Causes often depend on donations to support its good initiative. These sometimes come in the form of food or water, other times money or clothing, or even volunteers and the capabilities of infra-structure. But what about words?

Believing in the power of words, the Doe Palavras Project, ‘Donate Words’ in English, was conceived to change the notion that helping other people through donation does not necessarily have to be in measurable assets. The Mário Pena Institute in Minas Gerais, Brazil, is a hospital center focused on cancer treatment. They developed the idea of combining the need to support people going through hard times with the opportunities of social networks to develop something through the transformational power of the words.

Screens distributed in the rooms where patients receive their chemotherapy show messages sent by strangers who wish to encourage another human being struggling with life-threatening cancer. These messages are sent using Twitter.

The words can help motivate one person to the long path of a healthy treatment. The project goes beyond the traditional way to help and develops a simple and effective way to “donate.” The project explains that what the patients need the most are positive messages of love, hope and strength. They need to believe that the treatment will make them better.

The idea is really simple: people from around the world send heart-warming and encouraging messages using the project’s website or through Twitter, by adding the hashtag #doepalavras or #donatewords.

Messages such as “Strength and courage I send to you today for you are braver than you think and stronger than you feel” and “While there is a will to fight, there is hope of winning” will reach those who do not need food or water, but support on the road to recovery.

Doe Palavras also has an English version, Donate Words, and is available for free to any hospital that wants to use the system.

In seven months, the project has garnered 1,306,710 messages from 128 countries around the world and brought smiles to people who may have had to overcome the hardest challenge of their lives.

It has been an applauded initiative and has already received many awards, such as the Big Idea Chair of Yahoo and the Top of Marketing 2010. There is also a plan to make a book that compiles the best messages, which will then be distributed to hospitals.

Image courtesy: Instituto Mario Penna

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After a brutal rape case in Acapulco shook Mexico on February 4, President Pena Nieto has pledged to create a new militarized police force to ensure the safety of locals and tourists in the popular holiday resort.

The case, involving six Spanish women who were raped in a rented beach house by masked gunmen, was astonishing even for Guerrero, with its high level of crime. Only one woman managed to avoid assault by saying that she was Mexican. According to Fox News, it is yet to be confirmed if the Spaniards were targeted because of their nationality. The UK newspaper The Guardian said “Mexican local authorities determine if organised criminal are behind an attack, and, if so, pass the case to federal authorities.”

Up until now, however, the government did very little to help the victims. Acapulco Major Luis Walt downplayed  the crime, saying “It could have happened anywhere in the world.” Even though Walt later apologized for his comment, it looks like he was more concerned about the image of Acapulco rather than the raped women.

Freelance writer Phillippe Diederich pointed out “It is too easy for six Spanish women, or 60,000 dead Mexicans to become a statistic used by politicians and the media… Governments need to allocate resources toward prevention, security, victim advocacy and education about violent crimes against women.”

President Pena Nieto has continuously underlined the importance of the security problem. Right after his election in December, the President communicated a plan to strengthen security by dividing the country into five security regions and improve the coordination of law enforcement  In addition, the President committed to switching the focus from punishing crime to preventing it. It was obvious that the implementation of measures could not be done in a few months; however, the issue is now how much time it will take and how many people will become the victims before results are achieved. Pena Nieto claims that the government is working to improve the conditions for public security, but he has not provides any time frame.

On February 12, the government announced its second anti-crime plan. Focusing on the 251 most violent towns, $9.2 billion will be spent on preventing young people from joining criminal organizations. The measures include improving health and social services, creating additional jobs and increasing the number of schools. The following day, Pena claimed that the tourism policy can only be successful when the measures of security are implemented. The National Tourism Policy for 2013-2018, presented on February 13, includes four directions: legislative and sectoral transformation, development and promotion; and sustainability and social well-being.

Does it mean that tourists have to wait until after the policy has been implemented to visit Mexico? Choosing the right state can be an alternative solution. According to the Economist, Yucatán, with its famous resorts Cancun and Riviera Maya, is as safe as Finland. Oaxaca, Veracruz and Pueblo also exhibit low levels of crime, while Guerrero, with its capital Acapulco, remains one of the most dangerous, with a murder rate of more than 2100 people per year.

In addition to increasing expenditures on security, Pena Nieto promised to create a comprehensive security environment and grow confidence for travelers in the country by working on infrastracture and improving medical services.

Image Courtesy : World Economic Forum

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Once animals start getting involved in the crime of smuggling, you know things have gone bad. On New Year’s Day, a cat was caught carrying objects wrapped around its body with tape by an on-duty guard at the northern Brazilian prison, named Presídio Desembargador Luiz de Oliveira Souza (PDLOS). According to a statement, the contraband items included: a cell phone and charger, three batteries, a memory card, two drills for concrete, two saws, and an earphone.

The black and white feline felon made a conspicuous entrance as it crossed the main gate of the prison in Arapiraca, where it was first spotted. Alden Levine of CNN reported that local officials deem the confiscated items to be used to help the prisoners break free from jail. Possibly, the drills and saws could be used to dig tunnels, while the phone was to communicate with people outside the prison cells.

Attempting to escape prison walls is not unusual for Brazilian inmates. Just last month, Rafael Valadao, 28, attempted to be break free by crawling out of his cell via a drilled opening, only to have his upper body on one side of the hole, with his overweight belly on the other. In August, Sidney da Cruz, 24, and Carlos Pereira, 19, attempted to escape another prison disguised as garbage by hiding inside plastic trash bags.

After inspection, it was found that the cat is no stranger to the Alagoas jail, it has been witnessed coming in and out several times. According to Luiz de Oliveira Souza, prison officer, the cat has been raised by the inmates and very often, their relatives would take it home after a prison visit. The officer must have been impressed by this new escape tactic, training an animal so that it returned back to the prison while carrying items is a jackpot idea, although the attempt failed.

Currently, 263 inmates reside in the Brazilian prison located in the city of Arapiraca with a population equivalent to 215,000 people in the state of Alagoas. Local authorities have not put this case to rest and are still investigating all possible origins for this odd cat felony. The captured animal was taken to animal control.

Brazilian media reported that all detainees in the prison of Arapiraca are considered as suspects in this failed jailbreak plot. “It’s tough to find out who’s responsible for the action as the cat doesn’t speak,” a prison spokesperson told Estado de S.Paulo, a local paper.

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Since 2006, Mexico has witnessed a surge in violence and drug wars with more than 50,000 people dead and many more missing to this date. The death toll for Mexican journalists now stands at a shocking 80 and estimates suggest the number of deaths is even higher. Mexico is now ranked as the deadliest country in the world for journalists and the media. Every day, people are dying and the number is fast approaching 60,000.

Adrian Silva Moreno, a contributor to the Mexican newspaper Puntual, was gunned down in his car after he had reported a story surrounding gasoline thefts in the city of Tehuacan. According to witnesses, the gunmen opened fire and soon fled the scene of the crime. IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie said, “This latest, brazen killing, committed in broad daylight, is a testament to the mortal threat facing journalists in Mexico,” further adding to his comment, “How many reporters need to die before the country’s stakeholders realize that the appalling violence against the media is not only costing precious lives but also eating away at the foundations of free society?”

The stories are gruesome and terrifying. A magazine editor was ruthlessly beaten up in Oaxaca after he covered a story on government intimidation. A freelance journalist was mercilessly shot dead in his car, after covering a military operation. Regina Martinez Perez was a respected correspondent for the national magazine, Proceso, covering high-level corruption and politics. She was strangled to death in her apartment in Veracruz after being attacked by unknown assailants. Veracruz is one of Mexico’s most politically corrupt states and Regina had a dirty beat to cover.

The state government had many secrets to hide and government officials did nothing to aid in the investigation process. Instead, according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the state appeared to be fabricating a murder case against an innocent man. Journalists, outraged by the apathy shown by the officials, frankly stated that the truth was being covered up.

The rising number of attacks on journalists is attributed to former President Felipe Calderon after he assumed office in 2006 and launched a war on Mexico’s drug cartels. Since then, thousands of adults and children have gone missing and hundreds of families have been destroyed. Although, official statistics report only 25,000 people missing, the reality is harsher. Over 100,000 people have simply vanished and no one knows where.

Speaking out against the atrocities committed on the press in Mexico, Irina Bokova, Director-General of the UNESCO said in a news release, “It is essential that the perpetrators of this crime be brought to justice. Violence against journalists in Mexico has reached an intolerable level.”

