LATIN AMERICA -- REGIONAL
Source: The Economist, November 13, 2007
Protecting life but not yet livelihoods
Nov 8th 2007 | MEXICO CITY, PORT OF SPAIN AND VILLAHERMOSA
From The Economist print edition
Mexico's floods fit the pattern of this year's hurricane season: preparedness has restricted loss of life but not economic damage
THE scale of it all is difficult to imagine. At the flood's height, over four-fifths of the state of Tabasco, in Mexico's south-east, was under water, damaging the homes of nearly a million people. Villahermosa, the low-lying capital, was inundated after the Grijalva river burst its banks. Canoes hit the roofs of buildings as they evacuated residents; higher ground became disjointed islands in a lake studded with tree-tops. Hundreds of people remain huddled inside the majestic cathedral in the town's centre. Outside the state governor's residence, tens of thousands queued day and night for bags of powdered milk, cereal and drinking water. There are over a hundred shelters in Villahermosa alone, the largest of which houses 4,000 people.
The governor, Andrés Granier, estimates the damage at $5 billion and says it will take months for Tabasco to recover. That timetable seems wildly optimistic. In a state where farming is important, crops and markets have been destroyed. The flooding also hit the still-poorer state of Chiapas. Felipe Calderón, Mexico's president, called it “one of the worst natural disasters in Mexican history” and announced a 7 billion peso ($650m) federal fund for reconstruction. Residents and businesses will be able to delay tax payments until June 2008. Previous Mexican governments have disdained private initiative in such matters, but Mr Calderón called on ordinary people to help, too. They did so, in an outpouring of aid from across the country.
Despite the flooding's catastrophic scale, the death toll has been relatively light (perhaps 25). That was mainly because the waters rose slowly. But it also fits the pattern of this year's hurricane season in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. So far there have been five Atlantic hurricanes, of which two were of maximum strength. (The Tabasco floods were caused by unremitting rain from a tropical depression, rather than a hurricane.) Mercifully, the loss of life has been limited.
In 1998 Hurricane Mitch killed more than 11,000 people in Central America. Since then Mexico and its neighbours have made “giant advances” in their civil protection systems, says Walter Wintzer, who heads the Co-ordination Centre for the Prevention of Natural Disasters in Central America, an inter-governmental body based in Guatemala. The main improvement has been in evacuating residents when hurricanes approach.
Before Hurricane Felix struck in September, Honduran officials managed to evacuate 25,000 people from the poor Caribbean coast. Because their counterparts in Nicaragua found it harder to convince the Miskito Indians to leave their scattered coastal villages, 332 people were left dead or missing there in this year's worst loss of life. In Haiti and the Dominican Republic, too, where Hurricane Noel killed some 150 people, procedures are far from perfect. And some disasters strike almost without warning: that is true of earthquakes and of landslides, such as one in Chiapas this week that killed a score of people.
Emergency aid has also improved, thanks partly to better technology. In Puerto Cabezas, the regional capital closest to Felix's landfall, international aid workers and those from Nicaragua's government congregate with laptops and wireless internet, organising the distribution of food and supplies.
It is harder to mitigate the immense economic damage natural disasters inflict. Ramón Arnesto, who heads Nicaragua's disaster-relief agency, says that Felix deprived 200,000 people of their houses or fields. Because the staple crop on the Mosquito coast is coconut palm, it will take at least five years until villagers can regain their previous living standards. Bananas, a staple across the Caribbean, grow back faster, but new plants still take almost a year to bear fruit.
In Sandy Bay, the hardest-hit Nicaraguan village, six weeks after the hurricane trees were still strewn like a child's toys across the landscape. Almost all the houses still standing have temporary tarpaulins in place of their missing roofs, and lack power: fires made from the fallen trees eerily illuminate the landscape.
One way to reduce the economic cost would be through better planning of human settlement, avoiding the riskiest areas. In Jamaica, officials talk of creating “no-build” zones in exposed coastal areas. But in many countries authorities have no powers to prevent building in vulnerable spots. Jessica Faieta, a United Nations official in El Salvador, notes that the country in the region with the best disaster-preparedness and response plans is Cuba. There is a trade-off between liberty and effectiveness, she points out. In contrast to Hispaniola, there were no reported deaths from Noel in Cuba,
If prevention is hard, there is scope to mitigate the economic impact of disasters. Even after Hurricane Katrina, most Americans can get hurricane insurance, thanks to government guarantees. In Central America such protection is in its infancy. When they are asked whether they have insurance, residents of Villahermosa just laugh.
The Caribbean Community has made more progress: 16 of its member- or associated states have joined a new Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, a scheme organised by the World Bank after Hurricane Ivan caused severe economic damage in several islands in 2004. They include Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, as well as several very small island states.
The member governments have stumped up $40m in premiums and start-up fees. Payouts are based on the intensity of storms or earthquakes, rather than the number of buildings destroyed. It is hoped that this will discourage building in areas of high risk. The cover falls far short of replacement value but the scheme is designed to pay out quickly, acting as a bridge between emergency help and long-term rebuilding.
Almost a decade after Hurricane Mitch, governments have learned how to save more lives. The next task is to safeguard livelihoods, especially since many scientists predict that climate change is likely to increase the frequency and intensity of hurricanes.
