Guatemala vice president resigns amid customs corruption scandal
Guatemala's vice president resigned on Friday to face an investigation over her alleged involvement in a customs corruption racket, amid a scandal that has hurt the ruling party ahead of elections.
President Otto Perez Molina announced the decision after reports linked Vice President Roxana Baldetti to a ring accused of taking bribes to avoid levying customs taxes that was purportedly led by her personal secretary.
Baldetti has denied any wrongdoing, but her chief aide disappeared after joining her on a trip to South Korea in April.
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Opposition lawmakers have demanded Baldetti face a probe, and angry Guatemalans have spilled into the streets calling for her resignation.
"This is a personal decision to submit to the needed investigations..." Perez Molina said. "Her decision is personal, thoughtful and courageous."
Around 500 people gathered in the capital's central plaza to celebrate, waving the country's blue and white flag.
"Baldetti's resignation was necessary because we don't want more corruption. Now the government knows that we are not going to tolerate more abuses against the people," said Rodrigo Alvarez, a university student.
Baldetti was elected in 2011 with Perez Molina, a former general who had led forces during the country's three-decade-long civil war that ended in 1996. Their Patriot Party has been hurt by the scandal ahead of a presidential election in September.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement that is supported the government's efforts to fight corruption and urged officials to keep working with a United Nations-backed office that played a key role in the current customs case.
"Strengthening transparency and government accountability is a central element of the Alliance for Prosperity," said U.S. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke, referring to a U.S. aid plan for Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
Guatemala's Supreme Court this week ruled lawmakers could revoke the vice president's immunity from prosecution.
Twenty-four people, including the country's top tax agent, have already been arrested in the scandal and authorities are looking for Baldetti's former top aide, Juan Carlos Monzon.
(Writing by Michael O'Boyle; Editing by Ken Wills & Kim Coghill)
Friday, September 25, 2015
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Guatemala vice president resigns amid customs corruption scandal
Guatemala vice president resigns amid customs corruption scandal
By Sofia Menchu
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala's vice president resigned on Friday to face an investigation over her alleged involvement in a customs corruption racket, amid a scandal that has hurt the ruling party ahead of elections.
President Otto Perez Molina announced the decision after reports linked Vice President Roxana Baldetti to a ring accused of taking bribes to avoid levying customs taxes that was purportedly led by her personal secretary.
Baldetti has denied any wrongdoing, but her chief aide disappeared after joining her on a trip to South Korea in April.
Opposition lawmakers have demanded Baldetti face a probe, and angry Guatemalans have spilled into the streets calling for her resignation.
"This is a personal decision to submit to the needed investigations..." Perez Molina said. "Her decision is personal, thoughtful and courageous."
Around 500 people gathered in the capital's central plaza to celebrate, waving the country's blue and white flag.
"Baldetti's resignation was necessary because we don't want more corruption. Now the government knows that we are not going to tolerate more abuses against the people," said Rodrigo Alvarez, a university student.
Baldetti was elected in 2011 with Perez Molina, a former general who had led forces during the country's three-decade-long civil war that ended in 1996. Their Patriot Party has been hurt by the scandal ahead of a presidential election in September.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement that is supported the government's efforts to fight corruption and urged officials to keep working with a United Nations-backed office that played a key role in the current customs case.
"Strengthening transparency and government accountability is a central element of the Alliance for Prosperity," said U.S. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke, referring to a U.S. aid plan for Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
Guatemala's Supreme Court this week ruled lawmakers could revoke the vice president's immunity from prosecution.
Twenty-four people, including the country's top tax agent, have already been arrested in the scandal and authorities are looking for Baldetti's former top aide, Juan Carlos Monzon.
(Writing by Michael O'Boyle; Editing by Ken Wills & Kim Coghill)
Action on climate ‘cannot be left to future generations’, pope says on US visit
Plunging headlong into the issues of the day, Pope Francis opened his visit to the United States with a strong call Wednesday for action to combat climate change, calling it a problem that "can no longer be left to a future generation".
President Barack Obama, in turn, hailed the pontiff as a moral force who is "shaking us out of our complacency" with reminders to care for the poor and the planet.The White House mustered all the pageantry it had to offer as the pope arrived before an adoring crowd of thousands and a nation that seemingly cannot get enough of the humble pontiff who is rejuvenating American Catholicism while giving heartburn to some of its conservatives.
Cheering crowds, with some people holding out babies for blessings, jammed a parade route along Constitution Avenue as Francis later made a leisurely loop around the streets near the White House in his open-sided popemobile - a white Jeep - for his first direct encounter with the American public.
Speaking in a soft voice and halting English at the White House, Francis delivered a firm message against those who doubt the science of climate change, saying that the warming planet "demands on our part a serious and responsible recognition" of what awaits today's children.
It was a message sure to please the Obama White House, and liberals in general. But the pope had something for conservatives, too, with a pointed call to protect religious liberties - "one of America's most precious possessions."
"All are called to be vigilant,' he said, "to preserve and defend that freedom from everything that would threaten or compromise it."
It was a welcome message to many U.S. bishops and conservatives who have objected to the Obama administration's health care mandate and the recent Supreme Court legalization of same-sex marriage.
With flags snapping, color guard at attention and a military band's brassy marches, Francis stepped from his modest Fiat onto the South Lawn on a crisp fall morning that felt as optimistic as his own persona. Pope and president stood on a red-carpeted platform bedecked with red, white and blue bunting, standing at attention for the national anthems of the Hole See and the United States.
After their opening remarks on the lawn, Obama and Francis pulled up two arm chairs by the fireplace in the Oval Office for a one-on-one meeting where they hoped to find common cause on issues they hold dear - and respectful disagreement where they differ sharply, on subjects such as abortion and same-sex marriage.
Colombian president and FARC rebel chief push for peace in Cuba talks
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos and the head of the FARC rebel group on Wednesday arrived in Cuba in a push to end Latin America's oldest guerrilla war.
Earlier in the day, Santos had announced his surprise participation in the talks on Twitter, declaring that “peace is near”. It will be his first official participation in the negotiations.During the meeting, the president is expected to meet with the rebels’ top military commander, Rodrigo Londono, and government negotiators.
Colombia has been abuzz in recent hours with speculation that the government and negotiators for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have reached a tentative agreement on the thorny issue of how to punish rebel commanders for human rights abuses.