Coverage of drug-related violence and organized crime, now only results in threats and intimidation. News coverage is being compromised and editors and journalists live in fear. Measures to protect journalists, has so far been a massive failure. Despite the horrors and lack of government support, journalism still exists in Mexico. Freedom of expression is every human being’s right and this right is being brutishly taken away from the people of Mexico each day. Although, drug cartels have a role to play in the increasing number of deaths, law enforcement officials are behind the ruthless attacks too. Press freedom is restricted and the government views the media as their supporter. Hence, the guilty have gotten away, scot-free.

With President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto having begun his six-year term on December 1, the people and the press are now hopeful that crimes against freedom of expression will end. It is now up to the new President to guarantee security for journalists and to hear the voices of the people of Mexico.

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Bogota, Colombia — Delta Partners, the leading TMT strategy consulting and investment firm in high growth markets, is proud to announce the opening of its latest office in Bogota, Colombia. This makes it the firm’s fifth office after Dubai, Johannesburg, Barcelona and Singapore. Its new Latin American headquarters will act as the hub from which to serve Delta Partners’ growing Latin American client base.

The office is located in the heart of Bogota’s financial and business district, and will be headed by Javier Alvarez, Managing Partner and co-founder of Delta Partners. Javier brings over 17 years of experience in telecommunications, media and technology in four continents. He has advised a wide range of leading companies in areas related to strategy development, commercial and financial turnarounds, and technology rollout. In addition, Javier has been involved in several of the largest telecom M&A and fund raising transactions globally.

Joining Javier in the management team is Daniel Torras, an Associate Partner with a wealth of experience in Latin America. Daniel has advised fixed, mobile, Pay TV and wholesale operators, as well as financial institutions, in countries including Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and the Caribbean.

“Latin America as a region represents a very attractive opportunity for Delta Partners. It represents close to 10% of the world’s telecom market value with a contribution of almost USD 150 billion in revenues,” says Javier Alvarez. “We chose Bogota as our regional headquarters due to its central location, prosperous economy, pool of talent available, and vibrant telecommunications market.”

As the region’s fifth largest telecom market, Colombia has spearheaded bringing broadband to rural and under-privileged segments through a combination of government initiatives such as Plan Vive Digital, which aims to grow internet penetration four-fold by 2014, as well as by issuing new telecommunications licenses and promoting private investment.

Similar initiatives are underway throughout Latin America, resulting in a flurry of investment in high speed broadband infrastructure like next-generation fiber networks, IPTV, 4G wireless internet technologies such as LTE, and advanced IT services for corporate clients. This is favoring the proliferation of converged multiple-play operators focused on serving the communications and entertainment needs of residential and business customers alike.

Such unprecedented level of activity, however, is not without risk.

“Adapting to the new order will demand the acquisition of functional and technical skills that most operators don’t have today,” stated Daniel Torras, “and the prioritization of investments to maximize returns. Having assisted telecom operators in many markets globally to navigate these challenges successfully, we are delighted to bring our experience to Colombia and the rest of Latin America. We are fully committed to the region and look forward to supporting our clients and business partners in this exciting arena.

To learn more, visit Delta Partners.

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Sao Paulo, Brazil – IBM announced the opening of its Natural Resources Industry Solutions Lab (NRIS Lab) in Sao Paulo to help mining, oil and gas companies use innovative technology to meet the operational, environmental and supply demands facing the industry today.

The new software development lab will be located in Sao Paulo but will have a national scope to service Brazil’s growing natural resources industry. The lab will be connected to a global network of labs and industry solution centers enabling teams to share knowledge and expertise with local clients.

The operations of NRIS Lab will be integrated with other existing local IBM facilities including IBM Research – Brazil, focusing on development; and the Natural Resources Solution Center, focusing on the development of solutions and interaction with clients.

Today there is greater demand than ever for natural resources, yet the availability of our planet’s natural reserves is dwindling. Cost cutting is maxed and prices, competition and risk keep rising. Natural resources companies are looking for greater visibility over their entire enterprise, insight into financial impact of operating decisions, and the ability to know, evaluate and respond in real time.

This lab, the first of its kind in Brazil, will focus on the development of automated solutions to help natural resources companies tackle these challenges.

“Making innovative technology rapidly available to help our clients is a key priority for IBM and this initiative is aligned with our strategy to strengthen this capability to help clients. We’ll combine technical and scientific potential to offer world-class projects as well as leveraging research, development and support from market specialists,” said Fabio Scopeta, director of Software Lab for IBM Brazil.

According to Ulisses Mello, Natural Resources Executive for IBM Research in Brazil, the project will help companies adopt state-of-the-art technologies already in place in foreign markets. “Operations will build on an environmental focus, intelligent resource extraction, real-time analytics and big data management for the collection of valuable data.”

“The goal is to enable technology-driven operations and leverage predictive analytics, helping companies improve their natural resource extraction capabilities,” says the executive. The initiative will make available to clients a comprehensive set of projects spanning the entire IBM portfolio, from consulting to development.

Natural Resources Solution Center (NRSC)

IBM established Natural Resources Solutions Centers (NRSC) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in March 2011 and Perth, Australia in June 2010 with the objective to help companies in the oil, gas and mining industries to speed up the adoption of innovative technology and business strategies.

NRSC works as a showcase of IBM solutions, where clients can experience hands-on demos of leading-edge technologies for the oil & gas and mining industries. The new Sao Paulo lab will focus on software R&D to create a specialized portfolio for this industry, which will be available at the NRSC in the form of demos.

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Rockville, U.S.A. — Two articles recently published in Malaria Journal shed new light on the quality of antimalarial medicines circulating in countries in the Amazon Basin in South America.

Researchers from the Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM) program, a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), in conjunction with country partners, coordinated these studies in the context of the Amazon Malaria Initiative (AMI).

“Though several studies in recent years have assessed the quality of antimalarial medicines circulating in Africa and Asia, there have been no comprehensive studies looking at the situation in the Americas,” said Patrick Lukulay, Ph.D., vice president of Global Health Impact Programs at USP and director of the PQM program.

“This region has been largely overlooked, perhaps because of a perception that substandard and counterfeit medicines pose less of a threat in these countries. However, the findings in one of the studies in which medicines were assessed in the private and informal sectors in two countries indicate that poor-quality medicines are indeed a serious concern for antimalarials. The data from the other study suggests that the systematic implementation of basic, rapid and low-cost quality testing helps in reducing the prevalence of poor-quality medicines on the market.”

The first study, Quality of Antimalarials Collected in the Private and Informal Sectors in Guyana and Suriname, assessed the quality of circulating antimalarial medicines in the private (licensed pharmacies, wholesalers and distributors) and informal (unlicensed shops and convenience stores) sectors.

No information was previously available about the quality of these medicines. Though antimalarials are usually distributed through public health facilities at no cost in these countries, the private and informal sectors thrive in Guyana and Suriname—particularly in the remote interior regions where the presence of public facilities is limited or nonexistent, and large populations of workers in the gold mining and logging industries live.

Buying from these facilities poses increased risk of access to and use of non-recommended treatments and/or poor-quality products, which can have serious repercussions on patients’ health.

In Guyana, 45 of 77 (58 percent) of antimalarial medicines were found to be of poor quality. Visual and physical inspection unveiled 30 failures and analytical tests revealed 18; a medicine failing more than one test was considered a single failed medicine. Visual and physical inspections provide valuable information about the physical appearance and labeling of medicines, and in many cases these inspections can detect counterfeit medicines.

Quality control tests assess critical quality attributes of a medicine, such as identity, content, impurities and dissolution, among others. Of particular concern was the proportion of monotherapy (single drug) treatments failing quality control tests in Guyana (43 percent).

This included a high failure rate for artesunate monotherapy, a treatment not recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for Plasmodium Falciparum malaria, the most common type of malaria in the interior of Guyana. WHO recommends artesunate combination therapy for Plasmodium Falciparum.

In Suriname, 86 percent of the samples collected were Artecom, and only this antimalarial was analyzed. All Artecom samples lacked a label claim for the content of one of the components—primaquine—which resulted in an automatic failure of visual and physical inspection. Inadequate labeling is problematic because it renders it impossible for patients to know the dosage of the medicine they are taking, which could lead to ineffective treatment.

Additionally, undeclared strength of primaquine poses a safety concern to individuals who are glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficient. This antimalarial medicine was also found in Guyana; it is not registered in the countries nor is part of their national treatment guidelines. All samples in Guyana and Suriname were collected between June and August 2009.

“These findings point to significant problems in the quality of antimalarials available in private and informal sector facilities in Guyana and Suriname,” said Lawrence Evans, Ph.D., the study’s lead author. “Besides the presence of medicines not included in the World Health Organization malaria treatment guidelines, the ease with which medications were procured without accurate diagnosis poses another major risk to patients’ safety.

In addition, this could have serious implications for the development of drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium parasites, particularly Falciparum, as novel treatments are not foreseeable in the near future.”