Source: The Economist, November 8, 2007
Bolivia
Revolution postponed
Nov 8th 2007 | LA PAZ
From The Economist print edition
A popular president deadlocked by a determined opposition
DEADLINES have come and gone but after 15 months of deliberations an elected Constituent Assembly seems nowhere near agreeing the text of a new constitution for Bolivia. That is a matter of growing frustration for the supporters of President Evo Morales, who set up the assembly. He promised that the new constitution would enshrine the rights of Bolivians of Andean Indian descent to land and autonomy, and uphold a socialist economy with state control over national resources.
But the assembly has become deadlocked, reflecting Bolivia's political divide. Although the mountainous and mainly-Indian west is solidly behind Mr Morales, the commercially-minded, whiter lowland east is bitterly opposed to him. The president's supporters in the Movement to Socialism (MAS) have a majority, but not the two-thirds required to impose their text. So the opposition has been able to stall the assembly.
Behind all the constitutional verbiage the main dispute is over money. Bolivia's natural-gas deposits are in the opposition-controlled east. The opposition wants the new constitution to uphold regional autonomy and guarantee its regional governments a large chunk of gas royalties. Indigenous leaders want similar autonomy, but the government wants to secure greater central control of gas revenues.
Last month similar tensions surfaced in a dispute over whether airports should be run locally or from the centre. This culminated in Mr Morales sending the army to secure the country's busiest airport, in the eastern city of Santa Cruz. When that triggered mass protests in the city, the president backed down.
Mr Morales then promptly announced a big cut in transfers of gas revenues to regional governments in order to pay—and increase by a third—an annuity received by all Bolivians aged over 60. This was originally paid, only to those over 65, out of the dividends from the government's shares in privatised hydrocarbons companies. But Mr Morales transferred these shares to the revived state oil company as part of his scheme to renationalise the industry. The increase in the annuity is popular: indeed, the president led a celebratory march by pensioners through Santa Cruz.
The new constitution has also become hostage to an unexpected source of opposition. The assembly sits in Sucre, a small central city which is the seat of the judiciary and was the capital until displaced by La Paz more than a century ago. Sucre wants its status restored. Ugly protests in the city prompted the assembly in September to suspend its public sessions. The government is seeking alternative venues.
Despite his radical talk, Mr Morales has a pragmatic streak derived from his years as leader of a trade union of coca workers. His vice-president, Álvaro García Linera, spent October negotiating tentative agreements with the opposition on the autonomy question and on the constitution's economic chapters. On paper, it is not hard to see a compromise in which the opposition accepts Mr Morales's desire to be allowed to run for a second consecutive term in return for guarantees of regional autonomy and a deal on money.
But the opposition remains suspicious of Mr Morales's intentions. Its leaders are alarmed by his close friendship with Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chávez. Venezuela has become a big aid donor. Venezuelan lawyers are reported to be drafting government decrees. According to television pictures broadcast by an opposition station, the troops who took over Santa Cruz airport included at least two in Venezuelan uniforms.
The latest deadline for the assembly to agree the constitutional text is December 14th. Few involved on either side will bet on agreement being reached. But Mr Morales remains popular: polls suggest he has the support of at least 60% of Bolivians. One way or another he seems likely to get his way—or most of it—in the end.
Source: The Economist, November 13, 2007
Laws for the lawmakers
Nov 8th 2007 | BRASÍLIA
From The Economist print edition
The judges breathe new life into political reform
THE president of Brazil sits at the top of one of the great spoils systems in democratic politics. In addition to the usual power to place allies in ministries, he has more than 20,000 jobs in his gift, including some corner offices in state-controlled companies such as Petrobras, Brazil's energy giant. The political value of these baubles is all the greater since presidents must work hard to command a working majority in the federal Congress, where none of the 20 parties represented holds more than 18% of the seats.
In Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's first term as president, even those powers of patronage proved insufficient for his government. Officials resorted to illegal payments to legislators to keep a loose coalition together. In the aftermath of this scandal Lula, who was elected for a second term last year, promised to champion a reform of the political system. Surprisingly, there are some signs of progress on this—but mainly from the courts.
In a landmark judgement last month, the supreme court upheld a ruling in March by the federal electoral tribunal which outlawed party switching. This political infidelity is a chronic Brazilian vice. Some 36% of members of the lower house have switched their loyalties over the past 16 years, some of them several times during a single term, according to Octavio Neto of the Fundação Getulio Vargas, a business school. Candidates elected for the opposition often move to pro-government groups in return for budget approval for pet projects in their home states.
In a suit brought by disgruntled opposition parties, the court ruled that votes belong to parties, not individual representatives. Deputies who have switched since March (and some did) could now be stripped of their mandates.
The supreme court ruling “has completely changed the atmosphere,” says Marco Maciel, a senator for the opposition Democrats. It has given fresh wind to attempts to legislate changes in the political system. But progress will not be immediate. The Senate has been distracted by the tenacious attempts by its president, Renan Calheiros, to hang on to his job in the face of corruption allegations.
Another useful change would be to limit the number of parties by fixing a minimum threshold of votes to get seats in Congress. The electoral tribunal ruled in favour of this last year, but was overruled by Congress. Since Lula's coalition depends on the support of many minnows, it is unlikely to back such a threshold.
