This Time Is Different

A promising new round of peace talks with the FARC begins

Oct 20th 2012 | BOGOTÁ | from the print edition

FOR the past 50 years, every Colombian president has tried to bring the Marxist FARC guerrillas to heel. Some have used force, some have experimented with peace talks, and some have done both. But Juan Manuel Santos is perhaps the first to have a real chance of ending the conflict. This week delegates from the government and the FARC were due to begin formal negotiations in Oslo on a final deal.

The previous round of talks fell apart a decade ago. In response Álvaro Uribe, president in 2002-10, built up the army and unleashed it against the guerrillas. The offensive cut the FARC’s ranks by half, to about 9,000 fighters, and killed many of their senior leaders, including their commander.

Chile journalist denounces military rule research theft

A Chilean journalist, who is investigating human rights abuses committed during military rule, says he has been threatened and had material for his latest book stolen.

Mauricio Weibel says his house has been broken into three times over the past days and research about crimes carried out under Gen Augusto Pinochet taken.

Latin America’s new normal

With the world economy still sluggish, Latin America will stand out as
a relatively bright spot—but not as shining as it should be. In a year of
few big elections, governments will have an opportunity to push on
with reforms, which some, notably Mexico, will take. And there is a
good chance that Colombia’s FARC guerrillas will at last agree to
demobilise.

MEXICO

Mexico is the third-largest trading partner of the United States and a majority middle-class country, but one held back by corruption, poverty, red tape and monopolies.

On July 1, 2012, Enrique Peña Nieto, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ruled the country from 1929 to 2000, was elected president of Mexico. Troubled by a bloody drug war and an economic malaise, voters gave a comfortable victory to Mr. Nieto, sometimes called the Pretty Boy (or Gel Boy because of his styled hair).

Mr. Peña Nieto will succeed Felipe Calderón, who took office in 2006 in a hotly disputed election. Mexico’s presidents are limited to a single six-year term.

Mexico's Enrique Pena Nieto faces tough start

As Mexico's incoming President Enrique Pena Nieto prepares to take office, the BBC's Will Grant looks at the challenges facing him and the mixed expectations of his population.

Traffic in Mexico City is particularly bad at present. A congested city at the best of times, a ring of steel has been erected since Monday cutting off several key routes into the capital and causing chaos on the roads.

The aim, however, wasn't to stop commuters getting to work but prevent protesters from reaching parliament.

On Saturday, Mexico's new president Enrique Pena Nieto will receive the presidential sash and take over the running of the nation.

He faces a complicated task.

Mexico to create new police force in drugs policy shift

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, has announced the creation of a new national police force as part of efforts to tackle crime and violence.
Mr Pena Nieto, who took office on 1 December, said the new militarised force would initially be 10,000 strong.

Troops would continue to patrol until the new force was fully trained, he said, without elaborating. details.

Some 60,000 people have died since 2006 when the previous government deployed the military against the drugs gangs.


Mr Pena Nieto had campaigned on a promise to switch the focus of the drugs fight from tackling the gangs to reducing the crime and violence that blight the lives of ordinary Mexicans.

"Mexicans want peace," said Mr Pena Nieto on Monday as he unveiled a six-point programme that gave more details of his strategy.

Mexico’s new government: "With a little help from my friends": The new president believes that he has broad political agreement to change his country

 “IT IS time to get Mexico moving,” declared Enrique Peña Nieto (pictured) on December 1st in his first speech as the country’s president. As an audience of politicians and diplomats stood to applaud his inaugural address in the national palace, masked youths smashed the windows of banks and hotels a few blocks away. The Alameda park, recently reopened after a $20m facelift, was daubed in graffiti denouncing the new government.

Brazil’s economy Stalled: A long-awaited recovery still fails to materialise

FOR many months Guido Mantega, Brazil’s finance minister, has been forecasting that the economy is on the verge of vigorous growth that never seems to come. Even so, the third-quarter figures published on November 30th were a shock. The government had convinced independent economists that a weaker currency, lower interest rates, and a cut in sales tax on cars and white goods would prompt a healthy expansion of 1.2% compared with the previous quarter. In the event, the figure was just 0.6%. The national statistics institute also slashed its estimate of second-quarter growth, from 0.4% to 0.2%.