If confirmed, it would represent a major breakthrough in the talks and remove the last significant obstacle to a final deal to end a half-century of bloody, drug-fueled fighting. It comes after Pope Francis in a visit to the communist island this week warned both sides that they didn’t have the right to fail in this their best chance at peace in decades.
As part of talks in Cuba stretching over more than two years, both sides had already agreed on plans for land reform, political participation for guerrillas who lay down their weapons and how to jointly combat drug trafficking.
Further cementing expectations of a deal, the FARC in July declared a unilateral cease fire and are working with Colombia’s military on a program to remove tens of thousands of rebel-planted land mines.
But amid the slow, but steady progress one issue seemed almost insurmountable: How to punish FARC commanders for human rights abuses in light of stricter international conventions to which Colombia is a signatory and almost unanimous public rejection of the rebels.
Paraguay students lay siege to university building over ‘corrupt’ president
Students in Paraguay held dozens of university faculty and staff hostage on Tuesday, calling for the president of one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious academic institutions to resign over allegations of corruption.
The students released 37 university board members overnight after a tense, five-hour standoff with riot police at the Universidad Nacional de Asuncion (UNA), despite pledges to keep them hostage until the university president, Froilan Peralta, stepped down.Peralta is under investigation after it was revealed that his secretary was being paid as a full-time faculty member, and that her mother, sister and cousin were also collecting professor pay-checks even though they had no teaching responsibilities at the school.
The president was also under fire for allegations he collects a monthly salary of around €8,300, which includes compensation for university courses he has long stopped teaching.
Board members were allowed to leave the student-besieged campus after they agreed to reconvene in six days in order to hold a vote on Peralta’s ouster and set a date for an election to replace him.
‘Gangrene’
The protest began as a relatively small rally outside the university president’s office on Monday, but steadily grew over a 24-hour period to include as many as 2,000 outraged students calling for Peralta’s resignation, according to Paraguay daily Ultima Hora.
The standoff began after the students blocked university board members – including department heads – from leaving the building after a meeting over Peralta’s request for a temporary leave. Administrative personnel were also briefly held captive before students let them go.
“Nobody enters or leaves until Peralta resigns,” AFP quoted student leader Arturo Cano as saying at the height of the face-off, which included dozens of riot police who surrounded the campus, according to Ultima Hora.
Local reporters praised Paraguay justice official Julio Ortiz for negotiating a peaceful resolution to the situation.
Corruption is rampant in landlocked Paraguay. Only Venezuela and Haiti have higher levels of corruption in Latin America, according to Transparency International.
Pope Francis, the first pontiff to hail from the Americas, drew attention to corruption among public officials in Paraguay during a speech in the capital of Asuncion in July, calling it the “gangrene of the people”.
Guatemala’s President Is Now in Jail
The former President of Guatemala, Otto Fernando Pérez Molina, has stepped down amidst corruption charges, after being formally indicted on September 3 for his role in the scandal now known as La Linea.
By far the best coverage of this case for non-Spanish speakers has come from Francisco Goldman in The New Yorker, who’s written a piece that at once captures the historic momentum of this indictment while encompassing the personal reflections of a seasoned journalist. It deserves to be read by all.
Underneath the story of corruption engulfing Pérez Molina as he currently awaits trial, there’s another more painful story that recapitulates Guatemalan history and the role of this former general in it.
I’m talking about the 1981-1983 genocide in Guatemala, which reached its bloodiest height in 1982 in the rural highlands of Guatemala. Efraín Ríos Montt, the military dictator of the country during these lost years, oversaw much of the violence directed towards the leftist insurgents and anyone thought to be collaborating with them, namely the Mayan Indians, who were mostly campensinos — or peasant farmers, the forbearers of Guatemalan history.
A young military officer came of age in 1982 and commanded soldiers in the Nebaj, one of the homes to the Ixil Mayans that suffered from the military genocide. He went by the codename, Mayor Tito (“Major Tito”) and was trained in the U.S. School of the Americas for the Kaibil Special Forces. In an interview with Democracy Now!, Allan Nairn discusses a documentary he made in September 1982 which features conversations with Mayor Tito casually admitting to torture and mass killings.
Nairn couldn’t be sure at first, but he now believes that the man known as Mayor Tito is in fact Pérez Molina, the now former President of Guatemala.
It bears repeating that no one is sure who Mayor Tito was. On the eve of his presidential election in 2011, Pérez Molina adamantly maintained no wrongdoing: “I can tell you it is totally false,” he said. “I have nothing to hide.” According to Reuters, declassified documents support the Pérez position, but other journalists, such as Nairn, have contested that conclusion, citing the fact that he was stationed in the areas where killings occurred and that he went by the nickname “Tito” during his military career.
Guatemalan history has reached a tipping point. With Pérez Molina stripped of his power, the legal system of Guatemala has the historic opportunity to open an investigation into his past, and in some small way, find closure over whether he helped lead one of the most brutal genocides of modern history.
By far the best coverage of this case for non-Spanish speakers has come from Francisco Goldman in The New Yorker, who’s written a piece that at once captures the historic momentum of this indictment while encompassing the personal reflections of a seasoned journalist. It deserves to be read by all.
Underneath the story of corruption engulfing Pérez Molina as he currently awaits trial, there’s another more painful story that recapitulates Guatemalan history and the role of this former general in it.
I’m talking about the 1981-1983 genocide in Guatemala, which reached its bloodiest height in 1982 in the rural highlands of Guatemala. Efraín Ríos Montt, the military dictator of the country during these lost years, oversaw much of the violence directed towards the leftist insurgents and anyone thought to be collaborating with them, namely the Mayan Indians, who were mostly campensinos — or peasant farmers, the forbearers of Guatemalan history.
A young military officer came of age in 1982 and commanded soldiers in the Nebaj, one of the homes to the Ixil Mayans that suffered from the military genocide. He went by the codename, Mayor Tito (“Major Tito”) and was trained in the U.S. School of the Americas for the Kaibil Special Forces. In an interview with Democracy Now!, Allan Nairn discusses a documentary he made in September 1982 which features conversations with Mayor Tito casually admitting to torture and mass killings.
Nairn couldn’t be sure at first, but he now believes that the man known as Mayor Tito is in fact Pérez Molina, the now former President of Guatemala.
It bears repeating that no one is sure who Mayor Tito was. On the eve of his presidential election in 2011, Pérez Molina adamantly maintained no wrongdoing: “I can tell you it is totally false,” he said. “I have nothing to hide.” According to Reuters, declassified documents support the Pérez position, but other journalists, such as Nairn, have contested that conclusion, citing the fact that he was stationed in the areas where killings occurred and that he went by the nickname “Tito” during his military career.