The same brake applies to reform of party funding. Most Brazilian elections are very competitive, and therefore also very expensive. A study by David Samuels, a political scientist at the University of Minnesota, found that in the 1994 election, federal deputies spent an average of $132,000 (at 1998 prices) to get elected, compared with $530,000 for a member of the United States House of Representatives.
A string of party financing scandals threatens to cut the flow of private funds to campaigns. Ronaldo Caiado, a deputy for the Democrats (who take a particular interest in political reform), has introduced a bill to ban private funding, replacing it with a government grant linked to votes received in the last election. Mr Caiado says that since the supreme court's ruling on party switching, the government has expressed some interest in this, though he is not holding his breath.
Perhaps the most important change would be to reform the electoral system. At the moment each state acts as a single constituency. In São Paulo's case, that means that 70 deputies represent some 40m people. Accountability to voters is tenuous. Many political scientists favour a system with smaller constituencies. Another problem is that São Paulo and other more developed states are relatively under-represented. But such changes require constitutional amendments.
The people who sit in the political institutions also need some re-engineering. Plenty of them control radio stations and television channels in their home states (concessions are handed out by the Senate). Others take advantage of their office to evade prosecution. A reminder of this came last month when Ronaldo Cunha Lima, a deputy for the opposition Party of Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB), resigned as the supreme court was about to rule on a case in which he shot a rival politician in 1993. His resignation will start the legal process all over again.
Anyone tempted to conclude from all this that Brazil's democracy, the world's fourth largest, is uniquely troubled might look at the biggest. In India in 2004 almost 100 sitting members of parliament faced charges for one or more crimes. Keeping big democracies together is a messy business, and Brazil's is no exception.
Source: Richard Lapper, The Financial Times, November 13, 2007
The judges breathe new life into political reform
THE president of Brazil sits at the top of one of the great spoils systems in democratic politics. In addition to the usual power to place allies in ministries, he has more than 20,000 jobs in his gift, including some corner offices in state-controlled companies such as Petrobras, Brazil's energy giant. The political value of these baubles is all the greater since presidents must work hard to command a working majority in the federal Congress, where none of the 20 parties represented holds more than 18% of the seats.In Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's first term as president, even those powers of patronage proved insufficient for his government. Officials resorted to illegal payments to legislators to keep a loose coalition together. In the aftermath of this scandal Lula, who was elected for a second term last year, promised to champion a reform of the political system. Surprisingly, there are some signs of progress on this—but mainly from the courts.
In a landmark judgement last month, the supreme court upheld a ruling in March by the federal electoral tribunal which outlawed party switching. This political infidelity is a chronic Brazilian vice. Some 36% of members of the lower house have switched their loyalties over the past 16 years, some of them several times during a single term, according to Octavio Neto of the Fundação Getulio Vargas, a business school. Candidates elected for the opposition often move to pro-government groups in return for budget approval for pet projects in their home states.
In a suit brought by disgruntled opposition parties, the court ruled that votes belong to parties, not individual representatives. Deputies who have switched since March (and some did) could now be stripped of their mandates.
The supreme court ruling “has completely changed the atmosphere,” says Marco Maciel, a senator for the opposition Democrats. It has given fresh wind to attempts to legislate changes in the political system. But progress will not be immediate. The Senate has been distracted by the tenacious attempts by its president, Renan Calheiros, to hang on to his job in the face of corruption allegations.
Another useful change would be to limit the number of parties by fixing a minimum threshold of votes to get seats in Congress. The electoral tribunal ruled in favour of this last year, but was overruled by Congress. Since Lula's coalition depends on the support of many minnows, it is unlikely to back such a threshold.
The same brake applies to reform of party funding. Most Brazilian elections are very competitive, and therefore also very expensive. A study by David Samuels, a political scientist at the University of Minnesota, found that in the 1994 election, federal deputies spent an average of $132,000 (at 1998 prices) to get elected, compared with $530,000 for a member of the United States House of Representatives.
A string of party financing scandals threatens to cut the flow of private funds to campaigns. Ronaldo Caiado, a deputy for the Democrats (who take a particular interest in political reform), has introduced a bill to ban private funding, replacing it with a government grant linked to votes received in the last election. Mr Caiado says that since the supreme court's ruling on party switching, the government has expressed some interest in this, though he is not holding his breath.
Perhaps the most important change would be to reform the electoral system. At the moment each state acts as a single constituency. In São Paulo's case, that means that 70 deputies represent some 40m people. Accountability to voters is tenuous. Many political scientists favour a system with smaller constituencies. Another problem is that São Paulo and other more developed states are relatively under-represented. But such changes require constitutional amendments.
The people who sit in the political institutions also need some re-engineering. Plenty of them control radio stations and television channels in their home states (concessions are handed out by the Senate). Others take advantage of their office to evade prosecution. A reminder of this came last month when Ronaldo Cunha Lima, a deputy for the opposition Party of Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB), resigned as the supreme court was about to rule on a case in which he shot a rival politician in 1993. His resignation will start the legal process all over again.
Anyone tempted to conclude from all this that Brazil's democracy, the world's fourth largest, is uniquely troubled might look at the biggest. In India in 2004 almost 100 sitting members of parliament faced charges for one or more crimes. Keeping big democracies together is a messy business, and Brazil's is no exception.