The numbers were “disappointing”, admitted Mr Mantega. But recovery, he insisted, is on the way: 4% growth will come next year, with 5% in 2014. Few now believe him. Analysts are slashing their predictions (see chart). Add last year’s anaemic 2.7% and Brazil is seeing its worst growth performance in over a decade.

Who should try the soldiers?

A controversial reform of the military courts

Dec 15th 2012 | BOGOTÁ | from the print edition         

WHEN the Colombian authorities found out that army officers were ramping up the body count in their war against leftist guerrillas by murdering civilians and dressing them up as rebels killed in combat they agreed in 2006 that civilian, rather than military, prosecutors should investigate reported battlefield casualties, to deter these “false positives”, as they were dubbed. This directive was applied unevenly, but the army has since complained that legal uncertainty is hobbling its operations.

According to an investigation by El Tiempo, a newspaper, published in May, more than 12,000 military personnel were then involved in legal proceedings, with 4,990 cases in the attorney-general’s office, of which 1,700 concern alleged “false positives”.

To try to improve military morale and yet ensure that those guilty of murder are punished, President Juan Manuel Santos’s government proposed a constitutional amendment to reform the military-justice system. On December 11th it was approved in the Senate. It makes most offences committed by soldiers subject to courts-martial, but reserves crimes against humanity, extrajudicial executions and the like for civilian courts.

Preparing to pass the torch

Seriously ill, Hugo Chávez names Nicolás Maduro (pictured on the right) as his successor on the eve of an election for state governors

WHEN campaigning for a new six-year term earlier this year, Hugo Chávez tried to persuade Venezuelans that he was cured of unspecified “pelvic” cancer, first diagnosed in June 2011. “I’ve forgotten all about that,” he bragged, just days before the election on October 7th, which he won with 55% of the vote. He then disappeared from view, except for an occasional, carefully staged broadcast.

But on November 27th he left for medical treatment in Havana, returning briefly last weekend with a very different story—one that would seem to presage his imminent retirement from his country’s politics, and perhaps from life itself.

Chavez allies sweep Venezuela polls

Hugo Chavez's ruling Socialist Party has won nearly all of Venezuela's 23 states in elections, while Henrique Capriles, who lost to Chavez in October's presidential vote, consolidated his position as top opposition leader by winning re-election as governor.

Capriles, the 40-year-old governor of Miranda, beat Chavez's former vice president Elias Jaua in elections on Sunday, and retained control of the country's second-most populous state.

Brazil's "Mensalao" Corruption Trial Concludes

Brazil's Supreme Court has concluded the trial over one of the biggest political corruption scandals in the country's recent history.

Over the course of the trial, 25 people were convicted for setting up a scheme that used public funds to pay coalition parties for political support.

Several were top politicians of the governing Workers Party (PT).

In its final session, the Supreme Court ruled that three congressmen involved in the scandal would lose their seats.

They are Joao Paulo Cunha of the Workers Party, Pedro Henry of the Progressive Party, and Valdemar Costa Neto of the Party of the Republic.

Hugo Chavez allies triumph in Venezuela poll

By News Wires (text)

Allies of cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez steamrolled Venezuela’s opposition in gubernatorial elections on Sunday, winning 20 of 23 states. The only good news for the opposition was the re-election of its top leader, Henrique Capriles, who lost to Chavez in October’s presidential vote.

The vote came less than a week after Venezuela’s charismatic leftist president was operated on in Cuba for the fourth time for a stubborn cancer that many fear he won’t beat. It was widely seen as a referendum on whether his socialist-inspired Bolivarian Revolution movement has enough momentum to outlive him.

Capriles’ win sets him up as the presumed challenger to go up against Vice President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez’s hand-picked successor in presidential elections that would be held within 30 days of the president’s death or separation from office.

Mexico's new president outlines nuanced fight against violence

By Lizbeth Diaz

MEXICO CITY | Mon Dec 17, 2012 8:16pm EST

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's new president on Monday unveiled his strategy to curb drug-related violence that blighted the rule of his predecessor, announcing special units to combat kidnapping and extortion and promising to focus more on crime prevention.

Enrique Pena Nieto took office on December 1 pledging to restore stability to Mexico, which has been battered by brutal turf wars between drug cartels and their clashes with security forces.

More than 60,000 people died in the bloodletting under former president Felipe Calderon, who became embroiled in an escalating drug war after he sent in the army to bring hot spots to heel upon taking office in late 2006.