The second study, Implementation of Basic Quality Control Tests for Malaria Medicines in Amazon Basin Countries: Results for the 2005-2010 Period, looks at the quality of malaria medicines in seven South American countries over a five-year period. In this study, basic analytical tests were utilized as a rapid and low-cost screening mechanism to identify substandard or counterfeit medicines. Performing basic tests is the first stage in a quality control framework developed by PQM for use in developing countries.

From 2005 to 2010, the quality of a total of 1,663 malaria medicines sampled in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela was evaluated. The medicines sampled comprised all the therapies included in countries’ therapeutic guidelines, and were mostly collected from the public sector (1,445, or 86.9 percent).

In all, 193 (11.6 percent) were found not to meet quality specifications, of which only 51 (three percent) failed analytical tests; these values compare favorably with results reported for other regions of the world. None of the artemisinin derivatives failed basic analytical tests. Most failures were found during visual and physical inspections, and most of those were due to expired medicines.

Under the storage conditions prevailing in many of these areas (e.g., high temperatures and high humidity), medicines of good quality could degrade faster, and the risk of consuming degraded substandard medicines increases if utilized beyond their expiration date. The highest rates of expired products were found in Bolivia and Colombia, both of which addressed this problem by better controlling their inventory, and in subsequent years no expired medicines were reported in these countries. During 2009 and 2010 a dramatic decrease in poor-quality medicines was observed.

The authors also identified areas that need to be strengthened. This includes performing confirmatory testing, a critical component of the quality control framework proposed by PQM, which was not implemented thoroughly. These tests are performed at a qualified laboratory and utilize validated methodologies to assess compliance with quality specifications.

Basic analytical tests should be used for screening purposes, and need to be followed by confirmatory testing on subsets of the sampled medicines. In addition, sampling should include the private and informal sectors when these are prevalent. By not performing confirmatory testing methodically and/or assessing only the public sector, some poor-quality medicines may still go undetected.

Finally, the official medicine control laboratory and the medicines regulatory authority, both of which are crucial to ensuring proper execution of quality monitoring activities and prompt implementation of corrective actions, should always be included.

“This comprehensive study provides the first documented regional information on the quality of malaria medicines in the Americas. Of relevance is that all participating countries adopted the same methodology to assess the sampled medicines—something that has never been done before in this region,” said Victor Pribluda, Ph.D., lead author of the study.

“This is significant because use of consistent methodology promotes collaboration and exchange of information between countries, a hallmark of the holistic approach implemented by AMI to prevent and control malaria in the region.”

Image Courtesy of  Official U.S. Navy Imagery

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Venezuela is facing presidential elections on October. The race between Hugo Chavez and Henrique Capriles is close in the polls; who will win is still uncertain. These days, the biggest concern for the people of Venezuela is that if Capriles wins, will the losing current president Chavez step down peacefully from a position he has enjoyed for more than a decade, or will he resist and unleash a civil war?

President Chavez has accused Capriles of trying to provoke violence by campaigning in places where he knows Chavez has a lot of support. The accusations came after a march which Henrique Capriles did in La Vega, a poor district of Caracas, in which Capriles sympathizers got into a fight with Chavez supporters. The police intervened and Capriles was not allowed to finish the march.

In a military ceremony, President Chavez referred to Capriles recent actions and told the soldiers: “They are going to try to destabilize the country. I’ve been saying it and everybody should be alert.” Declarations like this are creating a very hostile environment while the country is just a few months away from the elections. Chavez insists that the incident which occurred in La Vega is evidence of Capriles destabilization plans, and the president added that Capriles plans should be neutralized.

Henrique Capriles has denied the accusations and stated: “I’m not walking Venezuela’s streets to fight with anybody.” So far the campaign has been peaceful, but there is a risk that it could turn violent in the final rounds. The opposition candidate knows that in order to win, he would need the support of the poor and the working-class so places such as La Vega are necessary campaign grounds for him.

Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington, expressed his fear that most of the country is exposed to, as he stated: “a risk that minor clashes between supporters of both camps could escalate and threaten social peace. The distrust is profound, and arms are plentiful.”

The elections are schedules for October 7 and Capriles campaign has been very intense. He has visited most of the country in his attempt to win over the population and Chavez out of the presidency, a position he has held since 1999. On the other hand because of his cancer treatment recovery, president Chavez  has barely begun campaigning, but still, he has stated that he is sure he will defeat Capriles. He recently made a political rally in the Venezuelan state of Zulia where he claims he congregated hundreds of thousands of people, and said that Capriles efforts would be in vain.

Image Courtesy of  Spanner Dan

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El Salvador, a small country in Central America, is facing a Constitutional Crisis caused by a power struggle between the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court.

The crisis started this year when FMLN (the left party that won the presidential elections in 2009) in an alliance with minority parties attempted to rush through the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court before the new National Assembly (in which FMLN had lost legislative majority) took office in May.

This in not the first time  this has happened in El Salvador. In 2006 when the right wing party ARENA had legislative majority, they did the same thing, electing judges twice in the same legislative period.

The Constitutional Court in June ruled that the 2006 and 2012 elections were unconstitutional and ordered new elections for 15 judges and their alternates. The Constitutional Court clearly stated that it is unconstitutional for an outgoing legislature to name justices to serve under the next session.

Despite this, the National Assembly was not willing to accept this verdict; they appealed to the Regional Central American Court of Justice, even though it has no authority to decide on El Salvador’s constitutional questions, which ruled  in favor of the National Assembly.

This led to several protests from the different organizations of the civil society that organized themselves in a movement called #Yomevistodeblanco (I dress myself in white) to express their indignation for the National Assembly’s actions against the Supreme Court.

Even with all the pressure, FMLN and the allied parties are not willing to repeal the judge’s election and stated that the Regional Central American Court of Justice has authority to decide over El Salvador’s constitutional matters.

This Monday a syndicalist group took over the Supreme Court building to guarantee that, although their election has been declared illegal by the Constitutional Court, the judges elected by the General Assembly were able to take office. The new judges elected by the General Assembly even had to use a locksmith to open the President of the Supreme Court office and some other areas of the building. The police officers that were near the area did not do anything to try to stop these actions.

The newly elected by the General Assembly, but declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court, president of the Supreme Court, Ovidio Bonilla, was presented to a group of people by the president of the National Assembly Sigfrido Reyes (FMLN) and other members of the National Assembly from political party allies of FMLN.

ARENA is the only political party that is against the National Assembly election of the judges and supports the Constitutional Court rulings that declared the 2006 and 2012 elections unconstitutional, even though in the 2006 election they were the ones who had legislative majority. They recently announced they don’t recognize Ovidio Bonilla as the president of the Supreme Court, based on the Constitutional Court’s Ruling.

The US Senate is also concerned with El Salvador’s situation. The Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio said that the United States does not have the obligation to continue collaborating with a country that is violating its own Constitution and its own laws, which were achieved by the Salvadorian people with great sacrifice. The Senator warned that they have to check their help programs, like the Millennium Challenge Account from which El Salvador has received more than $400 million, because they are only intended for countries that are achieving progress in their democracies.

The situation is critical, with two separate groups of judges claiming to be the country’s lawful Supreme Court, but only one is the legitimate one; the Salvadorian crisis is similar to the one suffered in Nicaragua when the Sandinistas took over the Supreme Court.

Image Courtesy of   MINEX GUATEMALA

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London, England — GSMA Latin America have announced the commitment of the main mobile network operators (MNOs) in Latin America to collaborate with the regional governments in initiatives designed to reduce mobile phone theft and related crime. This voluntary initiative of GSM MNOs will allow the sharing of stolen mobile device information in order to block stolen devices and make their trafficking and reuse across the region more difficult.

At a meeting of the Chief Regulatory Officers Group for Latin America (CROG Latin America), public affairs representatives of the regional MNOs agreed on the steps to start exchanging stolen handset information via the GSMA’s IMEI Database. The agreement implies the information shared between MNOs be used to identify devices reported as stolen from users to ensure they are recognised and eventually blocked subject to local regulations.

Javier Delgado, Chair of the CROG Latin America, highlighted that: “This joint effort by all regional operators to be part of this initiative will help regulators in our countries to face and address this scourge.”

This coordinated action by mobile operators is already showing results in Central America, where industry and telecommunications regulators in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama are aligning their efforts to facilitate the identification and blocking of stolen devices. “The idea is to build upon the experience of collaboration between telecom operators and governments carried out in Central America and expand it country-by-country throughout the region over the next six months,” said Delgado.

