Castro calls Obama speech ‘formula for hunger’

Caribbean Net News

By Maggie Airriess

It is abundantly clear that Barack Obama is the only presidential candidate considering meaningful policy changes in order to advance US-Cuban relations within a context of constructive engagement with all of Latin America ('Castro calls Obama speech 'formula for hunger', May 27).

La incertidumbre de las FARC

El Nuevo Heraldo

By Erina Uozumi

La muerte de Manuel Marulanda o "Tirofijo" no indica explícitamente que bajo el nuevo mando de Cano, las FARC estén mas dispuestas, o que realísticamente puedan negociar la paz. Se nos olvida tal vez, la gran desconfianza que se viene sembrando desde las negociaciones con la presidencia de Betancourt y la exterminación de la Unión Patriótica por los paramilitares, y las fuerzas armadas. Con tanta sangre derramada entre los militares y las FARC, es difícil hacer un gesto de "buena fe", como lo indica el Ministro de Defensa, Juan Manuel Santos. Por esta razón y la falladas negociaciones entre el gobierno y las FARC, la ala política de la guerrilla puede encontrar oposición de parte de la ala militar bajo el "Mono Jojoy" causando más violencia y fragmentación. La fuerza y los números de las FARC, sin embargo, se prevé que van a decaer. Esto se debe a que Cano siendo un líder intelectual a diferencia de Jojoy o Tirofijo,(que son de origen campesinos) no tiene el mismo carisma y ni atrae tanto a la clase campesina de Colombia de donde vienen la mayoría de los combatientes de las FARC. También, el hecho que el gobierno esta pagando las recompensas que prometen y están garantizando la libertad condicional de esos que abandonan las FARC crea un precedente positivo para que los combatientes se sientan seguros al desertar las FARC. Lo mejor que puede hacer el gobierno es ofrecer cambios sociales y agrarios que realmente ayuden a los campesinos y a los sectores más pobres del país. Mientras no hayan cambios sociales y una solución a la pobreza, las FARC seguirán existiendo, y si no son las FARC, otras organizaciones armadas que busquen cambio al problema de la inequidad y la pobreza en Colombia.

Guanacaste experiencing dramatic deterioration

Tico Times

By Aviva Elzufon

Your article “It’s Official: The West Coast is a Mess” (TT, May 16) only scratches the surface of the issues now facing Guanacastecos due to the growth of tourism in Costa Rica. The true scope of environmental degradation and the economic downturn is apparent in the dramatic degradation of the region's quality of life. While the northwestern province of Guanacaste is presumed to be an ideal place for baby boomers to spend their golden years, local residents are worrying over a general inflation rate of 9.2 percent a year. This inflation, coupled with the area's crippling pocket of poverty, forces most of its residents to concentrate on staying afloat rather than protecting the environment. Even though the unemployment rate dropped two points from 2004 to 2006, new jobs have only been created in the tourist sector, leaving the small entrepreneurial class even more vulnerable to the whims of an economy that will be bound to free-trade agreements while the working poor will become dependent on dead-end jobs. It is imperative that the growing tourist industry in Guanacaste form strategic alliances with the still fragile local middle class. Civic virtue depends on more than just zoning legislation. Protecting the economic base of the local community is necessary so that residents do not have to choose between protecting natural resources and compromising their quality of life.

Morales has a battle in Bolivia

Miami Herald

By Braden Webb

Re recent coverage of Bolivian President Evo Morales' approval of a recall referendum in August: While exhibiting confidence by voluntarily submitting himself to a recall vote, there are many opposing forces that can interfere with his ability to obtain the necessary Yes votes that would then prevent him from having to run again for the presidency. One opposing factor comes from the eastern part of the country calling for a more decentralized government. Led by Santa Cruz's recent big win in its pro-autonomy referendum, five other states want to follow suit. Not only is a new type of decentralized federalism becoming a popular issue separating the wealthier, more Europeanized part of the country from the poorer indigenous population found in the western half of Bolivia, but long-standing issues such as race and class create differences between Morales and the middle class. What makes Morales' battle to stay in office precarious is that it has two fronts: He is being confronted by the population of the lowland areas as well as by issues affecting his relationship with the miners and other labor forces in the highlands.

Indigenous exploitation: Not just through carbon policies

Inter Press Service

By Kristen Walker

Although I agree with the critique of the World Bank’s carbon market policies in your article “Climate Change: Indians Speak Out Against Carbon Markets” (May 6), the author ignores the extent of indigenous exploitation routinely seen in the status quo. Take, for example, the Mexican state of Chiapas, with an indigenous population of 27 percent. Even though the state produces 12 percent of Mexico’s natural gas, 46 percent of its coffee and 48 percent of its hydroelectric power, most of its indigenous population is impoverished. The profits from Chiapas' natural resources are clearly not being equally distributed to benefit the indigenous people. Rizvi’s analysis should further investigate the effects of climate policies on indigenous populations. It is a blatant understatement to say simply that indigenous people have a “minimal” contribution to global warming- they are also among the groups most negatively affected by it.

