-Taylor Kirk
Strenuous U.S. efforts to encourage free-trade agreements in Latin America would lead one to believe that the election of a pro-CAFTA Nobel Peace Prize winner in a friendly Central American country would merit an article or two in the main stream U.S. press. One would be mistaken.
Today former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias returned to power with 45% of the vote, enough for him to avoid a runoff. So far (I write this at 10:15pm) Reuters is the only English-language source covering the event, and I was only able to find that article after Googling Costa Rica in the news section. The very next article that sprang up was on luxury condos in Guanacaste.
Of course, anyone that can read Spanish could visit
La Nacion (CR) for the latest results, if they were even aware that the election was taking place today. However, U.S. coverage of Latin America is dominated by Hugo Chavez' latest antics and the threat of Daniel Ortega returning to power in Nicaragua.
One of the effects of 9/11 was that U.S. citizens began to notice the world beyond our borders, and to take a greater interest in foreign affairs. Though primarily focused on events in the Middle East, the consumption of public radio, international publications,
and television coverage of world events skyrocketed, bringing new perspectives and information about world events to our living rooms. This also brought a hope, however tentative, that increased international awareness might make the U.S. a smarter nation that might develop a smarter foreign policy.
As I write this, the three headlines on CNN.com's section for the Americas are 'Brazil: 3 Crushed in Rush to Get Autographs', 'Washington: U.S. Kicks Out Venezuelan Envoy', and 'Venezuela: Hamas to Tour South America'. Apart from being almost comical, "The World's News Leader" has demonstrated that U.S. public interest in Latin America is confined to the sensational. Perhaps if Arias were a militant leftist, or if the elections were marred by violence, CNN would find it fit to cover. As it stands, the U.S. public will remain unaware that a successful election in a marvelous Central American country just changed the course of that region's history.
Update: Today coverage of the event is much more extensive, especially focusing on the closeness of the election. While
La Nacion still has the candidates separated by almost 9,000 votes and a quote from Arias que 'confia en la victoria', the
Reuters syndication has Arias saying that he 'cannot claim victory yet'.
Update II: Looks like I and the rest of the world called it too early, but I'd like to make it clear that my original point still stands. I was very disappointed Sunday to see the lack of coverage while the election was ongoing. The latest from
La Nacion says that with 88.11% of the votes counted, Arias' lead has narrowed to 3,647 votes. I like the quote from Solis that 'qualquier cosa puede ocurrir' en la eleccion, as if we were not aware of that :D. I would also like to make everyone aware that the "
World's News Leader" has finally posted the (now outdated) circulating Reuters article, though it comes AFTER the headline about how Cuba is planning a massive anti-US rally. Sensationalism anyone? Congrats CNN.
Update III: Costa Rica is on the main page of
Wikipedia today. I love the wikis.
latin america, central america, costa rica, oscar arias
-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. The United States plans to cut military aid to Bolivia by 96% nearly a month after the election of Evo Morales in Bolivia. The U.S. State Department claims that this cut may be necessary since Bolivia has refused to ratify an agreement avoiding extradition of Americans to the International Criminal Court. (IHT)
-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. On Wednesday, Brazil’s president started a four-nation tour of Africa in order to improve business ties and lobby for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. "We want to build cooperation in (economic) sectors and prove to Algerians that in choosing Brazil they have made a good choice," Lula told the Algerian press. (CNN)
-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. A “memorial” was erected in front of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana on Tuesday. The display consists of over 100 black flags raised high enough to block an electric ticker on the fifth floor of the U.S. mission that transmitted anti-Castro messages. (CBS)
-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Under a new program announced on Monday, 10 Mecklenburg County deputies will receive training to become certified immigration officers.
-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Ballots from Tuesday’s first round of Haitian presidential elections continue to be counted under the auspices of United Nations troops. Though the secretary-generals of the UN and Organization of American States praised the massive turnout and relative lack of violence, four people were killed on Election Day and some voters complained that they were unable to cast their votes. (CNN)
-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Members of Miami’s Cuban exile community protested alleged abuse of Cuban refugees recently detained in the Bahamas. In addition, several Cuban-American congressmen have condemned Bahamian authorities via a letter written to Condoleezza Rice. (CBS)
With just under 10% of the votes counted in Haiti's election former President Rene Preval is leading the pack at 61.5%. (Washington Post)
-Taylor Kirk
Former Senator Tom Daschle contributed an op-ed piece to the Miami Herald that has some very sane policy recommendations for the United States in Latin America. Among them 1) accept the election of leaders whose beliefs do not match our own, provided those leaders accept the rules of the democratic road, and 2) make it cheaper and safer to remit money from the United States, even if that means regulating wire-sending operations, and 3) reform our immigration laws so that hard-working and law-abiding immigrants from Latin America can earn the opportunity to become U.S. citizens. Shame on South Dakotans for booting Daschle from office in 2004, only to elect this man, who somehow managed to misspell the word 'borders' on this page of his website (third line).
-Taylor Kirk
-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Mexico’s government hired a Dallas-based PR firm to help project a more positive image of Mexico within the U.S. The aim, according to a representative from the PR firm is to focus on ''the good things that are happening in Mexico'' and ``correct some of the myths and misperceptions that are out there.'' (Miami)
-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Former Guatemalan gang members will be transformed into community leaders in a reality show set to air next month. The program will air in Central America and will be partially produced by the U.S. Agency for International Development. (The Star)
-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. A new law passed last week by Guatemala’s legislature forces the government to provide sexual education classes and encourage the use of contraceptives. Still, Guatemala’s president and Catholic Church officials plan to appeal the congress’ decision on a supposed voting technicality. (BBC)
-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. The early repayment of Brazil and Argentina’s massive multi-billion dollar debt to the IMF has led to problems within the global lending body. The IMF is facing a growing amount of critics who feel it should cut back its lending practices. (Chronicle)
-Contributed by Erwin Cifuentes. Meetings in Mexico City between U.S. energy executives and Cuban officials had to be moved from a U.S.-owned hotel due to U.S. government pressure. Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard will return seven of eight Cuban “balseros” rescued from a Bahamian island to Bahamas’ immigration authorities. An injured refugee airlifted to a Florida hospital will be allowed to stay in the U.S. due to the U.S.’s “wet-foot, dry-foot” policy. (Sun Sentinel)