The creation by the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) of the Regional Front to Fight against the Theft of Mobile Terminal Devices was a key element of the resolution approved in 2011 by CITEL during the meeting of the Advisory Committee (CCPI).  Among the proposals of this resolution, it recommended: ‘Regulating at the regional level the exchange of black-listing databases and blocking their unique identification codes (IMEI) to prevent the activation and use of cell phones stolen in other markets and helping to control illegal trafficking of devices among the region’s countries’.

“Sharing of information via the global IMEI Database is an important collaborative step that our member MNOs are willing to take and is also proof of how public and private sectors can work together to address specific issues of concern to society and governments,” emphasised Sebastian Cabello, GSMA Latin America Director. “While information sharing can help to reduce crime, it is essential to explore and adopt other measures to ensure appropriate detection, prosecution and punishment of such crimes.”

GSMA member operators that are committed to connect to the stolen handset database and to implement measures to block stolen terminals in all countries where they operate in Latin America are:America Movil, Antel, Cable & Wireless Panama, Corporacion Digitel, Entel Bolivia, Entel Chile,  ICE, Tigo Colombia, Nextel/NII Holdings, Nuevatel PCS Bolivia, Orange Dominican Republic, Telecom Italia and Telefonica.

The agreement, full implementation of which is expected to conclude in March 2013, covers more than 500 million mobile connections throughout the region. The GSMA will continue working to promote the adoption of these guidelines to all GSMA member companies in Latin America through the signing of memorandum of understandings among operators on a country-by-country basis.

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This past June 22, socialist Fernando Lugo, who was the Paraguayan President, was displaced by the Senate after this year’s chamber did an impeachment due to his apparently poor work. Thirty-nine senators voted for his displacement, four against and two remained neutral. Therefore, he also lost the backup from his own party deputies. Now, the question is whether or not this movement was legal.

Lugo, who was the man who finished with the 61 year mandate of the Colorado Party in Paraguay, did not have a pleasant term, since he was disputed since the beginning of his legislature. He followed a similar term as his Ecuador and Venezuela homologues, which was not well accepted by the Paraguayan politics caste. What politicians did not like was the fact that Lugo gave more rights to the Guarani population. The scandal of having a child during his term as a Catholic bishop also did not help Lugo’s reputation. The detonation took place on June 15, when 17 Paraguayans died in the eviction of a field that was taken by peasants.

Citizens reactions to Lugo’s removal was to go to the street to complain about this fact, which some saw as a coup d’etat. Around 10,000 Paraguayans went to the Vice president’s headquarters in order to protest. However, it is not just citizens who saw this chess move as illegal. Some countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela have also described Lugo’s removal as a coup d’etat. The reprisal did not take long to come: Paraguay was sent out off the Mercosur, the group that regulates Latin American’s market.

However, there are some voices that claim Lugo’s removal was constitutional. In fact, the Paraguayan Constitution guarantees that the president can be removed by the Senate. Therefore, it was a sovereign decision. According to Forbes journalist, Thor Halvorssen, “since there was no violence or coercion involved in the ousting of Lugo, it was not a coup d’état.” Halvorssen also reminds readers in his article that Paraguay’s constitution article 225 gives Congress the power to remove the President under certain circumstances. Then, on June 21, the Senate formally accused President Lugo for a poor performance of his duties, which led to Lugo’s removal.

Lugo’s dismissal process just took 48 hours. He called himself an “express coup d’etat.” He lost all of his support in a day and a half. However, it seems that his removal was being prepared since 3 years ago. A diplomatic cable from the United States revealed by Wikileaks says that Paraguayan right wing was conspiring and preparing this impeachment since long time ago.

Former president Lugo has recently been interviewed by the Bolivian newspaper “El Deber de Bolivia.” He said there that the impeachment that he went through could be compared to Jesus Christ’s judgment. “It would be presumptuous to compare myself with Jesus, but there is some similarity, right? I ended up not crucified, but following his teachings, I more or less went through to a similar process than he did, “said Lugo.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez threatened Paraguay with cutting their fuel supply, which represents 30% of the entire country’s supply. However, according to Petropar chief, Sergio Escobar, the Venezuelan company will not cut its regular shipments of fuel to Paraguay.

It is the second time in the last lustrum where a President was displaced by controversial means. First, it was Honduran President Celaya dismissal, which opened a dangerous record on history, since it captured the idea that citizen’s decisions are a lower priory compared to those from politicians. Now it was Paraguay’s turn.

There will be elections in Paraguay in April 2013. There were some rumors that said these could take place earlier, but the OEA has said that elections will take place in April, and that Federico Franco will remain as President until they take place.

Image Courtesy of Marcello Casal Jr./Agência Brasil (Agência Brasil) [CC-BY-3.0-br], via Wikimedia Commons

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The Venezuelan electoral campaign for the October 7 elections have just begun. This will be one of the most watched elections since Hugo Chavez came to power 12 years ago. After this long term mandate, President Chavez will again be the United Socialist Party of Venezuela party candidate.

Chavez, who has been in power during two consecutive legislatures, will have the chance to become President for the third time in a row, something that was not possible before 2009 when the amendment that precluded mandates longer than two legislatures was erased.

The other main option for Venezuelans is the one led by the Democratic Unity Roundtable, a political party coalition that was formed in January 2008, to unify the opposition to President Chavez in the Venezuelan parliamentary elections.

The DUR head is Henrique Capriles, but there are other strong figures within the party, such as the independent deputy Maria Corina Machado.

Chavez, age 57, who is still recovering from his cancer, made an speech in the Maracay city to his voters. “In the next 100 days, the next 100 years in Venezuela are going to be decided” said Chavez, who is already campaigning.

Chavez speech was loyal to his style. He made a call against bourgeoisie, and his anti-Americanism feeling came once more to appearance: “We just need ten million votes to hit on the bourgeoisie and give them their final knockout. A knockout that will also hit to the North American Empire.” He also appealed to their voters to spread Chaves’ words in order to get more votes.

According the Consulters 21, Vice President, Saul Cabrera, surveys say that President Chavez counts with the 45,9% vote intention. In the other side, surveys says that 45,8% of voters will go for Henrique Capriles, who is having a better reputation as days passes by.

But the DUR opposition party does not give up, despite what surveys says. In fact, they do not pay too much attention to them, and say that these surveys are made to discourage and demobilize the opposition.

DUR also blames Chavez for having a totally dominated society, an slavery country. “But this country has opened their eyes,” said Maria Corina Machado to Spanish ABC. “Venezuela needs investors and trust, and that is what Capriles represents,” said Corina Machado, who also remembered that Chavez can not rule a country due to his health state.

Candidate Capriles wrote a column for a Venezuelan newspaper that blamed Chavez for “keep on talking about the same as 12 years and blaming others instead of looking at himself.”

The five states that have more voters according to the final Electoral Register, are Zulia, Miranda, Capital District, Carabobo and Lara, from which four of them are run by governors of the opposition.

Zulia (2,334,529 voters), Miranda (1,950,657), Carabobo (1,516,240) and Lara (1,197,690), which represents 37% of voters nationwide, are the states where opposition governs. Capital District ranks third, with 1,608,976 voters.

Image Courtesy of    ervega

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The PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto has been elected the new Mexican President. According to the examination of the votes Nieto got between 37.9% and 38.5% of the votes against 30.9% and 31.8% that the left wing candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has reached. The right wing aspirant Josefina Vázquez Mota got 25.4% of the votes.

With these results, PRI is back in power after the 12 year period that the PAN conservative party has ruled in Mexico. Around 49 million Mexicans voted on Sunday 30th to make this change, that will bring the PRI back to power. The PRI ruled for 71 years in a row, from 1929 up to 2000.

Peña Nieto became the new Mexican president minutes after the provisional score was made public: “I take with great emotion and a great sense of commitment and full responsibility the mandate Mexicans have granted me today,” Peña Nieto told the citizens that were waiting for his speech.

The new president made an ambitious speech where he remembered that the PRI’s victory is the one from the entire Mexican population: “…I reiterate what I have already said in this very hall during the campaign; whoever does not show a firm commitment to democracy, personal liberties and transparency, has no place in this project to transform Mexico. We are a new generation. We will not return to the past. My government will have its eyes set on the future. Mexico has already changed.”

Peña Nieto’s strongest points during the campaign have been priority for economic growth, job creation and the alleviation of poverty across Mexico. He also promised to pay attention to social issues, to continue the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime, and also to recovery their hegemony in Latin America.

This 2012 Mexican election has been wrapped in controversy since its beginning until its end. Political opposition and citizens in social media have complained during the last months about how unfair elections were, due to the money that PRI has spent during the elections and the media support they received. They accused PRI for spending almost double the top money allowed that the electoral law establishes for the elections.