Source: EFE, El Nuevo Herald, November 13, 2007
Bachelet rechaza oferta de Chávez
La presidenta de Chile, Michelle Bachelet, rechazó ayer una oferta de su homólogo de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, de subsidiar con gasolina el ''Transantiago'', el controvertido sistema de transporte colectivo de la capital chilena.
''Estoy convencida de que nosotros los chilenos podemos resolver esos problemas del Transantiago, nosotros mismos'', afirmó la mandataria, durante una visita a la localidad de Puerto Cisnes, en la austral región de Aysén, donde inauguró un nuevo hospital.
Chávez hizo el ofrecimiento durante su reciente visita a Santiago, donde participó en la XVII Cumbre Iberoamericana y también en la reunión que se desarrolló de forma paralela, organizada por agrupaciones de izquierda.
El Transantiago ha presentado diversos problemas desde que entró en operación, el pasado febrero, por lo que ha sido fuertemente cuestionado por el público.
Para Bachelet, el nuevo sistema de transporte ha tenido un costo político, al afectar su nivel de aprobación, que ha caído por debajo del 40 por ciento, según diversas encuestas.
Uno de los puntos más controvertidos del proyecto de presupuesto del próximo año, que se discute actualmente en el Parlamento, es una partida de $145 millones propuesta por el Ejecutivo para cubrir el déficit del Transantiago.
El rechazo manifestado ayer por la presidenta a la oferta de Chávez se sumó a uno anterior del canciller Alejandro Foxley, quien subrayó que no quieren ``ningún subsidio''.
''No estamos acostumbrados a que desde afuera nos digan lo que tenemos que hacer'', aseveró.
En Puerto Cisnes, a unos 1,500 km de Santiago, Bachelet también llamó a los parlamentarios a aprobar la partida presupuestaria destinada al Transantiago, al recordar que el proyecto también incluye fondos por un monto similar para las regiones.
''Hago un llamado a los parlamentarios a que nos aprueben el presupuesto, para ir en beneficio del conjunto de todo Chile, porque si es que hay que poner plata para el Transantiago, eso va de la mano con más plata para Aysén y para Puerto Cisnes también, por cierto'', señaló.
La mandataria también visitó la Isla Melinka, en el archipiélago de Las Guaitecas, donde inauguró un plan orientado a mejorar la conexión entre las regiones de Magallanes, Aysén, Los Lagos y Los Ríos.
La iniciativa busca proveer a los habitantes y turistas de la zona de servicios integrales de transporte marítimo, fluvial y lacustre.
Source: El Nuevo Herald, November 13, 2007
Una Cuba democrática se alejaría de las Cumbres Iberoamericanas
El disidente Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, líder del Movimiento Cristiano Liberación (MCL), declaró ayer que en un futuro democrático el Estado cubano podría abstenerse de participar en las cumbres iberoamericanas como respuesta al olvido histórico sobre la opresión totalitaria en la isla.''Quizás pase tiempo antes de que el pueblo cubano encuentre razones para ser parte de esas cumbres ... en el futuro de Cuba libre y democrática'', indicó Paya en un comunicado difundido en La Habana.
Señaló que cuando en ese futuro se pregunte por qué el Estado cubano no participa en la Cumbre Iberoamericana se dará la ''respuesta justa y con la verdad'' de que ``esas Cumbres nos abandonaron y nos negaron cuando vivíamos la opresión totalitaria''.
El disidente acusó a la Cumbre Iberoamericana de abandonar a Cuba y a su pueblo y de perder la oportunidad de ''reivindicarse'' ante la historia.
Consideró que ``otra vez, y en qué momento, dejaron sola a Cuba, a su pueblo, a sus ciudadanos y se sumergieron en la simulación de un concierto democrático, donde ya hay tantas adulteraciones que el falso concierto es un escándalo disonante''.
''Esta Cumbre, celebrada en Chile, perdió la oportunidad, posiblemente la última, de reivindicarse ante la historia, ante el pueblo cubano y antes sus propios pueblos'', agregó, con relación al foro que concluyó el pasado sábado en Santiago de Chile.
Payá manifestó que puede proclamar que ``para la próxima Cumbre, ya el pueblo de Cuba será libre, sin haber recibido el apoyo de las cumbres y a pesar de las cumbres''.
El opositor, premio Sajárov del Parlamento Europeo 2002, afirmó que no habían pedido ''nada'', ni se dirigieron a ningún gobernante para solicitar ``gestiones o alguna expresión en pro de la democracia en Cuba y a favor de los prisioneros políticos''.
''Ya la visita reciente que hiciera a los gobernantes cubanos, el director de la Oficina Iberoamericana, sin pasar por el pueblo cubano, nos anunciaba la exclusión ..., una vez más'', señaló, al aludir a la visita del Secretario General Iberoamericano, Enrique Iglesias, a La Habana en agosto.
Durante el fin de semana la prensa oficial dedicó grandes titulares a destacar la presencia de la delegación cubana en Chile , pero obvió el altercado entre el Rey de España, Juan Carlos I, y Hugo Chávez.