Guatemalan history has reached a tipping point. With Pérez Molina stripped of his power, the legal system of Guatemala has the historic opportunity to open an investigation into his past, and in some small way, find closure over whether he helped lead one of the most brutal genocides of modern history.
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Tsunami alert as powerful earthquake strikes Chile
Tsunami alert as powerful earthquake strikes Chile
A massive 8.3-magnitude earthquake has struck off the central coast of Chile, killing at least three people, triggering the evacuation of coastal areas and sparking warnings that tsunami waves could reach as far as Japan.
The earthquake had a shallow depth of 11km and hit at 7:54pm (22:54 GMT), with the epicentre located about 500km north of the capital Santiago, seismologists at the University of Chile said.
Announcing in a televised statement that she would travel to the worst-affected areas, President Michelle Bachelet, said: "Once again we're having to deal with another harsh blow from nature.
"Unfortunately we've received information that as of now we are certain three people are confirmed dead."
Several strong aftershocks hit within minutes as tsunami alarms sounded in the nearby port of Valparaiso.
Authorities said some adobe houses collapsed in the inland city of Illapel, located about 280km north of Santiago.
Denis Cortes, Illapel's mayor, told a local television station that a woman had been killed in the city but declined to give any details.
Electricity was knocked out, leaving the city in darkness. "We are very scared. Our city panicked," Cortes said.
Officials reported the death of a man of 86, but did not say where he had died.
The country's state copper miner Codelco said it was evacuating its workers at its Ventanas division.
Waves triggered by the earthquake have begun hitting the country's coastline, the ONEMI emergency service said.
Tsunami waves of up to three metres are possible along the coast of French Polynesia, the Pacific Tsunami Center (PTWC) in Hawaii said.
The PTWC also issued an alert for tsunami waves of between 0.3 to 1 metre for Japan, Antarctica, and most of the South Pacific, including New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
Tsunami alert as powerful earthquake strikes Chile
New sewage system to tackle Rio 2016's water problems
A new sewage system will be built in Rio de Janeiro to help clean up the water for the sailing events at the 2016 Olympics, organising committee chief Carlos Nuzman said Wednesday.
Several rowers became ill during a recent Olympics test regatta in Guanabara Bay.
"The problem will be solved by the beginning of the Games next year," Nuzman told reporters on a visit to London. The Rio Games run August 5-21.
German sailor Erik Heil said he suffered a serious bacterial infection and spent several days undergoing treatment at a Berlin hospital on his return home from Rio.
Brazil prepares for 2016 Olympic Game
Nuzman said the improvement of water quality was "a key priority" and a "serious matter", affirming that the port of Marina da Gloria should "be totally cleaned up by the end of the year".
Scientists at a Rio de Janeiro research institute found a new "super-bacteria" that is resistant to antibiotics in the waters where sailors will compete in the Olympic sailing events in 2016.
The bacteria is normally found in hospital waste and can cause urinary, gastrointestinal and pulmonary infections, officials with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation said.
In addition, dead fish had also washed up on the banks of a Rio de Janeiro lake that's slated to hold the rowing competitions.
Fish die-offs are a frequent occurrence in Rio's waterways, which are choked with raw sewage and garbage.
The latest incident, affecting thousands of small silvery fish called twaite shad, began several days ago at the Rodrigo de Freitas lake, where the Olympic canoeing and rowing events are to be held.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/sewage-system-solve-rio-2016-water-problems-150902104344136.html
New sewage system to tackle Rio 2016's water problems
Several rowers became ill during a recent Olympics test regatta in Guanabara Bay.
"The problem will be solved by the beginning of the Games next year," Nuzman told reporters on a visit to London. The Rio Games run August 5-21.
German sailor Erik Heil said he suffered a serious bacterial infection and spent several days undergoing treatment at a Berlin hospital on his return home from Rio.
Brazil prepares for 2016 Olympic Game
Nuzman said the improvement of water quality was "a key priority" and a "serious matter", affirming that the port of Marina da Gloria should "be totally cleaned up by the end of the year".
Scientists at a Rio de Janeiro research institute found a new "super-bacteria" that is resistant to antibiotics in the waters where sailors will compete in the Olympic sailing events in 2016.
The bacteria is normally found in hospital waste and can cause urinary, gastrointestinal and pulmonary infections, officials with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation said.
In addition, dead fish had also washed up on the banks of a Rio de Janeiro lake that's slated to hold the rowing competitions.
Fish die-offs are a frequent occurrence in Rio's waterways, which are choked with raw sewage and garbage.
The latest incident, affecting thousands of small silvery fish called twaite shad, began several days ago at the Rodrigo de Freitas lake, where the Olympic canoeing and rowing events are to be held.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/sewage-system-solve-rio-2016-water-problems-150902104344136.html
New sewage system to tackle Rio 2016's water problems
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Brazil police want to question ex-president Silva
Brazil's Supreme Court on Friday said that federal police have asked for its permission to question former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for possible involvement in the kickback scheme that has engulfed state-owned oil company Petrobras.
The court's press office confirmed the request, which was first reported by weekly newsmagazine Epoca on its website on Friday. The court received the request on Wednesday. It has not indicated when it would rule on the police request to question Silva.
According to parts of the request published by the magazine, police believe Silva "may have obtained advantages for himself, his party ... and the government while he was president by maintaining a base of political support sustained by illicit business" at Petrobras.
Silva is a two-term president who left office in 2011 with an approval rating of 86 percent and who has made it clear he's willing to run again for the presidency in 2018 for the ruling Workers' Party, known as the PT, he helped found.
Ratcheting up investigation
If the court permits the questioning, it dramatically ratchets up the investigation that has already seenhigh-level executives of Petrobras and Brazil's massive construction and engineering firms jailed.
"The fact that they want to question him shows they have something pretty solid against him up their sleeves," said David Fleischer, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Brasilia. "This if the first chapter of the end of Lula and by extension the end of Dilma and the considerable weakening of the PT."
Prosecutors allege over $2 billion was paid in bribes by businessmen to obtain Petrobras contracts, projects that then subsequently ballooned in costs.
Additionally, more than 50 federal deputies, senators and other top political figures are under investigation or have been charged.
As yet, no accusations have been brought against President Dilma Rousseff, Silva's hand-chosen successor, who served as the chairwoman of the Petrobras board for several years as the scheme played out. She and Silva have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and Rousseff has encouraged investigators to carry out their inquiry aggressively and "hurt whoever must be hurt."