Instead of easing, though, the killings rose.

Brazil leader's popularity hits high despite stalled economy

By Anthony Boadle

BRASILIA | Fri Dec 14, 2012 4:40pm EST

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's approval rating is at an all-time high, despite a stalled economy and political scandals that have tarnished the reputation of her ruling Workers' Party, an opinion poll published on Friday showed.

Rousseff's personal approval rating rose slightly to 78 percent, from 77 percent three months ago, according to the CNI/Ibope poll. Approval of her left-of-center government was unchanged at 62 percent, the poll showed.

The once-booming Brazilian economy almost ground to halt in Rousseff's first year as president in 2011 and recovery has been disappointing this year, despite a slew of tax breaks and other incentives adopted by Rousseff's economic team.

Third-quarter growth of 0.6 percent was half that expected by economists and surprised even the government, while investment declined for a fifth straight quarter, prompting calls from business leaders for a change in policy.

Beware Membership of This Elite Club

A year ago, Brazil, Russia, India and China were the darlings of the world economy. Today, Brazil is barely growing, Russia is struggling and India and China are on course for their lowest growth in a decade. Although they are as different as they are similar, all four of the original Bric countries have contrived to stumble simultaneously. The lessons are that microeconomics can matter as much as macroeconomics – and that belonging to a prestigious economic club is hazardous.

Mexico's New Narrative

First published in Portuguese in Folha de Sao Paulo.

The inauguration of Mexico's new president Enrique Peña Nieto inspired a flurry of media chatter that Mexico's moment has arrived. Reports of his visit with President Obama last week praised his success in 'changing the subject' from violence and insecurity to happier thoughts of economic partnership and the new middle class. (He did this after his election on a visit to Brasilia as well) The FT, the Economist and pundits now argue that with the Mexican economy poised for a sustained recovery, it is time for Washington to get over its fixation on undocumented immigrants and cartel violence and instead focus more on commercial and energy opportunities. The subtext of this shift in narrative is that as Mexico becomes more competitive, thanks to low tax rates and higher labor costs in China, Brazil's star shines less brightly, thanks (in part) to onerous tax rates and to a slowing China.

Mexico's Drug War

Introduction

In 2006, Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched a massive crackdown against drug trafficking organizations, in conjunction with the United States. Since then, over forty thousand people have been killed in drug-related violence, leading some to conclude that Mexico is on the verge of becoming a "failed state" (Stratfor). While the United States has supplied funding and labor to increase Mexico's institutional capacity to address drug trafficking, its primary focus has been on cross-border policing and targeting U.S. drug users. Analysts differ on how to address Mexico's growing internal strife, but a growing number agree that the U.S. war on drugs is a failure and necessitates a new approach.

 

Gay Rights: Uruguay Passes Landmark Same Sex Marriage Bill

On Wednesday, Uruguay’s lower house of congress made continental history as the second country in Latin America to approve a law making all marriages equal. (Its next-door neighbor, Argentina, was the first, after its senate passed the bill in 2010). Also on Wednesday, the Mexican State of Oaxaca is closing in on the bronze, as the nation’s supreme court deemed the exclusion of marriage law for gay and lesbian couples to be unconstitutional.

Though these legal changes are history in the making for a region Foreign Policy once described as "land of the closet, home of the macho," approval of this bill should not detract from how many steps some of Latin America's other, more conservative countries still need to make toward affirmative policy on marriage equality.

Back in Uruguay, 81 of 87 lawmaking Chamber of Deputies legislators approved leftist ruling party Frente Amplio’s bill, which now awaits the Senate's anticipated green-light. Julio Bango, Frente legislator and contributor to the bill said, "This is not a homosexual or gay marriage law. It is a measure to equalize the institution of marriage independent of the sex of the couple."

Colombia- FARC peace talks resume in Cuba as kidnapping issue heats up

HAVANA (Reuters) - Peace talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, resumed in Havana on Wednesday in hopes of ending the 50-year-old bloody conflict even as fighting and bickering continued.

Negotiators took a break last week from the first round of talks which began in November and which seek an end to the last Marxist-led armed rebellion in South America, considered a vestige of the cold war.

They arrived Wednesday at the Cuban capital's convention center in a city suburb.

For the first time, government negotiators entered through a back door, avoiding reporters, while the FARC read a long declaration to the press about the war and the human and economic damage it has wrought.

