to critique the works of suspect scholars. In closed tribunals, Ratzinger and his assistants interrogated those out of step with doctrine, punishing some by excommunication or orders to keep silent for periods of time. Catholic liberals were aghast as Ratzinger clashed with some of the church's leading thinkers. The Swiss theologian, Father Hans K?ng famously called him "The Grand Inquisitor," after Dostoevsky's religious persecutor in The Brothers Karamazov. Ratzinger's belief in absolute moral truth drove him to confront the pedophilia scandals when just about every other Vatican leader recoiled from it. John Paul, so brilliant a geopolitical figure, stood passive as scandals jolted America, Ireland, Canada and Australia in the 1990s. In 2001, Ratzinger persuaded the pope to take the authority for such cases from scattered Vatican offices and consolidate them in his tribunal. Insisting on secrecy from bishops sending the files, the C.D.F. began defrocking scores of priests. K?ng wrote in a March 18 essay for National Catholic Reporter: "Honesty demands that Joseph Ratzinger himself, the man who for decades has been principally responsible for the worldwide cover-up, at least pronounce his own 'mea culpa'" -- Latin for, "my fault." K?ng is an esteemed scholar, but this opinion is off-base. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest organization in the world, and as split as Congress in its warring tribal camps. Who could orchestrate a global cover-up of anything? The crisis arose in countries that share a base in English common law with surgical discovery procedures for secret documents. Italian law is more restrictive; Italy has reported far fewer cases. Most cardinals in the Curia look to Italy as a base line, which has created a huge myopia, to put it charitably. In a 2005 Good Friday sermon, Ratzinger decried the "filth" that had crept into the priesthood. Several days later, in a sermon opening the conclave that would elect him pope, he gave a cri de coeur on Europe: "We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive." The crisis of moral relativism he faces now is internal. Consider the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, 82. As Secretary of State under John Paul II, Sodano defended to the hilt the notorious Father Marcial Maciel. Maciel, who died in 2008, was a Mexican who founded the Legion of Christ, a small religious order known for militant spirituality, papal loyalty and a $650 million budget. The Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, who lent the New York Times $240 million, was a major benefactor. In 1997, nine ex-Legionaries opened their lives for the Hartford Courant, telling me and Gerald Renner how Maciel had sexually abused them in seminary. Asserting his innocence, Maciel refused to be interviewed. The Vatican was utterly silent on our questions about victim accusations against Maciel that went through church channels to Paul VI in 1976, John Paul II in 1978 and 1989. In 1998, the men filed a prosecution request in Ratzinger's tribunal. Sodano pressured Ratzinger to halt the case. Maciel and Sodano were close friends for years. As Secretary of State, Sodano was effectively John Paul's prime minister. Finally, with the pope dying in 2004, Ratzinger broke ranks with Sodano and ordered an investigation. In 2005, Sodano's office stated, falsely, that the investigation was over. In 2006, Benedict banished Maciel to "a life of prayer and penitence." The Legion then compared Maciel to Jesus for refusing to defend himself. When he died in 2008, the Legion website said Maciel had gone to heaven. In 2009, the Legion revealed with "surprise" that Maciel had a grown daughter. On March 4, in Mexico City, Maciel's three grown sons (by a second woman) publicly accused the Legion of denying them financial compensation. Two of the sons said Maciel had sexually abused them as boys. A new investigation of the Legion, ordered by Benedict, is underway. If he follows his theological bearings, Benedict has the capacity to engineer radical reforms (from the Greek, meaning roots or primary things.) He should disband the Legion of Christ. If he holds listening sessions with a representative group of victims, he will dramatize reconciliation to a scandal-wearied church that aches for moral leadership. He should also convene a group of legal scholars to create a Vatican criminal court system. By forcing the bishops and cardinals who have done the most damage out of the hierarchy, he can restore integrity to the concept of apostolic succession. It is probably beyond him to make the celibacy law optional; but if he takes these other hard steps to reverse the scandal, he will put himself on the right side of history. To stall or continue making merely symbolic gestures will produce an even worse spectacle. "Justice is that virtue that gives every one his due." -- St. Augustine.?Permalink?|?Email this?|?Linking?Blogs?|?Comments

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Commentary: Latin America's strong currency may hinder its growth | McClatchy

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700

McClatchy - Mar. 19 (Opinion) - Just when we were all celebrating that Latin America had come out relatively unscathed from the world economic crisis, a new threat could endanger the region's growth: its increasingly strong currencies.

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Milton Friedman did not save Chile

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The Guardian - By Naomi Klein - Mar. 04 (Opinion) - To say the late economist deserves credit for the country?s building codes shows a lack of knowledge of pre-coup Chile Ever since deregulation caused a worldwide economic meltdown in September ?08 and everyone became a Keynesian again, it hasn?t been easy to be a fanatical follower of the late economist Milton Friedman. So widely discredited is his brand of free-market fundamentalism that his admirers have become increasingly desperate to claim ideological victories, however far fetched. A particularly distasteful case in point. Just two days after Chile was struck by a devastating earthquake, Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens informed his readers that Milton Friedman?s "spirit was surely hovering protectively over Chile" because, ...

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Experts: Chile's economy stable in earthquake's aftermath

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:16:50 -0800

USA Today - Mar. 02 - Experts: Chile's economy stable in earthquake's aftermathUSA TodayChile is Latin America's A-plus student when it comes to economics, leaving it with a large reserve of cash that should help it ...The 3-minute interview: Lise-Anne StrohschankWashington Examinerall 2 news articles??

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The Joy of Stats

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

BBC News - By Hans Rosling - Jan. 09 (Editorial) - Hans Rosling's famous lectures combine enormous quantities of public data with a sport's commentator's style to reveal the story of the world's past, present and future development. Now he explores stats in a way he has never done before - using augmented reality animation. In this spectacular section of 'The Joy of Stats' he tells the story of the world in 200 countries over 200 years using 120,000 numbers - in just four minutes. Plotting life expectancy against income for every country since 1810, Hans shows how the world we live in is radically different from the world most of us imagine.

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We must stop the 'vulture funds' that feed on the world's poor

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Independent - By Johann Hari - Sep. 18 (Opinion) - Would you ever march up to a destitute African who is shivering with Aids and demand he "pay back" tens of thousands of pounds he didn't borrow – with interest? I only ask because this is in effect happening, here, in British and American courts, time after time. Some of the richest people in the world are making profit margins of 500 per cent by shaking money out of the poorest people in the world – for debt they did not incur.

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