IN BRIEF
For frequently updated news from Latin America, check our Web site <www.nacla.org>. Register on the site to receive our email newsletter COSTA RICA: Corruption Scandals A SERIES OF HIGH-PROFILE...
...The OAS is also experiencing an uncomfortable credibility crisis...
...In mid-October thousands of furious citizens marched in San Jose to protest the corruption, shouting angrily at current President Abel Pacheco...
...The new convertible peso will be pegged to the dollar, but is exclusively domestic and has no value in foreign countries...
...Thomas Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, stated that if the FMLN were to win he would work to restrict the flow of remittances from Salvadorans living in the United States to their families back home...
...Whether as government soldiers or private security personnel, most Salvadorans heading to Iraq are from poor families with few economic options...
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...James T Kimer Contributors: Alex Modotti lives in El Salvador, where she works with the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES...
...Pacheco has not been left unscathed by the scandals: a congressional probe is investigating alleged finance irregularities in his presidential campaign...
...While visiting Peru in November, Einaudi said that a new secretary general should be chosen by the next general assembly in June 2005, or the OAS will enter a period of "uncertainty...
...Havana's plan won't create any foreseeable economic growth, but if indicators remain constant, the convertible peso should attain a balance and replace the dollar even outside of state enterprises...
...And Rodriguez's predecessor, Cesar Gaviria of Colombia, was significantly aided in 1994 by the U.S...
...Meanwhile, the Salvadoran economy is in crisis...
...State Department, which coerced Caribbean nations into supporting his candidacy...
...For all enquiries, please email info@latinnews.com or call Yolanda Drinot on +44 (0)20 7251 0012 www.latinnews.comJANUARY FEBRUARY 2005 IN BRIEF October...
...They view it as a positive sign of the changing times...
...The Bush Administration has repeatedly alleged that Cuba's estimated $1 billion remittance economy helps prop up the Communist government...
...In an October 25 televised address, Castro explained the decision as a protective measure against "external economic attacks...
...Hotels, restaurants, gas stations and retail shops are now prohibited from accepting dollars, which have circulated freely as legal tender in Cuba since 1993...
...A second scandal broke just two weeks later, exposing the French telecommunication company Alcatel's payment of a $2.4 million "prize" to the government in exchange for a lucrative contract to build cellular phone lines...
...Year-round classes In small groups The Workers' Movement In Mexico April 23 - May 6, 2005 Language and Culture for Healthcare Workers May 7 - 27, 2005 InVisibility: Lesbian lives in Mexico June 11 - July 1, 2005 Coming Out: The Gay (Men s) Experience in Mexico June 11 -July 1, 2005 Language and Culture for Educators June 25 - July 15, 2005 Opening Doors: September Queer Program...
...Flores' favor was soon repaid...
...After 15 years of neoliberal policies, both unemployment and the cost of living are high and continue to rise...
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...The Bush Administration has intensified pressure and threats on foreign banks to prevent the island from making deposits abroad for the purpose of dealing with our commercial obligations," said Castro...
...State Department, cutting off Cuba's incoming dollars is a top priority The report argues that money made available to Cuba through these avenues gets diverted by the government and put towards "maintaining and strengthening its repressive apparatus...
...This past March, when Spain's newly elected Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced he would pull Spanish troops out of Iraq, all Latin American participants except El Salvador took advantage of the moment to leave as well...
...Although the request comes from the United Nations, El Salvador would again be defending a U.S.backed government from national unrest...
...While Bush has yet to come through with that favor, Saca is responding to a call for more military cooperation, this time in Haiti...
...Two days before the elections, Rep...
...President Saca has been specific about what he would like to get in exchange for the troops...
...Eventually the currency must float in the global market or it will become dangerously overvalued...
...The psychological impact can't be underestimated...
...Explore current and historical issues...
...government's preference for ARENA...
...One indicator of the desperation of El Salvador's poor was the magnitude of the response to private security companies recruiting workers to go to Iraq...
...At least two U.S.based firms came to El Salvador recently to recruit former military 44JANUARY FEBRUARY 2005 IN BRIEF personnel, offering salaries of about $1,700 a month and life insurance to those willing to sign up...
...We are in Cuernavaca, Mexico, "The City of Eternal Spring...
...When the UN issued a request for more international military participation in Haiti in midOctober, President Saca responded quickly, offering 100 soldiers as part of a Central American mission...
