Weekly Roundup: Ongoing Andean feud, Brazil's Trade Policy, and Spanish-Language TV

Andean Friction Continues

Tension continue over the Colombia’s March attack on a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) camp inside the Ecuadorian border and subsequent discovery of a laptop with files linking Venezuela and Ecuador’s presidents to the Colombian rebel group. Caracas and Quito denied connections with the FARC following release of an Interpol study that found the laptop’s files had not been manipulated. On Sunday, the Venezuelan government accused Colombia of illegally sending 60 troops into a border region inside Venezuela’s border. Furthermore, a stir was caused after a U.S. Navy plane flew into Venezuela’s airspace—a violation that Washington says was accidental.

Speaking at the 38th Annual Washington Conference on the Americas, Colombia’s Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos described the two disparate visions for the hemisphere affecting politics in the region.

On June 2, the AS/COA’s New York office hosts a panel discussion entitled “The Andean Region at a Crossroads.” The event will include a keynote address by Ecuador’s Minister of the Interior Fernando Bustamente.

Quito Postpones Constitutional Deadline

Ecuador’s constitutional assembly postponed its deadline for completing a draft of a new constitution by two months to July 26. While approval ratings for the assembly have dipped, President Rafael Correa’s ratings run at 58 percent.

Latin American Inflation on the Rise

In some areas of Latin America—particularly Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, and Nicaragua—concern mounts over rising inflation. Venezuela’s rate of inflation is projected to hit 25 percent in 2009, making it second only to Zimbabwe’s, reports the Christian Science Monitor. According to analysts interviewed for a Reuters article, Latin American growth has been a surprise, but inflation returned earlier than most economists expected.

Argentina, Brazil Issue Warning to Santa Cruz

Brazil and Argentina voiced support for Bolivian President Evo Morales, stating that their energy agreements are with the country’s elected national government. The announcement served as a warning for the governors of separatist states—including Santa Cruz, which voted by overwhelming majority for autonomy from La Paz in an early May referendum.

A recent AS/COA hemispheric update looks at the energy challenges facing the Southern Cone and Brazil.

Brazil’s Evolving Trade Policy

Two new papers published by the Brookings Institution examine the changing nature of Brazil’s trade policy over the past two decades. Pedro de Motta Veiga of the Centro de Estudos de Integração e Desenvolvimento (CINDES) writes, to achieve international integration, the country must forge a new policy agenda in the face of conflict over whether to follow old or new trade policy paradigms. Brazil’s government has swung like a pendulum between a more open and more skeptical view of trade, writes the IADB’s Mauricio Mesquita Moreira, who says the country should institute reforms “to fully enjoy the growth and welfare benefits of trade.” 

Lula Appoints New Environment Minister

The government of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva appointed Rio de Janeiro’s Environment Secretary Carlos Minc to replace Marina Silva as the country’s minister of environment following her resignation. OpenDemocracy covers the resignation of Silva, a staunch environmental defender who blamed deforestation on cattle ranchers and farmers and who pushed—with varying success—for “building environmental considerations into every stage of policymaking.”

Drug Cartels Driving Mexico Down “Road to a Failed State?”

A new Stratfor analysis examines recent targeting of high-level police officials by Mexican drug cartels as an example of increasing cartel power, thereby cracking open the door to a possible systematic breakdown of the state. George Friedman argues that there is “a tradition of state failure in Mexico, and there are higher stakes today than before” but that President Felipe Calderón, with U.S. support, may be able to devise a means to “immunize” his government from cartel influence.

A Chicago Tribune op-ed says the United States must play a role in Mexico’s drug war and voices support for the Merida Initiative, a three-year, $1.4 billion project that would combat drug trafficking in Mexico and Central America.

Read an AS/COA analysis on arms smuggling at the U.S.-Mexico border.

U.S. President George W. Bush discussed the Merida Initiative at COA’s 38th Annual Washington Conference of the Americas.

Turning to Spanish-Language Media

New America Foundation’s Joe Mathews makes the case that, while English-language news organizations in the United States make budget cuts and increasingly broadcast entertainment news, Spanish-language broadcasters often “offer the sharpest coverage of state and local issues.”

Latin America Boosts Florida through Trade

South Florida has seen some of the effects of the U.S. economic slowdown offset by rising trade with Latin America, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinal. The article credits the strength of the Brazilian economy as a major factor, with South Florida exports to Brazil jumping 32 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

Changing Perceptions of Chile’s Military

In an interview with IPS News, Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences Director Claudio Fuentes discussed findings of a new book he co-authored on changing public perceptions of the military in post-Pinochet Chile. “There is a tendency to prefer the routes of justice and education or awareness-raising to resolve problems involving human rights abuses,” said Fuentes, whose study also found that the army—previously considered the most problematic branch of the armed forces—is now perceived as the most cooperative.

During a recent book launch for Steven Reifenberg’s Santiago’s Children, AS/COA hosted a panel discussion about the impact of the General Augusto Pinochet dictatorship on Chile.

Leonel Fernández Wins Third Term in DR

President Leonel Fernández won reelection in the Dominican Republic Sunday, gaining nearly 54 percent of the vote. In an interview with CNN en Español in the days before the election, Fernández discussed a variety of topics, including economic issues and serving a third term.

A recent AS/COA Online analysis looks at the challenges facing the Dominican Republic after the election.

High “Peace Rank” for Canada, Chile

Canada and Chile ranked as the most peaceful countries in the Americas, according to the Global Peace Index published by Vision of Humanity, with both countries falling within the top 20 out of 140 countries surveyed. Uruguay, the third most peaceful country in the Western Hemisphere, ranked twenty-first.