Today the polemic is different. The final count will not be done until this Wednesday, so the left wing candidate Lopez Obrador has not accepted PRI’s victory, despite the fact that the results seem pretty clear. He said that until the final count takes place they cannot recognize anyone as the new President. Therefore, his attitude leaves the country in a political limbo. Lopez Obrador, started his speech at the same time as the former President Felipe Calderon was congratulating the new President. Lopez Obrador said that “last word has not been yet said, we will have to wait until the entire scrutiny is finished to recognize the PRI victory”.

According to different journalist, the PRI has won due to some factors such as good organization during the elections, Peña Nieto’s telegenic image, and the calls for democracy that he has been making, as long as the deception that the PAN has resulted for the last legislature.

Former President Felipe Calderon did not solve the drug trafficking problem, which has led his party to become the third most popular after the PRI and the left PM. During Calderon’s presidency, beginning in 2006, more than 55,000 citizens have been murdered.

Image Courtesy of  Enrique Peña Nieto

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Port-Au-Prince, Haiti — Solar streetlights are being installed throughout Haiti as part of an innovative program that aims to catalyze the decentralization of government services. The Minister of Interior and the Collectivities, Thierry Mayard Paul, has launched a program to mount lights in towns such as Leogane, St Marc, Miragoane, and Ft. Liberte that will soon expand throughout Haiti. Under the auspices of Katye Pam Poze, the installation has brought light for the first time to town squares, marketplaces and streets in a country where most citizens have no regular access to electricity.

Minister Mayard Paul says that the Katye Pam Poze program “aims to improve the living conditions of thousands of Haitians through simple, inexpensive measures. My intention is to continue until the town squares in at least one city in each of Haiti’s ten departments are lit at night.”

Haiti suffers from the lowest coverage in the Western Hemisphere where barely 12.5% of the population has regular access to electricity. The country has an installed capacity of only 270 watts and nearly all of it is generated by three large thermal plants. Alternative energy sources in Haiti have been contemplated for several years and more so following the January 12, 2010 earthquake.

Citizens in the towns where the lights were installed claim that they feel much safer at night. A man in Leogane whose motorcycle broke down on the very night the lamps were being installed said, “thanks to the lights the mechanics were able to work very late to fix my bike in a zone that was long considered very unsafe.”

Local officials are also pleased with the arrival of the lamps. According to Alexis Santos, the Mayor Leogane, “the lights allow residents to frequent areas that they had rarely visited at night because they were so unsafe.”

Haiti is not alone, similar solar lighting projects are being tried the world over. In India the government has installed solar lamps in 54 villages throughout the country. More recently the Mexican government installed solar lamps just in time for a major international gathering. Solar lamps have proven to be an effective way to respond quickly to citizens who have both energy and safety issues affecting their quality of life.

Image Courtesy of  arindambanerjee / Shutterstock.com

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Colbun has decided to stop work on the $3.2 billion HidroAysen dam in the southern Patagonia region of Chile due to worldwide opposition. Colbun claims that before the project can move from the planning stage to the construction stage, Chile’s government must come up with an energy strategy that has wide support.

The dam would supposedly provide a third of Chile’s electricity, mainly to copper mines and the capital city of Santiago. The project would include five dams across two rivers in a highly remote region that would flood 15,000 acres of land. Protesters claim the dam would destroy valuable natural environment including famous ice fields, glaciers, mountains, and fjords.

Laguna San Rafael National Park would also be destroyed and thirteen different endangered species would be threatened, including the Huemul, an Andean deer. The protestors also oppose the power lines that would have to be put up to get the power to the necessary regions and cities.

Colbun is only the minority holder of the project with Endesa, a Spanish-owned company, possessing fifty-one percent of the project. Endesa is still planning to continue with the project as of now. Chile claims that Colbun’s request for an energy strategy is ridiculous because Chile’s government already has a new plan out this year. According to the BBC, this disagreement could halt the project for years.

Thousands of protesters across Chile have protested the dam since a supreme court decision allowed the project to continue. The protesters claim that in addition to the environmental threats the dam is also mainly for the benefit of mining companies, not for the average consumer.

Chile is the world’s top copper produce and many of the mining companies in the region, such as Codelco and BHP Billiton are planning $100 billion expansions. These expansions mean that Chile will have to double its energy production

President Sebastian Pinera, the first conservative president of Chile since the reinstatement of democracy in 1990, says that he supports the project because it will help reduce Chile’s 96% dependence on foreign oil; however, his support has been falling in the polls.

Colbun may wait until Pinera is voted out of office in the 2014 elections because his approval rating is so low, at 24% in April 2012, that they are worried it will hurt the reputation of their company and the project. Instead Colbun believes that waiting until the next president will probably result in less opposition. Whether or not they are correct is up for speculation.

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On Monday May 21, 2012, protests continued against a mine in the Espinar province in Peru near Cusco. Protestors claim the Tinaya copper mine, owned by Swiss company Xstrata, is contaminating the water supply of two rivers and dozens of animals have become sick. Additionally, workers claim the company is giving too low an amount of royalties to the local government.

The Catholic Church commissioned a test of the rivers in August and September of 2010 that showed high levels of arsenic, copper, mercury and other heavy metals in the soil and water. Local priest Luciano Ibba claimed, “the people are incensed for all that has happened. The situation is extremely volatile.”

Protestors have acted with violence, injuring at least 30 police officers. According to reports, protestors have thrown stones at the police, set fire to a pasture and destroyed government vehicles. The government claims that police were forced to discharge their weapons on protestors to protect their own lives. It has not been confirmed whether the two deaths of protestors resulted from the police opening fire or the violent nature of the protests.

During the state of emergency, freedom of assembly is suspended and police are given special powers for thirty days. This is the second state of emergency declared for anti-mining protests in the short 10-month presidency of Ollanta Humala. Humala, considered a protector of rural people and a defender of private investment, has recently been critiqued for being too quick to rely on authoritarian tactics to restore order.

At least 24 protestors have been arrested since the state of emergency was declared. One of the activists, Herbert Huaman, is the president of the Front for the Defense of Espinar and was arrested for encouraging more protests. Shortly before his arrest, Huaman said on television, “President Humala, you have been a social crusader, but now you have forgotten, brother, come and converse with us and resolve this problem yourself.”

Another individual who has been arrested is Oscar Mollohuanca, mayor of the Espinar Province. Mollohuanca originally went into hiding but was arrested May 30, 2012 for inciting violence and using public funds to pay for the protests. Mollohuanca claims the charges were “surely handed down because of pressure from above, because what we have here at play are big interests from, for example, mining companies.”

Similar violations of civil liberties were declared in the northern province of Cajamarca last December when civilians protested the building of a gold mine, the Conga mine, by the American-owned company Newmont Mining Co. The project was meant to be one of the biggest mining projects in Peru but locals were unsatisfied with the environmental repercussions. President Humala has suggested the company preserve two of the four lakes it was planning to destroy and create reservoirs for the local water supply. Now the project is on hold while the developers consider whether the added cost of following these suggestions is worth the mine.

However, not everyone is against the creation of these mines. Whereas the rural population of Peru is against these projects that threaten the environmental stability of their homes, most urban Peruvians support them. Just as protests were expected to resume in the Cajamarca region following the protests in Espinar, another protest began on May 29, 2012, in favor of the Conga mine. Many urban Peruvians are pro-development and are looking forward to the associated investments and economic gains from the project. Mining accounts for about 60% of Peru’s export income, but it has alienated the highland peasants due to the frequent contamination of water supply. Consequently, much of Peru has become polarized due to this issue.

Image Courtesy of  meunierd / Shutterstock.com

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Brazil has recently announced the creation of its National Truth Commission to investigate the human rights abuse committed by the military dictatorship that existed from 1946 to 1988. During this dictatorship almost five hundred people were killed or disappeared and several thousand were arrested, exiled, or tortured. Since then the government has compensated citizens for missing family members, but many claim this is not enough.

Current President Dilma Rousseff created the Commission after passing a law this year. The Truth Commission will investigate for two years; a panel of seven people were sworn in by President Rousseff on 16 May 2012. The members of the Truth Commission include Jose Carlos Dias (former justice minister of Brazil), Gilson Dipp (Supreme Court judge), Rosa Maria Cardoso da Cunha (lawyer), Claudio Fonteles (former attorney general), Paulo Sergio Pinheiro (UN diplomat), Maria Rita Kehl (psychoanalyst), and Jose Cavalcante Filho (jurist).

Rousseff herself was arrested during the military dictatorship as a left-wing guerilla. She was tortured and jailed for three years.

International rights groups such as Amnesty International and the International Center for Transitional Justice have praised the creation of the Truth Commission. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay has called the creation of the Truth Commission “a necessary and very hopeful step.”

