Weekly Roundup: Obama's Puerto Rico Visit, Humala on Tour, UN Chief in Southern Cone

Obama Stops by Puerto Rico

U.S. President Barack Obama visited the island of Puerto Rico on Tuesday, becoming the first U.S. president to stop by on official business since John F. Kennedy in 1961. Obama met with Governor Luis Fortuño, pledged to support whatever decision Puerto Rican residents take regarding the island’s political status, and described the federal government’s approach to boosting economic development there. For a minute-by-minute recap of the visit, see Puerto Rican daily El Nuevo Día. 

Read an AS/COA Online News Analysis about Obama’s visit to Puerto Rico.

Puerto Ricans off the Island Outnumber Its Residents

With Obama visiting Puerto Rico, the Pew Hispanic Center released a statistical profile of Puerto Ricans that compares the population on the island to the Puerto Rican origin population living in the United States. Boricuas are now more numerous on the mainland (4.7 million) than they are on the island (3.9 million). Those residing in Puerto Rico are more likely to live in poverty and less likely to have a college degree, but more likely to have health insurance and own their own homes. 

Latino Support for Obama Jumps

Some 49 percent of Hispanics polled by impreMedia and Latino Decisions say they are “certain” they will vote for Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election—a 9 percent jump since the last poll the organizations conducted in April. Those surveyed, however, were sharply divided over the question of immigration policy, with 48 percent saying Obama is handling the issue well and 48 percent saying he is not. 

Colombia Meets Deadline for Labor-rights Action Plan

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced June 13 that Colombia met the deadline for the first set of milestones included in the Action Plan on Labor Rights, an agreement negotiated by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and U.S. President Barack Obama to facilitate the passage of the U.S.-Colombian free trade agreement. Some of the goals achieved included passing legislation to create a separate Labor Ministry and introducing criminal penalties for employers who undermine collective bargaining rights. 

Uribe Faces the Nation Thursday over DAS Scandal

Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe will testify before the lower house of Congress, which is investigating the illegal activities committed by the Department of Administrative Security during his presidency. “I’m facing the country to address every accusation,” said Uribe, reports El Espectador. 

Peruvian Leaders Race to Pardon Fujimori

President-elect Ollanta Humala repeated that he would consider pardoning former president and dictator Alberto Fujimori for health reasons—a statement Humala first made on June 3 in an interview with CNN en Español. But sitting President Alan García may beat him to the punch, according to columnist Augusto Álvarez Rodrich at La República. 

Can Peru’s Self-defense Organizations Rein in Drug Trafficking?

Writing for The Christian Science Monitor’s Latin America Monitor, Hannah Stone analyzes Peruvian President-elect Ollanta Humala’s pledge to support his country’s self-defense groups to help combat drug trafficking. Such groups first emerged in the 1970s in isolated communities to protect themselves against bandits and other criminals. But Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission tied some of the self-defense groups to human rights abuses during the 1980s and 1990s, when the state armed them to crack down on the Shining Path guerrilla movement. 

Humala Wraps up SouthAm Tour in Chile

With a final stop in Chile, Peruvian President-Elect Ollanta Humala finished up the first leg of his Latin American tour, after visiting Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. Humala said in Uruguay that he had ruled out an early push to join MERCOSUR as a full member, saying Peru’s 10 bilateral free trade agreements make it difficult to sort out tariff issues over the short term. 

U.S. Senate Report Shines Light on Gun Smuggling to Mexico

A new report issued by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) recommends implementing background checks for U.S. gun purchases and implementing other gun control measures to stem the flow of military-style weapons across the border into Mexico. The report notes that “the overwhelming majority of firearms recovered at crime scenes and traced by Mexican officials originate in the United States,” according to information compiled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Calderón Recalls PRI Autocracy during Stanford Speech

In a speech delivered at Stanford University, Mexican President Felipe Calderón recalled the era of the Institutional Revolutionary Party’s authoritarianism during the 71-year period in which the party effectively controlled the country’s government. “Mexico still had an autocratic government,” Calderón told the crowd, recalling his days as a student. “Many opponents of the regime were simply disappeared.” A plane interrupted his speech, flying overhead with a banner reading “No+Blood: 40,000 dead! How many more?” in a reference to the drug war launched against Mexico’s cartels by Calderón in 2006.

Growing Mexican Protest Movement Calls for End to Drug War

Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, whose son was killed by a drug gang, led hundreds of protesters and reporters on a march through cities hardest hit by the country’s drug war demanding an end to the violence. The “Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity” arrived in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, where Sicilia asked Americans to pressure their government to end Plan Merida and to enact gun control laws to stop the flow of weapons across the U.S.-Mexico border. The group issued a preliminary document outlining six major demands it believes will contain Mexico’s violence. 

Carstens, Lagarde on IMF Shortlist

The International Monetary Fund revealed two finalists for the agency’s leadership role, pitching French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde against Mexico’s Central Bank head Agustín Carstens. "I'm not fooling myself. I mean, it's like starting a soccer game with a 5 to 0 score,” said Carstens, who is considered a long shot against Lagarde. The IMF’s executive board has set June 30 as a deadline to select a new director.

