The pending approval of a new law called the Petroleum Fund has incited controversy both inside and outside of the Guatemalan Congress, due to a clause that would single out certain oil companies for government benefits. The government's Minister for Energy and Mining (MEM), Carlos Meany, has been busy lobbying on behalf of the bill, backed by President Colom and many members of Congress. Opponents, such as Congresswoman Nineth Montenegro, have argued that the bill was designed purely to benefit French oil company Perenco. Montenegro discovered clauses in the bill that appeared to favor the company over others, and successfully vetoed its approval last week. Next week, however, the bill will be discussed in Congress again and many politicians have declared an all-out effort to make sure it is approved.

Rising diesel prices have forced a standoff between transportation firms and the government in recent weeks, leading to one day of transport strikes to date. There has not been consensus, however, even within transport unions as to whether costs should be picked up by the government or passed on to consumers. Average Salvadorans, already burdened with a rising cost of living, have bristled at the prospect of having to bear yet another price increase. With voters juggling all of this, the ruling ARENA party is increasingly faced with an unfavorable climate heading into next year's elections.

By Marta Nocete

Translated by Dan Gordon

On April 25, the House of Representatives had its first sitting with the new UDP government. Proposals for constitutional reform promised in the UDPs election manifesto were put forward. Most controversial was the proposal to allow phone tapping and pre-detention of up to seven days, extendable to 30 days with permission from a judge. Prime Minster Dean Barrow argues that the latter measure is necessary to crack down on gang crime. The PM also outlined measures to reduce rising fuel and food prices and proposed that Belize produces its own fuel instead of importing.

Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom, along with the first lady and an entourage of government officials, visited the US from April 27 to 30, meeting with government officials, representatives of the immigrant community, and business leaders. In each meeting Colom addressed issues ranging from CAFTA to the war on drugs and funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). For ordinary Guatemalans, though, the most pressing issue was immigration. Colom left Guatemala saying he was embarking on “a crusade for immigrants” but after his meeting with President Bush he failed to return with any promises that the American government would pursue policies to benefit the estimated one million Guatemalans living in the country. Colom's critics call the meeting a good first step, but add that the president could have done more to push his American counterpart to enact a meaningful immigration reform.

By Dan Gordon

Not only has it come to light that the campaign promoting a “Yes” vote on CAFTA has ten times more funds than the “No” campaign, but there are now accusations that some of this massive treasury came from illegal sources. It appears that the supporters of the “Yes” campaign might be using front organizations to secretly exceed the limits on campaign contributions. Moreover, some of these supporters are not Costa Rican – at least four Guatemalans have contributed hefty sums, clearly a violation of Costa Rican electoral laws. Ultimately, the damage from these alleged actions is irreversible – most of the money has already been spent. Costa Ricans, then, will likely go to the polls on October 7 with a bit of illicit conditioning.

By Javier Córdoba

Translated by Matthew Brooke