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	<title>Council on Hemispheric Affairs &#187; Free Trade</title>
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	<description>COHA is an NGO specialized in monitoring Latin American and Canadian Relations for more than 30 years...</description>
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		<title>Brazil Must Find its Voice Against Violence</title>
		<link>http://www.coha.org/brazil-must-find-its-voice-against-violence/</link>
		<comments>http://www.coha.org/brazil-must-find-its-voice-against-violence/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:08:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Brazil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[COHA Daily News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[OAS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Nations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Assad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ban Ki-Moon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bashar al-Assad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dictator]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Intervention]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Repression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syrian Liberation Army]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UN]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.coha.org/?p=15820</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Amidst the clamor of international outrage in the wake of the failed United Nations Security Council vote for regime change in Syria, Brazil has remained conspicuously silent. While the United States closed its embassy in Damascus, and while the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, called the vote “a great disappointment,” the dominant economic and political force in Latin America was not inclined to take action. Aspirations for a permanent spot on the UN Security Council are keeping Brazil from taking a bold and assertive stance on human rights and democracy in the Middle East. Commercial concerns with China and Iran, both key trading allies with Brazil who oppose intervention in Syria, are of course also on the minds of the Brazilian leadership. But if the country wants to become a major international player, it must take a broader and more generous view when it comes to the Arab Spring. In short, Brazil needs to denounce President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and to join the international call for its immediate removal. Although Brazil has held only a temporary position on the UN Security council, with its most recent rotation ending in 2011, it is vying for a permanent seat, and playing the [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>The Race for the White House: A Call for a Regionally-based Enlightened Foreign Policy toward Latin America</title>
		<link>http://www.coha.org/the-race-for-the-white-house-a-call-for-a-regionally-based-enlightened-foreign-policy-toward-latin-america/</link>
		<comments>http://www.coha.org/the-race-for-the-white-house-a-call-for-a-regionally-based-enlightened-foreign-policy-toward-latin-america/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:58:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[COHA Research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.coha.org/?p=15033</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With a little under a year remaining until the next U.S. presidential election, a coherent and sustainable area policy toward Latin America remains absent from the campaign literature and both presidential parties’ electoral strategies. In fact, a true U.S.-Latin American foreign policy—one that involves succinct initiatives rather than populist rants or ideological outbursts—has yet to be developed in the 21st century. If one is left to assess the future of U.S.-Latin American foreign policy simply by relying on the last three years of the Obama administration, or the empty rhetoric from the entire Republican field, the future appears rather bleak. Nonetheless, one candidate, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, has detailed a slightly weightier, yet basically ill-informed vision that promotes regional integration and the strengthening of economic ties. His plan is almost entirely dominated by commercial interests and remains in large part focused on securitization. Barely moving beyond a fallow bilateral approach harnessed during the post-World War II years, Romney’s Latin American policy does manage to squeeze out some relatively non-bombastic verbiage. For his part, President Obama has yet to outline a detailed vision on Latin American issues for his reelection, but the short blurb on the White House policy page [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.coha.org/the-race-for-the-white-house-a-call-for-a-regionally-based-enlightened-foreign-policy-toward-latin-america/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Neo-Paramilitary Gangs Ratchet Up Their Threat to Colombian Civil Society and the Long Term Survival of Civic Rectitude in the Public Arena</title>
		<link>http://www.coha.org/neo-paramilitary-gangs-ratchet-up-their-threat-to-colombian-civil-society-and-the-long-term-survival-of-civic-rectitude-in-the-public-arena/</link>