Rousseff herself stated that “Brazil deserves the truth, new generations deserve the truth, and – above all – those who lost friends and relatives and who continue to suffer as if they were dying again each day deserve the truth.” Although Rousseff passed the law that created the Truth Commission she emphasized that it is not an initiative of the government but of the state of the whole, including past administrations and the people of Brazil. At the swearing in ceremony for the Truth Commission Rousseff was accompanied by the four previous presidents of Brazil since democracy was re-established in 1985.

However several people have criticized the creation of the Truth Commission as an attempt to get revenge. Many retired military officers are upset about the allegations that may arise and have announced that they are planning to create a “shadow commission” that will counter any accusations.

An amnesty law passed in 1979 and upheld in a Supreme Court decision in 2010 guarantees that any military officials or left-wing guerillas would not be prosecuted for crimes. This is disappointing for many of the relatives of victims who wish to see justice served. Many international rights groups, although encouraged by the creation of this commission, wish to see Brazil repeal this law so that arrests and prosecutions would occur.

Many also worry that, although the Truth Commission will be investigating these crimes, they may not fully publicize the information or may be denied access to some files. However, a new Access to Information Law ensures that the human rights abuse information cannot be classified, which means that state archives will be open for the first time.

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South America is facing the worst wave of press censorship since the authoritarian military dictatorships of the 1970′s. Several leaders of Latin American countries have introduced mechanisms to censor the freedom of speech and freedom of the press of their citizens.

Journalists working for media organizations are protected under article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “Freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers.” This is a fundamental right that gives the ability to have opinions and write about them without having to worry about whether journalists will get into trouble for what they believe.

However, some countries are taking a step backward in regard to free speech, especially in Latin America. According to FORO Nacional Internacional, “Repression and open threats have come from national and sub-national governments and even from criminal organizations. Moreover, the persistence of such pressures often results in media self-censorship, as they abstain from disseminating political views that are critical of powerful government or private interests.”

Human Rights Watch published last year how Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez undermined journalistic freedom of speech. Chavez officially removed the licenses of 32 private radio stations and 2 television channels in 2009 for “technical and administrative reasons.”

Nicaragua is the best example of the reasons behind the desire to limit freedom of speech in many Latin American countries. President Daniel Ortega has forced all private media companies to join a guild that is associated with his Sandinista Party, but few media businesses are still resisting Ortega’s proposal. Ortega limits what type of information is received by his citizens.

Freedom of expression is fragile in Colombia because it is threatened by state and non-state factions, such as the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) guerrilla group and the “Black Eagles,” a paramilitary band.

Catalina Botero, special rapporteur for freedom of expression at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), said to a newspaper in 2010 that “death threats, stigmatization, and spying on journalists by state agencies had led the country to a red alert status.”

Reporters Without Borders (RWB) cited that four journalists have been killed since the start of 2010 in Colombia in connection with their journalistic work. RWB mentioned that, in 2011, the Black Eagles made a campaign threatening the life of five journalists: Hollman Morris (Contravía), Daniel Coronell (Univisión), Marcos Perales (Portada), Claudia Julieta (Radio Nizkor), and Eduardo Márquez, the president of the Colombian Federation of Journalists (FECOLPER). These professionals media activities were spied on and hacked by Colombia’s leading intelligence agency and the Administrative Department of Security which involved the Colombian President Álvaro Uribe with this scandal.

Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries to work as a journalist. Despite the fact that Mexican President Felipe Calderón promised a number of international press monitors in 2010 and a new program to guarantee safety conditions for journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) found that these measures did not work.

According to the CPJ, seven journalists and one media worker were killed in 2011. A total of 80 journalists have been murdered since 2000, and 14 have disappeared since 2003. Even social media as an alternative for journalists to shed light on democracy is threatened by Mexican cartels. For instance, social media journalist Macías Castro was killed last year for her anonymous story on the drug war through social media.

Cuba does not let any independent press operate outside the control of the state. The official media (one television channel, one radio station and two dailies are the official channels to serve propaganda for the regime with just a few Catholic magazines being tolerated. Many Cuban journalists have been forced to publish from Miami and Spain against the regimen.

In general, by monitoring the media, the South American governments have control over all aspects of their citizens’ lives. Governments are able to stop any reports that show the real facts of politicians and is even capable of getting the media to publish false election results to keep the status quo. Censorship is a tyranny mechanism whose practice limits the freedom of speech instead of promoting a real democracy in Latin America.

Image Courtesy of  The Israel Project

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Each and every year conditions for journalists are getting more dangerous. So far this year, 44 journalists have been killed, making the year of 2012 potentially the deadliest year for journalists since the International Press Institute began tracking such deaths in 1997, according to the Neiman Journalism Lab. As of May 16^th there is one more journalist to be added to that list: Honduran Radio Journalist, Ángel Alfredo Villatoro.

Villatoro was found dead Tuesday night on a sidewalk in the city of Tegucigalpa. He had a red handkerchief covering his face and was dressed as a special operations police officer at the time he was discovered. He had been kidnapped from his car on May 9^th and had been shot in the head twice, according to police reports.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, also known as the CPJ, Honduran President Porfirio Lobo told journalists that the kidnappers had sent a “proof of life” video with images of Villatoro. However, it was later found out that the images were from Saturday, according to news reports. “News accounts said the journalist’s family had received a demand for ransom. Héctor Ivan Mejía, spokesman for the national police, told  journalists there were many possible theories but that nothing was confirmed and that police would continue to investigate.”

Police are suspecting that the murder of Villatoro was a result of a drug gang retaliation on the government from the recent crackdown on drug cartels. Security Minister Pompeyo made a statement to a local TV station saying, “(Drug gangs) are trying to frighten Honduran society.”

There is good reason for the government to be cracking down on local drug gangs  as Honduras is becoming increasingly used as a transit route to smuggle cocaine from South America into the United States. According to Gustavo Palencia, a reporter with the Huffington Post, “Honduras has the world’s highest murder rate – more than 80 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants last year.”

Police are continuing to investigate the murder of the beloved journalist, but have found no leads for a suspect thus far.

Villatoro was a prominent and well-know Director and radio personality for HRN radio, one of Honduras’s oldest and most listened to radio stations. As the investigation continues, those that loved him most, want to see justice served for the sake of Villatoro and his loved ones.

“We are saddened by the death of journalist Ángel Alfredo Villatoro and send our condolences to his friends, family, and colleagues,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Honduran authorities must fully investigate this crime and bring those responsible to justice. The deadly cycle of violence against journalists and impunity for these crimes is endangering freedom of expression in Honduras.”

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There have been several episodes of drug war violence in Mexico in recent months, however, it seems that the episodes are escalating as with the most recent one, which took the lives of 49 people who had been brutally killed and left in a public place.

The bodies were found in the city of San Juan on a non-toll highway that connects Monterrey in northern Mexico to the U.S. border at around 4 a.m. Sunday morning. Of the bodies found, 43 of them were men and the rest were women.

Federal police officers immediately shut down the highway and according to Nuevo Leon state Attorney General Adrian de la Garza, speculation ensued that it was indeed an act connected to the ongoing drug war. He stated that organized crime groups often make very public body dumps with multiple victims as warnings to their rivals, however he did not want to rule out the possibility that the victims were U.S.-bound migrants, according to The Guardian.

What is leading citizens of the area and federal officers to believe that this was a drug related war, according to Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene, is that “a banner left at the site bore a message with the Zetas drug cartel taking responsibility for the massacre.” According to Domene, “the fact the bodies were found with the heads, hands and feet cut off will make identification difficult. The bodies were being taken to Monterrey for DNA tests.”

Attorney General De La Garza believes that the victims could have been killed up to two days ago and then transported to San Juan, however, there is no evidence to support this at this time.

According to the Associated Press, these are the most recent episodes of drug war violence in Mexico alone:

• May 9: Police find 18 dismembered bodies close to Mexico’s second-largest city, Guadalajara.
• May 5: The bodies of 23 people are found hanging from a bridge or decapitated and dumped near city hall in the border city of Nuevo Laredo.
• April 17: Police find the mutilated bodies of 14 men in a minivan abandoned in downtown Nuevo Laredo, along with a message from an undisclosed drug gang.
• April 12: The tortured and bound bodies of seven men are dumped in the Pacific port city of Lazaro Cardenas along with messages signed by allies of the Sinaloa drug cartel.
• March 18: Gunmen ambush and kill 12 police officers who had been sent to Guerrero state to search for the bodies of 10 people whose severed heads were found earlier.

The war is worsening between the Mexican drug cartels as they fight over who controls the local drug markets and smuggling routes into the United States, and unfortunately, innocent lives are being brutally lost as a result of three things, money, greed and power.

