Weekly Roundup: A Sino-Brazilian Energy Pact, Solis Confirmed, and Manta's Future

Petrobras announced a deal with China Development Bank to receive a cash infusion worth $10 billion aimed to develop the pre-salt oil and gas deposits in the Santos basin. In exchange, the state-owned firm will sell up to 160,000 oil barrels per day to China at market prices. The announcement came after the Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visited Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on February 19.

Read AS/COA analysis about Brazil’s plans to ramp up investments in Petrobras.

2010 Brazilian Presidential Elections: Start Your Engines!

An early poll covering  the 2010 presidential election in Brazil finds the Governor of the State of Sao Paulo Jose Serra of the opposition Brazilian Party of Social Democracy as the clear frontrunner with a 42.8 percent. The survey also reported that Gilma Rousseff from the Worker’s Party—and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s protégé—polls in second place with 13.5 percent.

Solis Confirmed for Labor Post

After weeks of political wrangling, the U.S. Senate confirmed Representative Hilda Solis (D-CA) for the position of U.S. Secretary of Labor. Solis confirmation had been hampered by questions over back taxes owed by her husband and by Republican concerns over her connections with certain labor groups. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Politics blog points out that Solis, who is of Mexican and Central American descent, represents the first Latina appointed to a senior cabinet-level post. She will likely expand the department’s focus on worker safety, wage and hour legislation, and job retraining for the unemployed.

Wiretapping Scandal Strikes Colombia

Semana magazine published an explosive report on Sunday accusing Colombia’s intelligence agency, Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS), for illegally bugging phone lines. The investigative report says the DAS not only wiretapped guerrillas, paramilitaries, and criminals’ communications but also politicians, journalists, and judges. The story also alleges that the information was available and sold to the highest bidder. The news forced President Álvaro Uribe to publicly repudiate the accusations and order an immediate investigation. The Deputy Counter-intelligence Director Jorge Lagos resigned from his post and DAS’ Director Felipe Munoz created a committee to look further into the allegations. Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos expressed his concern and proposed to fully disband the DAS and create a new agency. His proposal was not echoed in Bogota, where some government officials said that the DAS is an effective and necessary tool for a democratic government to have.

Mexican AG: No Need for U.S. Military Intervention in Drug Fight

In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora voiced confidence in the ability of Mexico’s institutions to effectively deal with the ongoing drug war in his country. He also downplayed the necessity to call on the U.S. National Guard to control a potential spillover of violence into border states. The proposal came after recent assertions that the drug-fueled violence is a potential national security threat to the United States. 

Read an AS/COA analysis about the deepening debate over how to handle hemispheric drug policy.

Tension in U.S.-Ecuador Relations

In a daily press briefing on February 19, U.S. Department of State Acting Deputy Spokesman Gordon Duguid expressed concern over Ecuador’s decision to expel the U.S. Embassy’s First Secretary Mark Sullivan, accused of meddling with internal affairs by President Rafael Correa’s administration. The move was preceded by the expulsion of U.S. official Armando Astorga on February 7 after Washington ended support for a police support program, Bloomberg reports. U.S. officials are weighing whether to engage in diplomatic retaliation.
 
Manta’s Uncertain Future

The Latin American Thought blog analyzes prospects for future development in the port city of Manta once Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa make good on his promise force the closure of a U.S. air force base when its lease is up this year. According to the blog post, Correa has worked toward forging an agreement with Hong Kong-based Hutchinson Port Holdings to modernize the Pacific port after the base closes. Yet, what once seemed like a sure deal appears to now stand on shaky ground.

LatAm Currencies Down, but Higher than in 2002

An RGE Monitor analysis takes a look at the Economist’s Big Mac Index with a focus on Latin American currencies, particularly Brazil’s. While the value of the regional currencies has fallen in recent months, they are not as undervalued as they were in 2002.

