JOSE CARDENAS The headline is as tendentious as it was predictable. The surprise is that it should appear on a mainstream site like that ofABC News and not some fringe outlet of the fevered left. Indeed, the headline is the holy grail for those legions of activists who have been egging on the recent conviction of former Guatemalan military dictator Efraín Ríos Montt on charges of genocide stemming from the country’s bloody civil war in the 1980s. The activists claim that what they have wanted all along is justice for civilians who died in that terrible conflict, but it is clear their ulterior motive has been seeking an indictment of U.S. policy in Central America to resist Soviet- and Cuban-sponsored subversion. Now, in their minds, they have it. Guilty as charged: The United States, under President Ronald Reagan, aided and abetted “genocide.” The charge is without merit. Here’s the real story: Ríos Montt came to power ... Read More

MARY ANASTASIA O’GRADY

By now even casual readers of Latin American news know that a Guatemalan court has ruled Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt guilty of genocide against the Ixil Indians during the 16 months from March 1982 to August 1983 that he was the country’s head of state. More difficult to learn from ubiquitous press reports is how far the narrative used to convict the 86-year-old Mr. Ríos Montt departs from reality.

The 36-year war between communist guerrillas and the Guatemalan state that ended with peace agreements in 1996 was bloody and torturous. Both sides committed atrocities. Thousands died. Indians and mixed-race Guatemalans living in rural areas experienced the brunt of the violence.

Yet the claim that the Guatemalan state, led by the general, engaged in genocide—that is, an attempt to destroy totally or partially the Ixil people or displace them—is not supported by the facts. On the contrary, a serious reading of ... Read More

LIMA (Reuters) – President Ollanta Humala’s approval rating fell 5 points to a six-month low of 46 percent, reflecting the unpopularity of his proposal to buy an oil refinery owned by Spain’s Repsol and his support for Venezuela’s new government, an Ipsos poll showed on Sunday.

The nationwide poll was published by the newspaper El Comercio.

Humala abandoned his idea of buying the Repsol oil refinery after business leaders complained it would hurt the private sector and put one of the country’s main refineries in the hands of an inefficient state-run firm.

Although Humala has drifted to the right since running for office in 2011 as a moderate leftist, his critics have hammered him over his friendship with late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Peru’s diplomatic support for his successor, Nicolas Maduro, who won a disputed election in April promising to push ahead with Chavez’s socialist drive.

El Comercio reported that three-quarters of Peruvians polled said they did not approve of the way Maduro ... Read More

CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN

MATAMOROS, Mexico – Just across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas, stands a dormitory-style shelter filled with people recently deported from the U.S. and other migrants waiting to cross the border.

The long rows of bunk beds offer immigrants a place to rest on their long journey. But the shelter is no safe haven in a town controlled by the Gulf cartel. Armed men once showed up and took away 15 men, who were probably put to work as gunmen, lookouts or human mules hauling bales of marijuana into the United States.

As Congress takes up immigration reform, lawmakers may have to confront the reality of this place and others like it, where people say the current system of immigration enforcement and deportation produces a constant flow of people north and south that provides the cartel with a vulnerable labor pool and steady source of revenue.

“This vicious circle favors organized crime because ... Read More

Colombia’s left-wing Farc rebels have rejected criticism that efforts to end almost fifty years of conflict are moving too slowly.

Farc lead negotiator Ivan Marquez said achieving lasting peace in Colombia would take “more time”.

He spoke as the rebels and the Colombian government marked six months since peace talks began.

President Juan Manuel Santos has said he hopes a deal can be reached within months rather than years.

Peace negotiations began in Cuba in November.

Mr Marquez told reporters in the capital, Havana, on Sunday that he did not understand why the pace of talks was being described as slow.

“You have been watching the Giro d’Italia (cycle race). Some people want us to go at this pace, but if we go at this pace, we will fail.”

“We have to approach these issues with serenity, with depth if we really want to form the solid basis to build a stable and long-lasting peace,” he ... Read More

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Hundreds of miners, teachers and other workers have marched in Bolivia’s capital on the 11th day of protests called by the country’s largest union to demand higher old-age pensions.

