Category Archive: Economic

Skilled Labor: Outdated Immigration Policy Threatens U.S. Economic Well-Being

July 18, 2008

July 18, 2008

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Jamie Heine
    • U.S. losing the race for talented immigrants
    • Washington must update immigration policy to allow more skilled immigrants to work in the U.S.

In 2007, Microsoft opened a software development center in Vancouver, Canada, in part to have access to highly skilled workers who are presently prohibited from residing in the United States. Microsoft’s recent Canadian venture highlights a growing trend of U.S. companies seeking available talented workers in offshore countries and keeping them there. Much of this in-place outsourcing has to do with Washington’s failure to provide sufficient work permits to fill the pressing domestic need for skilled immigrant professionals. Making matters worse, many of the immigrants who are unable to receive U.S. work permits have been educated at American universities. The U.S. pours valuable resources into the education of would-be immigrants, whose knowledge and skills ultimately benefit other countries. The result is that the U.S. is missing out on substantial economic benefits by refusing to grant work permits to skilled laborers, especially to those schooled here.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Jamie Heine.

Does the End Justify the Means? The Misuse of the ICRC Emblem by Colombian Intelligence in Its Hostage Rescue Mission

The now famed Colombian rescue mission Operation Jaque, responsible for the rescue of former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other important and high visibility hostages from the FARC, is being criticized for using emblems from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of its elaborate ruse. Colombia’s president Uribe has acknowledged this deception and has formally apologized to the ICRC. Three photographs provided by an unknown military source, and sold to CNN, show a Colombian soldier wearing an ICRC bib on his arm. Furthermore, in previously unpublished video footage of the rescue mission, an emblem can be seen on the helicopter of the “Mision Internacional Humanitaria,” which is supposedly an NGO based in Spain.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Erina Uozumi.

Permanent link to this article: http://www.coha.org/skilled-labor-outdated-immigration-policy-threatens-us-economic-well-being/

The Politics of Illogicality: North Korea is Removed from Washington’s Terrorist List but Cuban Embargo Remains

July 1, 2008

July 1, 2008

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Michelle Quiles

In February 2008, longtime Cuban president Fidel Castro transferred power to his younger brother Raúl, sparking a worldwide dialogue regarding the implications of the first major transition of power seen on the island in almost five decades. Most would agree that Havana, in fact, has carried out a number of changes. However, the ultimate significance of these cumulative reforms and the prospect of a broadening of Cuban democracy are still being widely debated. Some, like the Bush administration, believe that the recent changes are cosmetic and do not signal a transition into a more representative, democratic government because of continued instances of repression and state control over the economy and the Cuban people. Others maintain that the overall combination of the numerous structural changes occurring on the island, as well as the changed social patterns, should be seen as a precursor to a democratic future. Still others believe that Raúl Castro is himself merely a transitional figure who is mainly preoccupied with maintaining stability, due to concerns that Fidel Castro’s death could destabilize a system that has revolved around him since its inception.

The Cuban Revolution awarded power to a charismatic leader who permeated every aspect of Cuban society during his 48-year rule. Fidel’s resignation has left Raúl with the inevitable yet difficult task of continuing a system based on fidelismo without Fidel. It is undeniable that Raúl’s primary concern has been the establishment of an effective succession mechanism to guarantee a peaceful and stable transition of power. After all, the 77-year old Raúl will not enjoy as long a presidency as his brother did. However, to overlook the value and prospects of the reforms implemented by Raúl would be a mistake of the highest order. If nothing else, the appearance and public persona of the president of Cuba has changed dramatically since Raúl Castro shed his guerrilla uniform in favor of a western, dark gray business suit. For a country defined by its guerilla birth and military rule, it is especially significant that the island’s new president, the decades-long head of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias, has decided to change his appearance in this way. Before speculating whether the new Cuban president will be a different kind of Castro or a continuation of the same old Fidel, it may be beneficial to enumerate the many changes being witnessed by Cuba since Raúl’s rise to power in July 2006.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Michelle Quiles.

The Politicization of MERCOSUR: With a Divided Past, Is There Hope for a United Future?

Today the leaders of Mercosur are convening in Tucumán, Argentina for their semi-annual conference and for the inauguration of Brazil’s Luis Inácio Lula da Silva as its pro-tempore president. San Miguel de Tucumán, the largest city in northwestern Argentina and the capital of the province of Tucumán, was the site of Argentine independence from Spain in 1816. Mercosur should take advantage of the historic significance of this site and use this meeting to redefine itself independently from other regional integration schemes and trade blocs. If Mercosur seeks to maintain the recognized international legitimacy it has worked so hard to achieve over the past seventeen years, it needs to clearly identify its goals for the future.

