January 23, 2006
Paper: Migrants Are Criminal If They Cross U.S. Border Illegally
The Pittsburg Tribune-Review opines in a January 23, 2006 editorial that, "Officials in Mexico and Central America are incensed that the United States would have the temerity to propose tougher border enforcement that includes sending illegals back whence they came.
"Diplomats are demanding -- demanding, mind you -- that Uncle Sam approve guest-worker programs pronto and legalize undocumented migrants," the paper said indignantly.
"Migrants, regardless of their migratory status, should not be treated like criminals," according to a joint statement.
"But they are criminals when they illegally cross borders and flout U.S. immigration laws," the paper asserted. See "Border wars: Laughable demands" to read the entire editorial.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:16 AM | Comments (0)
Democracy is Giving Latin America Leftist Governments
Baltimore Sun staff writer Michael Hill, writing in the January 22, 2006 edition, told readers that, "According to President Bush, democracy is the key to ending the problems in Iraq, but the ballot box is causing his administration some problems closer to home."
"That would be in Latin America," he wrote, "where voters have shown a penchant for electing candidates turning to the left on anti-United States platforms."
I wonder will President Bush send troops south of the U.S. border to stop the trend.
For more of Hill's analysis, please see "Drifting left:Across Latin America, leaders are distancing themselves from the U.S."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:05 AM | Comments (0)
The New Statesman Profiles Bolivian President Evo Morales
The New Statesman online's Hugh O'Shaughnessy offers an interesting profile of Bolivian President Evo Morales, who was sworn in January 22, 2006. In its introduction, The New Statesman asked: "How long will Bolivia's cocalero president last?
"On the answer hangs the future of US strategies worldwide," the publication contends. To read O'Shaughnessy analysis see "NS Profile - Evo Morales."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 02:55 AM | Comments (0)
Evo Morales, Bolivia's First 'Indian' President, Sworn In
"Evo Morales, who rose from rural poverty to become a crusader for disenfranchised Indians and a fierce critic of U.S. policy, was sworn in Sunday [January 22, 2006] as the first indigenous president of this impoverished Andean nation," Los Angeles Times.com reported January 23, 2006.
For more, please see "Bolivia's 1st Indian President Sworn In.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 02:40 AM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2005
Lee Hamilton: U.S. Should 'Reach Out to Latin America'
"The recent Summit of the Americas highlighted the deteriorating relations between the U.S. and Latin America," according to Lee Hamilton, director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., and director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University.
The former U.S. representative from Indiana (1965 to 1999) contends that, "As in other parts of the world, this deterioration is partially attributable to widespread opposition to U.S. foreign policy, specifically the war in Iraq. But the roots of Latin America's unease go far deeper."
To read more of Mr. Hamillton opinion on the depth of that alleged discontent, please see his November 22, 2005 IndyStar.Com article headlined "Reach out to Latin America."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:14 AM | Comments (0)
Globalization in Latin America
"Panama is the most globalized country in Latin America, followed by the Dominican Republic. Argentina is the least globalized, the Latin American Globalization Index shows," according to Dominican Today. For more, please see "DR, the most globalized country after Panama."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:59 AM | Comments (0)
November 02, 2005
Mexico, India to Sign Investment Agreement
Reuters reported October 31, 2005 that, "Talks between Mexico and India for a bilateral investment agreement are going well and the pact should be signed early in 2006." The news agency's source was Alejandro Gomez, Mexico's Deputy Trade Minister. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:41 PM | Comments (0)
September 30, 2005
China the U.S. and Latin America
Jiang Shixue, "one of China's top scholars on Latin American affairs, has brought a reassuring message to U.S. officials participating at The [Miami] Herald's Conference of the Americas starting in Miami today [September 29, 2005] -- you shouldn't worry about China's growing influence in Latin America," according to Miami Herald reporter Andres Oppenheimer.
Mr. Oppenheimer, said "Jiang, the deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Department of Latin American Affairs -- a government think tank with 56 full-time staff members that may be the world's biggest Latin American studies center -- says there is no such thing as a ''China threat'' to U.S. interests in this hemisphere.
''The U.S. concern is unnecessary,'' he told me upon arriving in Miami earlier this week, Mr. Oppenheimer wrote. Jiang said,``China's relations with Latin America are not targeted towards any third party.'' Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:47 AM | Comments (0)
September 06, 2005
Latin America Offers Aid to U.S. to Help With Victims of Katrina
"Latin American countries have expressed over the past days their solidarity with those affected by hurricane Katrina in the United States and offered assistance to hundreds of thousands of victims," according to People's Daily Online of China. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)
Obasanjo Visits Mexico
President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria visited Mexico September 4-5, 2004. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)
Lula da Silva, Obasanjo Discuss Africa-Latin America Summit
"The Presidents of Brazil and Nigeria, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Olusegun Obasanjo" respectively, discussed in Brasilia, Brazil today "the calling of an Africa-Latin American Summit and issues of bilateral and international interest," according to a September 6, 2005 report in Prensa Latina.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2005
Some Religious Leaders Condemn Robertson's Call for Hit on Chavez
Los Angeles Times correspondents James Gerstenzang and Larry B. Stammer noted in an August 24, 2005 dispatch that, Televangelist Pat Robertson's [of the United States] call for the assassination of leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez provoked a storm of criticism yesterday, triggering condemnation from fellow religious leaders and international outrage, while the Bush administration said he was a "private citizen" whose remarks were "inappropriate."