Source: El Nuevo Herald, November 13, 2007
Correa favorece reelección inmediata en presidencia ecuatoriana
El presidente Rafael Correa dijo el lunes que está de acuerdo con la reelección inmediata del mandatario ecuatoriano como una oportunidad para que los ciudadanos voten por un buen gobierno, y afirmó que disiente con la reelección indefinida.En una entrevista con la red de televisión Teleamazonas, al ser consultado si cree en la reelección indefinida respondió que "no en la reelección indefinida, jamás, sí en la reelección inmediata por una sola vez, por supuesto. Por qué negar la oportunidad a los ciudadanos de votar por un gobierno bueno".
"Usted sabe que cuatro años son cortos para realizar la obra que se quiere realizar", argumentó.
No hizo referencia a la situación en Venezuela, cuyo gobierno apoya la reelección indefinida.
Correa, un economista de 44 años que se define como cristiano de izquierda, asumió el poder en enero para un período de cuatro años.
En otros temas, aseguró que se han descubierto indicios de lo que su gobierno considera deuda externa ilegítima, de créditos provenientes del Banco Mundial, y de otras deudas adquiridas por el país, sobre todo en época de regímenes dictatoriales. No hizo precisiones, aunque una comisión formada por su gobierno investiga el tema.
Acerca del asunto de la propiedad en la nueva constitución que se apresta a elaborar la Asamblea Constituyente en las próximas semanas, Correa dijo que el estado se va a reservar el derecho de expropiar tierras que no cumplan con fines sociales. La asamblea está dominada por los representantes del partido oficialista Alianza País.
El mandatario destacó como una posible vía para lograr ese objetivo el establecimiento de impuestos elevados para las tierras improductivas "como se lo hizo en Europa".
Se mostró partidario de reconocer jurídicamente la unión de homosexuales en la nueva constitución, pero se opuso al aborto y advirtió que si es autorizado "sería el primero en decir no a la nueva constitución", que debe ser aprobada o rechazada en un referendo después de ser avalada por la Asamblea Constituyente.
La asamblea debe empezar a funcionar a finales de noviembre por seis meses con el objetivo de redactar la nueva constitución, que sería la vigésima en la etapa republicana de Ecuador. La actual está vigente desde 1998.
Guatemala
At least there's hope
Nov 8th 2007 | GUATEMALA CITY
From The Economist print edition
A half-hearted mandate for Colom
IN THE end Álvaro Colom may have won the presidency at the third attempt because of who he was not. His opponent in a run-off ballot on November 4th, Otto Pérez Molina, a former general of martial assurance, had campaigned for a “firm hand” against crime. In a violent country, that had seemed to give him momentum. But Mr Colom, a businessman with a reticent, patrician air, won 53% of the vote.
Mr Colom struck some social-democratic notes, saying he would spend more to fight poverty and that his government would have “a Mayan face”, in a reference to the large indigenous population. But not to be outflanked by his opponent, he also said he would use the army for policing duties.
Nobody could accuse Mr Colom of being a rabble-rouser. He is gawky and wonkish. His vice-president is a heart surgeon who has spent the past 40 years living in the United States. Despite their victory Mr Colom's mandate is a weak one. Only 48% of registered voters went to the polls. His loose party, the National Union of Hope, will control only 52 of the 158 seats in Congress.
Guatemala could certainly use some more hope. The outgoing government of Oscar Berger presided over an uptick in economic growth and made valiant efforts to strengthen the country's institutions. But organised crime, discrimination, poverty and insufficient tax revenues to fund a modern state are intractable problems. At least in rejecting General Pérez a majority of those who voted seem to have recognised that Guatemala needs something more sophisticated than mere repression.
Source: Tim Rogers, Miami Herald, November 13, 2007
Political storm brews over Nicaraguan aid distribution
As the waters recede following more than 50 days of biblically proportioned rains that claimed more than 200 lives and caused an estimated $392 million in damage, a political storm is gathering over Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's handling of the disaster.
Allegations that the Sandinista Front is politicizing the distribution of humanitarian aid for Hurricane Felix has led to rumblings of rebellion on the coast and calls for an investigation by opposition lawmakers in Managua.
On Oct. 31, several hundred Miskito Indians from the northern Caribbean regional capital of Bilwi took over the airport's storage warehouses in search of relief aid, which they claim is not getting to the communities that were devastated by the Category 5 storm two months ago.
Another group of angry citizens clashed with government sympathizers in front of city hall, while others threatened to ransack church storage facilities in search of food and relief supplies.
`TIME BOMB'
Osorno Coleman, a former anti-Sandinista rebel leader still known by the nom de guerre ''Blas,'' told The Miami Herald that the situation on the Caribbean coast has become a ``time bomb.''
''The government is politicizing the relief aid and the majority of the population is not receiving anything,'' said Coleman, who leads an indigenous group called Yatama No Sandinista. ``If the government continues this behavior, there could be more uprisings and it could start to get out of control.''
The relationship between Nicaragua's Caribbean indigenous communities and the Sandinistas has been historically rocky. The Miskito communities suffered innumerable human rights abuses at the hands of the Sandinista government in the 1980s, some of which were outlined in a suit filed by the Miskitos with the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Some South Florida aid organizations told The Miami Herald that they were aware that some of the aid sent to Nicaragua was not getting through for political reasons, though they added that political meddling with relief aid is common when disasters occur.
''Unfortunately, it's part of the business. It's the way governments work everywhere,'' said one relief agency representative, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid straining the relationship between the organization and the Nicaraguan government.
The main South Florida organization helping Nicaragua, the American Nicaraguan Foundation, said that it was not facing any problems with distribution of its aid.