Tijuana Ex-mayor Jailed, Released, Re-jailed, Re-released

The former Mayor of Tijuana Jorge Hank Rhon was released from prison, rearrested, and released once again—all in the same day. Police first arrested Hank Rhon on June 4 on charges of possession of illegal weapons. Police found a cache of 88 weapons in Hank Rhon’s home, of which 49 can only be used legally in Mexico by the military, but Hank Rhon’s attorney protested, saying the police had entered the premise without a warrant. Mexican authorities released Hank Rhon on Tuesday, but arrested him again the same day, alleging he played a role in the murder of his son’s girlfriend. Rhon is a successful businessman and the son of Carlos Hank González, a politician with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). See El Universal’s multimedia presentation for background on the Hank Rhon case, which the Mexican media has dubbed the “Hankazo.”

Guatemala Extends State of Siege in Peten

President of Guatemala Álvaro Colom extended the state of siege declared in the northern Peten region, which he decreed May 16 after assassins murdered 27 laborers there. The government believes the Zetas gang committed the murders and declared the state of siege to allow security forces to search any property and detain suspected criminals without requesting a warrant. Authorities have already arrested at least 16 suspects linked to the massacre, including a Guatemalan believed to be the attack’s architect.

Salvadoran Congress Flip-flops on Supreme Court Vote

After a vote to require that the Salvadoran Supreme Court’s constitutional chamber must rule unanimously rather than by decree sparked protests, El Salvador’s Congress is backing up. Now the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA, in Spanish) which originally supported the change, wants to repeal the law. “But wait!” writes Bloggings by boz: The governing National Liberation Front Farabundo Martí, which opposed the law, says it will not vote to repeal it unless ARENA fields support from the country’s other right-leaning parties.

Freedom House Returns $1.7 Million Grant for Cuba Operations

The advocacy group Freedom House returned a $1.7 million grant to the U.S. Agency for International Development, saying the government is demanding information that will increase the risk of some of its Cuban operations. Phil Peters at the Lexington Institute says the development “would seem to close the book on the debate over whether our foreign aid agency is running covert operations in Cuba.” It is illegal for Cubans to accept U.S. funds because the Castro government opposes the U.S. commitment to regime change. 

Cuba’s Health System Laid off Workers in 2010

Facing a tight budget, the Cuban government reduced expenditures to its public health system by cutting 14 percent of its workers, according to a report by Spanish daily El País. The cuts were concentrated among technicians and nurses, while the state contracted nearly 2,000 more doctors in 2010 than the year before.

Brazil Debates Reducing Jail Sentences for Studious Prisoners

In a move to address Brazil’s problems with prison overcrowding and high recidivism rates, legislators proposed striking one day in jail for each 12 classroom hours prisoners spend studying. Brazil’s prison system housed 440,864 prisoners in 2010, despite having room for only 299,587.

The Geopolitics of Brazil’s Border Security Plan

Brazil launched a security plan last week to work with the country’s neighbors to crack down on transnational crime. But the initiative has broader implications, James Lockhart Smith writes for The Financial Times’ Beyond Brics blog. He says the security plan “tentatively suggests an ambitious hub-and-spoke bilateralism.”

Election Watch: Argentina’s President Plays Hard to Get

Ian Bremmer writes for Foreign Policy about the guessing game surrounding whether Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will seek reelection. She has not announced her candidacy, despite the fact that her approval ratings are at the highest level since she took office. The article suggests that political theater may be the reason. “She is probably also hoping to create the impression that running for reelection would be a major personal sacrifice, thereby lending her candidacy a heroic tinge,” writes Bremmer. “And stalling helps her confound the opposition. Expect the show to go on right up until the June 25 deadline for her announcement.”

In Argentina, UN Chief Says Syria Can Learn from Dirty War

During a stop in Buenos Aires on Monday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon reflected on Argentina’s era of dictatorships and implied that the Middle East can draw human rights lessons from the South American country’s experience. “[Argentina has] shown that there can be no safe refuge for those who commit crimes against humanity,” said Ban, who urged Syrian leadership to allow humanitarian access. “In this world, there is no safe place now for any perpetrators who violate international human rights laws and international humanitarian laws.” Ban’s Latin American tour also includes stops in Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay. The secretary general is seeking support for a second term at the UN helm.

Chile’s Puyehue Volcano Halts Air Travel in Australia

The Houston Chronicle’s SciGuy calls Chile’s Puyehue volcano “the Eyjafjallajökull of the southern hemisphere” while The Sydney Morning Herald refers to its ash cloud as the “plume of gloom.” After decades of dormancy, the volcano began spewing ash June 4, snarling air traffic in the Southern Cone and as far away as Australia. Soccer officials believe the ash could disrupt the Copa America schedule, slated to commence July 1.