		<comments>http://www.coha.org/neo-paramilitary-gangs-ratchet-up-their-threat-to-colombian-civil-society-and-the-long-term-survival-of-civic-rectitude-in-the-public-arena/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:12:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[COHA Research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Colombia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.coha.org/?p=15027</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The emergence of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) represented the largest and most violent paramilitary group in the country, funding its murderous activities by means of the immensely enlarging ongoing drug trade. The Colombian government enacted Decree 128 and the Justice and Peace Law to launch and subsequently monitor the demobilization process, which failed under the Uribe administration, and led to the emergence of neo-paramilitary drug gangs known as the Bacrims. (Las Bandas Criminales) The Bacrims are still carrying out their atrocities with a modus operandi similar to that of their AUC paramilitary predecessors. This has resulted in human rights violations and stepped-up drug trafficking. The Bacrims continue to maintain a strong presence in municipalities where Uribe-backed candidates claimed victory in the October 30, 2011 elections, and their long-term success would unquestionably threaten the prospects for peace in Colombia. Executive Summary Colombia’s first paramilitaries were known as ‘self-defense groups’, after they began to emerge in the 1960’s. Most of their funding came sub-rosa from the Colombian military, and they committed continuous acts of sharpening violence against rural civilian bands perceived as supporters or sympathizers of the guerrillas. In 1997, a new paramilitary group commonly known as the United [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>A “Major Win” for Panamanian Corruption: Free Trade Agreement Destined to Benefit Tainted Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches</title>
		<link>http://www.coha.org/a-major-win-for-panamanian-corruption/</link>
		<comments>http://www.coha.org/a-major-win-for-panamanian-corruption/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:14:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[COHA Research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Panama]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.coha.org/?p=14932</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While Congress debated over the recently passed free trade agreement, neither side acknowledged that a contract with Panama will not only fail to provide a level playing field for U.S. businesses to fairly compete, but will also force U.S. businesspeople to become mired in dealings with a corrupt government, undercutting prospects for legitimate bilateral transactions. Martinelli&#8217;s apparent reaches for illegitimate power have led the executive branch to profoundly undermine the legislature, leading to an increasingly presidentialist system of government. A number of recent high-profile cases and statements made by experts confirm the near-normalization of corruption in the Panamanian judiciary. Transparency provisions in the free trade agreement are not sufficiently ironclad for a country in which corruption is &#8220;cultural,&#8221; a soft term for endemically tainted governance.[1] On October 12, 2011, the United States Congress passed free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea. The Obama administration hailed the agreements for their supposed ability to create U.S. jobs and expand exports. The president lauded the passage of the agreements, calling them a &#8220;major win for American workers and businesses.”[2] On the other hand, liberal democrats and labor rights groups have decried the agreements, claiming that they will result in both the [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Titling Scams and Suspicious Canal Bids: Panamanian Corruption Spreads to Land Holdings and Prominent Politicians</title>
		<link>http://www.coha.org/titling-scams-and-suspicious-canal-bids-panamanian-corruption-spreads-to-land-holdings-and-prominent-politicians/</link>
		<comments>http://www.coha.org/titling-scams-and-suspicious-canal-bids-panamanian-corruption-spreads-to-land-holdings-and-prominent-politicians/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:13:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[COHA Research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Panama]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.coha.org/?p=14876</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Endemic corruption in Panama&#8217;s government threatens to jeopardize the recently enacted free trade agreement with the United States and Panama&#8217;s economic strength. Highly publicized land titling scandals in Juan Hombrón, Paitilla, Costa del Este, and Chilibre, Panama, have raised questions about the alleged involvement of the administration of President Ricardo Martinelli and other government officials. Suspicions have arisen that the bidding process for the strategically important Panama Canal expansion program may have involved a tainted competition process among firms around the world. Introduction After the approval of the Panamanian free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States on October 12, 2011, President Ricardo Martinelli praised members of the United States Congress who had supported the pact, stating that “through their hard work and supportive pro-growth policies, Panamanians are building one of the strongest, most competitive economies in Latin America.”[1] With the lucrative Panama Canal expansion project and the recently passed FTA, in the next five years Panama is projected to have the highest rate of economic growth in Latin America.[2] Despite such growth, however, Panama’s economic and social development will most likely be crippled by the revelation of persistent government corruption, including major land titling and construction scandals. These concerns [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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