Still waiting for recovery

Three years after a devastating earthquake, the “Republic of NGOs” has become the country of the unemployedJan 5th 2013 | PORT-AU-PRINCE | from the print edition

“HAITI is open for business”, Michel Martelly, the country’s president since May 2011, likes to proclaim. His government has backed up this talk by making it easier for foreigners to own property and by setting as a goal that Haiti climb into the top 50 countries in the World Bank’s ranking for ease of doing business (it now comes 174th out of 185). In November the president opened a gleaming arrivals hall at Toussaint Louverture airport. Mr Martelly himself is in such constant motion abroad—courting donors and investors, he says—that his peregrinations and the per diems alleged to be associated with them have become a source of mordant jokes.

Argentina’s Kirchner charters British jet to avoid debt seizure

By News Wires (text)

Despite tensions with the UK over the Falkland Islands, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner has chartered a British private jet for a four-nation tour amid fears her official aircraft could be seized in a debt dispute, the government said Monday.

Bolivia accuses United States of plotting against Morales

Bolivia has "irrefutable evidence" that the US has been working to destabilise the government of President Evo Morales, a senior minister has said

Minister of the Presidency Juan Ramon Quintana said proof of improper activities involving the US embassy would be given to President Obama.

Mr Morales expelled the US ambassador in 2008 after accusing him of plotting against his government.

A charge d'affaires heads the embassy in La Paz.

Analysis: Rousseff's bet - Brazil has atoned for economic sins

Jan 4 2013By Brian Winter

(Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff's big bet in 2013 is that Brazil has matured enough to escape from a financial straitjacket that markets have imposed since the 1990s, when inflation soared beyond 2,000 percent and the state was virtually bankrupt.

Since that chaotic era, Brazil has played by a more conservative set of rules than most modern economies - with laws that tightly regulate government spending, interest ratesexceeding 40 percent on consumer loans, and other rules and practices designed to reduce financial risks and ensure the bad times don't return.

Brazil's hot, dry summer may lead to energy rationing

(Reuters) - Brazil faces the possibility of widespread energy rationing for the first time since 2001, as a hot, dry summer has deprived hydroelectric dams of needed water while boosting power use to run air conditioners in sweltering cities.

Even if the country escapes rationing, electricity experts say it may have to boost use of thermo-electric power - a more expensive option which could undermine President Dilma Rousseff's plans to lower energy rates.

Energy Minister Edison Lobao said the extra cost of diesel-fired plants would add less than 1 percent to consumers' electric bills during the months they are in use, ruling out the possibility of new government controls.

Analysis: Brazil's once-envied energy matrix a victim of "hubris"

(Reuters) - Just five years ago, Brazil's mostly "green" energy landscape was the envy of nations dependent on dirtier sources of power and the pride of a government that believed it was leading the country to economic superpower status.

Three-quarters of electricity came from renewable hydro power and the main automobile fuel was home-grown sugarcane ethanol. Plus, Brazil had just found massive oil fields off its coast, putting it on a path to become the world's No. 3 oil producer after Russia and Saudi Arabia by 2020.
Today, the outlook is much darker. Oil output is falling, ethanol production has plunged, and fears have recently returned of electricity rationing that could further depress a stagnant economy and embarrass President Dilma Rousseff.

What went wrong?

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to miss swearing-in

Mr Chavez is said to be stable despite a lung infection

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will not take the oath for a new term in office on Thursday, the government has said.

Mr Chavez is in hospital in Cuba after cancer surgery, and has suffered complications caused by a lung infection.

He has not been seen in public since his operation last month.

Venezuela's opposition has called for the Supreme Court to rule on what should be done if Mr Chavez is absent.

Its leader, Henrique Capriles, says that if Mr Chavez is not sworn in, then according to the constitution the National Assembly speaker should act as caretaker president until new elections are held within 30 days.
 

A healthier menu

As the historic trial of those guilty of a legislative votes-for-cash scheme draws to a close, Brazilians digest the verdict

SO RARELY has political corruption led to punishment in Brazil that there is an expression for the way scandals peter out. They “end in pizza”, with roughly the same convivial implication as settling differences over a drink. But a particularly brazen scandal has just drawn to a surprisingly disagreeable close for some prominent wrongdoers. The supreme-court trial of the mensalão (big monthly stipend), a scheme for buying votes in Brazil’s Congress that came to light in 2005, ended on December 17th. Of the 38 defendants, 25 were found guilty of charges including corruption, money-laundering and misuse of public funds. Many received stiff sentences and large fines.

Church warns Chavez govt over inauguration

Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Venezuela criticised the government on Monday for failing to provide more details about Hugo Chavez’s state of health and issued a veiled warning about any attempts to circumvent constitution.

Venezuela's Catholic church issued a veiled warning to the government Monday against overriding the constitution by delaying cancer-stricken Hugo Chavez's inauguration for a new term as president.
"At stake is the good of the country and the defense of ethics. To alter the constitution to attain a political objective is morally unacceptable," Venezuela's conference of bishops said.

The Enemy Within

A weakened president falls out with fellow Peronists


TWICE in the past quarter-century mobs of looters have helped to
drive Argentine presidents from office. So it looked ominous when
thousands of people attacked supermarkets and shops in several cities
on December 21st and 22nd. The police restored order, but only after
two people died and scores were arrested.

Honduras ambassador resigns over sex party

Ambassador to Colombia asked to step down after bodyguard held party with prostitutes at mission.


The Honduran ambassador to Colombia has been forced to resign after his bodyguard reportedly held a Christmas party with prostitutes at the mission, the foreign ministry in Tegucigalpa said.
Ambassador Carlos Rodriguez quit his post on Saturday, Honduras' foreign ministry said in a release, after
the government requested his withdrawal.