Comments earlier this week by a FARC negotiator that the group was still holding "prisoners of war" brought harsh words from the government's lead negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, despite denials by two other rebel negotiators.

"The FARC has to respond to the victims, it has to clarify this issue of kidnapping, the way to deal with the issue of kidnapping is not with ambiguities," he said before departing Colombia for Cuba.

Mexico Drug War: President Enrique Pena Nieto Vows to Continue Fight

MEXICO CITY -- Newly elected President Enrique Pena Nieto says he will continue combatting all illegal drug production and trafficking in Mexico, including marijuana, despite its legalization in two U.S. states and liberalized use for medical purposes in others.

In an interview with The Associated Press late Monday on goals for his new administration, Pena Nieto was asked if votes to legalize recreational use of marijuana in Washington state and Colorado would make him rethink Mexico's drug-war policy.

"The short answer is no," said Pena Nieto, who added that he remains personally opposed to legalization. "My government will continue mounting a real fight against the trafficking of marijuana and all other drugs."

Mexico's Presidential Handover: the Waiting Game

LIFE sometimes moves slowly in Mexico, and the handover of power is no exception. Whereas Brazil passes on the presidential baton in two months and Colombia does so in seven weeks, Mexico’s president-elect must wait five months before taking office. For Enrique Peña Nieto, who won July’s presidential election as the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and will take office on December 1st, the lengthy limbo brings risks.

One is a news vacuum. This has given undeserved coverage to Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the left-wing candidate who claimed fraud after his narrow defeat in the 2006 election and has done so again after losing by 6.6% this year. He has filed a 638-page dossier alleging cheating by the PRI. The evidence it contains is thin—and surprise, surprise, he is not challenging the election for Congress in which his party did well. But until the electoral tribunal rules on his complaint—it must do so by September 6th—the handover cannot formally begin.

Chinese pesticide cloud alarms Buenos Aires

A toxic cloud has covered parts of Buenos Aires, causing alarm and leading to the evacuation of

many buildings.

The authorities say the smoke was caused by a fire in a container with pesticides at the city's port, but the situation is now under control.

Hundreds of people experienced nausea, eye irritation and other symptoms.

Buenos Aires Security Minister Sergio Berni said there were no health risks due to the "low toxic levels" of the pesticide, which was produced in China.

The toxic smoke affected Puerto Madero, Congreso, San Telmo and other central areas of the Argentine capital.

Residents and office workers went out with their faces covered by scarves or masks.

They complained of a strong, unpleasant smell, even inside office buildings.

Flights at a nearby airport were temporarily suspended and a motorway was closed during the morning.

The container had come from Shanghai, China, and was bound for Paraguay, La Nacion newspaper reported.

According to the Argentine Health Ministry, it contained a Chinese carbonate-based pesticide commonly used on grain fields.

Why legalizing marijuana in US states will not curb drug war

Over the course of two days in late March, a coalition of U.S. law enforcement groups rounded up more than 40 people accused of supplying the greater Seattle area with illegal weapons and drugs. It was the culmination of nearly a year of painstaking interagency investigative work that traced a smuggling route stretching from Sinaloa, Mexico, through California and Arizona, and into the Pacific Northwest. These were not local gangsters with tenuous ties to the narcos wreaking havoc south of the border. One of the men reportedly confessed to DEA agents that he came to Seattle from Mexico as a 16-year-old. “They brought me here and showed me how to sell drugs,” he said.

The bust netted an impressive haul, including 20 pounds of heroin, 30 pounds of methamphetamine, $190,000 in cash, and 31 guns, including 10 assault rifles. One illicit substance was notably absent from the evidence locker: marijuana.

Will change in state pot laws change how drug cartels do business?

Pot-supporting crowds cheered on election night as Colorado and Washington State voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Many expected Mexican drug cartels, who earn billions of dollars a year by smuggling marijuana into the United States, to be in a state of panic – but one expert said they will carry on just fine if pot is legalized.

“The cartel is going to likely adapt to that situation and move other types of drugs into those two particular states,” said Alex del Carmen, a professor of criminology at the University of Texas-Arlington.

Del Carmen said if marijuana laws in the United States change, the cartels will adjust and likely concentrate on harder drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamine.

