Panama and Chile agree to free trade deal

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Panama and Chile signed a free trade agreement on Saturday after more than a decade of negotiations. According to the deal, most Panamanian goods will not have to pay tariff when entering the Chilean market. (Xinhua)

latin america, South America, central america, Chile, panama, free trade

Ecuador gets apologies from Colombia over border dispute

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Colombia’s defense minister apologized to Ecuador last week over an “accidental” military incursion into Ecuadorian territory. Colombian aircraft trespassed Ecuadorian airspace during a battle with left-wing guerillas. (BBC)

latin america, South America, ecuador, colombia

Lula gains in polls, yet trails chief opponent

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. A poll published on Sunday shows that Brazil’s resident has gained popularity since December even though his administration has been rocked by a serious corruption scandal. Still, the poll showed that Lula would trail in a head-to-head match up with the opposition politician he defeated in the past presidential election. (Reuters)

latin america, South America, brazil, lula

Rummy: Chavez is like Hitler

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. In the latest salvo in a diplomatic war between the U.S. and Venezuela, Donald Rumsfeld claimed that Hugo Chavez “is a person who was elected legally - just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally - and then consolidated power.” Chavez replied by comparing President Bush to Hitler and threatened to cut off Venezuelan oil exports to the U.S. (BBC)

donald rumsfeld, latin america, South America, Venezuela, hugo chavez

The pause that refreshes? Brit schools may ban Coke

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Several British universities are considering banning all Coca-Cola products from their schools over allegations that Coca-Cola endangers labor leaders in their Colombian bottling plants. Coke has already been banned from U.S. schools such as New York University and the University of Michigan. (Independent)

latin america, South America,colombia, coke, great britain

Evo to Bachelet: We want a coastline

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Landlocked Bolivia will request access to the sea from Chile after Chilean president-elect Michelle Bachelet takes office next month. Bolivia has been without a coastline to the Pacific Ocean since Chile beat Bolivia in the War of the Pacific over a century ago. (Xinhua)

latin america, South America, Chile, evo morales, michelle bachelet, bolivia

Zelaya inaugurated as Honduran president

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Manuel Zelaya, a wealthy landowner, was inaugurated as Honduran president last Friday. He vowed to combat rising gang violence and government corruption in his inauguration speech in front of thousands at Tegucigalpa’s Estadio Nacional. (ABC)

Mexico: No maps for border crossers

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Mexico’s government will “rethink” its plan to provide maps to migrants planning to cross the US-Mexico border. Mexican officials expressed worry that a map-distribution program would assist anti-immigrant groups such as the Minutemen. (Mercury News)

Latin America ignored in global economic conference

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. The World Economic Forum ended last week with emphasis mainly on the Middle East and the Pacific Rim, while Latin America was virtually shunned. "I've been coming here for 15 years and this was the first time there was so little emphasis on Latin America," confessed the group chief executive of a British advertising company. (Al-Jazeera)

Telenovelas en ingles? They may come to an English-speaking network near you

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Television programmers believe that English-language telenovelas may be the next hit genre to invade US TV. screens. Novelas planned for networks such as ABC and CBS are closely patterned after popular Spanish-language novelas; for instance, "Desire: Table for Three," is adapted from the Colombian series "Mesa Para Tres." (SFGate)

Chavez meets with Cindy Sheehan while Iran okays business deal with Venezuela

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. During a meeting between US anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, Chavez joked that he might put a tent up next to President Bush’s Texas ranch the next time Sheehan protests there. Also, Iran’s parliament approved several bills that would foster trade and commerce between Iran and Venezuela. (IRNA)

Uribe’s popularity plummets while authorities investigate possible Al-Qaeda link to criminal group

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. False accusations by the government on a rival candidate’s involvement with leftist rebels have hurt of Alvaro Uribe’s seemingly easy bid for presidential reelection as polls show his popularity decreasing dramatically. In addition, Colombian officials are investigating the possible infiltration of Al-Qaeda and Hammas in a recently-arrested criminal ring. (BBC)

Bolivia: Drug czar named; Morales cuts his salary in half

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. President Evo Morales named a coca leaf grower as Bolivia’s drug czar as part of his plan to radically change government policy on coca. Meanwhile, Morales vowed that he would cut his salary by more than half and would use the money saved to help pay social services. (BBC)

Rift between EU and Jamaica over death penalty

-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Multi-million dollar donations from the EU to a Jamaican anti-death penalty group have raised the ire of the Jamaican government. Though Jamaica last execution occurred eighteen years ago, the island’s government feels that the EU is interfering with Jamaica’s judicial system. (Jamaica Observer)

Fences make friends: outside the fence

A cause to unite Latin America

Venezuelan liberator Simon Bolivar once wrote in his ‘Letter from Jamaica’ that the nations that now comprise Spanish-speaking Latin America should naturally be drawn to common causes, due to their “common origin, language, customs, and religion”. Over the years Pan Americanism floated in and out of intellectual fashion, though fading through the years as individual nations developed separate experiences and national identities.
Latin America has experienced a surge in continental identity in recent months, as their northern neighbor threatens to build a fence that will physically slice the hemisphere in half. If there was ever cause to make a collective protest against the United States, it is this. Nearly every country south of the proposed wall has a sizeable ex-patriate population in the US, and some, like El Salvador, receive significant proportions of their GDP from remittances.
By proposing the wall and attempting to make illegal immigration a felony, lawmakers are isolating an area of the world that we should have excellent ties with. There is no evidence that illegal immigrants are any more a source of crime or a drain on the economy than the proportion of our own population that is below the poverty line. Congress has made a new set of enemies at a time when we so desperately need friends.


latin america, border, Immigration, Illegal immigration, Politics

Photography of Bolivia

Browse these fantastic stills from The Washington Post (half-way down, right-hand side) (WAPO) WAPO also has commentary from Marcela Sanchez on Morales' first meetings with foreign officials as president-elect (English or Spanish).

latin america, south america, bolivia, evo morales