Miners exploded dynamite and protesters tried to occupy the plaza where Bolivia’s seats of government are located. Police forced protesters back with tear gas.

The protests called by the Bolivian Workers Central began May 5. There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests Thursday, but protests last week left 33 people injured and more than 100 detained.

Protesters are demanding that President Evo Morales’ government double pensions, which currently range from $21 to $28 a month. The government is offering an 81% hike.

Morales said Thursday’s protest involved “about 500 or 1,000 miners, and 1,000 teachers, perhaps more.”

Click here for original ... Read More

ALASDAIR BAVERSTOCK

More than a month after Venezuela’s contested presidential election, President Nicolás Maduro’s narrow victory has yet to be recognized by the United States. Refusing to legitimize the new premier while a partial recount of the vote is underway, the US position has led to further political tensions in a relationship historically stressed under the leadership of former President Hugo Chávez.

A handful of countries, including Chile, Peru, and the US, have expressed concern over the democratic standards of the election, which Maduro won by a little more than 1 percent of the vote. Venezuela’s opposition party is calling for the results to be annulled, citing over 3,000 instances of election fraud, ranging from alleged multiple-voting in chavista-strongholds to polling booth intimidation.

“Obviously, if there are huge irregularities we are going to have serious questions about the viability of that government,” said Secretary of State John Kerry during a hearing of the US Foreign Affairs Committee following the announcement of ... Read More

JUAN FORERO

CARACAS, Venezuela — The once almighty U.S. dollar has lost its luster in some corners of the world.

But there’s one outpost where greenbacks have never been stronger: in socialist, anti-imperialist Venezuela, whose government rails against American-style capitalism as the bane of humanity. The dollar is not just holding steady here — it is flourishing like nowhere else, the byproduct of the fast-wilting economy President Hugo Chavez left behind when he died in March.

Black-market dealers operating on the thriving underground market sell greenbacks at more than four times the official, government-set rate of 6.3 bolivars to the dollar. And the price they’re gettingthese days — 28 per dollar — is more than three times what it was just eight months ago.

Because the bolivar is artificially overvalued and practically worthless outside Venezuela, everyone here is desperate for dollars, from auto-part importers to supermarkets to ordinary Venezuelans planning to travel abroad. Even government officials ... Read More

ANDREW ROSATI

In Venezuela, Hugo Chávez‘s successor seems to be turning toward big business for help in ending rampant scarcities of basic consumer goods and an almost 30 percent annual inflation rate.

Newly elected President Nicolás Maduroinvited Lorenzo Mendoza, the billionaire boss of Venezuela’s largest privately held company, Empresas Polar SA, to the Presidential Palace this week. Mr. Mendoza spent years on the outs with the Chávez government. Now, however, it appears Mendoza and Mr. Maduro may have reached a mutual understanding, leading to speculation that an attitudinal change on the part of the government towards big business may be in the works.

“We are ready to support you,” Maduro said on state television days after his meeting with Polar’s president. “Count on our support.”

Polar, the country’s leading food producer, makes everything from beer to corn flour – crucial for makingarepas, the mainstay of the Venezuelan diet. Earlier this week, Mendoza rebuked Maduro for his previous claims that the ... Read More

BRIAN ELLSWORTH

May 19 (Reuters) – Venezuela’s recent designation of an acting head of its diplomatic mission in the United States shows the OPEC nation’s desire to restore full diplomatic relations, the foreign minister said in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

Disputes between Caracas and Washington were common during the 14-year-rule of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, leaving both nations without ambassadors in each other’s capitals.

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua suggested in a televised interview that the move to name government ally Calixto Ortega as charge d’affaires in Washington could be a prelude to restoring ambassadors.

“This is a message for U.S. politicians so they understand Venezuela’s desire to normalize relations … via the designation of the highest diplomatic authorities,” he said. “Why? Because the United States remains our top trade partner.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has in recent months said he wants better ties with Washington as long as the relationship is respectful. But ... Read More

JUAN CARLOS CHAVEZ

La posibilidad de que los gobiernos de Cuba y Brasil alcancen un acuerdo que abriría las puertas al envío de 6,000 médicos cubanos a ciertas áreas del territorio brasileño que carecen de atención generó una fuerte polémica en ese país sudamericano y cuestionamientos sobre el nivel de preparación de los profesionales que se gradúan en la isla.

