Weekly Roundup: Mexico's Reforms, Brazil's Immigration Pitch, Ecuador's Mining Plan

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Chávez “Battling for his Life;” Venezuelan Opposition Leader Faces Corruption Charges

Venezuelan opposition figure Leopoldo López arrived in a Caracas court on February 28 to answer corruption charges, standing accused of channeling $120,000 in funds from state-run oil company PDVSA to his political party in the late 1990s. López denies the charges, saying that President Hugo Chávez’s government had persecuted him for a decade and that he was a target of political sabotage. Meanwhile, on the same day, Venezuelan Vice President Nicolás Maduro affirmed that the president continues to receive treatment following cancer surgery. Chávez “is battling there for his health, for his life, and we're accompanying him,” he said.

Castro’s Potential Successor: More of the Same?

Following Cuban leader Raul Castro’s February 24 announcement that he would step down in 2018, Foreign Policy’s The Call blog looks at Castro’s new vice president and potential successor, Miguel Diaz-Canel. “Promoting Diaz-Canel suggests that despite the Castro brothers’ seeming immortality, the regime is truly committed to ‘updating the model’ to ensure the system they built continues after Raul and 86-year old Fidel are gone,” the blog says.

Sequester Cuts May Affect Border Patrol, International Business

Along with affecting immigration detention centers, sequestration cuts will likely impact U.S. ports of entry. On Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said her agency would be forced to cut 5,000 border control agents. Two former immigration officials told The Washington Post’s WonkBlog that the sequester would also impact cross-border trade. “It will mean a lot longer lines coming into the country, and that’s a sensitive point for [international] business leaders,” said David Martin, professor of international law at the University of Virginia. Martin noted that national security would not be compromised, but “smuggling organizations will be trying to test that and looking for soft spots.”

Colombia’s Coffee Workers Strike, Call for Subsidies

Calling for larger subsidies to protect against lower prices, Colombia’s coffee workers went on strike this week, protesting across the country. The world’s fourth biggest coffee producer, Colombia saw a production drop due to crop diseases, flooding, low international prices, and an overvalued peso, reports GlobalPost. Last year, Colombia’s coffee crop reached its lowest level in 30 years, leading the country to import beans from Ecuador and Peru.

Tracking Mexico’s Legislative Reforms

On February 25, President Enrique Peña Nieto inked an education reform law, one among numerous new and upcoming pieces of legislation as a part of the government’s “Pact for Mexico.” To track the legislative process, ADN Político offers a tool to see which bills are under discussion and the status of these proposals. It also includes brief summaries of recently approved laws.

Poll: Same Percentage of Mexicans and Americans Wish to Emigrate

In both cases, 11 percent of both Mexicans and Americans would emigrate from their home countries if given the opportunity, according to a Gallup survey released this week. For Mexicans, this represents a decline from 2007, when 21 percent of Mexicans said they would like to permanently relocate. Mexico’s average monthly unemployment rate stood at 5 percent in 2012, and GDP growth averaged 4 percent over the past three years. Meanwhile, U.S. unemployment ran at 6 percent last year, with an average of only 2 percent GDP growth since 2009.

Brazil’s Immigration Reform: Push for More Highly Skilled Workers

A growing influx of foreigners and a large number of unfilled skilled jobs stoked talk of immigration reform in Brazil, writes Brazil in Focus this week. It’s not only Brazil’s economic growth and booming oil sector attracting migrants; unemployment in Europe and the United States as well as high Brazilian salaries also contribute. President Dilma Rousseff expects a draft immigration reform plan this year as a part of “Brazil Open Arms,” a program intended to increase the number of foreign professionals in the country.

No Criminals Allowed: Peru’s New Immigration Plan

InSight Crime reports that the Peruvian government plans to ban anyone with a criminal record from entering the country, making the country’s immigration policies one of the most stringent in Latin America. Prime Minister Juan Jiminez Mayor announced the plan on Thursday, saying the government hopes to keep out "foreign assassins, smugglers of diverse nationalities, illegal miners, and other foreign citizens involved in their own organized criminal activities.” However, InSight Crime points out the policy will be difficult to enforce, and would require airport and border officials to run background checks on every foreigner entering Peru.

Taking off: Chile’s Air Travel Boom

Since 2003, air traffic in Chile nearly tripled, increasing from 2.8 million passengers to 8.3 million last year, according to the country’s civil aviation agency. Most of the flights—over 60 percent—run between the capital in Santiago and the north of the country, accounting for nearly 5 million passengers.

Ecuador’s Correa to Push for Mining Investment

Following his reelection this month, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa aims to attract more foreign investment, particularly in the mining sector. On Saturday, he announced he would pursue large-scale mining during his last term. Reuters reports that Ecuador may close a $1.2 billion deal with a Canadian mining company this year, as well as continuing development on a Chinese-owned copper mine. "I don't like mining...but it's impossible to think of modern life without mining and it would be irresponsible not to use those resources," Correa said.

El Salvador Makes Moves toward Greater Transparency

On February 23, El Salvador’s President Mauricio Funes announced the creation of the Public Information Access Institute, as well as the online publication of more than 40,000 public documents. The new agency came after 15 months of delays, reports El Faro, and just days after Funes vetoed a bill that would weaken the Institute’s power. “A new stage begins in this country’s institutions with respect to government transparency,” said the president.

Survey: LAC Citizens Views on When Bribery Is the Norm

In countries with weak rule of law and high levels of perceived corruption, citizens are more likely to see bribery “as a justifiable behavior,” says a new AmericasBarometer Insights report from the Latin American Public Opinion Project. In Latin America and the Caribbean, Haiti showed the largest percentage of people—53.9 percent—who said paying bribes is sometimes justified. “If the rule of law is so weak that state actors are brazen enough to solicit bribes and self-interested citizens feel justified in paying them, the supply and demand of bribery will converge to form strong social behavioral norms,” the report explains.

ILO: 9 Million Child Laborers in LatAm

On February 26, the International Labor Organization announced new data indicating that around 9 million children and adolescent workers exist in Latin America. Brazil has the largest number of child workers, followed by Peru, Mexico, and Colombia.  In Colombia, for example, over 15 percent of children work, amounting to 1.7 million young laborers; Brazil has approximately 3 million child workers.