Minc’s challenge

Economist.com

By Kristin Bushby

SIR – You argue that the resignation of Marina Silva from the Brazilian government has unleashed a multitude of concerns within environmental circles worldwide over the commitment of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration to preserving the Amazon (“Marina marches off”, May 15th). Although Ms Silva’s aspirations for the environment did not come to fruition during her time in office, she was not incompetent. To suggest that her struggles to pass legislation were handicapped by her lacklustre ability to advance a pro-environment agenda ignores the real problem in Brazil: the lack of adequate support necessary to defend the environment within every government agency, not just Ms Silva’s. Brazil’s business lobbyists work tirelessly to promote commercial interests that continually slash the forests. Lula must hope that his new appointee, Carlos Minc, can quickly achieve success against formidable odds and before deforestation levels reach new heights.

The U.S.- left behind again

venezuelaanalysis.com- Venezuela News, Views, and Analysis

By Susan Schaller

In your article, “Venezuela Proposes Food Crisis Fund at Controversial Trans-Atlantic Summit” (May 20), James Suggett discusses the links being formed between Latin American countries and the European Union (EU) at the two-day summit in Lima. The meeting suggested the basis for a working relationship between the EU and participating Latin American countries, which is more than can be said about current inter-American relations. Indeed, Washington’s relationship with the region is deteriorating proportionally to the decline of its credibility in the region. The opportunity to develop a productive hemispheric partnership to overcome the harmful neoliberal policies of the 90s was lost in self-serving posturing by State Department and Treasury officials. For example, the Summit of the Americas held in November 2005 failed to constructively alter hemispheric ties between the two regions over the issue of U.S. insistence on making no concessions on its subsidized agriculture. It was on that occasion that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez attended the People’s Summit in Mar de Plata to explicitly protest Bush’s proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and its subsequent Summit of the Americas. It is no exaggeration to say that the U.S. needs to at least find a better way to keep Latin American leaders engaged at the discussion table as the EU at least managed to do in Lima.

We need a comprehensive anti-drug policy

Washington Post

By Cassidy Rush

In “Venezuela Increasingly a Conduit for Cocaine,” Oct. 28, Juan Forero details how Colombian drug traffickers, finding their operations further disrupted by Plan Colombia, are setting up shop in the friendly environs of Venezuela, where they can “avoid pressure.” There’s no hope for keeping cocaine off city streets anywhere as long as cartels operate with such mobility. If we are to focus on the supply side—even though that now seems like a losing strategy—we need a comprehensive policy that makes drug trafficking so costly that the traffickers back off. The Bush administration, however, seems content to target the problem on a nation-by-nation basis. The Merida Initiative, designed to help fortify Mexican (and Central American) institutions in their own fight against drugs, exemplifies the sort of piecemeal approach that makes life relatively easy for the cartels. Even if the proposal does manage to discombobulate them, the trade is so fungible, it will just move to some Caribbean way-station or to a failed state like Haiti. If we are to help our neighbors to the south battle drugs, we need to do so responsibly. That doesn’t mean trucking the problem from one country to another.

Que tenga usted cuidado, presidente Correa

El País - España

By Cassidy Rush

Ahora que su partido ha ganado la mayoría de los escaños que conformarán la Asamblea Constituyente ecuatoriana (“El partido de Correa obtiene la mayoría en las elecciones a la Asamblea Constituyente en Ecuador,” 01/10/2007) Rafael Correa está más cerca que nunca de poder conducir a su país hacia el denominado “socialismo del siglo XXI,” dejando patente en su constitución una descentralización de sus procesos políticos y una centralización de la gestión económica. En este momento, le convendría a Correa mirar hacia Bolivia, donde reclamos regionales y socioeconómicos han detenido bruscamente la Asamblea Constituyente de Evo Morales. Lo mismo puede suceder en Ecuador, donde Correa podría provocar un atasco político, si decide no tomar en cuenta los intereses de la élite ecuatoriana. Por otro lado, si no logra satisfacer los anhelos de un pueblo que busca un rumbo nuevo, su legado será como el de tantos presidentes ecuatorianos: muchas promesas y pocos resultados. Al impulsar su agenda de reforma radical, Correa debe mantener un delicado equilibrio entre el cambio y el statu quo. Si se inclina demasiado hacia algún lado, podría caerse estrepitosamente en el abismo de la historia.

US vs. Chávez

Boston Herald

By Brent Buxton

Given Washington’s enmity for Hugo Chavez, the ambitious Venezuelan leader, this (“Chavez offers billions in Latin America,” Aug. 26) might inspire the U.S. to respond in kind with its own Latin American aid blitz, which has all but vanished. Chavez denies that this is a competition, but it might very well turn into one to the benefit of all concerned. If so, this could prove to be a double blessing for the poor. However, two points of caution are warranted. First, as experts rightly point out, Chavez’s plan is based on an ebullient political commitment instead of economic strategy, which may limit its impact. An ideologically-based response on the part of the U.S., however, could be similarly problematic.