“Brasil quiere traer escoria”, dijo Florentino Cardoso, presidente de la Asociación Médica Brasileña. “Desafío a cualquiera a demostrar la excelencia de la medicina cubana. Médicos que se graduaron allí y estudiaron cuatro años , tienen que estudiar otros dos años más pero con el fin de ejercer la profesión en su propio país”.

El tema fue abordado en una audiencia entre miembros de la Comisión de Relaciones Exteriores de la Cámara de Diputados y representantes de gremios y sindicatos médicos de Brasil.

La discusión tomó fuerza dos semanas después de que el canciller brasileño, ... Read More

PAULA MOURA and LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO

Brazil’s borders are so vast, and the terrain so inhospitable, that attempting to secure them has seemed a virtually impossible task.

But Brazil’s rapidly expanding economy has made the country a magnet for illegal immigration, drug smuggling and other illicit activities, and now the country has announced its own border protection program.

Called the Sistema Integrado de Monitoramento de Fronteiras and known by its Portuguese acronym, Sisfron, it is intended to act as a virtual border shield along a frontier that stretches more than 10,000 miles and is shared with 10 other countries.

The sheer size of the terrain that will be covered makes this one of the most ambitious defense programs ever put in place in Brazil. Brazil is now picking supplies for the vast project, which is expected to take up to 10 years to finish, according to UPI. Dozens of companies are involved in getting the project up and running; ... Read More

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Hundreds of miners, teachers and other workers have marched in Bolivia’s capital on the 11th day of protests called by the country’s largest union to demand higher old-age pensions.

Miners exploded dynamite and protesters tried to occupy the plaza where Bolivia’s seats of government are located. Police forced protesters back with tear gas.

The protests called by the Bolivian Workers Central began May 5. There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests Thursday, but protests last week left 33 people injured and more than 100 detained.

Protesters are demanding that President Evo Morales’ government double pensions, which currently range from $21 to $28 a month. The government is offering an 81% hike.

Morales said Thursday’s protest involved “about 500 or 1,000 miners, and 1,000 teachers, perhaps more.”

Click here for original ... Read More

By KEJAL VYAS and SARA SCHAEFER MUÑOZ

CARACAS, Venezuela—New President Nicolás Maduro, trying to shore up Venezuela’s economy amid growing shortages of everything from corn flour to toilet paper, has extended an olive branch to the country’s private sector, in particular the country’s largest food maker.

It is a surprising turnaround given the antics of his predecessor, the late populist Hugo Chávez, who regularly threatened to nationalize the food maker, Empresas Polar SA, and accused it of hoarding products in order to sabotage his self-styled revolution.

This week, Mr. Maduro met with Polar’s top executive Lorenzo Mendoza—Mr. Chávez’s bête noire—to work together to resolve food issues. Mr. Mendoza discussed the same topic with Vice President Jorge Arreaza, Mr. Chávez’s son-in-law.

Enlarge Image

After those meetings and others with the business sector, Mr. Maduro’s government raised by 20% state-controlled prices on key items of food like chicken, beef and dairy—a tacit acknowledgment that controls aimed at stemming inflation have ... Read More

JUAN NAGEL

Venezuela remains mired in a political and economic crisis that shows no signs of letting up. But while street protests, soaring inflation, scarcity, and skyrocketing crime are massive headaches, the government can count on still-high oil prices to soothe the pain a bit.

The question that begs asking is: How will Venezuela maintain stability if oil prices drop?

A recent report by the International Energy Agency underscores the challenges the country faces in the short term. The United States has made huge progress in oil extraction thanks to fracking technology. It is set to become the world’s largest oil producer by the year 2020, and the global spread of fracking is bound to significantly increase international recoverable oil reserves in the near future. The agency crows that fracking is creating a “supply shock that is sending ripples around the world.”

This obviously matters to Venezuela, a country that exports large amounts of oil and ... Read More

ELIAS GROLL

Hugo Chávez’s Bolivarian Revolution was supposed to offer ordinary Venezuelans political power and social services. On some of these counts, it has at least partially succeeded. On others — such as the provision of toilet paper — not so much.