The Federal Police in Brasilia and the Sao Paulo-based Lula Institute both said they had no comment on the request. On a trip in neighboring Argentina, Silva told reporters that he had not been notified of the police request to question him.
Under Brazilian law, all federal politicians and some at other levels can only be investigated if the Supreme Court approves the inquiry, and eventually only be charged by the top court and tried in it.
While Silva is no longer a sitting politician, legal analysts say that such a request would need to go to the Supreme Court if the questioning of the former president is linked to an ongoing investigation into an active politician.
Charges filed
Last week, prosecutors filed corruption, racketeering and money laundering charges in the case against Silva's former chief of staff, Jose Dirceu.
"The police request is another major sign that the Dilma government and Lula are increasingly powerless to reverse this situation in their favor," said Thiago de Aragao, of the Brasilia-based Arko Advice political consulting firm. "There is so much ammunition against them, that every time they make an effort to improve their situation, some of it emerges and it again puts them on the defensive."
Separately from the Petrobras case, in July prosecutors said they had enough evidence to warrant a full probe of Silva's alleged overseas lobbying for Brazil's biggest builder, Odebrecht, whose CEO is now in jail because of his alleged involvement in the Petrobras case.
Prosecutors are looking into allegations of influence peddling and that Silva's efforts helped Odebrecht obtain contracts to build infrastructure projects in Panama and Venezuela, as well as to obtain contracts in several other countries, crimes under Brazilian law.
They are trying to determine if Silva swayed foreign leaders to award inflated billion-dollar contracts to Odebrecht, and also if he pushed Brazil's state development bank to give the company well over $1 billion in low-interest loans since 2011, after he left office.
(AP)
Venezuelan opposition leader convicted of inciting violence
Jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was convicted and sentenced Thursday to almost 14 years in prison, the maximum allowed, for inciting violence as leader of protests last year in which several dozen people died.
About 200 Lopez supporters gathered in a Caracas plaza expressed disbelief and sadness when they learned of the verdict, with several weeping and consoling each other with hugs.
Reflecting the passions stirred by the trial on both sides of Venezuela’s deep political divide, an elderly man died and several people were injured during clashes earlier Thursday outside the courthouse between government loyalists and Lopez supporters.
The opposition leader has repeatedly denied the charges and says he only urged peaceful demonstration against President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government.
Supporters of the 44-year-old, Harvard-educated former mayor of a wealthy Caracas district say the trial was marred by irregularities. The court rejected all but two defense witnesses, both of whom ultimately declined to testify, while letting the prosecution call more than 100.
The trial was all but closed to the public, and Lopez sometimes refused to attend out of protest. His lawyers said Judge Susana Barreiros abruptly ended the proceedings last week even though many witnesses had yet to take the stand.
Combined with time served, the sentence of 13 years, 9 months, 7 days, and 12 hours was the maximum punishment for Lopez’s crimes.
The prosecution focused on Lopez’s public statements last year when, under the slogan “The Exit,” he and other hardliners pushed for Maduro’s resignation just months after pro-government candidates swept regional elections.
Prosecutors say the vitriolic rhetoric encouraged protesters to burn public property and put lives at risk. Officials also accuse him of conspiring with the United States and student demonstrators to try to overthrow the government.
U.S. officials deny that accusation and have made Lopez’s release a key demand for normalizing diplomatic relations. Secretary of State John Kerry phoned Venezuela’s foreign minister Tuesday to express concern about the trial days after meeting with Lopez’s wife, Lilian Tintori, in Washington.
Roberta Jacobson, the State Department’s top diplomat for Latin America, said in a tweet she was “deeply troubled” by the verdict and called on Venezuela’s government to protect democracy and human rights.
Human rights groups immediately condemned the verdict, but government supporters blame Lopez for the bloodshed seen during last year’s protests when more than 40 people were killed, both protesters and government supporters. At a rally outside the courthouse before the verdict was read, a band played folk songs with lyrics supporting a guilty verdict.
“Hold him responsible,” went the chorus to one song.
Lopez, a father of two young children, has spent the past year and a half in a military prison outside Caracas where he’ll now complete the sentence. With only his family allowed to visit, he managed to release several videos from behind bars.
In May, through a recording shot in his cell, Lopez called the largest rally Venezuela has seen since the wave of anti-government protests in 2014 that led to his jailing. In June he staged a 30-day hunger strike to demand the government schedule congressional elections.
Lopez’s team accuses Maduro’s government of wanting to sentence him now in hopes that any anger will fade before the vote is held Dec. 6.
Polls say Lopez continues to be one of Venezuela’s most popular politicians with approval numbers approaching 50 percent, while Maduro’s languish below 30 percent.
But the former triathlete is not universally liked by Venezuela’s chronically divided opposition. Some leaders consider him too radical and out of touch with the poor masses who still revere Maduro’s predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez.
Crime, inflation and shortages have only gotten worse since last year’s protests, though many people have been hesitant to take to the streets again.
An opposition march called last month was downsized to a “planning meeting” when only a handful of people showed up.
Three co-defendants, all of whom had been freed before the verdict, received punishments of between 4 and 10 years by the judge on Thursday.
(AP)
Chile quake triggers mass evacuation and tsunami alert
One million people had to leave their homes in Chile after a powerful quake hit the country's central region.
At least eight people died when the 8.3-magnitude quake hit. One person is still missing.
Residents of Illapel, near the quake's epicentre, fled into the streets in terror as their homes began to sway.
In the coastal town of Coquimbo, waves of 4.7m (15ft) hit the shore. A tsunami alert was issued for the entire Chilean coast but has since been lifted.
Tsunami waves also hit the coast further north and south of the quake's epicentre, with waves half a metre higher than usual as far north as La Punta.
The quake lasted for more than three minutes and there have been dozens of aftershocks.
Gloria Navarro, who lives in the coastal town of La Serena, said people were "running in all directions".
At the scene: Jane Chambers, freelance journalist
I'm on the coast about 130km (80 miles) south from the worst affected area of Coquimbo. Our house is on top of a cliff and made of wood. It was shaking and shuddering.
At first I thought it was just a tremor but it was really strong and went on for around three minutes. It was much stronger than any tremors I had ever felt before.
The house is fine as most of Chile's buildings are built to withstand tremors.
The local town was evacuated. The restaurant down on the beach is flooded but most things here are returning to normal.
