Combating Impunity, Violence, and Crime in President Colom’s Guatemala
– Guatemala’s fatal brew of corruption, impunity, violence and lawlessness – Colom, after excessive stonewalling, revs himself up and announces
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Guatemala
Guatemala – Central American Crime Capital
• Incessant crime wave poses security threat towards all levels of the population. • Growing disapproval of President Alvaro Colom.
Read MoreLatin America’s Response to Narco-Fueled Transnational Crime
Intra-Mexican Violence 2008 has proven to be one of the most violent years witnessed by Latin America in decades. A
Read MoreBolivian Press: Liberation sweeping Latin America
Published by FinalCall.com News UNITED NATIONS – Speaking at a press conference after his address to the UN General Assembly,
Read MoreFeminicide in Guatemala: A Link Between Past and Present
The current feminicide crusade in Guatemala takes root in the unjust bloodbath of a culture that views women as objects
Read MoreThe Growth of Petrocaribe: A Win for Venezuela Foreign Policy
Costa Rica and Guatemala are the latest to sign up with Petrocaribe
Nineteen Caribbean Basin nations now receive subsidized oil shipments from Venezuela
The future could not look brighter for Petrocaribe, a Venezuelan-led oil consortium that offers preferential financial terms on crude oil to signatory nations. In the past few of weeks, both Guatemala and Costa Rica have joined, bringing its total membership to nineteen. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, otherwise an ally of the U.S., sent his official request on July 16 to join the organization, perhaps because the cost of importing oil has doubled between 2007 and 2008 to $2.8 billion. Guatemala, one of two Central American countries to have its own domestic oil supply, turned to Petrocaribe on July 11 in order to reduce its internal debt by curbing imported oil costs.
Subsidized Oil Shipments
Petrocaribe sells crude oil at market value, giving member states three months to pay 40 percent of the bill and 25 years to pay off the rest, at a one percent rate of interest. Because the conglomerate undersells the international price of oil per barrel by 23 percent, it is estimated that Guatemala will save $2,043,300 and Costa Rica $1,255,170 annually if the price of oil remains around $130 per barrel.