History of the Common Market of the South
In 1991, the Treaty of Asunción established the Mercado Común del Sur, commonly referred to as Mercosur. With this treaty, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay committed themselves to increasing regional integration and eliminating obstacles to internal trade. Modeled after the European Union (EU), the trade bloc is now one of the largest and most influential commercial trade zones in the world, and is responsible for more than three-fourths of the economic activity on the continent. While Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay are permanent members, Venezuela’s status as a full member is still pending. The Andean States of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, along with Chile, are associate members. The presidency of Mercosur rotates every six months and is currently held by Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. In the beginning, Mercosur successfully created trade-driven unity among its member countries. However, numerous challenges, both internal and external, have since threatened its efficacy as a bastion of regional integration and economic growth.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Kristin Bushby.

Permanent link to this article: http://www.coha.org/the-politics-of-illogicality-north-korea-is-removed-from-washington%e2%80%99s-terrorist-list-but-cuban-embargo-remains/

Evaluating Structural Adjustment: A Dissenting Opinion

June 4, 2008

June 4, 2008

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Stephen Okin

!Necesitamos un Acuerdo Humanitario! – The Need for a Humanitarian Agreement in Colombia

A humanitarian agreement to exchange or liberate hostages held by the FARC, as well as involving FARC members imprisoned by the Colombian government, is demonstrably the most efficient, safest and most prudent way to resolve the refugee impasse. The guerrilla force holds an estimated 800 captives under close guard, creating a very delicate situation for any military rescue attempt. For instance, in May 2003, the government launched such a rescue effort that resulted in the death of politician Guillermo Gaviria Correa and eight military detainees. The danger here is that as disgraced ex-president Fujimori turned to Peru’s military in a desperate operation to overwhelm the Tupac Amaru guerrillas who had seized the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Colombia’s president Uribe is fully capable of doing the same in Colombia. It is necessary for Uribe, whose measures have created hostility and risked confrontations both with Ecuador and Venezuela and within Colombia, to prove to the American people that Colombia is a fit partner to be in a free trade pact with this country. Therefore, he should take a positive step in the direction of peace and reconciliation rather than flirt with the idea that the government can work its will on the guerrillas through armed action.

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Evaluating Structural Adjustment: A Dissenting Opinion

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) have come under heavy scrutiny for their structural adjustment programs. These programs, which feature loans conditional upon neoliberal economic reforms, have been implemented countless times in numerous developing countries since the 1980s. Recently, these loans have been criticized for failing to provide the promised economic growth and for adversely affecting the poor. Today, it has become expedient for politicians to blame IMF and WB programs as the source of their country’s past and current economic woes; railing against the policies of the IMF and WB has become a common theme of Latin America’s resurgent populist leaders. Yet, the truth of the matter is that the IMF and WB’s structural adjustment programs are not solely to blame for the economic plight that hit many developing countries. Structural adjustment could still be a sound policy; it simply needs to be revised in light of its multiple problems.

Permanent link to this article: http://www.coha.org/evaluating-structural-adjustment-a-dissenting-opinion/

Still on the Drawing Board: the Banco del Sur a Half Year Later

May 27, 2008

May 27, 2008

This analysis was prepared by Research Fellow Thomaz Alvares de Azevedo e Almeida

COHA and the history of the Argentine human rights situation

COHA Director Larry Birns was recently mentioned in Hugo Alconada Mon’s article, “Piden desclasificar los archivos sobre los desaparecidos,” in La Nación. The article may be accessed by clicking on the following link:

http://www.lanacion.com/ar/politica/nota.asp?nota_id=1013271

• In the wake of the third summit of heads of state for the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the newest development is the creation of a South American Defense Council. One question still in the air, however, is what happened to the Banco del Sur, the South American development bank that was so heavily hyped a half year ago?
• The Banco del Sur may become an important actor throughout the continent, but for this to happen its members first need to agree on the subscribed capital upon which it will be levied.
• Once the bank’s capital subscription is decided, future challenges await: How to allocate the voting shares distribution and how to achieve high quality portfolios and credit ratings.

In December 2007, presidents from seven of the thirteen South American countries met in Argentina to create the Banco del Sur, a development bank originally advocated by Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez as a substitute for international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF )and the World Bank. However, as the Banco del Sur is still on the drawing board and its purpose still debated, the only relatively fixed points are the countries which have agreed to be members: the leftists Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela, and the moderate left-leaning Mercosur countries, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The question at hand is whether the newborn Banco del Sur will be able to live up to the challenges of running a successful sub-regional development bank while still making a coherent and strong ideological statement.

Permanent link to this article: http://www.coha.org/still-on-the-drawing-board-the-banco-del-sur-a-half-year-later/

Latin America’s Process of Economic and Social Stabilization: A Stagnant Experiment or a Force to be Reckoned With?

September 27, 2007

September 27, 2007

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Concetta Kim Martens

Few critics would deny that in 2006 the economy of Latin America and the Caribbean reported growth performance at the highest rate since the 1970s. The present acceleration began in 2004 with a GDP increase of 5.9 percent. The region …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.coha.org/latin-america%e2%80%99s-process-of-economic-and-social-stability-a-stagnant-experiment-or-a-force-to-be-reckoned-with/

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