Officials said 1,800 people in Illapel were left without drinking water.
Electricity providers said hundreds of thousands of their clients in the worst-affected Coquimbo region had no power.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the tremor struck off the coast of Coquimbo, 46km (29 miles) west of the city of Illapel at 19:54 local time (22:54 GMT).
The USGS said it was at a depth of 25km, while Chilean seismologists calculated its depth at 11km.
The quake that rocked Chile on Wednesday was five times more energetic than the one that devastated Nepal back in April. And yet the early indications are that the death toll will be a fraction (perhaps a thousandth) of what it was in the Himalayan nation.
In large part, this is simply down to preparedness. This was Chile's third massive quake in five years; the region all too frequently experiences magnitude 8 events. As a consequence, the building codes are strict and generally well enforced.
What is more, the people themselves are well versed in how to react during and after an event.
It is not perfect. In 2010, an 8.8-magnitude quake witnessed failings on the part of the monitoring network and the system for alerting people to the imminent tsunami threat.
Since then, the Chilean government has spent millions upgrading the country's seismic network of sensors, and made improvements to telecommunications systems that share critical information and warnings.
The earthquake struck as thousands of Chileans were travelling to the coast ahead of a week of celebrations for independence day.
President Michelle Bachelet said some of the official festivities would be cancelled.
The authorities were quick to issue tsunami alerts keen to avert a repeat of the slow response to the 8.8-magnitude quake in 2010, which devastated large areas of the country.
More than 500 people died in that quake and the tsunami it triggered and memories of the tragedy are still raw.
Tsunami alerts were issued shortly after the quake struck for the entire Chilean coast but have been gradually lifted, with the last cancelled at 06:22 local time.
President Bachelet said that "once again we must confront a powerful blow from nature". She will travel to the affected areas later on Thursday.
Chile is one of the most seismically active locations on the globe.
It runs along the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates. These are vast slabs of the Earth's surface that grind past each other at a rate of up to 80mm per year.
Friday, September 11, 2015
Canada shouldn't 'overstate' risk of accepting Syrian refugees: War Child Canada founder
Potential threats to public security shouldn’t be “overstated” as Canada considers accepting thousands more Syrian refugees to resettle here, the founder of War Child Canada says.
The Canadian government is equipped with sufficient vetting processes to help weed out possible risks, Samantha Nutt told CTV’s Power Play.
Cuba's government has pardoned 3,522 prisoners as a goodwill gesture ahead of a September 19-22 visit by Pope Francis, the official daily Granma announced on Friday.
Among those pardoned were prisoners over 60 years of age or younger than 20 and without a criminal record, women and the chronically ill, and foreigners whose countries of origin have vowed to repatriate them, the newspaper said.
After 9/11: Linking Migration to Terrorism, Militarizing the US-Mexican Border teleSur English
At a conservative border security conference in August 2014, Texas Governor Rick Perry cautioned that the US-Mexican border is “insecure” and has seen “historic high levels of individuals from countries with terrorist ties.”
Perry was referring to unfounded suspicions that the Islamic State group was plotting ‘terrorist’ attacks against the U.S. from Mexico; a rather paradoxical statement, given the billions of U.S. dollars that have gone into militarizing the U.S.-Mexican border, as well as the fact security officials claim the border with Canada, not Mexico, is in fact much more vulnerable to “terrorist” operations.
Arrest warrant issued for Guatemalan president
A judge has issued an arrest warrant for Guatemalan President Otto Perez, who faces prosecution for allegedly masterminding a huge fraud scheme, according to the country's prosecutor-general.
The development comes a day after he was stripped of his immunity due to organised corruption charges against him.
RELATED: Can corruption be wiped out in Guatemala?
Prosecutor-general Thelma Aldana said Judge Miquel Angel Galvez issued the order on Wednesday afternoon on crimes of illicit association, fraud and receiving bribe money related to a widespread customs fraud ring in which the vice president has already been jailed and faces charges.
Under Guatemalan law, Perez will be automatically removed from office if remanded in custody by a criminal court.
Guatemala's attorney general also said on Wednesday that she was confident embattled Perez would be convicted of corruption, as the country's top court rejected Perez's challenge to prosecutors' moves to try him.
"This has been happening at an incredibly fast rate. If the judge decides to send him to prison after he is picked up, this might be the end of his political career," Al Jazeera's David Mercer, reporting from the Guatemalan capital of Antigua, said.
"Despite the mass protests against him, he many times said that he had no connection to this multi-million-dollar fraud."
The conservative leader is against the ropes after the Guatemalan Congress voted unanimously on Tuesday to strip him of his immunity, clearing the way for prosecutors to go ahead with their case against him.
Investigators accuse Perez of running a scheme in which businesses paid bribes to dodge taxes on their imports, defrauding the country of millions of dollars.
The scandal, which has already felled his former vice president and a string of top officials, comes as Guatemala prepares for elections on Sunday to choose his successor.
Perez, in power since 2012, is constitutionally barred from running for re-election. His term ends on January 14.
The president has been left increasingly isolated by the scandal.
Six of his 14 ministers have resigned in recent days, along with several other top officials.
Source: Agencies
Arrest warrant issued for Guatemalan president
The development comes a day after he was stripped of his immunity due to organised corruption charges against him.
RELATED: Can corruption be wiped out in Guatemala?
Prosecutor-general Thelma Aldana said Judge Miquel Angel Galvez issued the order on Wednesday afternoon on crimes of illicit association, fraud and receiving bribe money related to a widespread customs fraud ring in which the vice president has already been jailed and faces charges.
Under Guatemalan law, Perez will be automatically removed from office if remanded in custody by a criminal court.
Guatemala's attorney general also said on Wednesday that she was confident embattled Perez would be convicted of corruption, as the country's top court rejected Perez's challenge to prosecutors' moves to try him.
"This has been happening at an incredibly fast rate. If the judge decides to send him to prison after he is picked up, this might be the end of his political career," Al Jazeera's David Mercer, reporting from the Guatemalan capital of Antigua, said.
"Despite the mass protests against him, he many times said that he had no connection to this multi-million-dollar fraud."
The conservative leader is against the ropes after the Guatemalan Congress voted unanimously on Tuesday to strip him of his immunity, clearing the way for prosecutors to go ahead with their case against him.
Investigators accuse Perez of running a scheme in which businesses paid bribes to dodge taxes on their imports, defrauding the country of millions of dollars.
The scandal, which has already felled his former vice president and a string of top officials, comes as Guatemala prepares for elections on Sunday to choose his successor.
