32 years of economic and political information and analysis on the region

GUATEMALA

CAFTA: barricades and protests
On Tuesday 14, 2005, the main thrust of popular unrest voicing discontent with the Central America Free Trade Agreement with the US (CAFTA) ended. Four days earlier, Congress ratified the treaty with an overwhelming majority, defying the hopes of protesters who were blocked off from nearing the parliament by security forces. On Wednesday, in preparation for CAFTA's ratification, Congress passed, also by national urgency, the reforms to the Law for Industrial Property, which will prohibit the use of generic medicines.

First racism case under way

Following the modification of Guatemala's penal code two years ago to incorporate discrimination as a crime, the first discrimination case began on March 8 this year with five FRG sympathizers accused of racially insulting Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú. While some consider the trial a historical precedent for both indigenous and non-indigenous sectors, others highlight the challenge posed to the judicial system and its weakness in such cases.

 

PANAMA

Internal struggle at Supreme Court

A public dispute between four of the nine judges that make up the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), in which they accuse each other of administrative mistakes, dubious decisions to free drug traffickers and other crimes, is the latest evidence of a power struggle within the state institution, afflicted by other serious structural problems. Civil society groups have called for all nine judges to be dismissed, a decision which is now in the hands of the National Assembly.

REGION

Spanish investment: market saturation
Public services privatization on a global scale has served to fuse and strengthen many European companies. These companies took advantage of new markets less saturated than those in Europe. Spain, naturally leaned towards investing in Latin America. Though in Central America, the numbers are not as important as those of the South American giants and the window of opportunity has somewhat closed in the wake of such rapid privatization, new opportunities could emerge for Iberian investors within the framework of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and a new agreement with the European Union (EU)

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NICARAGUA

Sandinistas renew their faith in Ortega
Although few doubts remained, on March 5, it was confirmed that the general secretary of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), Daniel Ortega Saavedra, will again be the party's presidential candidate. The announcement was accompanied by the equally significant decision to expel from the Sandinista ranks the politician who most endangered Ortega's candidacy: Herty Lewites, who now also faces legal proceedings.

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COSTA RICA

Government ends Harken contract
After a protracted legal battle, the government succeeded in canceling a contract with the US oil company, Harken Costa Rica Holdings LLC, which, despite opposition from various environmental organizations, had secured a contract for exploratory oil drilling on the Caribbean coast.

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18 March 2005