Fugitive John McAfee flees Belize for Guatemala

McAfee spoke to journalists outside the Supreme Court in Guatemala City

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• Fugitive McAfee blogs on the run
• John McAfee denies Belize murder
• Belize seeks McAfee over murder

The founder of anti-virus software maker McAfee has crossed into Guatemala to seek political asylum.

John McAfee has been on the run in Belize following a police investigation into the murder of his neighbour.

Belize officials said the software pioneer was a "person of interest" in the death of Florida businessman Gregory Faull on 11 November.

The American has protested his innocence in an online blog and says he has been "harassed" by police.

Appearing in public for the first time in weeks on Tuesday, Mr McAfee and his lawyer said he would petition the Guatemalan government to stay there.

The multi-millionaire fugitive reportedly checked into the five star Villa Real hotel in Guatemala City after sneaking out of Belize. The hotel told the BBC that he checked out at 11:00 local time (17:00 GMT).

He has hired a high-profile Guatemalan lawyer and told reporters: "Now that I'm here I can speak freely, I can speak openly".

"Belize does not have a good track record of providing safety when they ask to question you. I felt much more secure crossing the border," Mr McAfee added.

Eccentric lifestyle

The 67-year old had earlier revealed that in order to go unnoticed, he changed his appearance by dying his hair and beard, sticking chewed bubble gum to his upper gums to fatten his face and staining his teeth.

Mr McAfee has blogged and spoken to journalists regularly during his three weeks on the run, saying he was writing to publicise the treatment he had received at the hands of the police in Belize.

Gregory Faull was found dead with a single gunshot to the head on 11 November. His Belize home sits next to Mr McAfee's compound on a tropical island.

The US software creator is known to have had a long-running row with Mr Faull about the guard dogs he used to protect his compound.

He denies any involvement in the businessman's death and says he went into hiding so he could stay close to his Belize home and conduct his own investigation into Mr Faull's death, adding that he had little faith that the island's police would find the murderer.

In an interview with US TV station NBC, Mr McAfee offered a reward of $25,000 (£15,700) for the capture of the "person or persons" behind the killing.

Speaking through a representative, the Faull family has said that they feel the death of their loved one has been overshadowed by the media frenzy the software pioneer has whipped up.

McAfee has led an eccentric life since he sold his stake in the anti-virussoftware company that bears his name in the early 1990s.

He moved to Belize about three years ago seeking lower taxes and has lived in semi-seclusion on a heavy guarded compound until recently.

Paraguay peasant leader Vidal Vega shot dead

The leader of a landless peasant movement in Paraguay involved in a land dispute with a powerful politician has been shot dead.
Vidal Vega had been co-operating with an inquiry into the deaths of 11 of his supporters and six police officers.
They died last June in an operation to evict farmers from land which activists say was illegally grabbed by a late senator in the 1960s.

Then-President Fernando Lugo was ousted over his handling of the deadly clash.

A prosecutor investigating his murder said two gunmen arrived at his home in Curuguaty in the eastern province of Canindeyu and shot him early on Sunday.

The prosecutor said police had later arrested a suspect who matched the description of one of the gunmen, but did not speculate on a motive.

Colombia forces 'bomb Farc rebels, 20 killed'

At least 20 Farc rebels have been killed in Colombia after the military launched bombing strikes on one of their camps, the army says.

Saturday's raid is said to be the biggest military operation against Farc since peace talks began in October.

The camps were in Narino province near the Ecuadorian border, commander Gen Leonardo Barrero told AFP news agency.

The strike comes as President Juan Manuel Santos said the rebels had less than a year to abandon their
weapons.

Mexico's old party takes power with new president

By News Wires the 01/12/2012 - 16:45

Enrique Pena Nieto was sworn in as Mexico’s president on Saturday, returning the centrist IRP party to power after a 12-year hiatus. The 46-year-old pledged to govern democratically and with transparency.

Enrique Pena Nieto took the oath of office as Mexico’s new president on Saturday, bringing the old ruling party back to power after a 12-year hiatus amid protests inside and outside the congressional chamber where he swore to protect the constitution.

“I promise to uphold the constitution and its laws and to carry out loyally and patriotically the job of president of the republic,” he said with arm outstretched. “If I don’t, the people will demand it.”

The chamber erupted in cheers, with congress members chanting “Bravo president!” and “Mexico!” despite the earlier violent conflict, which had dispersed by the time the new president arrived.