''Our aid is getting where it needs to go,'' said Federico Cuadra, an ANF spokesman.
Government opponents claim the Sandinistas are using the controversial Councils of Citizen Power (CPCs) -- citizen partisan groups that the Sandinista government is creating all over the country -- to control the distribution of government aid to party loyalists. Critics claim that the CPCs are using aid distribution to recruit others to join their organization, and thereby strengthen the Sandinista party base heading into next year's municipal elections.
In the depressed inland region known as the mining triangle, frustration with the Sandinistas' tactics is also reaching a boiling point, according to opposition party officials and community leaders.
POLITICAL MANEUVER
Víctor Manuel Duarte, a Liberal Party lawmaker from the mining town of Siuna, said the Sandinistas are attempting to use relief aid to undermine local government officials and win over voters.
Duarte said he fears the Sandinistas' meddling and alleged harassment of local officials could lead to a resurgence of small groups of rearmed Contras in a region that was haunted by rearmed groups throughout the 1990s.
The situation is equally grim for the Miskito communities living in the nearby forests.
Nicanor Polanco, a former anti-Sandinista rebel leader who represents 340 demobilized Miskito combatants, says his community has received no government assistance since the hurricane destroyed their village and crops, and now his people are getting sick. Instead of helping, he says, the government is making recovery impossible by prohibiting the indigenous communities from harvesting and selling the fallen timber from trees leveled by the storm.
The government says the logging ban is to prevent uncontrolled cutting and timber trafficking, but indigenous communities like Polanco's claim that if they can't sell their wood, they won't have money to buy seeds to replant basic food crops.
''It's ugly and now it's organized,'' he said, referring to the growing opposition movement. ``This could get violent and who knows where it will lead.''
Hurricane Felix ripped across the northeastern corner of Nicaragua on Sept. 4, leaving 244 people dead or missing and 22,000 homes damaged or destroyed, in addition to obliterating crops and leveling huge swaths of virgin forest. The region's fishing and lobster industry -- one of the main sources of economic livelihood in the region -- has been all but wiped out.
GLOBAL HELP
The international community has provided millions in relief aid and funding to Nicaragua.
The United States has contributed more than $4.7 million in humanitarian relief, plus helicopter transportation to isolated communities and $7 million in funding for low-interest rate loans for reconstruction.
The World Food Program, which is helping to distribute international aid directly to the communities hit hardest by the storm, said the process is ``going fairly well.''
''We have a distribution system that works and we're confident with it,'' said William Hart, resident representative of the World Food Program. However, Hart said the aid his group is distributing is covering less than half of the 200,000 people affected by the storm.
''As in most emergencies, when people are severely affected and hungry, it's never fast enough,'' Hart said, ``and it's never enough for enough people.''
Miami Herald staff writers Frances Robles and Alejandra Labanca contributed to this report from Miami.
Source: AP, Miami Herald, November 13, 2007
Socialist: King right to admonish Chavez
Spain's king was right to tell Hugo Chavez to "shut up" at a summit because the Venezuelan president had insulted Spain's former prime minister, the governing party said Monday.
Spain wants good relations with Latin American countries but will not tolerate a lack of respect for its citizens, in this case a prominent one like former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, said Diego Lopez Garrido, spokesman in Parliament for the Socialist Party.
"This is a fundamental, democratic principle, one that governs relations between countries," Lopez Garrido told a news conference.
The spat began Saturday at an Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile, when Chavez accused Aznar of backing a 2002 coup that briefly removed Chavez from power. Chavez repeatedly called Aznar a "fascist" in an address at the summit of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal.
Spain's current prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, asked Chavez to be more diplomatic and show respect for other leaders despite political differences.
"President Hugo Chavez, I think there is an essential principle to dialogue, and that is, to respect and be respected; we should be careful not to fall into insults," Zapatero said.
Chavez continued to interrupt as Zapatero spoke, although his microphone was off.
A frustrated King Juan Carlos, seated next to Zapatero, leaned toward Chavez and loudly asked, "Por que no te callas?" - or "Why don't you shut up?" The monarch then left the chamber.
Aznar later called to thank Zapatero for defending him, Lopez Garrido said.
Chavez fueled the dispute further on Sunday by suggesting the king knew in advance of the 2002 coup. Spanish royal palace officials were not available for comment Monday.
Source: AFP, El Nuevo Herald, November 13, 2007
La ex primera dama venezolana está contra la reforma
La ex primera dama de Venezuela, Marisabel Rodríguez, denunció que la reforma constitucional que impulsa el presidente Hugo Chávez ''concentra el poder'' en sus manos y llamó a votar ''No'' en el referendo convocado para el 2 de diciembre.La reforma de corte socialista, que será sometida a referendo el 2 de diciembre, ''definitivamente a quien favorece es al Presidente, porque existe una clara y evidente concentración de poder'', dijo en entrevista con la cadena Globovisión recogida por la prensa ayer.
Divorciada del presidente y casada en segundas nupcias con un entrenador de tenis, Marisable Rodríguez expresó su apoyo al ex ministro de Defensa, Raúl Baduel, quien la semana pasada también llamó a votar en contra de ese proyecto.