Peru Announces FTA Talks with Japan

In an effort to diversify and intensify its global businesses, Peruvian Foreign Minister José Antonio García announced preliminary talks starting in March for a free trade agreement with Japan. The statement came after a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Hirofumni Nakasone and noted that the agreement would move forward despite the global economic crisis. García also highlighted the steps taken by the Japanese government to help Peruvians that work in the auto industry in Japan and now face salary cuts and unemployment.

Venezuelan Investors Affected by Stanford Scandal

Financial Times reports that around 15,000 Venezuelans may have lost $3 billion on certificates of deposit issued by the troubled Stanford International Bank, charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for “orchestrating a fraudulent multi-billion dollar scheme.” Venezuelan investors in the CDs range from wealthy families to government and military officials who sought a safe heaven to invest their money.
 
Widespread Corruption Suspected in Nicaragua

Managua’s Mayor Alexis Arguello faces heavy criticism for his support of a measure that will draw $6 million from the city’s coffers for “emergency” spending that requires little oversight. His critics compare this move to prior decisions made by Arguello’s party leader, President Daniel Ortega. An analyst quoted in the Nica Times warned that Nicaragua is witnessing “an alarming state of corruption, which is institutionalized and endemic.”

Immigration Reform on the Horizon?

U.S. President Barack Obama may be heeding calls for comprehensive immigration reform, given his recent discussion of it in two of the most popular national radio shows in the Hispanic community. “[W]e’ve got to have comprehensive immigration reform…[We] need to get started working on it now.  It’s going to take some time to move that forward, but I’m very committed to making it happen. And we’re going to be convening leadership on this issue so that we can start getting that legislation drawn up over the next several months,” Obama said on his interview with Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo.

ISN Security Watch’s Sam Logan chronicles the recent efforts from new Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to slowly but surely revamp deportation directives.
 
The Houston Chronicle’s Immigration Chronicles blog comments on the latest report from the Department of Homeland Security that says that the illegal immigration population has declined from 11.8 million in January 2007 to 11.6 million last year.

Read AS/COA analysis of what the new U.S. administration could mean for immigration reform.
 
Canadian Churches to Sponsor Guantanamo Detainees

A number of Christian churches in Canada are taking steps to sponsor Guantanamo detainees who, after experiencing years of judicial limbo, face torture in their home countries if repatriated. The Christian Science Monitor reports that churches are currently considering five cases, involving three Uighurs, an Algerian, and a Syrian Kurd.
 
Inroads Made in LGBT Legislation in LatAm

A Foreign Policy web feature comments on how Latin American gay rights movements have pushed through legislation since the late 1990s. Cities such as Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico City, Lima, and Buenos Aires have become friendlier to gay rights and seen an increasing amount of gay-owned and oriented businesses fully protected by law. “So, though closets and machos are still ubiquitous, Latin America is now the site of some of the most pro-gay legislation in the developing world,” says the article.

Suriname Former Military Leader Indicted, Interviewed

Aljazeera features an interview with Suriname’s former military ruler Desi Bouterse, who faces murder charges for the execution of rival politicians in 1982 when he staged a coup and became president. Bouterse denies his involvement in those killings and blames the present government with political persecution. He intends to run for office for 2010 presidential elections despite the charges.

Dengue Epidemic Hits Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay

A deadly dengue epidemic affects several communities across four countries with 15 victims accounted for and around 20,000 more infected in Bolivia alone. Argentina has reported 50 people infected with the disease in the province of Salta. IPS reports 200 new dengue fever cases in Paraguay, up from only 40 cases reported last week. Paraguay’s government vowed to fight the disease to avoid repeating the grim history of 28,000 people infected and 15 casualties in 2007.

Chilean Wine Benefits from U.S. Downturn

As the fifth largest wine exporter to the United States, Chile has found the silver lining in America’s economic woes. Chilean wine exports to the United States grew by 25 percent in December 2008 over the same period in 2007. The reason, says Globalpost in an on-location video, is that the wine industry views Chile’s low-cost grapes as representing a good value.