On Tuesday, Alejandro Fleming, the country’s commerce minister, announced that the government would make the equivalent of a frantic grocery store run to pick up some rolls. “The revolution will bring the country the equivalent of 50 million rolls of toilet paper,” he told the state news agency AVN. “We are going to saturate the market so that our people calm down.” (Not that long ago, the “revolution” was promising to provide housing and health care but hey, Marx said something about the importance of toilet paper, right?)

“This is the last straw,” Manuel Fagundes, a shopper trying to track down some toilet paper in Caracas, told the Associated Press. “I’m 71 years old and ... Read More

Primero comenzaron a escasear la leche, la manteca, el café y la harina de maíz. Últimamente tampoco se encuentra otro producto que satisface necesidades básicas: el papel higiénico.

El gobierno lo atribuye a la oposición política y dijo que importará 50 millones de rollos de papel.

Pero eso es escaso consuelo para Manuel Fagundes. ”Tengo 71 años y primera vez en la vida que veo esto”, comentó molesto el hombre el miércoles a la salida de un supermercado en el oeste de Caracas.

“Es el colmo que hasta en este país tengamos que importar el papel toilette, y me imagino que esas son las comisiones que se están ganando para que aquí en Venezuela ya ni se produzca papel toilette”, agregó el anciano.

El gobierno anunció esta semana que realizará importaciones masivas de 760,000 toneladas de alimentos y de papel higiénico para hacer frente a los problemas de escasez y combatir lo que han denominado la “guerra económica” que estarían ocasionando los ... Read More

Caracas – El presidente de la Asamblea Nacional venezolana, el oficialista Diosdado Cabello, dijo el martes que no se pagará el salario a los diputados opositores porque no asistieron a las reuniones de las comisiones legislativas.

“Hoy trabajaron todas la comisiones en la Asamblea y no fueron (los opositores) trabajaron las comisiones con los diputados revolucionarios (…) ¿cómo les pago? yo no les puedo pagar (…) sería una irresponsabilidad de mi parte si le pago a quien no trabaje”, dijo Cabello durante un acto en el Parlamento.

Aunque las comisiones legislativas se mantienen activas, el pleno de la Asamblea Nacional no se reúne desde el 30 de abril pasado, cuando los diputados de ambos bandos se fueron a las manos y 14 de ellos resultaron con heridas.

La trifulca ocurrió cuando la minoritaria bancada opositora reclamaba su derecho de palabra, que Cabello les retiró el 16 de abril pasado porque no reconocían a Nicolás ... Read More

The death from cancer on 5 March of President Hugo Chávez triggered a snap presidential election just 40 days later that his anointed successor, Nicolás Maduro, won by a margin of less than 1.5 per cent over Henrique Capriles of the Democratic Unity (MUD) alliance. But the tight result and legal challenges to the validity of the vote cast a shadow over the sustainability of the new administration. A country already deeply polarised is now clearly divided into two almost equal halves that appear irreconcilable. The validity of the election result remains to be clarified and the full independence of the electoral authorities, judiciary, and other key institutions restored. But to address the governance crisis and allow Venezuela to tackle its serious economic and social problems, national dialogue must prevail over confrontation and consensus over partisan violence.

With institutions weakened by the Chávez government’s long-term policy of presidential co-optation, the MUD ... Read More

Chilean finance minister Felipe Larraín has called it “the most exciting thing going on today in Latin America.” Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos believes it is “perhaps the most significant and profound integration process in the history of Latin America.” A recent headline said it has created “a new Latin American superpower.” It has also been hailed as a “bridge to Asia” and “a promising yardstick of Latin America’s prosperity.”

“It” is the so-called Pacific Alliance, a free-trade bloc that was first outlined in the April 2011 Lima Declaration and was officially established in June 2012. Its four members are Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru — four countries with a long record of supporting free markets and open commerce. Over the past year, these countries have abolished tariffs on 90 percent of all goods they trade with each other, and have also taken many other steps (such as eliminating visa requirements, merging stock exchanges, and launching a scholarship program) to integrate their economies. ... Read More