Major earthquake strikes off Alaska coast

Tsunami warning canceled after earthquake measuring 7.5-magnitude hits in Pacific Ocean roughly 100km
off Alaska.


The epicenter of the quake was located 106km west of Craig, Alaska [usgs.gov/Al Jazeera]
An earthquake of 7.5-magnitude struck in the Pacific Ocean about 100km off the coast of Alaska, the US Geological Survey (USGS) has said.

US, Few Others Object to Bolivia UN Coca-Chewing Bid

Bolivia's bid to rejoin the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs without accepting the treaty's proscription against coca leaf chewing appears to be set to happen, despite the objections of a handful of Western countries.

Four Western countries -- the US, Britain, Italy, and Sweden -- have formally objected to Bolivia's rejoining the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs with a reservation that allows for the traditional habit of coca leaf chewing, the Transnational Institute [6] reported Friday. The move is the latest twist in the Latin American nation's effort to remove the international proscription on the ancestral habit.

coca plant (UNODC)
But the Western objections are far from sufficient. Another 58 signatory countries would have to object by next week to block Bolivia's bid, and there is little sign of that happening.

Has Bolivia's coca-growing scheme worked?

Has Bolivia's coca-growing scheme worked?
We ask if the president's move to reject US drug eradication policies was the best for his country's coca farmers.

Evo Morales, the Bolivian president, came to power promising to defend the right of Bolivians to produce coca for traditional uses.

Himself a former coca-leaf farmer, Morales proved his commitment to that cause when he kicked out the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2009, and began the country's own system of regulating coca-leaf production.

Hugo Chávez fights for life as supporters pray in Venezuela

The change of mood in Plaza Bolivar could hardly be more dramatic. Less than three months ago, jubilant crowds filled the main square in Caracas to celebrate another election triumph for Hugo Chávez with chants of "Oo, ah, Chávez no se va" – Chávez won't go.

Now, however, supporters wait anxiously for any scrap of news from Havana, Cuba, where their president is fighting for his life after emergency cancer surgery.

"We are all very confused. We have no idea what to expect. I pray for his recovery but I am expecting the worst," said Joaquín Cavarcas, as he scanned the Ciudad CCS newspaper for the latest update.

Next Thursday, Chávez is supposed to be inaugurated for a further six-year term of office at a ceremony at the National Assembly, a short walk from the plaza. But the usually gregarious, publicity-loving president has not been seen or heard since his operation on 11 December, prompting speculation that he will not recover in time.

Brazil struggles to halt murders of Sao Paulo police

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The murder of a female police officer in front of her daughter in Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest city and financial capital, has increased pressure on President Dilma Rousseff and local authorities to halt a drug-related crime wave in which dozens of police have died.

Marta Umbelina da Silva, 44, was opening the garage in her home Saturday night when two assailants shot her ten times in the back, throat and abdomen, police said. Her 11-year-old daughter screamed for help and Silva, a mother of three, was taken to a nearby hospital, but she could not be revived.

More than half of the 90 police murders this year in greater Sao Paulo have occurred in similar execution-style fashion.

The root cause is an escalating, eye-for-an-eye battle between police and a notorious organized crime group known as the First Capital Command. The violence appears to have been triggered by a drug bust months ago, and then spiraled out of control due to campaign politics and alleged police brutality, among other factors, security officials told Reuters.

In just the past week, the city has seen a high-speed chase and deadly shootout on the Marginal Pinheiros, the main highway in the financial district; the arson of several buses; and the deaths of more than 50 civilians, including a 63-year-old man who was run over when a bus driver tried to flee attackers.

World Media Considers Life After Chavez

The declining health of Hugo Chavez has made headlines around the world as media commentators speculate on a future without Venezuela's firebrand leader.

Chavez has not been seen in public for three weeks after reportedly suffering complications while undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba.

Venezuela's state media have been airing regular tributes to the president, while the government says he remains in a "stable" but "delicate" condition.

Hugo Chavez: What Happens on 10 January?

On 10 January, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is due to be sworn in after winning a new six-year term in last October's presidential elections.

But as the key date approaches, all the signs suggest that Mr Chavez, who is recovering in Cuba from cancer surgery, will not be fit enough to attend the inauguration at the National Assembly.

The constitution does not state explicitly what happens if the ceremony does not take place on 10 January. And political analysts as well as government and opposition figures have differing interpretations of what that would mean in practice.

Brazil Confident Ahead of Rio 2016

While millions of people around the world simply watched and enjoyed the 2012 Olympics, for Brazilian officials it was a vital opportunity to learn what worked - and what maybe did not.

With the next summer Olympics being held in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Brazil's organisers were in London over the past two weeks to observe how the Games were run.

Brazil's Vice Minister for Sport Luis Fernandes told the BBC that while he was generally very impressed, he had spotted some mistakes to avoid.

Coming Out Swinging: Plans to Improve Security and Schools

HE ONLY took office on December 1st, but Mexico’s new president is setting a furious pace. Having laid out sweeping changes to education and set up a new anti-corruption commission, Enrique Peña Nieto went on to unveil potentially far-reaching reforms of public security. He has thus taken aim at two of the country’s most notorious de facto powers: organised crime, and the mighty teachers’ union.

His predecessor, Felipe Calderón, began by declaring war on drug mafias, calling out the army to restore order. The murder rate doubled in five years, though the gangs were weakened. Mr Peña, who has promised to halve the murder rate by 2018, is taking a different approach.