Perez, in power since 2012, is constitutionally barred from running for re-election. His term ends on January 14.
The president has been left increasingly isolated by the scandal.
Six of his 14 ministers have resigned in recent days, along with several other top officials.
Source: Agencies
Arrest warrant issued for Guatemalan president
Friday, September 4, 2015
Arrest warrant issued for Guatemala President Perez Molina
An arrest warrant has been issued against Guatemala's President Otto Perez Molina, according to the public prosecutor's office.
On Tuesday, congress voted to remove his immunity from prosecution amid corruption allegations.
Prosecutors accuse the president of masterminding a scheme to defraud the customs service of millions of dollars, allegations he denies.
A judge has barred Mr Perez Molina from leaving the country.
The president, whose term runs out in January, will now be summoned to appear before a court.
The detention order was signed by judge Miguel Angel Galvez, the prosecutor's office said.
A spokesman for Mr Perez Molina had earlier said the president would be "very respectful and submit himself to the rule of law".
Demonstrators react as they hear the news that Congress has voted to withdraw President Otto Perez Molina's immunity from prosecution on 1 September, 2015.Image copyrightAP
Image caption
Anti-corruption protesters were jubilant when news of the vote in congress came through
On Tuesday, all members of congress present at the vote endorsed a move to strip the president of his immunity.
They included members of the president's own party.
A previous vote to remove his immunity failed last month.
But since then, more details of the corruption scandal have emerged and calls for the president to resign have increased.
Analysis: Katy Watson, BBC News
This would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. But so much has changed and Guatemalans feel empowered by what's happening with their country's politics.
Mr Perez Molina has repeatedly denied the allegations, and despite calls for him to step down, he has so far refused to listen.
His lawyer says he is prepared to face the accusations against him. Now with an arrest warrant, Guatemalans angry over government corruption are a step closer to seeing that happen.
Investigators allege that government officials received a cut from bribes paid by businesses seeking to evade import duties.
Vice-President Roxana Baldetti and a string of top officials have been forced to resign over the scandal.
Ms Baldetti is in jail awaiting trial on charges of taking millions of dollars in bribes.
A cab driver looks at pinatas depicting former Vice President Roxana Baldetti (left) and Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Mr Perez Molina in Guatemala City on 27 August, 2015Image copyrightReuters
Image caption
A series of anti-corruption protests have been held in Guatemala in recent months
The president was stripped of his immunity just days before presidential elections on Sunday.
Some protesters have demanded that the polls be postponed, but officials argue that it would be against the law.
Mr Otto Perez Molina is barred by the constitution from standing again.
Arrest warrant issued for Guatemala President Perez Molina
On Tuesday, congress voted to remove his immunity from prosecution amid corruption allegations.
Prosecutors accuse the president of masterminding a scheme to defraud the customs service of millions of dollars, allegations he denies.
A judge has barred Mr Perez Molina from leaving the country.
The president, whose term runs out in January, will now be summoned to appear before a court.
The detention order was signed by judge Miguel Angel Galvez, the prosecutor's office said.
A spokesman for Mr Perez Molina had earlier said the president would be "very respectful and submit himself to the rule of law".
Demonstrators react as they hear the news that Congress has voted to withdraw President Otto Perez Molina's immunity from prosecution on 1 September, 2015.Image copyrightAP
Image caption
Anti-corruption protesters were jubilant when news of the vote in congress came through
On Tuesday, all members of congress present at the vote endorsed a move to strip the president of his immunity.
They included members of the president's own party.
A previous vote to remove his immunity failed last month.
But since then, more details of the corruption scandal have emerged and calls for the president to resign have increased.
Analysis: Katy Watson, BBC News
This would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. But so much has changed and Guatemalans feel empowered by what's happening with their country's politics.
Mr Perez Molina has repeatedly denied the allegations, and despite calls for him to step down, he has so far refused to listen.
His lawyer says he is prepared to face the accusations against him. Now with an arrest warrant, Guatemalans angry over government corruption are a step closer to seeing that happen.
Investigators allege that government officials received a cut from bribes paid by businesses seeking to evade import duties.
Vice-President Roxana Baldetti and a string of top officials have been forced to resign over the scandal.
Ms Baldetti is in jail awaiting trial on charges of taking millions of dollars in bribes.
A cab driver looks at pinatas depicting former Vice President Roxana Baldetti (left) and Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Mr Perez Molina in Guatemala City on 27 August, 2015Image copyrightReuters
Image caption
A series of anti-corruption protests have been held in Guatemala in recent months
The president was stripped of his immunity just days before presidential elections on Sunday.
Some protesters have demanded that the polls be postponed, but officials argue that it would be against the law.
Mr Otto Perez Molina is barred by the constitution from standing again.
Arrest warrant issued for Guatemala President Perez Molina
Guatemala judge orders jail for ex-president Perez Molina
Guatemala's former president has spent his first night in prison after a judge ordered his detention while hearings over alleged corruption take place.
Otto Perez Molina, 64, left the court in Guatemala City on Thursday under heavy police guard and was taken to a military prison in the capital.
On Tuesday, Congress stripped him of his immunity from prosecution which opened the way for criminal charges to be brought against him.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
The vice-president was sworn in as interim head of state ahead of elections this Sunday after Mr Perez Molina resigned on Thursday.
Alejandro Maldonado is expected to govern until the new president is sworn in on 14 January.
Mr Maldonado has only been in the post since mid-May, when his predecessor Roxana Baldetti resigned.
Ms Baldetti is accused of involvement in the same corruption scheme that Mr Perez Molina is said to have masterminded.
She is also being held in prison.
Guatemala judge orders jail for ex-president Perez Molina
Analysis: Katy Watson, BBC Central America correspondent
Mr Perez Molina has been hanging on until the bitter end - determined not to resign, even amid weekly protests and calls for him to go.
But stripped of his immunity earlier this week, barred from leaving Guatemala and with an arrest warrant, he had little choice but to give himself up.
He maintains his innocence and his lawyer says he is prepared to face the accusations against him.
With presidential elections on Sunday, it sends a message that corruption won't be tolerated as it was in the past - people here see this as the start of a new chapter.
At least 100 people are being investigated in the scheme, dubbed La Linea, or The Line.
Investigators say it involved businesses paying bribes to government officials and customs officers in return for being allowed to evade import duties.