...Meanwhile, the Salvadoran government hopes for high returns on its cooperation, as it looks ahead to the 2006 local elections...
...Federal Reserve on UBS AG, Switzerland's largest bank, for sending and receiving U.S...
...The Bush Administration's close alliance with Cuban dissidents in Florida has contributed to the reinvigorated clamp-down on Cuba's finances, which, like Castro's retaliation, makes regular Cubans the biggest losers of the imperial game...
...The de-dollarization plan will flood the Cuban Treasury with U.S...
...September 3 - 16, 2005 IN BRIEF restrict them from bringing more than the allotted $50 per day for their visit...
...We may die here or we may die there," said one recruit to the Associated Press...
...Register on the site to receive our email newsletter COSTA RICA: Corruption Scandals A SERIES OF HIGH-PROFILE CORRUPTION scandals rocked Costa Rica last October, implicating three ex-presidents and forcing one of them to resign from his post of Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS...
...But on the other hand, so many within the country find themselves in despair, feeling betrayed by the leaders...
...If we die, our families will be O.K...
...Cuban and Swiss bank officials have vigorously denied these charges, providing legal paper trails...
...De-dollarization comes at a particularly risky moment for Cuba: high oil prices will cause considerable balance-of-payments difficulties...
...In late October the U.S...
...The first scandal surfaced September 4 when investigative journalists alleged former President Rafael Angel Calderon (1990-1994) had accepted about half a million dollars in illegal commissions from a medical supply company...
...The current Haitian government--a close ally of Washington-is violently repressing protest and has made arbitrary arrests as the political situation in Haiti grows increasingly unstable...
...Traditionally, the United States has exercised overwhelming clout in the OAS, and in the past has strong-armed smaller nations to gain its favored appointment for secretary general...
...Central American nations hope to hold onto the seat but will face stiff competition from candidates of other member nations-particularly Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay...
...Other key resources include Latinnews Daily Briefing, Latin American Economy & Business and a Latin American Regional Reports series...
...De-dollarization is also aimed at encouraging remittance senders to ]lqe nthPr currencies zluch na Plloq pounds sterling or Canadian dollars...
...These incidents have had a considerable impact on Costa Rica and beyond...
...Converting dollars to pesos will carry a 10% tax, funneling more revenue into state coffers to alleviate the country's growing international trade deficit...
...The reference is to a $100 million fine imposed by the U.S...
...The increased scrutiny of Cuba's international transactions represents just one aspect of Washington's multi-pronged strategy to tighten the embargo...
...LAN subscribers benefit from the expert analysis of our editorial team headed by our editor in chief, Eduardo Crawley, who is widely recognised as one of the leading commentators on Latin America and the Caribbean...
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...Despite vocal domestic opposition, Flores supplied the first battalion of 360 Salvadoran troops in August 2003...
...Over the summer Cuban opposition groups in Florida and journalists from the Miami-based El Nuevo Herald sought to extract maximum political leverage from the UBS fine...
...Treasury announced that SERCUBA, a money transfer service run by the Cuban Telecommunications Company, would be placed on the Specially Designated Nationals List, making it illegal for U.S...
...ARENA won another five years in office...
...Stories in local media of returning veterans highlight the fact that the soldiers are sometimes providing the only source of income for up to three generations of family members...
...government...
...Miguel Angel Rodriguez (1998-2002) had allegedly accepted a large piece of the prize, and Jose Maria Figueres (1994-1998) confessed to accepting over $900,000 in separate commissions from Alcatel...
...Because only a fraction of the population has regular access to dollars, the impact shouldn't be too devastating for most citizens, but it remains to be seen whether the policy will help or hurt the vital flows of remittances into the country...
...They accused the bank of helping Cuba launder $3.9 billion from unknown, allegedly illicit (narcotics or terrorist) sources...
...Public disgust over corruption eventually developed into general anti-government sentiment during the protests, indicating crumbling confidence in Costa Rica's traditionally strong political institutions...
...The protesters expressed deep frustration at the widening gap in trust between elected officials and citizens in what one wire service was calling "Black 42 latin american newsletters Apply now for a free trial subscription Since 1967, Latin American Newsletters (LAN) has been at the forefront of providing objective and reliable intelligence on Latin American political, economic and social issues...