"Robertson remained publicly silent, but was criticized across the political and religious spectrum in the United States," they noted. Here's more. And here's are Google links on Robertson's call for Chavez's assassination.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:35 AM | Comments (0)
Fox to Ask Mexican Congress to Reduce More Foreign Debt
Mexico President Vicente Fox will ask [the Mexican] Congress to reduce foreign debt for a third year in his 2006 budget proposal, said Alejandro Werner, chief economist for the Finance Ministry, according to Bloomberg.com.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:16 AM | Comments (0)
August 19, 2005
Photographer Freddy Alborta of "Che" Guevara Fame Dies
"Bolivian photographer Freddy Alborta, famous for his image of revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara lying dead [in Bolivia], has died in La Paz, his family said," according to Reuters.
Mr. Guevara was a member of 26th of July Movement, led Fidel Castro, that came to power in Cuba in 1959. He left Cuba in 1966 to fight in the Congo. Next he went to Bolivia, where he was captured in a CIA-Bolivian Government operation in 1967.
He was allegedly executed by Bolivian soldiers trained,equipped and guided by U.S. Green Berets and CIA operatives.". Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:30 AM | Comments (0)
August 16, 2005
Is Hugo Chávez Latin America's Rising Superstar?
Venezuelanalysis.com calls Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Latin America's Rising Superstar. Read why.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2005
Court: Castañeda Must Have Party backing to to Run for President
Mexico's Supreme Court ruled on August 8, 2005, "against an appeal by former foreign secretary Jorge Castañeda, who had sought authorization to run in the country's 2006 presidential race without the endorsement of any of the nation's six registered parties," according to El Universal Online.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 02:20 AM | Comments (0)
August 07, 2005
Chávez Says DEA 'Supports Narco-Trafficking' in Venezuela
The Narcosphere's Al Giordano reported August 7, 2005 that Venezuela President Hugo Chávez, "after voting today in municipal elections (5,999 municipal council seats, plus one regional governor's post are at stake)..., explained, in more detail, why Venezuela has launched an investigation into the conduct of officials of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)" operating in Venezuela.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:07 PM | Comments (0)
A Scholar Analyzes 'Deaths on the US-Mexico Border'
"This summer has been especially deadly in Arizona as migrants are perishing - most frequently from heatstroke and dehydration - at what appears to be a record pace," notes Joseph Nevins, an assistant professor of geography at Vassar College, in the August 8, 2005 edition of The Christian Science Monitor..
The author of "Operation Gatekeeper: The Rise of the 'Illegal Alien' and the Making of the US-Mexico Boundary" said, "Over the July 4 [2005] weekend, at least 10 lost their lives. During a four-day period in late July, authorities discovered 14 bodies, including one of a 13-year-old boy. With more than 190 documented migrant deaths in the state since the Oct. 1 start of the current federal fiscal year, the grim toll is on pace to surpass last year's record of 221."
For more, see "Beyond the season of death on the US-Mexico border."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:54 PM | Comments (0)
Subcomandante Marcos Criticizes Mexico's National Politicians
Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos' August 6, 2005 criticism of Mexico's political parties as "a bunch of shameless scoundrels" who will "pay for everything they have done to us" is being reported all over the world.
Vanessa Padilla of Reuters reported August 7, 2005 that, Marcos' "appearance at a meeting of activists in southern Mexico's Chiapas state seemed to be aimed at reclaiming a political role for the rebels before the election next July."
She said he "emerged from the jungle for the first time in four years.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:40 PM | Comments (0)
U.S. Students Studying in Latin America Reportedly Increasing
The Minnesota Daily in the United States says, " The Southern Hemisphere is looking a little more attractive to students looking for adventure."
"According to the Institute of International Education, the number of U.S. students studying abroad in Latin America increased by 14 percent from 2002 to 2003," the publication said at mn.Daily.com, it's website.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:26 PM | Comments (0)
Are Latin America's Democracies Dysfunctional?
Denise Dresser, professor of political science at the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico, contends that, Democratic Latin America limps sideways because it can't run ahead. There are too many entry barriers to the poor, the innovative, and those without access to credit. There are too many walls erected against social mobility, competition, and fairness in politics and business.
