Daily Headlines: March 6, 2009

* U.S.: Alex Rodriguez’ recent woes continue; a hip injury to the star third baseman may leave him out of play until May.

* Cuba: Journalist and poet Normando Hernandez Gonzalez has been transferred from the hospital ward where he was being treated for multiple ailments back to the prison where he has been held since 2003.

* Mexico: Genetically modified material “contaminated” native corn in southern Mexico according to a scientific study.

* Panama: After meeting with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Panamanian President Martin Torrijos said that his country will join the Petrocaribe oil alliance.

Image- New York Daily News
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, AHN, MSNBC, Bloomberg, LAHT

Panama to host Rice (and Russians)

This coming Tuesday, outgoing Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will visit with President Martin Torrijos, which will precede Wednesday's regional meeting of foreign ministers from around the hemisphere to discuss the "Pathways to Prosperity" (PPA) initiative launched by the Bush administration earlier this year, framework for working with governments signed onto the FTAA agreements with the US.

It remains unclear what the Obama administration will do to continue the PPA (much less current and potential free trade agreements in the region), though the extent to which concrete proposals or promises are made during the Panama meeting may go some ways towards determining the Obama administration's initial posture (an interesting analysis on this subject can be found at Alainet).

As noted here yesterday, and in a coincidence of no uncertain irony, the first Russian warship since WWII is scheduled to sail through the Panama Canal today. What's more, AFP reports that over 400 Russian soldiers from the ship are set to remain stationed in the former US naval base located at the canal througout all of next week's meetings in Panama City, just 15 minutes away from the canal zone. The same article reports that, according to the Russian embassy in Panama: "The main purpose (of the visit to Panama) is for the soldiers to rest and to replenish (ship) supplies."

Sources: AP, Univision, La Prensa, Alainet, Marketwatch, State.gov

UNGA: LatAm leaders speak at U.N.

Several Latin American leaders spoke during today’s session of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. Here are what some of them had to say:

• Bolivia’s Evo Morales is speaking at the time of this post. He criticized the U.S. government of being hypocritical on terrorism and claimed that the recently expelled U.S. ambassador once referred to him as the “Andean Bin Laden.” Morales introduced a list of “ten commandments for the salvation of humanity” which included the defeat of capitalism and called for a world free of military intervention and imperialism.
• Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (image) addressed the global financial crisis and called on the U.N. to take prompt action. “The United Nations, as the world's largest multilateral arena, must issue a call for a vigorous response to the weighty threats we all face,” said Lula who also defended the increased use of biofuels.
• Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner called on Iran to extradite five former officials accused of masterminding a deadly bombing in 1994. “I ask Iran to please allow Argentine justice to judge, in public and transparent trials with all the guarantees of a democratic system, those citizens who stand accused,” said Kirchner who also emphasized Argentina’s claims of sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
• Panamanian president Martin Torrijos spoke on the need for the U.N. to be more active in combating the global food crisis. “How can it be that if there’s enough food to feed the world that…millions of people suffer from malnutrition?” asked Torrijos who also called for the U.N. to undergo serious reform.
• Several regional leaders will speak on Wednesday including the presidents of Colombia, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was scheduled to address the U.N. tomorrow yet another senior government official (Nicolas Maduro?) will do so instead.

Image- Voice of America

Sources (English)- The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, Xinhua, Forbes, haaretz.com, The Independent

Sources (Spanish)- Univision.com, ecodiario.es