Bolivia proposes thawing icy relations with U.S.

Political relations between the U.S. and Bolivia have been pretty low since Evo Morales became president of the Andean country. In September, U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg was expelled from La Paz; in return, the White House suspended key trade benefits with Bolivia.

Yesterday the Bolivian government proposed normalizing relations with the U.S. despite the disagreements between both countries. There’s just one teeny-tiny catch:

Bolivia is ready to normalize relations with the United States but only if the US government is willing to recognize the new place the coca leaf has in Bolivia's constitution, a top official said…

"We're ready to resume and redirect our relations, and from State Department information we have we know they are also ready," Deputy Foreign Minister Hugo Fernandez told a press conference in La Paz…

"Our constitution doesn't allow any disdain for the coca leaf, and if the United States can't accept this, it’s difficult to see how we can reach an agreement."

Fernandez’ gesture is certainly a welcome one and ideally should be taken seriously. Realistically, however, it will most likely be rejected by the White House since the U.S. and Bolivia don’t see eye-to-eye on counternarcotics efforts.

A better move would be for both the Morales administration and the White House to engage in bilateral discussions on drugs, trade, etc. Admittedly it may be difficult to get officials from both countries to sit at the same table, but it's possible with Congress pushing for improved relations between both countries.

Image- daylife.com
Online Sources- LAHT, AFP, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: March 4, 2009

* U.S.: Labor Secretary Hilda Solis made her first public appearance five days after being confirmed and assured a crowd of Miami union supporters that "there's a new sheriff in town."

* Cuba: Raul Castro sacked Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and vice president Carlos Lage because they were seduced by the “honey of power” according to ex-dictator Fidel Castro.

* Venezuela: State-run oil company PDVSA will slash production costs by 40% partly due to the low price of crude oil.

* Argentina: The nation’s government and farmers reached a deal that may hopefully avoid repeating the crippling strikes of 2008.

Image- miamiherald.com (“Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis spoke at a community meeting Monday evening at Greater Bethel AME Church in the Overtown neighborhood of Miami.
MARICE COHN BAND / MIAMI HERALD.”)
Online Sources- Voice of America, Bloomberg, Reuters, MSNBC, Xinhua

Today’s Video: Funk a la Venezuela

On Monday we posted “Playa Azul” by Los Amigos Invisibles; thus, why not shine a spotlight this week on the funky Venezuelan band.

Today’s music video- “Yo no sé” (“I don’t know”)- is a single from the group’s 2008 album entitled “Super Pop Venezuela”.

Don’t forget that Los Amigos Invisibles will be playing at New York’s Bowery Ballroom this Friday night!

Online Sources- Los Amigos Invisibles, Bowery Ballroom, The Latin Americanist

Phil Collins: Tour Guide

Some stories speak for themselves:

Singer Phil Collins said his life now revolves around the Alamo.

Collins is in town, set to appear at local events commemorating the anniversary of the siege and battle of the Alamo. Though he's mulling the idea of recording a tribute cover album of 1960s songs, he said he's making the Alamo “my main thing” as a collector, history buff and possible author.

“Basically, now I've stopped being Phil Collins the singer. This has become what I do,” he said Monday, standing beside a 13-foot-by-15-foot model of the 1836 Alamo compound that will open to the public this week…

“He's very well read,” said Jim Guimarin, who owns the History Shop and has traveled with Collins to battle sites.

Perhaps Collins was hallucinating about being one of General Santa Ana’s soldiers when unleashing his faux-Mexican accent in “Illegal Alien”:

(Hat tip: FARK.com).

Online Sources- FARK.com, MySA.com, YouTube

Puerto Rico’s economic woes

As we mentioned this morning, Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño is expected to announce massive public layoffs as part of his austerity plan for the island. The plan might also include several tax increases and the forced retirement of public workers with a minimum of thirty years on the job.

The plan is likely to meet with widespread opposition from numerous sectors but it might be necessary due to Puerto Rico’s frail economy. According to Government Development Bank President Carlos Garcia the island is going through its third consecutive year in recession with little hope for immediate recovery. Garcia added that the island’s credit rating has fallen to junk status and is close to the dreaded non-investment status.

The pitiful state of Puerto Rico’s economy can best be represented by the problems with its pension gamble gone wrong:

The government of Puerto Rico borrowed $2.9 billion through pension bonds in 2008, betting that it could reap annual returns of 8.5 percent investing the money, while paying its bondholders 6.5 percent.

