An Embattled Cristina Fernández de Kirchner: Can She Restore Her Popularity and Aid in Argentina’s Recovery?
To the outrage of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Vice President Julio Cobos cast the decisive vote on July 17
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South America
The Failings of Chile’s Education System: Institutionalized Inequality and a Preference for the Affluent
While the structure of Chile’s elementary and secondary education has changed considerably since the demise of the Pinochet dictatorship, the Chilean system is currently undergoing intense scrutiny due to the recent mass student protests against President Bachelet’s proposed 2006 education policy, Ley General de Educación (LGE). This General Education bill promises to eliminate discriminatory admissions policies at Chile’s primary, secondary, and tertiary education levels, and establishes a National Education Council to further advance school autonomy away from state control. However, teachers and students continue to oppose the LGE for its failure to reform the government’s basic financial strategy in order to abet a healthier and more equitable educational system.
What President Bachelet Hoped to Accomplish
Chilean education offers inherently unequal opportunities for students from low-income families, who consistently experience sub-standard educational achievements as a result of an ongoing bias in favor of privatization measures. The government’s school voucher program has not only exacerbated the socioeconomic divide between public and private institutions, but has also ensured that wealthier students have access to quality education, which guarantees their advancement to universities and a choice of careers. Although President Bachelet’s educational reform is intended to alleviate certain discriminatory practices that prevent low-income students from entering institutions of higher learning, the continuation of Chile’s market-based strategy for school financing will almost certainly guarantee existing inequalities.
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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Andrea Arango.
An Embattled Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner: Can She Restore Her Popularity and Aid in Argentina’s Recovery?
To the outrage of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Vice President Julio Cobos cast the decisive vote on July 17 against her plan to increase the export tax on grains being shipped abroad, effectively putting a full stop to a very tense domestic situation. As a result, Argentina today is considerably more tranquil now that the hostile demonstrations and strikes by Argentine farmers, which led to chaos in the domestic and overseas food markets, have ended. The crisis averted, average Argentines can now breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the nation’s most unsettling issue, a crushing annual inflation rate of almost 30 percent, can be addressed.
During last year’s electoral campaign, Cristina was consistently 20 to 30 percentage points ahead of the other presidential candidates in the polls. Her victory was expected as her husband, Nestor Kirchner, had just ended his own presidential term with high popularity ratings, and the country looked forward to the continuity of his economic success paired with Cristina’s less heavy-handed style of governance. But President Fernández’s unwillingness to reduce the agricultural export tax and her obdurate approach to the dispute – perceived by many to be haughty and authoritarian – severely damaged her popularity. Even some of her most fervent supporters became disappointed by her uncompromising attitude. In addition, many complain that Nestor holds too much sway over Cristina and has had a negative influence on her dealings with the rural sector.
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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Emily Dunn.
WTO Talks Collapse: Was There Ever a Future for Bananas?
World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations collapsed today, July 29, after nine days of intense negotiations. Trade ministers from approximately 35
Read MoreEcuador’s New Constitution Invites Future Problems
Late last week, Ecuador’s Central Bank Minister Robert Andrade resigned in the wake of the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly’s resounding 94-32
Read MoreChina’s Claim in Latin America: So Far, a Partner not a Threat
By light years, Washington traditionally has held the upper hand when it comes to foreign influence on Latin America. Its hemispheric power-advantage rests on decades of security, trade, investment, and ideological connections. However, the era of globalization is now tearing down many of the world’s hemispheric divides. Latin America is rapidly diversifying its international relations as major regional powerhouses, such as China, increase their presence in the region. Many view China’s growing influence in the western hemisphere as a challenge to the U.S.’s historic regional supremacy. However, the struggle for power and influence need not automatically reflect a winner-take-all competition, as both outside megaliths can benefit from China’s presence in Latin America.
China’s Economic Expansion
China’s phenomenal economic growth in the past quarter century has helped motivate Beijing to globalize its industries. From 1990-1998, China’s average annual economic growth rate was 11.2 percent, compared to the world’s average rate of 2.4 percent during the same time frame (China’s Average Economic Growth Rate in the 90s Ranked 1st in the World 2000) and the country’s growth rate is projected to remain above 8.5 percent for the next five years (Erikson 2008). Beijing’s economic ties to Latin America have witnessed comparable growth: from 1993 to 2003, China’s trade with Latin America increased by 600 percent (Xinhua News Agency 2004). Chinese president Hu Jintao set the mark for increasing trade with Latin America to $100 billion by 2010, a goal easily met when trade surged to $102.6 billion in 2007, which represents a 42.6 percent increase from 2006 (Erikson 2008).
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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Jamie Heine.
U.S.–Mexico NAFTA Transportation Agreement Imperiled
The governing idea behind NAFTA is to remove trade restrictions so as to encourage the free-flow of goods and services across the North American continent. Along the U.S. – Mexican border, however, the reality is that the ground transportation of such goods remains highly congested and drawn out. Long-haul trucks from Mexico are restricted from operating in the U.S. except within designated commercial zones located in border-cities such as San Diego, El Paso and Brownsville. At these sites, the contents of a truck must be unloaded and transferred onto a domestic carrier in order to continue to their final destination. Authorities estimate that this obvious kink in the supply chain costs U.S. consumers $400 million a year.
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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Chris Sweeney
A War of Perceptions: the Colombian Government versus FARC
In a presentation at the Center for American Progress on July 23, 2008 in Washington, D.C., Colombian Minister of National Defense Juan Manuel Santos addressed lingering questions regarding the extraordinarily successful July 2 rescue of fifteen hostages from the grip of las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionárias de Colombia (FARC). Santos touched upon topics ranging from the status of Colombia’s controversial democracy, now in the hands of President Álvaro Uribe, to the current status of the wounded FARC, including the government’s plans in the aftermath of a stunning victory against its longtime enemy.
Santos painted a picture of triumph in all areas. He attributed the successful transformation of Colombia’s nearly “failed state” in 2000 to Uribe’s democratic security initiative, which has revived the presidency. The president’s military initiatives, Santos insisted, have improved the state of the country. Just a few years ago, 480 municipal mayors, approximately 35% of the country’s total, were unable to work in their respective localities due to safety concerns and rural roads were virtually unpassable as a result of alternating leftist guerrilla and rightist paramilitary control. The FARC was allowed to occupy a demilitarized zone during three and a half years of negotiations with Uribe’s predecessor, Andrés Pastrana, but the zone was used by the group as a place to keep hostages and kidnapping victims as well as a platform for arms and drug trafficking. Negotiations subsequently failed after a Colombian senator was kidnapped and the demilitarized zone was retaken by the Colombian armed forces in 2002. Uribe was able to build upon the negative political repercussions of the failed demilitarized zone strategy, which helped reveal the FARC’s weakened state and which began swinging the pendulum of public opinion back towards a military solution, culminating in the dramatic July 2 rescue operation.
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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Susan Schaller.
¿Qué Es Lo Que Quiere Juan Manuel Santos? The Colombian Defense Minister’s Visit to Washington and His Likely Bid for the Presidency in 2010
Colombian Defense Minister, Juan Manuel Santos, arrived in Washington D.C this week to promote the pending Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Colombia, one of Bogota’s most sought after, and least likely to obtain, aspirations under President Uribe. The defense minister will try to win over House and Senate Democrats on the FTA issue, and then wrap up his campaign to get a reluctant congress to pass the foundering legislation. Santos hopes to smooth over a wide crack in his relations with Washington by amazing his audience with the details of Operation Jaque, which led to the rescue of 15 hostages being held by the FARC, the left wing guerrillas who have been battling the government for decades.
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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Erina Uozumi.