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| Welcome to edition 3447 published on 11/30/2007 | There are 6 articles in this week´s edition.
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After the latest round of negotiations between Guatemala and Belize ended in a stalemate, the Organization of American States (OAS) recommended that the two countries take their long-standing border dispute to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Guatemala and Belize will now have to call a referendum to determine whether the dispute should be taken to the ICJ or to an arbitration tribunal. Outgoing Guatemalan Foreign Minister, Gert Rosenthal, favors the first option as an arbitration tribunal would leave the country with a hefty legal bill to pay. However, several experts have warned that an ICJ verdict might not favor Guatemala 's historic claim to half of Belize as many of its judges belong to Commonwealth countries and are likely to side with Belize . But with the new Colom administration taking office in Guatemala early next year and a Legislative election looming in Belize in mid-2008, it is unlikely that either country will call a referendum any time soon.
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published 11/30/2007 |
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The government, labor unions and the private sector have failed to reach an agreement over a proposed increase to the minimum wage. Unionists argue that the minimum wage, roughly US$80 a month, must be increased to cover the cost of basic consumer goods needed to support a family of five, which amounts to US$390. However, according to the private sector, it is impossible to meet such a demand. Business representatives argue that raising the minimum wage would only lead more companies to close down or lay off a greater number of workers.
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published 11/30/2007 |
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Guatemala's elite army force, known as Kaibiles, was created in 1974 at the height of the bloody counter-insurgency war which tore the country apart for 36 years. The Kaibil Special Task Force was the brainchild of the US Green Berets who were intent on stopping the spread of communism in Latin America after the crushing defeat suffered in Vietnam. The Kaibil Academy was initially funded by the infamous School of the Americas (SOA) and its soldiers combine the abilities of the US Rangers, the Colombian Lanceros and Panamanian Tigers. Kaibil in the Mam Mayan language literally means "he who has the force of two tigers". The Kaibiles were named after the Mam Mayan emperor Kaibil Balam who put up a fierce resistance to Spanish conqueror Pedro de Alvarado, but ironically these elite soldiers, who became notorious for their ruthlessness, were accused of a number of human rights violations committed against the indigenous population during the armed conflict. One of the worst atrocities committed by Kaibil soldiers was the infamous Dos Erres Massacre in Petén, in 1982, in which 350 indigenous Mayans including 67 children were brutally murdered. Today, with the Cold War over, this elite army force has become a recruitment ground for Central America 's booming private security industry and organized crime.
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published 11/30/2007 |
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Marcelo Chimirri Castro, the notorious director of the state-owned telephone company Hondutel, was recently arrested and charged with illegally tapping the president's phone. Bizarrely, one of Chimirri's staunchest defenders has been President Zelaya himself. Given that, it is not clear how the government came to move against Chimirri at all. But Chimirri has long been in the cross hairs of the press – according to analysts, Zelaya may stop wasting political capital and dump him permanently. Chimirri has been charged with eleven counts in all and has already stepped down from his post at Hondutel.
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published 11/30/2007 |
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A recent law leading to the privatization of the Salvadoran public healthcare system has proven hugely controversial. Although the public healthcare system has succeeded in eradicating many curable diseases, coverage is still woefully inadequate and many Salvadorans lack access to primary health care. Human rights organizations are therefore incensed by this recent move towards privatization as they argue that under the new law even fewer people will have access to healthcare. Opponents also claim that the recent law, backed by right-wing parties in Congress, among them the ruling ARENA party, puts the interests of the business sector before those of the Salvadoran people at large.
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published 11/30/2007 |
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Two new mining projects in the province of Colón have met with strong resistance from local communities and NGOs who argue that the project is environmentally unsound. According to community leaders and environmentalists, the extraction of gold and copper in the area will pollute the rivers surrounding the mines and deprive the local population of access to potable water. However, the mining corporation at the center of the controversy, Petaquilla Minerales, has stressed the purported benefits of the project, arguing that it will bring progress and development to one of the country's most impoverished regions. In a letter to President Martín Torrijos, community leaders and NGOs have demanded that the project be suspended on environmental grounds but so far their petition has not been heeded.
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published 11/30/2007 |
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