“The risk is minimal,” says Jorge Irizarry, who was chairman of the Employees Retirement System of Puerto Rico from August 2007 through December 2008…

So far, Puerto Rico’s wager isn’t paying off. The 8.5 percent expected rate of return has instead been a loss of more than $200 million, according to a Dec. 12 presentation by fund administrators to legislators.

“It was an arbitrage transaction, and the market has turned against us,” says Carlos Garcia, former president of Banco Santander Puerto Rico, who replaced Irizarry as chairman of the pension fund in January. “I don’t know if the benefits intended will be realized.”

It remains to be seen if Fortuño’s strategy will work. With such a weak economy on the island it’s hard to imagine it getting worse and plunging Puerto Rico into a deeper quagmire.

Image- mental_floss
Online Sources- Bloomberg, Caribbean Net News, primerahora.com, El Reportero Las Vegas, The Latin Americanist,

More travel advisories issued against Mexico

In the past few days several advisories have been issued on traveling to Mexico. Each of these warnings comes in addition to a State Department warning issued last month.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) urged college students to avoid parts of Northern Mexico during spring break. A spokesman with the agency’s Los Angeles office said that he “would discourage traveling to places like Tijuana and Rosarito due to drug cartel violence affecting these areas.”

Though the ATF does not usually issue such warnings, the agency also warned that tourists should avoid smuggling weapons into Mexico which may fall into the hands of criminal groups.

Meanwhile, Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs warned its countrymen on traveling to Mexico. Canadians travelling to Mexico "should exercise a high degree of caution," said the advisory issued last Friday and, much like the ATF warning, placed special attention to northern Mexico.

Despite the warnings travel agents in both the U.S. and Canada observed that Mexico continues to be a very popular tourist destination:

Patrick Evans, spokesman for Student Travel Agency, said more students are booking domestic vacations this year, but destinations in Mexico are still very popular.

“Cancun and Cabo are still some of our most-purchased packages overall,” Evans said.

More than 30,000 people will travel to Mexico through STA for spring break this March and April, a number comparable to past years, he said.

Image- Minneapolis Star Tribune (“Students during Spring Break 2008 at the Cocobongo nightclub in Cancun, Mexico.”)
Online Sources- CTV, CBC, ASU Web Devil, Sherwood Park News, The Latin Americanist, AP, Contra Costa Times

Lula warns against global protectionism

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva issued a stern warning against countries considering economic protectionism.

Last month, Lula considered appealing to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over so-called “Buy American” clauses in the Obama administration’s $787 billion stimulus bill. Yesterday, Lula went further in critiquing protectionist measures:

"If the United States, Europe, Brazil close themselves, the crisis could become much bigger and produce chaos instead of a solution," Lula told industry leaders in Sao Paulo during a visit by Jan Peter Balkenende, the prime minister of the Netherlands…

Lula also intends to speak against global protectionism and for the completion of the WTO's Doha round at the Group of 20 meeting of leading economies in London next month.

"The Doha round was almost finished but we had elections in the United States and then India and politics dominated. Now, nothing stands in the way," said Lula. "The Doha round is more of a political than a financial decision."

Lula’s comments came on the same day as the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) identified Brazil as one of the “key emerging markets of the world.” Yet the USTR’s annual report also issued its own warning that the Doha round will not be renewed unless other countries are more open to U.S. goods.

The USTR report was the first issued under Barack Obama's presidency and also examined free trade. The USTR advised Congress to go ahead and approve a free trade pact with Panama as well as to work out disagreements to soon ratify a bilateral agreement with Colombia. NAFTA shouldn’t be scraped altogether, said the USTR, but suggested that Mexico and Canada revise several provisions in order to aid U.S. workers.

Image- TopNews.in
Online Sources- Bloomberg, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, easybourse.com, Economic Times, Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Castro shakes up Cuban cabinet

Cuban president Raul Castro fired ten members of his cabinet on Monday in a move that he cited would make the government “leaner and more responsive.”

Among those who were let go were leading officials including Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and vice president Carlos Lage. Most of the sacked officials will be replaced senior ministry bureaucrats; for instance, chief diplomat Perez Roque will be replaced by a deputy- Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla.

Several of the ministers who were let go had been highly loyal to previous president Fidel Castro and might have had their own aspirations for the presidency. The timing of the move is interesting as it comes at a time of a potential thawing in U.S.-Cuba relations.