La iniciativa de Chávez ''coloca en una balanza todo el peso hacia un poder presidencialista, y eso sería uno de los gravísimos errores que estén contemplados en esta reforma, que desequilibra totalmente los poderes'', dijo la ex integrante de la Constituyente que redactó la Carta Magna de 1999 vigente.
''Tú no puedes colocar que el Estado debe ahora ser socialista porque nos cercenaría muchísimas oportunidades en la gama democrática al momento de elegir en el futuro'', dijo Rodríguez, madre de la hija menor del mandatario, al tiempo que indicó que comparte con su ex esposo muchos principios socialistas.
Rodríguez hizo un ``reconocimiento público a la actitud tan valiente, tan gallarda del señor general en jefe, Raúl Isaías Baduel. Aquí toda la Fuerza Armada Nacional sabe el ascendente moral del señor Raúl Isaías Baduel''.
Agregó que el general retirado Baduel, quien la semana pasada llamó a votar en contra de la reforma, ''es un señor al que no se le ha demostrado ningún negociado, ningún tipo de peculado, ningún tipo de malversación, y si no que me corrija el propio Gobierno'', y rechazó que sea tildado por Chávez de ``traidor''.
Baduel fue ministro de Defensa hasta julio pasado y uno de los cuatro iniciadores con Chávez en 1983 del movimiento bolivariano en el Ejército.
La reforma autoriza la reelección sin límite de veces del presidente, incrementa sus poderes, aumenta a siete años el período presidencial y establece las bases constitucionales para el socialismo en Venezuela.
Source: Moises Naim, Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2007
Hugo Chavez's criminal paradise
Under the anti-globalization president, Venezuela has become a haven for global crime.By Moises Naim
While President Hugo Chavez has been molding Venezuela into his personal socialist vision, other transformations -- less visible but equally profound -- have taken hold in the country.
Venezuela has become a major hub for international crime syndicates. What attracts them is not the local market; what they really love are the excellent conditions Venezuela offers to anyone in charge of managing a global criminal network.
A nation at the crossroads of South America, the Caribbean, North America and Europe, Venezuela's location is ideal. Borders? Long, scantly populated and porous. Financial system? Large and with easy-to-evade governmental controls. Telecommunications, ports and airports? The best that oil money can buy. U.S. influence? Nil. Corrupt politicians, cops, judges and military officers? Absolutely: Transparency International ranked Venezuela a shameful 162 out of 179 counties on its corruption perception index. Chavez's demonstrated interest in confronting criminal networks during his eight years in power? Not much.
While this situation has so far been rather invisible to the rest of the world, it is patently clear to those in charge of fighting transnational crime. Anti-trafficking officials in Europe, the United States, Asia and other Latin American countries are paying unprecedented attention to Venezuela. These officials are not particularly interested in Venezuelan politics or in Chavez's policies. All they care about is that the tentacles of these global criminal networks are spreading from Venezuela into their countries with enormous power and at great speed.
The numbers speak volumes: About 75 tons of cocaine left Venezuela in 2003; it is estimated that 276 tons will leave the country this year. Before, the main destination was the United States; now, Europe is increasingly the target. Italy and Spain are two new important and lucrative end-user markets, and earning in euros is undeniably better than getting paid in dollars these days.
A senior Dutch police officer told me that he and his European colleagues are spending more time in Caracas than in Bogota, Colombia, and that the heads of many of the major criminal cartels now operate with impunity, and effectiveness, from Venezuela. The cartel bosses aren't exclusively Colombians -- there are Asians (especially Chinese) and Europeans too. Caracas' most posh neighborhoods are home to important kingpins from around the world, including some from Belarus, a country that Chavez notably has visited several times.
Venezuela appears near the top of lists compiled by the anti-money-laundering authorities as well. Money moves in and out, and not just through electronic inter-bank transfers. The combination of private jets, suitcases full of cash and diplomatic immunity has opened up new possibilities. Recently, one Venezuelan member of the boliburguesía -- the new mega-rich -- was caught carrying at least one suitcase full of money. He was discovered by a customs officer in Buenos Aires but not arrested. Turns out he was traveling on an executive jet with senior members of the government of Argentina's president, Nestor Kirchner.
In Uruguay, an outraged legislator dropped this bombshell a few weeks ago: A group of Venezuelans had engineered the sale of Iranian arms and munitions to his country, using Venezuelan companies as a cover to bypass the U.N. embargo on Iran's arms trade. Likewise, the guerrillas in Colombia seem to have no trouble acquiring weapons -- many of which come through Venezuela-based arms dealers.
Diamond traders are doing equally well. "Venezuela is allowing massive smuggling of diamonds," stated a recent report by Global Witness and Partnership Africa, two respected nongovernmental organizations. They recommended that Venezuela be expelled from the Kimberley Process, the U.N.-sponsored mechanism designed to combat the smuggling of "blood diamonds" -- the gems sold to fund military conflicts around the world.
And as if diamonds, guns, drugs and tainted money weren't enough, human traffickers have made their way to Venezuela as well. The country has become a haven for human traffickers because its laws offer so little protection to their victims, especially women. It is also a major stopover for illegal immigrants from China, the Middle East and other parts of Latin America who are on their way elsewhere. They can obtain a Venezuelan passport in a matter of hours.
