In Brief
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...Casa argues, "The crackdown on gangs [does not] offer any viable options for gang members who wish to leave gang life, an action punishable by death in the gang culture...
...The focal point of the petition was a video collaboration with the international human rights organization Witness, which documented the horrendous conditions inside the hospital...
...for subscription information, visit <http://www.ladb.unm.edu> or call 1-800-472-0888...
...Officials at the signing estimated the figure would grow to $5 billion by 2005 and continue upward from there, accelerated by the entry of MERCOSUR...
...Without these policies, our population growth could have doubled every 20 years"' said Zufiiga...
...Hillman, who participated in two missions to the Asunci6n institution, agreed, "Paraguay had some of the worst conditions that I've seen in terms of its treatment of people with mental disabilities...
...Under the agreement signed by El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala, gang-related arrest warrants issued in one country will be shared with law enforcement agencies in all four countries...
...According to town residents and outside observers, the police killed one civilian and physically assaulted several people, including an 80year-old woman...
...Police stormed the town January 14 just when residents were about to formally declare an autonomous municipal council that would act independently of state and federal authorities...
...The proposed law would aid Mejia, since polls show that on his own he has little chance of gaining enough votes to defeat former President Leonel Fernmndez of the Dominican Liberation Party...
...Defying the criticism leveled against him for his latest attempt to reshape the electoral process in his favor, Mejia declared, "If [the new electoral law] has to be imposed, it will be imposed, because that is your role when you are in power...
...The government's decision to endorse the drug was the result of an agreement between health authorities and nongovernmental organizations...
...Lynda Hammes Brazil: Building Ties with the Subcontinent President Luiz Inicio Lula da Silva has taken another step forward in his search for an alternative to U.S.-brokered free trade agreements...
...A U.S...
...Meanwhile, the government is seeking assistance from the Pan American Health Organization to create community-based alternatives to the facility...
...Register on the site to receive our email newsletter Central America: Anti-Gang Agreement As Guatemalan President Oscar Berger signed an agreement with three other Central American leaders to coordinate regional anti-gang efforts on January 15, gang members in Guatemala City killed and beheaded a man and left the body with a note addressed to the newly elected president...
...In mid-January, MDRI received a letter from the Paraguayan government acknowledging the petition and saying it needed more time to evaluate the hospital...
...The PAN, which has been the Catholic Church's closest ally, has taken a socially conservative position on many issues...
...Since August, police in Honduras have arrested over 910 suspected gang members, while Salvadoran police have apprehended more than 8,467 suspects in recent months...
...Our population at this point would have been 168 million instead of our current 104 million...
...According to reports in the Paraguayan press, the Parliament had cut more than $28,000 from the hospital's budget, which resulted in inadequate food supplies and a lack of funds for upkeep and repairs...
...SourceMex Mexico: Tlalnepantla Uprising Two weeks after the tenth anniversary of the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico, state police in Morelos invaded the small indigenous community of Tlalnepantla to evict residents who had occupied the mayor's office since November...
...The petition cited numerous violations of the American Convention for Human Rights and asked for urgent intervention by the Commission...
...The 60-page document, published in the government's daily register, cited recommendations made in the family-planning guides of the World Health Organization (WHO) that condone the use of the pill as a contraceptive...
...Residents had always elected its leaders using a caucus system similar to that of the Zapatistas, which called for discussing and voting on candidates in an open community assembly...
...According to Lula, "This will be, possibly, the first step for the creation of a free trade area among the countries of the [G-20], open to other countries in development...
...They have also accused him of committing electoral fraud during the party's January 18 primary, claiming that he manipulated voter lists in his favor...
...The [InterAmerican Development Bank] and the World Bank can provide services, but at the end of the day, it's the government that needs to be involved...
...For its part, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has praised Mejia for his fiscal management...
...Amnesty International has criticized the harsh anti-gang laws in El Salvador, noting, "It is ironic that legislation designed to curb high levels of crime contravenes international human rights standards to which the country is a signatory, and the national Constitution itself...
...The pill can be taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy...
...In an apparent effort to ward off protests, Mesa did not immediately impose fuel tax hikes or halt subsidies on cooking gas for the poor...
...The results are already amazing," said executive director Eric Rosenthal...
