Press Releases – Page 84

The Women’s Development Bank in Venezuela, abbreviated Banmujer, joins a long trend of micro-credit institutions intended to alleviate poverty by supporting small-scale entrepreneurs. What makes Banmujer unique is that it loans only to women; in fact, it is the only state-sponsored women’s micro-credit bank in the world. Since its inception on March 8, 2001, Banmujer has been commended for its successes in helping women escape poverty and in instilling a new economic model of cooperation instead of competition.

Women’s Rights in Venezuela
Over the past decade, the Venezuelan government has been remarkably supportive of women’s rights. For example, the Bolivarian Constitution, adopted in 1999, uses non-sexist and gender-neutral language throughout. Instead of “all men are created equal,” as is stated in the U.S. Constitution, Venezuela’s constitution holds that “all persons are equal before the law.” When discussing the role of the President, it says “Presidente o Presidenta,” instead of using only the male form.

Brazil Press Releases

July 10, 2008July 15, 2008 COHA

Biofuels and the Global Food Crisis – Who Is to Blame?

U.S.-Brazil tension, a relatively recent development, resurfaced during the UN World Food Summit in Rome on June 3-5, encouraging the booming Brazilian sugar-based ethanol market to increase its new development projects. This rift represents a de facto counter move against the far less-efficient U.S. model predicated on corn-based ethanol production. Following the summit, Brazilian officials began a weeklong tour, stopping in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, during which they discussed a set of commercial agreements that will boost multilateral cooperation with several African countries. The trade agreements, projected to begin in 2009, include an expansion in ethanol investment, urbanism, air and sea transport, and cooperation in professional training between the two regions.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Maggie Airriess.

Recent COHA Citations

A Sampling of Citations from the Period of June 30, 2008 to July 14, 2008:

–The Narco News Bulletin: What is the Venezuelan News Media Actually Like?

–Wordpress.org: Critics Contend that Argentine Farmers’ Grain and Meat Export Strike Wrongfully Blamed by President for Government’s Irresponsible Mismanagement of Economic Policy

–La Prensa: Oaxaca’s Government Land Grab

–New York Times: McCain Heads Today for Colombia, Where Adviser Has Long Had Ties

–Canada Free Press: FARC in negotiations to demilitarize

–Houston Chronicle: Hostage Rescue Will Likely Reinforce U.S. Ties

–Bloomberg: Ecuador’s Ortiz Quits After Correa Seizes Companies

Cuba Press Releases

July 10, 2008July 14, 2008 COHA

EU’s Lifted Sanctions Could Be Turning Point For Cuba

On June 19, at a summit in Brussels, the European Union announced that it would lift its diplomatic sanctions against Cuba. The gesture was predominantly symbolic, as the restraints, which had been put in place in 2003, had been temporarily suspended since 2005. The decision came about largely due to Spain’s 2005 initiative to normalize its relations with Cuba, despite opposition from several other EU members. While the EU’s sanctions only froze development aid and visits to Cuba by high-level European officials, the move to lift them signals a commitment to increased dialogue and openness between the EU and Havana. It will surely have positive effects not just for Cuba but for the EU’s currently frosty relationship with Latin America over immigration issues. Perhaps most importantly, it serves as a contrast to the hard-line policy of the United States, which has maintained an unbending trade embargo against Cuba since 1964.

The End of a Long Battle
The EU’s sanctions were enacted in response to a March 2003 crackdown on Cuban dissidents after Havana had executed three men for hijacking a U.S.-bound ferry, in which a government official was murdered. The crackdown resulted in the imprisonment of seventy-five other Cubans for up to twenty-eight years. At the time, the EU condemned the crackdown, calling it “deplorable,” and refused to negotiate with Cuba until it improved its human rights record. According to the EU Report, an angry Fidel Castro accused the European body of “bowing to Nazi-Fascist US policy,” and he was further outraged when EU member nations began inviting Cuban dissidents to their Havana embassy functions.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Amy Coonradt.

Venezuela’s Women’s Development Bank: “Creating a Caring Economy”

Venezuela’s Women’s Development Bank, abbreviated Banmujer, joins a long line of micro-credit institutions intended to alleviate poverty by encouraging small-scale entrepreneurs. What makes Banmujer unique is that it loans only to women; in fact, it is the only state-sponsored women’s micro-credit bank in the world. Since its inception on March 8, 2001, Banmujer has been commended for its successes in helping women escape poverty and in instilling a new economic model of cooperation instead of competition.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Kristen Walker.