The great paradox of this terrible story is that, despite Chavez's constant denunciations of globalization, he hasn't protected Venezuela from its worst consequences. His nation has been globalized -- by criminal gangs. And they import and export corruption, crime and death. And that may be more critical in shaping Venezuela's future than any of Chavez's political experiments.
Moises Naim is the editor of Foreign Policy magazine and the author of "Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers and Copycats Are Hijacking the Global Economy.
Source: Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald, November 13, 2007
La escalada represiva en Venezuela
Los críticos del presidente narcisista leninista venezolano Hugo Chávez suelen bromear que en Venezuela hay libertad de expresión, pero no hay libertad después de la expresión. Los acontecimientos de los ultimos días parecen darles la razón.
Doce estudiantes fueron heridos en la Universidad Central de Venezuela en momentos en que regresaban de una manifestación de unas 80 mil personas en frente al Tribunal Supremo de Justicia en Caracas.
La manifestación exigía que se postergue el referéndum convocado por Chávez para el 2 de diciembre para aprobar una nueva reforma constitucional que le daría al presidente poderes extraordinarios para suprimir derechos fundamentales y poder reelegirse indefinidamente.
Según testigos, los estudiantes habían vuelto de la manifestación cuando un grupo de motociclistas enmascarados y armados llegó al lugar y comenzó a dispararles. Fotógrafos de The Associated Press vieron por lo menos a cuatro enmascarados disparando contra los jóvenes.
Víctor Márquez, presidente de la Asociación de Profesores de la UCV, dijo luego a la prensa que los atacantes habían sido miembros de milicias urbanas chavistas. Concretamente, identificó a los agresores como miembros de tres grupos paramilitares: el Colectivo Alexis Vive, Los Carapaicas y Los Tupamaros.
En días recientes, se produjeron ataques similares en la Universidad de los Andes de Mérida, en que 75 estudiantes resultaron heridos, incluidos cinco con heridas de bala; en la Universidad Experimental de Táchira, y en la Universidad de Los Andes en San Cristóbal, Aragua.
Según activistas de derechos humanos, los incidentes de los últimos días forman parte de una estrategia gubernamental sistemática de intimidación. Aunque Chávez permite espacios de libertad de expresión para que su régimen sea considerado más tolerable por la comunidad internacional, su estrategia ha sido de permitir algunas protestas, pero inmediatamente después reprimir a quienes participaron en ellas para enviar un mensaje intimidatorio al resto del país.
''Este último incidente es especialmente grave, porque todo indicaría que la policía no solo se mantuvo impasible, sino que habría facilitado el ingreso a la Universidad Central de estos motorizados armados, que terminaron disparándole a un grupo de estudiantes de oposición'', me señaló José Miguel Vivanco, director del Departamento de las Américas de Human Rights Watch en Washington D.C. ``Eso es sumamente serio''.
Aunque ya hubo incidentes parecidos en el pasado, estos últimos ataques han escalado significativamente desde el 2 de noviembre, cuando los estudiantes anunciaron una serie de protestas pacíficas para exigir la postergación del referéndum constitucional convocado por Chávez para el 2 de diciembre, dijo Vivanco.
Chávez, como es usual, acusó a Estados Unidos por la violencia. El viernes, Chávez dijo en la XVII Cumbre Iberoamericana en Santiago, Chile, que los estudiantes universitarios eran parte de una ofensiva ''fascista'' alentada por Washington y la oligarquía venezolana.
La escalada represiva en Venezuela se produce meses después de que Chávez revocó la licencia de RCTV, la cadena de televisión más antigua del país, que criticaba a su gobierno. Chávez permitió que la cadena estuviera en el aire hasta que terminó su licencia, y luego la sacó del aire para poner en su lugar un canal oficialista.
Quizás el mejor ejemplo de la estrategia chavista de primero permitir, y luego reprimir, se produjo en el 2004, cuando los seguidores de Chávez divulgaron la ''Lista Maisanta'' de cerca de 3.4 millones de ciudadanos venezolanos que habían firmado la petición para realizar un referendum revocatorio de la presidencia de Chávez.
La lista de quienes habían firmado la petición circuló en todas las reparticiones oficiales, y fue utilizada para negarle contratos gubernamentales a empresarios que la habían firmado, despedir empleados públicos, y discriminar contra todo aquél cuyo nombre aparecía en ella.
Mi opinión: Venezuela está a punto de convertirse en una dictadura constitucional, con elecciones realizadas bajo reglas hechas a medida de las necesidades de Chávez.
Los cambios constitucionales propuestos por Chávez -y endulzados con un plan de reducir la jornada laboral de ocho a seis horas por día, que será difícil de resistir para millones de venezolanos- incluyen, además de permitir la reelección indefinida del presidente, proclamar al país un ''estado socialista'', terminar con la autonomía del Banco Central, y autorizar estados de emergencia en que Chávez podrá suspender las libertades de expresión.
Es lamentable que los presidentes reunidos en la cumbre Iberoamericana en Chile no expresaran su preocupación por todo esto, tal como lo hicieron los mandatarios latinoamericanos cuando el ex presidente peruano Alberto Fujimori quizo asumir casi todos los poderes en su pais.
Las cumbres regionales solían convocar a la defensa colectiva de la democracia en la región. Ya no lo hacen. Me temo que muy pronto, los venezolanos no tendran libertad de expresión, ni libertad despues de la expresión.
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