...Fundamentally, says Lula, the strategy boils down to this: "It does no good for India and Brazil to stand around with our arms folded waiting for the rich countries to solve our problems...
...Roberto de la Cruz, representative of the Regional Workers Federation of El Alto, called Mesa's plan a "trap," while leftist cocalero leader and legislative deputy Evo Morales called it "demagoguery...
...The measures are contained in 23 decrees and three reforms needing congressional authorization...
...Human rights abuses against the mentally disabled and institutionalized are widespread in the 21 countries that MDRI has investigated, including Mexico, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, Argentina and Uruguay...
...Trade between Brazil and India totals $1.2 billion, according to news reports...
...Sarah Garland Paraguay: Human Rights for the Mentally Disabled On New Year's Eve, Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte Frutos made a surprise visit to the state psychiatric facility in Asunci6n...
...Many of the leaders in the president's own Dominican Revolutionary Party have withdrawn their support for Mejia, claiming he is violating party laws by seeking re-election...
...The Bolivian Workers Central said it was planning an open-ended general strike against the measures for an unspecified future date...
...Meanwhile, the new human rights minister Frank LaRue says he plans to work closely with the newly created Commission for the Investigation of Illegal Groups and Clandestine Security Organizations in Guatemala (CICIACS...
...We don't want to just keep on with agribusiness, exporting products in their natural form...
...All government authyrities should respect human life," said the cardinal...
...The Honduran and Salvadoran laws give police the authority to arrest anyone suspected of being a gang member...
...The fact that the Paraguayan government has admitted wrongdoing, fired the director and promised to make changes is an enormous accomplishment...
...This dramatic action was prompted by an unprecedented petition filed by Washington D.C.based organizations, Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization Vol XXXVII, No 5 MARCH/APRIL 2004 1 Vol XXXVII, No 5 MARCH/APRIL 2004 1IN BRIEF of American States (OAS) in December...
...Brazil imports diesel fuel, pharmaceuticals, machinery, textiles, pigments and rubber...
...Weekly News Update Contributors: Lynda Hammes is academic program coordinator for Foreign Affairs magazine...
...NotiSur Dominican Republic: Violent National Strike Increasingly angry amid the deepening economic crisis set off by last year's bank fraud scandal, Dominicans staged a 48-hour national strike on January 28 that shut down businesses, schools and public transportation throughout the Dominican Republic...
...Clashes between strikers and state security forces left nine people dead as demonstrators protested against President Hip61ito Mejia's economic policies...
...The Mexican Catholic Bishops' Conference has taken the opposite stance, condemning the government's promotion of the pill as contrary to the church's teachings...
...Under an agreement with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the community's choice for mayoral candidate would then be fielded as a PRI candidate in the election...
...We want to transform those products with added value, so that they earn better prices and give more money to Brazil...
...This is just one of six separate pacts Lula was in India to sign...
...As a show of good faith, Berger appointed human rights activist Rigoberta Menchd as a "goodwill ambassador" to monitor implementation of the peace accords and government efforts to end human rights abuses...
...Demands included the immediate release of patients from isolation cells, community integration of minors into group homes, investigation of physical and sexual abuse allegations, relief of unhygienic conditions and the provision of basic medical care...
...Elena Zufiiga, director of the National Population Council, said the approval of the morning-after pill is compatible with the evolution of Mexico's family-planning policies, which have been in place since 1974...
...A next step for developing countries in this process could come in June at the XI meeting of the UN Conference on Trade and Development hosted by Brazil...
...While in prison, for example, young gang members are likely to become more deeply involved in the gang lifestyle...
...SG Bolivia: Economic Measures Unveiled In a prerecorded television address on February 1, President Carlos Mesa unveiled new economic austerity measures, prompting grassroots, labor and indigenous groups to threaten mass mobilizations...
...In response to the police action in Tlalnepantla, the federal government pressured Estrada into suspending the arrest warrants that had been issued for some of Tlalnepantla's residents...
...The G-20 is the coalition of developing countries that thwarted the U.S.-E.U...
...It is necessary that we ourselves, countries in development, assume the responsibility for our destiny and join forces to defend our own interests in trade negotiations and in questions relative to peace and international security...
...Witness program coordinator Sam Gregory explained that the video was essential because "material brought before the InterAmerican Commission and the UN human rights committee with references to 'inhuman or degrading conditions' in documents or paragraphs is much more viscerally felt if you actually see someone drinking from urine on the floor or feces on the wall...