"As a result," she says in an article published August 6, 2005 in the Taipei Times and other publications, Although Latin Americans can vote in a more democratic environment, they can't compete in a globalized world. Standards of living fall, incomes stagnate, hopes are dampened. So people start to march in the streets in Bolivia. Or believe the promises of the populist President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. Or think about a return to the one-party past in Mexico. Or yearn to toss all the bums out -- a sentiment that now seems to be taking root in Brazil. Or to vote with their feet, as in Mexico, where one of every five men between the age of 26 and 35 lives in the US.
For more, see "Latin America's dysfunctional democracies."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:16 PM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2005
Poll Suggests PRD May Win Mayoral Seat In Mexico City In 2006
Angus Reid Global Scan said July 24, 2005 that, "The Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) might earn a third straight mandate in Mexico's capital, according to a poll by Reforma." The poll said "54.6 per cent of respondents would vote for the PRD's candidate in next years mayoral election." See "PRD Set for New Victory in Mexico City."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 19, 2005
Latin America, India, China and Western Corporate Interests
Balaji Reddy, writing in the May 18, 2005 edition of India Daily, said "India and China in recent years have opened the floodgate of Western companies coming into their countries looking for cheap labor and slack environmental pollution laws." At the same time," the writer added, "the Latin America[n countries] well known for accommodating Western companies for decades, if not centuries, have finally started closing their doors to these Western Corporate interests." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
'Prosperity Theology' Reportedly Growing in Latin America
The Christian Post has an interesting article on "Prosperity Theology." It quotes Professor Martin Ocaña, of the Baptist Seminary of South Peru, as saying "that an inability to escape critical situations, coupled with a loss of hope results in many people in churches to take up" Prosperity Theology. Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 18, 2005
World Bank: Indigenous Peoples in Latin America Still Lag Behind
The World Bank announced in a May 18, 2005 press release that, "Despite their increased political influence,indigenous peoples in Latin America have made little economic and social progress in the last decade, and continue to suffer from higher poverty, lower education, and a greater incidence of disease and discrimination than other groups, says a new World Bank study." Here's the press release.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 15, 2005
'Hugo Chávez to Launch '24-hour Hemispheric TV News Network'
"On May 24, [2005] Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will launch a 24-hour hemispheric TV news network," with journalist Aram Aharonian "at the helm," The Christian Science Monitor reported May 13, 2005. The paper said, "the idea, Mr. Chávez has explained on several occasions, is to offer a "Southern" perspective, and combat what he calls "the conspiracy" by networks to ignore or "distort" information from and about this region." Mr. Chavez is not a favorite of the Bush Administration. Here's more on this important development.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 03, 2005
Rice Says Latin America's Democracies Leading in Many Areas
During May 3, 2005 remarks at the State Department to the annual meeting of David Rockefeller's Council of the Americas, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said, "in just over two decades, the people of Latin America transcended what many assumed was an inescapable reality." According to a State Department transcript, she also said: The democratic transformation of Latin America is part of a larger tide of liberty that is cascading throughout the world. In places like Georgia and Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere, in Iraq and Afghanistan, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, people's desire for freedom and dignity is redefining what many thought possible in these societies. The same is true of Latin America and today the region's democracies are leading much of the developing world in political and economic liberty, in state security and in social justice.
"Too often," she added, according to the transcript,"when people talk about Latin America they focus on how many hurdles of development still remain, problems like poverty and inequality and fragile democracies. And to be sure, in places like Ecuador and Bolivia and elsewhere in the region, these challenges are very real. And these challenges deserve our attention because they will take sustained effort over many years, even decades, to address successfully." Here's the entire transcript.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 01, 2005
Can Lula da Silva Boost Brazil's Economy?
John over at Inside Europe: Iberian Notes makes interesting observations in a commentary on the National Review's Jay Nordlinger , who "is in Davos for the big hoo-haw wing-ding they're having" and "his take on our man [Luz Ignacio} Lula da Silva, who talks doctrinaire left and occasionally says something profoundly dumb, but has been behaving surprisingly sensibly regarding economic policy." John added:
I've always liked the theory that it took a guy who was seen by the Commies and by the American people as a real hardhead, Nixon, to get us out of Vietnam and open up relations with China. Some softy George McGovern type wouldn't be taken seriously by anyone, just as Jimmy Carter wasn't. Similarly, it took tough old Charles de Gaulle to get France out of Algeria. My guess is that it's going to be tough mean Ariel Sharon who makes the Palestinians an offer they can't refuse."Well," John wrote, "maybe a country like Brazil needs exactly the opposite approach. Lula is seen as a man of the people, and it may take a guy with his humanitarian lefty image to give Brazil's economy the "neoliberal" bitter medicine it needs more of." An interesting thought.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 04:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