Brazil: Dozens of Rio policemen held over drug lords' bribes

The authorities in Brazil have arrested 60 policemen accused of receiving regular payments from drug dealers to turn a blind eye to their activities in several shanty towns of Rio de Janeiro.

Eleven suspected drug dealers from Rio's main criminal gang - the Red Command - were also arrested.

The policemen also sold weapons to the gangs, investigators said.

Rio authorities have been trying to reduce crime in the city ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

Rio Military Police commander, Erir Ribeiro Costa Filho, said all officers involved would be expelled from the force.

"We can no longer put up with corrupt policemen in our force," he said.

The operation, dubbed Purification, began in the early hours of the day in Duque de Caxias, in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

World’s largest floating Christmas tree lights up in Rio de Janeiro

The holiday season kicked off in Rio de Janeiro with the lighting of the world's largest floating Christmas tree in the heart of the city.

Over 100,000 people flocked to the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon to watch a 6-minute fireworks show, which has become one of Rio's main tourist attractions.

Mexico's Pena Nieto takes power vowing to end violence

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Enrique Pena Nieto took over as Mexico's president on Saturday, promising to end years of violence and sluggish economic growth, and giving the party that shaped modern Mexico a shot at redemption after 12 years out of office.
The 46-year-old Pena Nieto said the people had been let down since his centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, fell from power in 2000, and pledged a raft of changes to boost growth, create jobs and fight poverty.

Six moments in the Calderon presidency

By Will Grant BBC News, Mexico City

Felipe Calderon's six years in power have divided Mexican opinion

On the final day before President Felipe Calderon leaves office, Mexicans are looking back at his presidency.

The president's supporters point to a series of positive economic achievements as evidence that his time in office has been a success. The economy is stable, in decent health, even, at the height of a global recession.

Senator Ernesto Cordero of Mr Calderon's PAN party says the government generated $126bn (£78bn) of direct foreign investment in Mexico over the past six years and created some 2.5 million new jobs.

The government is also proud of its record on health, pointing to the creation of hundreds of new hospitals and clinics - the president recently referred to his time in office as "the presidency of health".

However, Mr Calderon's tenure has been marked by drug-related violence that has seen an estimated 60,000 people killed in six years.

The president says he had little choice but to launch the military-led campaign against the drug cartels given the levels of violence he faced when he came to power, and for most of his presidency, polls suggested a majority of Mexicans supported his approach.

One of the president's main supporters, Senator Ernesto Cordero, points out that 25 of the 37 most wanted criminals in the country have been captured or killed during his presidency. And certainly the Zetas gang is much reduced as a force in the face of a series of high-level arrests and killings by the authorities, particularly the marines.

However, other polls suggest that they also thought the cartels were winning the war.

The Calderon administration undoubtedly faced a range of complicated issues when it came to office, not least widespread corruption. But when voters judged it on its handling of such matters, the party performed poorly at the polls in July.

The BBC has compiled six episodes that have marked Mr Calderon's six years in power, the impact of which may still be felt during the presidency of his successor, Enrique Pena Nieto.

Colombia army: At least 20 FARC guerrillas killed amid peace talks

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombian forces have killed at least 20 Marxist FARC guerrillas in air and ground
attacks near the border with Ecuador, an army general said Monday, the deadliest strike against rebels since
the latest peace process started.



Despite talks to end 50 years of war, Colombia's government has vowed to keep up military
operations even while the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, called a two-month
ceasefire as the two sides try to hash out a deal.

Mexican president signs deal with opposition

Enrique Pena Nieto and political opponents sign agreement to increase economic growth, employment
and competitiveness.




Pena Nieto, centre, and opposition leaders signed the Pact for Mexico aiming to boost competitiveness [EPA] Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexico's newly inaugurated president, and opposition leaders have signed an agreement to increase economic growth, employment and competitiveness.

Colombia: Farc peace talks in Cuba adjourned for a week

The Colombian government and rebels from the Farc have concluded the first stage of peace talks aimed at ending five decades of conflict.

Top government representative Humberto de la Calle said the talks in Cuba were "advancing as expected".

Farc negotiators said the atmosphere during the meetings was "very good", but stressed that there should be no rush to reach a peace agreement.

The talks are now scheduled to resume on 5 December.

Both sides have agreed to set up a webpage to receive proposals from the public. It will be open from 7 December.

