The now famed Colombian rescue mission Operation Jaque, responsible for the rescue of former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and
Read MoreIn 2007, Microsoft opened a software development center in Vancouver, Canada, in part to have access to highly skilled workers who are presently prohibited from residing in the United States. Microsoft’s recent Canadian venture highlights a growing trend of U.S. companies seeking available talented workers in offshore countries and keeping them there. Much of this in-place outsourcing has to do with Washington’s failure to provide sufficient work permits to fill the pressing domestic need for skilled immigrant professionals. Making matters worse, many of the immigrants who are unable to receive U.S. work permits have been educated at American universities. The U.S. pours valuable resources into the education of would-be immigrants, whose knowledge and skills ultimately benefit other countries. The result is that the U.S. is missing out on substantial economic benefits by refusing to grant work permits to skilled laborers, especially to those schooled here.
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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Jamie Heine.
Does the End Justify the Means? The Misuse of the ICRC Emblem by Colombian Intelligence in Its Hostage Rescue Mission
The now famed Colombian rescue mission Operation Jaque, responsible for the rescue of former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other important and high visibility hostages from the FARC, is being criticized for using emblems from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of its elaborate ruse. Colombia’s president Uribe has acknowledged this deception and has formally apologized to the ICRC. Three photographs provided by an unknown military source, and sold to CNN, show a Colombian soldier wearing an ICRC bib on his arm. Furthermore, in previously unpublished video footage of the rescue mission, an emblem can be seen on the helicopter of the “Mision Internacional Humanitaria,” which is supposedly an NGO based in Spain.
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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Erina Uozumi.
The column by G. Philip Hughes and J. Paul Johnson titled, “McCain’s Latin America gambit” (Commentary, July 9), correctly stated
Read MoreOn September 7, 2007, seventeen years after Manuel Noriega’s violent removal from power in Panama, a legal order for his release was issued in Miami; however, to this day, the former Panamanian strongman remains imprisoned in a Florida jail as both France and Panama battle for him to be extradited to their respective countries. While Noriega awaits certain extradition and another trial at age seventy four, the world only distantly remembers his apprehension in 1989 and perhaps more importantly, the blemish it left on U.S. foreign policy throughout Latin America. In December 1989, President George H.W. Bush decided to forcefully remove Manuel Noriega from Panama to stand trial in the United States for drug trafficking and related charges. The intervention was given the name “Operation Just Cause,” a reference to the anticipated success of this exercise in freeing Panamanians from an evil dictator. But in the view of many, the operation not only broke international law, but severely destabilized Panama- an effect the country still feels to this day. President Bush’s decision to intervene with military force in Panama was a direct result of the crisis created by Noriega’s rise to power, largely as a result of Washington’s backing, and the complex and asymmetrical relationship between the two nations.
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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Jessica Wayne.
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Published by The Narco News Bulletin By Andrew Kennis What is the Venezuelan News Media Actually Like? Listening to accounts
Read MorePublished in La Prensa- San Diego By Theresa Kleinhaus and Maya Schenwar In villages across Oaxaca, where land has been
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