According to several anonymous “academics” interviewed by IPS, the cabinet reshuffling will not lead to significant changes in Cuba. (Ed. – it would've been very helpful to know who these sources are):

Academics who spoke to IPS do not see, however, major novelties in the shakeup, nor do they believe it will bring about the hoped-for changes in the economic sphere. "Perhaps it is early to express an opinion, but for now I just see more of the same," said one, who asked to remain anonymous…

Another academic, who also asked not to be identified, said institutional structures should be simplified at all levels, "to ensure that productive enterprises or units have the necessary autonomy."

Image- CBS News
Online Sources- IPS, The Latin Americanist, BBC News, AP, Al Jazeera English, Reuters

Daily Headlines: March 3, 2009

* Guatemala: President Alvaro Colom claimed that there have been “credible” death threats against him from Mexican hit men employed by drug gangs.

* Puerto Rico: Governor Luis Fortuño is expected to announce later today that hundreds, possibly thousands, of government workers will be laid off in the next few weeks.

* Dominican Republic: President Leonel Fernandez fired over 700 police officers days after he vowed to “cleanse the government of corruption.”

* Latin America: Fourth quarter profits for telecom giant Telefonica jumped by 89% partly due to higher growth in Latin America.

Image- The Telegraph
Online Sources- Caribbean Net News, CNN, Bloomberg, LAHT

Today’s Video: Cool and cooler (revisited)

Generally I hate to repeat videos that have been recently shown. But with sub-zero temperatures and nearly a foot of snow outside The Latin Americanist HQ I can think of no better music video than this one of Los Amigos Invisibles:

Speaking of Los Amigos Invisibles, the Venezuelan funksters will be playing at New York’s Bowery Ballroom this Friday night. If you can dig your way out of the snow then go see them live and on stage!

(Hat tip: Brooklyn Vegan).

Online Sources- Los Amigos Invisibles, Brooklyn Vegan, IHT, Bowery Ballroom, The Latin Americanist

Drug gangs behind Guinea-Bissau assassination?

The assassinations of Guinea-Bissau’s President Joao Bernardo Vieira and his Army chief have highlighted the importance of West Africa to the global drug trade. (The drug “highway” runs from South America and the Caribbean to Western Africa and then into Europe and Russia).

Experts consider the former Portuguese colony as Africa’s first “narco-state” under the late Vieira's rule. "It’s an easy country to actually be active if you're mafia, an organized crime lord", said a senior official with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to BBC News. The power vacuum in Guinea-Bissau may bring more instability to the country, while nations in the area like Senegal, Sierra Leone and Guinea face potential collapse.

Vieira was gunned down by mutinous soldiers hours after his rival- military commander Gen. Batista Tagme Na Waie- died from a bomb attack. But were Latin American drug gangs the brains behind the dual murders? An article in csmonitor.com brings up that possibility:

In recent years, Colombian drug cartels have begun flying small planes across the Atlantic, landing on tiny islands dotting the Guinean coastline. Since Guinea-Bissau has no navy to patrol its waters, the cartels were free to unload tons of cocaine destined for Europe. The drugs were then distributed to impoverished African migrants, who would carry the drugs north by boat to the shores of France, Italy, and Spain…

"This recent set of killings can be explained [as] the action of the drug traffickers, who would not allow anything to get in the way or to obstruct their links with Europe," says David Zounmenou, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Tshwane, formerly known as Pretoria.

Vieira's killing comes days after authorities arrested the son of Guinea’s late president and accused him of drug trafficking.

Image- CBC (“President Joao Bernardo Vieira of Guinea-Bissau, shown here in 2006, died early Monday morning. (Thierry Charlier/Associated Press).”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Yéle Haiti, Voice of America, Times Online, The Telegraph, BBC News, csmonitor.com

Wyclef Jean joins Haitian immigration rally (includes update)

Update

Speaking of immigration protests, several thousand people rallied in Arizona against the harsh crackdown under controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio. (Link via Reuters).

Original Post

Critically acclaimed musician Wyclef Jean and his brother, Melky, were two of approximately 250 people present at a protest in Florida against mass deportation to Haiti. According to CaribWorldNews.com:

Pointing to the widely discriminatory immigration policy in the U.S. that favors some over others, Jean said, `It's important that Haitians get the justice that our Cuban brothers and sisters get. This is not a Haitian cause, it's a human being cause.''

And he added, `To help Haiti you can't deport 30,000 people. It's like putting more sand on the beach. It's not right that people that have been here for 20 years get deported and are sent away from their kids. They deserve a fair chance.”

Protestors at the rally held outside an immigration deportation center also called for the granting of temporary protected status to Haitians, a move that was rejected in January by then-Homeland security head Michael Chertoff.