Guatemala's former President Otto Perez Molina arrives at Matamoros Army Base with police escort after a hearing at the Supreme Court of Justice in Guatemala City - 3 September 2015Image copyrightReuters
Image caption
Mr Perez Molina was taken to the Matamoros military prison after his court hearing
But until Wednesday night, the president had stood firm, saying he would serve out his term.
On Tuesday, a judge barred him from leaving the country "as a precautionary measure".
Earlier this week, he said he would be "very respectful and submit himself to the rule of law".
Mr Perez Molina's resignation on Thursday and arrest are a huge victory for an unprecedented anti-corruption protest movement that had swelled in recent months, with regular marches in Guatemala's major cities.
Otto Perez Molina, 64, left the court in Guatemala City on Thursday under heavy police guard and was taken to a military prison in the capital.
On Tuesday, Congress stripped him of his immunity from prosecution which opened the way for criminal charges to be brought against him.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
The vice-president was sworn in as interim head of state ahead of elections this Sunday after Mr Perez Molina resigned on Thursday.
Alejandro Maldonado is expected to govern until the new president is sworn in on 14 January.
Mr Maldonado has only been in the post since mid-May, when his predecessor Roxana Baldetti resigned.
Ms Baldetti is accused of involvement in the same corruption scheme that Mr Perez Molina is said to have masterminded.
She is also being held in prison.
Guatemala judge orders jail for ex-president Perez Molina
Analysis: Katy Watson, BBC Central America correspondent
Mr Perez Molina has been hanging on until the bitter end - determined not to resign, even amid weekly protests and calls for him to go.
But stripped of his immunity earlier this week, barred from leaving Guatemala and with an arrest warrant, he had little choice but to give himself up.
He maintains his innocence and his lawyer says he is prepared to face the accusations against him.
With presidential elections on Sunday, it sends a message that corruption won't be tolerated as it was in the past - people here see this as the start of a new chapter.
At least 100 people are being investigated in the scheme, dubbed La Linea, or The Line.
Investigators say it involved businesses paying bribes to government officials and customs officers in return for being allowed to evade import duties.
Guatemala's former President Otto Perez Molina arrives at Matamoros Army Base with police escort after a hearing at the Supreme Court of Justice in Guatemala City - 3 September 2015Image copyrightReuters
Image caption
Mr Perez Molina was taken to the Matamoros military prison after his court hearing
But until Wednesday night, the president had stood firm, saying he would serve out his term.
On Tuesday, a judge barred him from leaving the country "as a precautionary measure".
Earlier this week, he said he would be "very respectful and submit himself to the rule of law".
Mr Perez Molina's resignation on Thursday and arrest are a huge victory for an unprecedented anti-corruption protest movement that had swelled in recent months, with regular marches in Guatemala's major cities.
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21663157-government-economic-holeand-still-digging-brazil-prepares-make-grave-fiscal-error
All fall down
Brazil is in an economic hole—and still digging
Sep 5th 2015 | From the print edition
Timekeeper
PLENTY of countries run deficits. And when recessions occur, loosening the public purse strings makes sense for many of them. But Brazil is not most countries. Its economy is in deep trouble and its fiscal credibility is crumbling fast.
The end of the global commodity boom and a confidence-sapping corruption scandal, after years of economic mismanagement, have extinguished growth. Brazil’s GDP is expected to contract by 2.3% this year. Fast-rising joblessness, together with falling real private-sector pay and weak consumption, are squeezing tax receipts. Meanwhile rising inflation, allied to a free-falling currency, means investors demand higher returns on government debt. The result is a budgetary disaster. This year a planned primary surplus (ie, before interest payments) has vanished. Once interest payments are included, the total deficit this year is projected to be 8-9% of GDP
All fall down
Brazil is in an economic hole—and still digging
Sep 5th 2015 | From the print edition
Timekeeper
PLENTY of countries run deficits. And when recessions occur, loosening the public purse strings makes sense for many of them. But Brazil is not most countries. Its economy is in deep trouble and its fiscal credibility is crumbling fast.
The end of the global commodity boom and a confidence-sapping corruption scandal, after years of economic mismanagement, have extinguished growth. Brazil’s GDP is expected to contract by 2.3% this year. Fast-rising joblessness, together with falling real private-sector pay and weak consumption, are squeezing tax receipts. Meanwhile rising inflation, allied to a free-falling currency, means investors demand higher returns on government debt. The result is a budgetary disaster. This year a planned primary surplus (ie, before interest payments) has vanished. Once interest payments are included, the total deficit this year is projected to be 8-9% of GDP
Young Guatemalan Boy's Death Shows Grim Reality of Border Crisis
The heavy leather boots found with him suggest 15-year-old Gilberto Francisco Ramos Juarez knew he had a difficult path to trudge. It turned out to be deadly.
Today, Gilberto’s father waits for a death certificate to be issued so the body of his son can be sent back to their remote farming village in the mountains of Guatemala.
Gilberto’s black leather boots, stamped on the heel with the word “Rhino” and the face of what looks like a charging rhinoceros, were found with his remains two weeks ago on the outskirts of the small Texas town of La Joya. They, along with Gilberto's dusty blue jeans with Angry Birds embroidered in red over the back pockets and the phone number scribbled on the back of his belt buckle, were used to help identify the boy and connect him to his father.
Details of Gilberto's exact journey were not available, but if he left from his village, he would have traveled nearly 2,000 miles - a distance almost equivalent to the length of the entire U.S.-Mexico border.
Gilberto’s death has reverberated not just in the United States, but in Mexico and Central America, bringing a grim reality to the crisis that until now has been mostly about those who took similar journeys and made it to America’s doorstep.
The government of Guatemala will be paying all the expenses to return his body to the farming village that was his home, San José Las Flores, Chiantla, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, said José Barillas, consul general for Guatemala in Houston.
“The government has declared this a very sad event,” Barilla said. He said the government has begun a fierce campaign to prevent children who may be considering taking the trip to the U.S. without the company of an adult. “The danger of doing it is great,” he said.
Gilberto may have known of some of the danger. The white rosary, the prayer beads of the Roman Catholic faithful, suggest he hoped for divine guidance and protection on his trip. How he died has not yet been determined, but the heat and scant vegetation of the area suggest dehydration could have played a role.
Officials, going by his birth certificate, initially said Gilberto was 11. But his father, Francisco Ramos Diaz, told The Associated Press Tuesday that he was really 15. The father explained the family waited several years to register Gilberto's death and because they couldn't remember the date, gave him the birth date of his younger brother.