...Mesa promised to allot up to $1.1 million in government purchases from Bolivian companies "as an instrument for growth...
...According to the World Bank's adviser on disability and development Judith Heumann, "The case will shine light from a legal perspective, which will be very important...
...Taken together, these agreements portend a long and close relationship...
...Also getting his seal were an agreement allowing family members of each other's diplomats to seek gainful employment, visa exemptions for official and diplomatic passport holders, cultural exchange, and cooperation between the Indian Space Research Organization and the Brazilian Space Agency...
...During his campaign, Berger pledged to address Guatemala's security problems and implement portions of the peace accords that human rights activists say have been ignored...
...Shortly after the strike, IMF Deputy Managing Director Agustin Carstens declared, "In recent weeks, significant progress has been made...
...The controversy started last July over the town's mayoral elections, which most residents say were fraudulent...
...With no large-scale alternative programs in place, critics say the laws actually foster, rather than curb, violence...
...war effort in Iraq last year, have not hurt his standing with Washington...
...In contrast, accusations of corruption against Mejia, who deployed Dominican troops to aid the U.S...
...The petition is expected to become a full-fledged case with a hearing at the OAS in March, which will force government officials to respond to questions about how conditions at the hospital became so grave...
...The total figures for trade between the two developing giants is modest, but the growth rate of that commerce is not...
...Thousands of residents fled into the surrounding mountains and nearby towns...
...law allowing the deportation of immigrants convicted of crimes carrying sentences of a year or more has resulted in some 500,000 immigrants being deported to their home countries since 1996, with 80% of them repatriated to Latin America...
...Many of them, fearing government reprisals, refused to return home...
...For subscription information, visit <http://home.earthlink.net/~nicad lw/wnuhome.html...
...In his public pronouncements in India, Lula made much of the common aims of the countries to improve the lives of their respective peoples...
...Mejia incited further anger when he introduced a bill calling for changes in electoral laws to allow parties to run more than one presidential candidate...
...Monetary policy has been set to ease pressures on the currency and reverse the trend of rising inflation...
...Instead, he announced plans to free governmentcontrolled prices over time, allowing for a gradual increase of up to 6% depending on price factors...
...Imitating the tactics of gang members in Honduras, the note protested against the repressive measures Central American governments have implemented to combat gangs and promised more violence...
...Mesa plans to raise $95 million with an 18% tax on oil companies, and another $100 million if the legislature approves his plan to tax all financial transactions...
...The two largest gangs in Central America-Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) and Mara 18 (M-18)originated in Los Angeles, California, spreading to El Salvador with the deportation of gang members from the United States...
...To be in the land of Mahatma Gandhi," he said, "one of the greatest names of the last century, is the realization of a dream...
...NotiSur and SourceMex are weekly publications of the Latin America Data Base, an on-line news service...
...Casa Alianza, a children's advocacy organization based in several Central American countries, has called for prevention and outreach efforts...
...Power is to be exercised...
...As a result, there are now tens of thousands of MS- 13 and M18 members in Central America...
...The latest controversy about the morning-after pill has placed the Catholic bishops at odds with several members of President Vicente Fox's center-right National Action Party (PAN...
...Exports to India are chiefly crude oil, soy oil, auto parts, sugar and chemicals, as well as other goods...
...This is not optional, this is a fundamental human right that every government official should respect...
...Both Morales and De la Cruz said their own proposals include deeper salary cuts for top-level officials...
...According to Rosenthal, "Paraguay is among the most extreme...
...Lula visited India in January for the ceremonial signing of a tariff accord that will, say Brazilian officials, lead to a free trade agreement between the subcontinent and MERCOSUR, the trading bloc that links Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, with Bolivia and Chile as associate members...
...The InterAmerican Commission required a response from the government within 30 days...
...It contains the same hormones as normal birth-control pills but in a higher dosage...
...The electoral conflict stems from the town's traditional form of electing officals...
...And according to Casa Alianza, giving police permission to hunt down gang members has led to extra-judicial killings of young people in Honduras and El Salvador...
...In a radio speech taped to air while he was in India, the president called upon Brazilians not to be content with exporting raw materials, but to manufacture finished goods and export more value-added products...