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Phoenix, U.S.A. – Everything big starts out small. Thousands of people in Haiti without access to clean drinking water will understand that in a tangible way very soon. Recently, Ethan Wolfe, a 6 year-old Phoenix boy heard that people in Haiti had to drink “dirty water” every day and asked his family what they could do about it.

And in the span of about one month, more than 4,600 people filled emptied water bottles with dollar bills and change as part of the Dirty Water campaign at Palmcroft Baptist Church. The “Dirty Water fasting” campaign asked people to drink nothing but water for a month and donate the money they would have paid during that time for coffee, soda, juices and other drinks. The most recent count puts the “dirty water” collection at over $105,000.

The original campaign goal was to raise $25,000, but the response from the Phoenix community has been overwhelming. “The efforts to bring clean water can be appreciated by everyone across our entire community regardless of generation, gender or grade,” said Jeff Wolfe, pastor at Palmcroft Baptist Church and father of the kindergartener who inspired the challenge to make a difference.

100% of funds raised will go toward clean water projects for the poorest of the poor through Palmcroft’s partner, LiquidWater.com. To date, Liquid Water has brought over 45 communities sustainable clean water solutions in countries such as Haiti, Ethiopia and El Salvador.

On average, $5,000 builds a well for a community of 400 that will bring clean safe drinking water for 20 years. The campaign funds will be used to establish over a dozen new wells and accompanying clean water projects in the Haiti region in 2012 and 2013.

Since the start of the Dirty Water campaign on April 5, several community organizations have indicated interest in self-organizing into a coalition of support for even more projects in the immediate future. “The best part of what we have been able to do with the Palmcroft community is that it has become more than just basic fundraising. We’re excited to see a movement organizing in Phoenix to potentially produce 12-months of support for water projects around the world,” said Rich Birch, vice-president of LiquidWater.com

The World Health Organization reports that about 760 million people do not have a choice but to use unsafe water with poor sanitation, which kills more people than all forms of violence, including war.

“On our own, we would have been able to raise $20,000-$25,000 for the cause. But partnering with Liquid Water to empower the greater Phoenix area has allowed us to raise in excess of $100,000 to date. It is exciting to know the impact our community will have for thousands of people in Haiti for years to come,” said Wolfe.

And in the end, Ethan, the kindergartener who started it all was not pivotal for his inspiration only. His own personal fundraising campaign results?  Over $5,700 – enough for an entire water well. Everything big does start small indeed.

Image Courtesy of  arindambanerjee / Shutterstock.com

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Washington, U.S.A. - Latino leaders from across the United States gathered to announce that they are taking on Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, by exposing the alleged predatory, monopolistic practices with which he has amassed his fortune.

The growing coalition point to the fact that Mr. Slim’s wealth has come at a huge cost to the people of Mexico and that his business practices have crippled economic development in Mexico and throughout Latin America.

“We have come together to speak out on behalf of the people in Mexico and Latin America who do not have recourse to speak out for themselves,” said Juan Jose Gutierrez, one of the coalition leaders and affiliated with Vamos Unidos USA.

“Carlos Slim’s monopolistic practices have imposed significant costs to the Mexican economy and burdened the people of Mexico and Latin America. We are exposing his abusive practices so that the harm he has caused can be rectified and that those who might throw praise and honor at this man might know the truth.”

In the first of many planned actions, Two Countries One Voice announced it was calling on George Washington University to sever ties with Carlos Slim and demanded that George Washington University officials disinvite him from the graduation commencement ceremonies on the National Mall and revoke his honorary degree.

Two Countries One Voice will announce additional actions against other American institutions and corporations with strong ties to Slim in the coming weeks.

“It would be a travesty for a respected American institution like George Washington University to honor a man who is a modern day robber baron. His empire has helped keep millions in poverty while he has lined his own pockets,” said Andres Ramirez, one of the coalition leaders who is based in Nevada. “We can not ignore how Slim has made his billions and this is why our first action is to call on George Washington University to sever ties with him immediately.”

Carlos Slim’s power and fortune is made up primarily from his monopoly in the Mexican telecommunications system.  According to the independent and highly respected Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Slim’s company, America Movil, which controls 80% of the total Mexican telecom, cell and internet industries, charges exorbitant prices and provides inadequate services.

Their report also shows that Mexico’s phone industry dominated by Slim’s companies’ overcharged customers a total of $13.4 billion a year for basic telephone and Internet service from 2005 to 2009.  The OCED report points out that those specifically and most profoundly affected by these business practices are rural and poor communities.

Last week, Slim and his company admitted to overcharging under pressure from a proposed one billion dollar fine. The Mexico’s CFC (Federal Competition Commission) had unanimously ruled that one of Slim’s companies, Telcel, holds too much power. Earlier this year the antitrust agency also served Telcel close to a billion dollar fine for “monopoly practices.”

The impact of Carlos Slim’s monopoly has resulted in Mexico ranking LAST in public investment in telecommunications compared with the 33 other OECD countries while Slim’s company Telemex had a profit margin of 47% - one of the highest of the OECD countries.

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Five of the 10 most dangerous cities in the world are located in Mexico according to a recent study published at the beginning of the year by the Mexican research group Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Pública y la Justicia Penal (Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice).

The study shows that 45 of the 50 cities most violent in the world are in South America and 19 between Mexico and Central America. Five Mexican cities, Torreon, Chihuahua, Acapulco, Juarez and Durango, are in the top 10 most dangerous cities in the world. The Honduran city of San Pedro Sula claimed the unfortunate honor as most dangerous on the list. This position is not surprising since Honduras is a transit country for the majority of cocaine smuggled out of South America. The list also includes American cities such as New Orleans (21st), Detroit (30th), and St. Louis (41st).

Kidnapping, killings, rape and armed robberies are common in Latin-America. In many of these countries, public life is almost paralyzing from the fear of being hit by a stray bullet or being kidnapped.

Jose Cunha, a native Brazilian, explained that, compared to Europe, an everyday routine like going to a cash point to withdraw money is seen by many Latin-Americans with envy. “In my country before we withdraw money from a cash point we have to check several times that the street is clear of danger because we are afraid of being kidnapped or assaulted,” he said.

The report Crime and Violence in Central America: a Development challenge pointed out that crime rates and violence is related to drug cartels’ operations such as turf wars and vendettas between rival gangs. The cartels control the trafficking of drugs from South America to the United States especially , a business that is worth an estimated $13billion a year. The Sinaloa and Los Zetas are the two biggest cartels in terms of geographic presence.

United States is responsible for being the main firearms supplier to Latin American countries.  A Senate report in June 2011, Halting US Firearms Trafficking to Mexico, suggested that some 70% of firearms recovered from Mexican crime scenes in 2009 and 2010 and submitted for tracing came from the US.

A top US military official explained in the report that Mexico’s notoriously violent drug cartels get much of their weapons from stockpiles in Central America left over from conflicts in the region. General Douglas Fraser, head of the US Southern Command, said “there were between 45 million and 80 million weapons circulated in Central America, much of those left over from civil wars and other conflicts”.

Crime and violence related with drug trafficking hampers economic progress in Central America, obliging the states to divert their scarce resources to strengthen law enforcement instead of developing economic activity.

Therefore, many foreign companies or local entrepreneurs are put off to invest in Latin America. As a result, there are fewer jobs and more people, especially young teenagers that choose to enroll into drug cartels. According to the report, it is estimated that around 900 gangs are in Central America and most homicide victims are young men between the ages of 15 and 34.

Serrano Berther and Humberto Pérez, authors of the study, claim that weak criminal justice is the main issue regarding Central America drug trafficking. This weakness limits the efficacy of crime and violence punishment and prevention. “There is a vicious circle in the region where the high crime rates are contributing to weakening the criminal justice system,” they said.

The report suggests setting measures such as more transparent accusatory mechanisms, giving more power to prosecutors, strengthening public defense and changing sentencing mechanisms.

Image Courtesy of   Frontpage / Shutterstock.com

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On April 2, 2012 the Colombian rebel group FARC-EP unilaterally freed the last 10 police and militaries, of the nearly 500 who have been held in captivity for years by the insurgents. With this act the FARC wanted to confirm its intention to end the use of kidnapping as a strategy of war.

One of the people responsible for these liberations was the ex-senator Piedad Cordoba who said “We are happy because we fulfilled the commitment that we made since 2008, reaching, through epistolary dialogue with the FARC, the liberation of all persons in their possession. And we did it without spilling a single drop of blood. ”

The ex-senator who is part of the group ‘Colombians for Peace’ had said that she will continue to work for the missing people and for reunification with their families. Despite of this news, most of the ex-hostages believe that there are still many civilians and soldiers deprived of their liberty. “We don’t know anything about Cape Pena, civilians Carlos Hernandez Hernandez and the Colón brothers, we know that they are hostages at this moment” said Sergeant Luis Moreno, an ex-prisoner.