A public forum in Bogota will also be organised on 17-19 December.

These are the first face-to-face negotiations between the Colombian government and the rebels in a decade.

Cancelling Christmas: Inefficiency is promoting autarky, perhaps by design

Dec 1st 2012 | CARACAS | from the print edition

THOSE who claim to deplore the commercialisation of Christmas should move to Venezuela. Seasonal products, from Christmas trees to toys, trinkets and delicacies, are piled up in the country’s ports, thanks to inefficient, congested wharves and a dramatic increase in imports. Retailers have no idea when they will take delivery of their goods. Importers and customs agents complain that a government emergency plan has so far failed to ease the delays much.

Nearly four years ago Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s leftist president, took over control of the ports from regional governments. Private handling companies were nationalised, so far without compensation. The ports are now jointly run by a state company, Bolipuertos (with a 51% stake), and an outfit called Asport, owned by the Cuban government, a close ally of Mr Chavez. Curiously, Cuba—hardly the Singapore of the Americas—is also paid to “advise” Venezuela on port operations.

Analysis: Mexico's New President to Reset Drug War, Push Reforms

Mexico's new president takes office on Saturday seeking to shift the focus away from a grisly drug war and onto economic reforms aimed at sparking fast growth and pulling the country out of the shadow of regional powerhouse Brazil.

Enrique Pena Nieto inherits a $1.2 trillion economy that lagged other emerging markets for most of the past decade but has gained ground over the past two years, drawing in record investment despite continuing criminal violence.

The former state governor must grapple with the legacy of outgoing President Felipe Calderon - a raging battle with drug cartels that has killed over 60,000 people in the last six years and shaved an estimated percentage point off annual growth.

Columbia and Nicaragua: Hot Waters

WHEN Nicaragua took Colombia to court in 2001 over a decades-long dispute concerning a handful of small islands in the Caribbean, the Colombians felt they had little to lose. They had exerted sovereignty over the territories and their waters, which lie about 400 km (250 miles) north of South America and 200 km east of Nicaragua, since the signing of a treaty in 1928. In 1980, shortly after the Sandinista revolution, Nicaragua claimed the treaty was invalid, and it later brought the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. But by that point, the two countries’ maritime border had long been recognised as the 82nd meridian.

However, after studying the case for 11 years, the court issued a ruling on November 19th that left Colombians stunned. Although it confirmed the country’s sovereignty over seven tiny islets that form part of the San Andrés and Providencia archipelago, it granted Nicaragua a maritime economic exclusion zone extending 200 nautical miles (370 km) from its Caribbean coast, with the exception of the waters immediately surrounding the islands. That constituted a transfer of about 30,000 square miles (75,000 square km) of sea previously controlled by Colombia, with valuable fishing rights and potentially underwater oil deposits. It transformed two tiny uninhabited Colombian islands, Quitasueño and Serrana, into isolated enclaves, and left the rest of the Colombian archipelago jutting into Nicaragua’s newly expanded waters. The islands’ inhabitants, who are used to fishing in what are now Nicaraguan waters, say they fear for their livelihoods.The ruling cannot be appealed.

Mexico swears in president amid violent protests

Enrique Pena Nieto took the oath of office as Mexico's new president Saturday vowing to restore peace and security and take on the vested interests that have hindered economic prosperity.

As several hundred protesters threw fire bombs at police and smashed plate glass windows, Pena Nieto marked the return of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, with a 13-point plan heavy on old-party populist handouts but with reforms designed to boost the economy and modernize the education and justice systems.

"Mexico has not achieved the advances that the population demands or deserves," Pena Nieto said in an inaugural speech unusual for its heavy emphasis on policy. "It's time for us together to break the myths and paradigms and all else that has limited our development."

Colombian FARC rebels announce Christmas ceasefire

Colombia's left-wing Farc rebels have announced a unilateral Christmas ceasefire, on the first day of peace talks in Cuba.

The truce will run from Tuesday until 20 January, negotiator Ivan Marquez said.

Colombian government negotiators arrived in Cuba late on Sunday for the peace talks. The Farc delegates have been in Havana since last week.

The negotiations in Havana are aimed at ending five decades of conflict.

As he boarded a plane in the Colombian capital, Bogota, chief government negotiator Humberto de la Calle said it was time for the rebels to show whether they were really "willing to reach concrete and realistic agreements".