...Zufiiga said the implementation of the policy has resulted in a decrease of 20% in birth rates over the past 30 years...
...Berger apparently sees no contradiction between his pledges to protect human rights, and simultaneously launching a new "war on gangs" that could compromise the human rights of thousands of young people...
...But in the July election the PRI ignored the town's choice, Conrado Pacheco, and instead assigned Elias Osorio, who was declared the winner with only 10% of the vote...
...The government has also appointed an intervention committee to address distribution of food and medicine and to restructure the hospital's administration...
...The new measures also include a 5% acrossthe-board cut in government spending and salary cuts for some elected officials: 10% for himself and 5% for members of Congress...
...Speaking to the contrary, the European Union has threatened to cut off aid if there are any accusations of fraud in the upcoming presidential election...
...The footage, shot by the director of MDRI's Americas Advocacy Initiative, Alison Hillman, included two naked teenage boys whose conditions had deteriorated after four years in a squalid isolation cell without clothes or latrines...
...Weekly News Update on the Americas is published by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York...
...SG Mexico: Morning-After Pill Controversy The ongoing bitter conflict between church and state in Mexico erupted in late January after the federal government approved the use of the so-called morning-after pill as part of its revised family-planning policy called "Official Mexican Norms for Family-Planning Services...
...Berger, only the second democratically elected president since the civil war, immediately moved to address the country's security issues by signing the regional antigang agreement on his first day in office...
...Duarte's actions are not simply the result of a righteous New Year's resolution to his people...
...She adds, "I hope that our work will set a precedent in the Americas if not elsewhere that these kinds of abuses are human rights violations and they won't go unnoticed...
...The astonishing abuse of human rights at the Paraguay Neuropsychiatric Hospital prompted Duarte to fire the facility's director on the spot...
...But many members of the party have criticized the church for involving itself in matters that pertain to the state...
...Berger has blamed rising levels of violence on the spread of gangs, but a recent United Nations report asserted that "clandestine structures dedicated to organized crime" also pose a significant problem for Guatemala's security...
...Between 2000 and 2003 trade has increased 250...
...We've seen facilities this abusive in Mexico as well...
...Lula called the two countries "strategic partners," and he said that together "Brazil and India can construct a political force capable of changing the commercial geography of the world...
...Rivera has even threatened to excommunicate anyone who uses or promotes the use of the pill...
...Morelos Governor Sergio Estrada of the National Action Party approved the raid to reinstate the deposed mayor...
...Many young gang members have expressed interest in leaving their gangs if education and employment were available as an option...
...trade agenda at the World Trade Organization meeting in Cancdn last September...
...The Mexico City-based Miguel Agustin Pro Judrez Center for Human Rights has accused the Morelos state government of systematically abusing the human rights of indigenous communities in that state...
...This is a big step forward, because now public health clinics will be able to prescribe this drug to all women who need it...and more rape victims may come forward for treatment," said Dora Patricia Mercado Castro, president of the Mexican women's rights organization Diversa...
...Berger also announced his intention to introduce stringent domestic anti-gang laws similar to those recently passed in Honduras and El Salvador, which criminalize gang membership...
...The Morelos governor also agreed to negotiate with the community to settle the electoral dispute...
...The new law would allow the leading votegetter from each party to claim those votes cast for losing candidates of the same party...
...Amnesty and other human rights advocates critical of Central American anti-gang laws argue that the repressive measures against gang members do not address the roots of the problem...
...Although they are called contraceptives, when they produce an abortion that's called murder, and it is not permitted to murder an innocent person," said Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, archbishop of Mexico...
...He said he wants the country to stand out in the world "not just with carnaval and futebol, but also with the sale of products of high added value...
...Either governments aren't aware or they aren't implementing appropriate practices that address these patterns of abuse...
...In its report on the Tlalnepantla situation, the Center noted, "The current government of Morelos uses force and repression, frequently violating the rights of the people of Morelos...
...Latin America as a whole has a long way to go in terms of providing human rights protection and quality treatment for people with mental disabilities...
...The strike was also intended to weaken Mejia's re-election bid...
...That measure was seen as an attempt to deflect attention from an unpopular plan to export Bolivia's natural gas...
...Lula's interest in increased trade is not limited to the export economy...
Vol. 37 • March 2004 • No. 5