Costa Rica Panama Press Releases

July 9, 2008July 10, 2008 COHA

Trucker Strike Aims at Panama/Costa Rica Border

The first major disruption of the nine-month-old Costa Rican-Panamanian free trade agreement came on July 6, when approximately 200 truck

Colombia Press Releases

July 9, 2008July 10, 2008 COHA

Colombia: The Betancourt Rescue and Beyond

In spite of Ingrid Betancourt’s extraordinary rescue, the fate of Colombia is unlikely to be any brighter than before unless she accepts a new mission and returns to the public life, and President Alvaro Uribe commits a patriotic act by declining to seek a constitutional change allowing him to run for a third term in 2010.

– Betancourt’s unlikely but “impeccable” rescue may involve less than meets the eye
– Uribe – a divisive figure who may now shine, but reflects Colombia’s deep malaise
– Largely due to its own self interest, U.S. policy is blindly pro-Uribe
– Ingrid Betancourt is a proven quantity, having run a very respectable presidential campaign in 2002

The liberation of Ingrid Betancourt
The liberation of Ingrid Betancourt, three American citizens, and 11 public officials by an elite unit of the Colombian military is one of the gravest blows ever dealt to the FARC in its more than 44 years of armed struggle. Most importantly, the exploit served to reveal the FARC’s institutional weaknesses, their impaired internal communication, and a plummeting public standing, both throughout the region and with the Colombian public. The unlikely incident further discredits the myth that the guerrilla group is a monolithic and impenetrable organization and suggests that the continued viability of the FARC as a coherent initiative is open to doubt.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Erina Uozumi.

Trucker Strike Aims at Panama/Costa Rica Border

The first major disruption of the nine-month-old Costa Rican-Panamanian free trade agreement came on July 6, when approximately 200 truck drivers from Panama, Costa Rica, and other Central American countries paralyzed cargo crossing from Paso Canoas, Panama to Cerro Punta, Costa Rica. The protest, sparked by exorbitant Costa Rican tariffs and taxes, draws attention to the inconsistencies within the current import/export fee system.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Aviva Elzufon.

Brazil Press Releases

July 9, 2008July 11, 2008 COHA

Contemporary Brazilian Government Efforts to Address the Amazon Paradox

Criticism of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s handling of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest by many foreign observers does not consider the severity of Brazil’s need to develop the region’s economy. There is, however, considerable substance to critics’ arguments that his administration repeatedly favors an infrastructural and economic development strategy over a conservationist policy. Nonetheless, the Brazilian president is confronted with a difficult set of circumstances made evident by the bitter debates within Lula’s administration, which came to a head with the May 13 resignation of the dejected Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva.

Although it is difficult to anticipate how Brasília’s current measures will affect deforestation in the Amazon, the most important ecological initiative of Lula’s six-year tenure thus far has been the Plan for a Sustainable Amazon (PAS). The document was originally signed in 2004 and later enhanced in 2007, but its implementation only began this year. It is characteristically more pro-economic development than pro-environmental preservation. However, the PAS and related initiatives such as the 2004 Plan of Action for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon (PPCDAM) could potentially slow deforestation by designating new areas as nature reserves, combating illegal logging and farming, and eradicating falsified land deeds throughout the region. Overall, Brasília deserves some applause for developing a policy that responds to the international outcry against deforestation. Unfortunately, the needs of a growing economy and agricultural sector, in concert with high commodity prices, conflicts markedly with environmental groups’ unwavering commitment to preserving the region crucial to the survival of mankind.

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This analysis was prepared by Research Associate Jared Ritvo.

Peru’s Economic Model and Poverty Reduction: Is It Working?

The relationship between Bolivia and Peru has deteriorated rapidly over the last year, in part because of disagreements on foreign trade issuess. Recently, Peruvian President Alan Garcia and his Bolivian counterpart, Evo Morales, engaged in personal attacks which served to increase tensions between the two Andean nations. On July 2nd, Garcia attacked Morales by saying the latter was jealous of Peruvian economic growth. Maybe Garcia has a point in observing that Peru’s economic growth is more robust than Bolivia’s, but economic growth is not necessarily the ultimate objective for a country; more important may be the satisfaction of its citizens, which in Peru is trending downward because of growing inequality.

In its chronic struggle against poverty, Latin America has experimented with various economic models. These have included the neoliberal policies of the 1980s and 1990s, which have led to increased inequality. Some see neoliberal failures as responsible for the leftist wave that has spread across the region. Peru, however, is one of the two countries in Latin America that have not been tempted recently by solutions calling for the abandonment of the neoliberal development model.

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This analysis was prepared by Research Associate Guillermo Cornejo.