An estimated 30,000 Haitians await deportation despite a worsening political and economic situation there. U.S. and Haitian officials have butted heads over the immigration situation, especially after Haitian authorities refused last month to accept additional deportees.

Wyclef helped create and run Yéle Haiti- a charitable organization that organizes projects such as distributing food to storm victims and granting scholarships for children.

Image- USA TODAY
Online Sources- CaribWorldNews.com, The Latin Americanist, Yéle Haiti, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Video contradicts police assault by Latino

Charges were dropped against a Latino accused of assaulting two police officers in Prince George's County, Maryland.

The pair of cops claimed in a sworn statement that 30-year-old motorist Rafael Rodriguez “became enraged” and beat up the policemen after being pulled over for a minor traffic infraction. Yet a video taken from one of the police cruisers showed that the cops- not Rodriguez- were the ones doing the assaulting. (As well as acting rather boorishly):

At one point, one of the officers -- it is not clear which one -- appears to mock Rodriguez by using an exaggerated accent as he repeats the suspect's assertion that another officer had told him that the blue-tinted lights on his car were permitted…

The two officers eventually walk back to the Geo Prizm. Wynkoop goes to the driver's side door and tells Rodriguez that he is issuing him a citation.

In accented English, Rodriguez, a permanent legal resident originally from El Salvador, responds, "I don't like your attitude."

The video shows Wynkoop ordering Rodriguez to turn off the car engine and get out of the vehicle. Rodriguez does not immediately do so, and Wynkoop opens the door and pulls him out. Rodriguez does not appear to strike either officer.

Wynkoop slams Rodriguez against the car and handcuffs one hand. Suddenly, Wilson pepper-sprays Rodriguez -- but also Wynkoop, who cries out, "I can't see, dude!"

The three men go out of camera range, then Rodriguez comes back and sits down near his car. Seconds later, Wynkoop returns, grabs Rodriguez by the shoulders and slams him against the Prizm. At this point, Wilson strikes Rodriguez several times in the head with his retractable police baton.

The three men again go out of camera range, and Rodriguez is heard repeatedly crying, "Don't kill me!"

Who knows how many years Rodriguez would’ve spent unfairly in jail had he been convicted. Were it not for the video Rodriguez would’ve gone down a creek without a paddle. Instead, it’s the lying, deceitful policemen who face possible punishment for their callous arrogance.

Image- examiner.com
Online Sources- washingtonpost.com, WTOP

Were Chilean teens killed due to xenophobia?

The shooting deaths of two Chilean students in Florida last Thursday has raised suspicions that the murders were done out of hatred.

Nicolas Corp, 22, and Racine Baldontin, 23 died and three of their friends were injured after a neighbor fired several rifle shots into their residence. "There were no indicators, no complaints of bad noise or something," said a Miramar Beach police spokesman over why Dannie Baker perpetrated such a horrible action. Yet neighbors such as the one in the video below claim that the motive may’ve been xenophobia:

The murders have understandably “caused commotion in Chile” according to the country’s consul in Florida. “We are a quiet country that's not used to those guys that go there you know with a gun and kill children,” added Chilean journalist Macarena Retamal to one Floridian news outlet.

Assuming that the murders were committed based on hatred; it is absolutely disturbing that someone could commit such actions on defenseless people. Yet whatever Baker’s motive might have been, the fact of the matter is that two bright young adults with plenty of talent have been tragically and unjustly snuffed out.

Online Sources- miamiherald.com, AFP, YouTube, whjg.com, Detroit Free Press

Daily Headlines: March 2, 2009

* Colombia: Banana giant Chiquita wants a dismissal of a class action lawsuit relating to the company’s links to brutal right-wing paramilitary groups.

* Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez ordered the army to temporarily takeover rice processing factories that have supposedly evaded government-imposed price caps.

* Dominican Republic: Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden resigned yesterday amidst allegations that he skimmed payments to Dominican baseball prospects.

* El Salvador: Mauricio Funes of the leftist FMLN has a slim lead over Rodrigo Avila with thirteen days left until Salvadoran presidential elections.

Image- ABC News
Online Sources- FOXNews.com, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, Angus Reid Consultants, CBC

Today's Video: Drugs, violence, and Mexico

Tonight's "60 Minutes" examined the escalating violence hurting Mexico and the "high stakes" it has on its northern neighbor. Entitled "The War Next Door", the report presented by Anderson Cooper looks at the security issues raised by the conflict in Mexico and how the government appears to be waging a losing war:

Watch CBS Videos Online

What do you think of the report?

Online Source- CBS News