Gilberto might have become one of the many bodies found along the border that is never identified, but the phone number on the backside of the leather and metal buckle put authorities in touch with his brother in Chicago. The front of the worn belt's buckle was emblazoned with the word “Elvis.” Authorities initially thought, based on the remains, that Gilberto was in his late teens.
The boy’s death has been traumatic for his brother, said Barilla. The brother, an adult, has declined media interviews, Barilla said.
There are still questions surrounding the young boy's fatal trek. According to the Hidalgo County’s Sheriff’s Office, investigators were told Gilberto was last seen and heard from crossing into the U.S. with an uncle 25 days before he was found. Gilberto’s brother said the uncle had been detained by the U.S. Border Patrol and that was the last time anyone had heard from the boy.
More than 52,000 children from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, many turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents when they arrive. Thousands more are expected to make the dangerous trip.Young Guatemalan Boy's Death Shows Grim Reality of Border Crisis
Today, Gilberto’s father waits for a death certificate to be issued so the body of his son can be sent back to their remote farming village in the mountains of Guatemala.
Gilberto’s black leather boots, stamped on the heel with the word “Rhino” and the face of what looks like a charging rhinoceros, were found with his remains two weeks ago on the outskirts of the small Texas town of La Joya. They, along with Gilberto's dusty blue jeans with Angry Birds embroidered in red over the back pockets and the phone number scribbled on the back of his belt buckle, were used to help identify the boy and connect him to his father.
Details of Gilberto's exact journey were not available, but if he left from his village, he would have traveled nearly 2,000 miles - a distance almost equivalent to the length of the entire U.S.-Mexico border.
Gilberto’s death has reverberated not just in the United States, but in Mexico and Central America, bringing a grim reality to the crisis that until now has been mostly about those who took similar journeys and made it to America’s doorstep.
The government of Guatemala will be paying all the expenses to return his body to the farming village that was his home, San José Las Flores, Chiantla, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, said José Barillas, consul general for Guatemala in Houston.
“The government has declared this a very sad event,” Barilla said. He said the government has begun a fierce campaign to prevent children who may be considering taking the trip to the U.S. without the company of an adult. “The danger of doing it is great,” he said.
Gilberto may have known of some of the danger. The white rosary, the prayer beads of the Roman Catholic faithful, suggest he hoped for divine guidance and protection on his trip. How he died has not yet been determined, but the heat and scant vegetation of the area suggest dehydration could have played a role.
Officials, going by his birth certificate, initially said Gilberto was 11. But his father, Francisco Ramos Diaz, told The Associated Press Tuesday that he was really 15. The father explained the family waited several years to register Gilberto's death and because they couldn't remember the date, gave him the birth date of his younger brother.
Gilberto might have become one of the many bodies found along the border that is never identified, but the phone number on the backside of the leather and metal buckle put authorities in touch with his brother in Chicago. The front of the worn belt's buckle was emblazoned with the word “Elvis.” Authorities initially thought, based on the remains, that Gilberto was in his late teens.
The boy’s death has been traumatic for his brother, said Barilla. The brother, an adult, has declined media interviews, Barilla said.
There are still questions surrounding the young boy's fatal trek. According to the Hidalgo County’s Sheriff’s Office, investigators were told Gilberto was last seen and heard from crossing into the U.S. with an uncle 25 days before he was found. Gilberto’s brother said the uncle had been detained by the U.S. Border Patrol and that was the last time anyone had heard from the boy.
More than 52,000 children from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, many turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents when they arrive. Thousands more are expected to make the dangerous trip.Young Guatemalan Boy's Death Shows Grim Reality of Border Crisis
Frozen Conflict
IN 2007 a Russian-led polar expedition, descending through the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean in a Mir submarine, planted a titanium Russian tricolour on the sea bed 4km (2.5 miles) beneath the North Pole. “The Arctic has always been Russian,” declared Artur Chilingarov, one of the polar explorers. In the event, fears that the action would set off a scramble for Arctic territory and riches proved unfounded. Over the next few years the Arctic Council (a talking shop for governments with territories inside the Arctic Circle, and others who attend as observers) became much more influential and one of the few remaining border disputes there (between Norway and Russia) was settled.
Now Denmark has staked a claim to the North Pole, too. On December 15th it said that, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), some 900,000 square kilometres of the Arctic Ocean north of Greenland belongs to it (Greenland is a self-governing part of Denmark). The timing was happenstance. Claims under UNCLOS have to be made within ten years of ratification—and the convention became law in Denmark on December 16th 2004. But its claim conflicts with those of Russia, which has filed its own case under UNCLOS, and (almost certainly) Canada, which plans to assert sovereignty over part of the polar continental shelf (see map).
In this section
The new local
Frozen conflict
Reprints
The prize for these countries is the mineral wealth of the Arctic, which global warming may make more accessible. Temperatures in the region are rising at twice the rate of the rest of the Earth. According to the United States Geological Survey, the area has an eighth of the world’s untapped oil and perhaps a quarter of its gas.
Hitherto most people have assumed that competition to develop these resources would be gentlemanly. The Arctic, a Norwegian admiral told a big conference two years ago, is “probably the most stable area in the world”. Drilling for oil and gas there is extremely expensive, and falling oil prices have made the economics of Arctic energy even less favourable. This gives would-be prospectors an interest in co-operating, not in adding to the risks and costs.
Now Denmark has staked a claim to the North Pole, too. On December 15th it said that, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), some 900,000 square kilometres of the Arctic Ocean north of Greenland belongs to it (Greenland is a self-governing part of Denmark). The timing was happenstance. Claims under UNCLOS have to be made within ten years of ratification—and the convention became law in Denmark on December 16th 2004. But its claim conflicts with those of Russia, which has filed its own case under UNCLOS, and (almost certainly) Canada, which plans to assert sovereignty over part of the polar continental shelf (see map).
In this section
The new local
Frozen conflict
Reprints
The prize for these countries is the mineral wealth of the Arctic, which global warming may make more accessible. Temperatures in the region are rising at twice the rate of the rest of the Earth. According to the United States Geological Survey, the area has an eighth of the world’s untapped oil and perhaps a quarter of its gas.
Hitherto most people have assumed that competition to develop these resources would be gentlemanly. The Arctic, a Norwegian admiral told a big conference two years ago, is “probably the most stable area in the world”. Drilling for oil and gas there is extremely expensive, and falling oil prices have made the economics of Arctic energy even less favourable. This gives would-be prospectors an interest in co-operating, not in adding to the risks and costs.
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