...Rodriguez, for example, was viewed favorably by the United States for his stance on free trade and opposition to Cuba...
...It has been accompanied by a decision in June 2004 to limit Cuban-American families' visits to one every three years, and to ,,anish Lang, SETLA\LIc Political and Socwl Issues...
...citizens and residents to send money through the Cuban service...
...On the one hand, everybody outside of Costa Rica says how great it is that the free press is uncovering these scandals and that the ex-presidents are being held accountable...
...Presidential elections were approaching in El Salvador and his rightist Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party was running against the ex-guerrilla leftist party, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), which then had the broadest electoral support in its 12-year history as a party...
...Tel: +52 (777)311 8956 & 317 5151 Fax: +52 (777) 317 5151 & 316 3546 cls@cuemavacalanguageschool.com www.cuemavacalanguageschool.com INACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS IN BRIEF lowing month, when a Salvadoran soldier died and 12 others were injured in combat, national opposition grew...
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...If we survive we are going to benefit...
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...invasion of Iraq, El Salvador's then-President, Francisco Flores, was quick to sign up...
...Our subscribers in government, academia, NGOs, and the corporate sector all need to know what LAN is saying on the issues of today and tomorrow...
...James T Kimer EL SALVADOR: Newest Export is Soldiers WHEN GEORGE W. BUSH BEGAN recruiting allies for the U.S...
...Find out for yourself the true value of this information...
...The country's two main political parties, the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) and the National Liberation Party (PLN), were both badly damaged by the scandals, which have put a chink in the armor of one of Latin America's most consolidated democracies...
...Adjunct Secretary General Luigi Einaudi of the United States will head the organization until member nations decide on a permanent successor...
...officials made notso-subtle declarations about the U.S...
...A quiet battle for succession began immediately...
...After promoting the Inter-American Convention on Corruption, the organization was embarrassed by the resignation of its secretary general, Rodriguez, on corruption charges just two weeks into his term...
...While some have celebrated the prosecutions as a blow against the impunity of corrupt Latin American leaders, others are more ambivalent...
...According to a 2004 report prepared by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba of the U.S...
...During the presidential campaign, a number of U.S...
...Yet when Saca had the opportunity to withdraw diplomatically by simply not renewing El Salvador's agreement to participate, he instead sent a third group of troops, 380 soldiers, on August 19...
...On his first visit to Washington and in his statements of congratulations to Bush on his reelection, Saca said he was counting on Bush to extend the temporary work-permit status that was originally granted back in 2001 to approximately 300,000 Salvadorans living in the United States...
...There seem to be two perspectives on the whole thing," said Nefer Mufioz, a Costa Rican journalist...
...Local newspapers reported that thousands were applying amid fierce competition, and that recruiters have changed their telephone numbers due to the inundation of calls...
...Even in the bestcase scenario, observers doubt de-dollarization will solve Cuba's long-term monetary woes...
...cash in the short term and possibly encourage tourists and remittance senders to use a different currency, but its long-term benefits for Cuba's economy remain uncertain...
...Last May, after receiving the report, President George W Bush commented that the new policies "will prevent the regime from exploiting hard currency of tourists and of remittances to Cubans...
...I guess that we had always thought we were more ethical than many of our neighbors-so much of our identity is placed in our solid democratic system, and now we are watching it break down...
...Although the possession of dollars remains perfectly legal, Cuban citizens rushed to convert all their money before the November 8 deadline so they would not face a 10% devaluation of their dollar holdings...
...A poll indicated high levels of disapproval for newly elected President Antonio Saca on this issue...
...dollars to and from Cuba, Libya, Iran and Yugoslavia between 1996 and 2003...
...Explore the exciting and unique program of the "Cuernavaca Language School...
...Government social spending ranks among the lowest in the hemisphere and is financed by a public debt that is precariously high, close to 40% of the gross national product...
...Alex Modotti CUBA: De-Dollarization Implemented IN RESPONSE TO THE BUSH Administration's efforts to reduce Cuban capital flows, Fidel Castro has announced that U.S...
...Democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was taken out of Haiti on a U.S.chartered plane last February in what Aristide says was a forced removal by the U.S...
...dollars would be taken out of circulation beginning November 8. "Convertible pesos" will now be required for all hard-currency transactions on the island...
Vol. 38 • January 2005 • No. 4