Also, Sigifredo Lopez, one of the twelve deputies kidnapped by the FARC in 2002, recently said during an interview with a Colombian newspaper that: “These last 10 years served for the FARC to understand that the kidnapping as a strategy for war had failed, until the point that the people that they claim to represent took to the streets to say no more FARC.

They had to rethink their strategies and they set out to make unilateral releases because politically it was best for them, because each time that they kidnap a Colombian, they are earning the rejection from the society and burying their political project.”

“They have left the kidnapping, not for voluntary reasons, not because that they have decided to respect the dignity of human beings, just because they realized that this strategy has failed, because they earned their [poor] reputation by Colombians. It is a political decision, not a concession” explained the ex-deputy.

Meanwhile, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos acknowledged the gesture of the guerrillas to free the 10 soldiers, saying that “this is a step in the right direction” but “insufficient.” No doubt, the recent events reflect a hope for a negotiated solution to Colombia’s internal conflict; a conflict which has been raging for over 50 years. However, for the moment there are radical positions that places distance between the government and the rebel group.

Image Courtesy of   OECD

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For decades, dark matter and its nature and location have remained elusive to cosmologists. Recently, a team of astronomers conducted a study to locate the mysterious substance, but the results show that there is not as much dark matter as previously theorized.

“Our calculations show that it should have shown up very clearly in our measurements. But it was just not there!” Christian Moni Bidin of the Astronomy Department at la Universidad de Concepción in Chile says in the European Southern Observatory (ESO) press release. Moni Bidin also headed the study and was the lead author of the team research paper, published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Dark matter is impossible to be seen or detected. It constitutes 74% of the mass in the Universe. How it is distributed around the Universe is unknown. Astronomers believe that dark matter is what causes and exerts the gravitational force around objects made of normal matter (i.e. everything that is not dark matter or dark energy), such as planets, stars, and galaxies.

In the past, astronomers considered that one certain location of dark matter would be around galaxies: a model known as the Standard Halo Model demonstrates how galaxies form and evolve. This model also states that they rotate as quickly as they do due to dark matter, which is thought to collect around the galaxies as a halo.

Working with the 2.2-meter MPG/ESO telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, the team produced a model in hopes of finding the amount, mass, density, and distribution of dark matter around the Sun (the nearest best bet for finding the substance) and our very own galaxy (the Milky Way). Utilizing a hypothesized amount of dark matter based on a past model, they measured the motions of hundreds of stars (sometimes created from the influence of dark matter) as far as 13,000 light-years away from the Sun.

But what the team observed was a lack of dark matter instead; the conjectured density was significantly lower. “The mystery of dark matter has just become even more mysterious,” Moni Bidin states.

He and his colleagues will further investigate and analyze their results. According to their paper, if matters are consistent, the distribution of dark matter would have to

“reconcile the results with the DM paradigm. The interpretation of these results is thus not straightforward. We believe that they require further investigation and analysis, both on the observational and the theoretical side, to solve the problems they present.”

“Despite the new results,” Moni Bidin continues, “the Milky Way certainly rotates much faster than the visible matter alone can account for. So, if dark matter is not present where we expected it, a new solution for the missing mass problem must be found.”

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In 2007, two super-Earths known as Gliese 667 C and Gliese 581d were discovered orbiting red dwarfs in the habitable zone, an area in which a planet is able to have surface temperature in order to liquid water. Recently, results from a study suggest these planets plus smaller, rocky ones are quite common in our galaxy and orbit red dwarfs by the tens of billions.

The study was conducted by an international team of scientists a part of the HARPS (High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Search), ESO’s (European Southern Observatory) planet finder. HARPS’s mission is to detect planets beyond the solar system. HARPS especially aims to discover planets that are in the habitable zone.

In order to calculate the largest amount of Earth-like planets that could exist in the Milky Way, HARPS studied the most common type of star in the galaxy: red dwarfs. Red dwarfs are small, cool, and faint in luminosity in comparison to the Sun. Because they spend less energy than other types of stars, they are long-lived and, therefore, are the most common. Approximately 160 billion exist in the galaxy alone, making up a whopping 80% of the total number of stars.

Using a spectrograph from a 3.6-meter telescope from La Silla Observatory in Chile, HARPS chose a sample of 102 red dwarfs from the southern portion of the sky and studied them for six days. HARPS detected nine super-Earths (planets up to ten times the size of the Earth), two of which were inside the habitable zone. Furthermore, 40% of red dwarfs contain super-Earths that are able to sustain water on their surfaces.

Combining their data and the number of stars without planets, and an estimate of how many planets could be discovered, HARPS was then able to calculate the total number of planets orbiting red dwarfs and the different types of these planets. In the end, their results illustrated that tens of billions of smaller rocky planets exist in the Milky Way.

100 of these hypothesized planets should exist in the immediate vicinity – around 30 light-years – of the Sun (smaller planets are difficult to detect). Massive gassy planets (around the size of Jupiter and Saturn), on the other hand, were calculated to be rare when it came to orbiting red dwarfs.

Although it is exciting knowing that so many Earth-sized orbit stars in the habitable zone, astronomers are not getting their hopes up of finding life. It would be difficult for life to thrive on planets that orbit red dwarfs: because red dwarfs are cool, the habitable zone is rather close, leaving any planets close to the red dwarf to be bombarded with flares of ultraviolet rays and X-rays, making the planets not habitable after all. But that does not daunt astronomers of thinking that any of these small worlds could harbor life.

“Now that we know that there are many super-Earths around nearby red dwarfs,” Xaiver Delfosse, a member of the team tells ESO, “we need to identify more of them using both HARPS and future instruments. Some of these planets are expected to pass in front of their parent star as they orbit — this will open up the exciting possibility of studying the planet’s atmosphere and searching for signs of life.”

A detailed report of HARPS experiment and results can be found here.

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On February 22, Globeleq Generation Limited (Globeleq), the emerging markets power company, celebrated the inauguration of Honduras’ first wind farm and the largest in the Central American region. The 102 MW Cerro de Hula (CdH) facility started commercial operation in December 2011.

The project was implemented by Globeleq Mesoamerica Energy (GME) which is 70% owned by Globeleq and 30% owned by Mesoamerica Power, a group of Central American investors managed by Mesoamerica. Globeleq is owned by Actis, the leading pan-emerging market private equity firm.

Hosted by GME, the leading renewable energy company in Central America, together with its locally owned entity, Energia Eolica de Honduras, S.A. (EEHSA), the event was attended by the Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, embassy officials from the UK, US, Spain, Costa Rica and Guatemala, key government officials, executive management from international and local organisations involved in the project, contractors, employees and members of the local community in the project area.

Located 24 kms south of the capital, the wind farm supplies the national utility, Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica (ENEE) through a 100 MW, 20 year power purchase agreement.  CdH will produce more than 360 GWh/year – enough to supply power to 150,000 Honduran households using clean and renewable power.

Mikael Karlsson, Globeleq’s CEO noted:  “Adding clean and renewable wind energy has reduced the country’s reliance on expensive fossil fuels for electricity generation.  The environmental and economic benefits are realised immediately, continuing to reinforce Globeleq’s commitment to sustainable development and lower greenhouse gas emissions.”

CdH is in the final stages of its submission as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol which will enable it to earn carbon credits to sell into the international carbon trading markets. CdH will be the first of wind CDM project in Honduras.

The wind farm was constructed in less than one year and well within budget. “Despite significant logistical and geographical challenges, completion of CdH was due to incredible team work, dedication and commitment by all partners involved in the project,” said Jay Gallegos, Managing Director for Globeleq Mesoamerica Energy.

He added, “The successful commissioning of this project would not have been possible without the strong support and cooperation we’ve received from our contractors, the local communities, ENEE and key members of the government of Honduras.”

Being the first wind park in Honduras, the team can appreciate the pioneering spirit and ingenuity required to reach this significant milestone.  Mikael Karlsson added: “It truly has been a remarkable adventure with many obstacles and challenges overcome to reach commercial operation. Building a large infrastructure project for the first time in an area with extremely difficult terrain certainly brought out the best in the team’s resolve and dedication.”

Commenting on the inauguration, Torbjorn Caesar, Co-Head of Energy at Actis and Chairman of Globeleq said, “Actis is excited to support Globeleq’s efforts in the region and through GME, the company has unrivalled access to investment opportunities in the renewables sector. CdH is a key asset in the region, generating around six per cent of Honduras’ power.”

Using the technology and expertise of the Gamesa Wind US LLC and Iberdrola Ingenieria y Construccion Mexico consortium, crews erected 51 x Gamesa G87 2.0 MW turbines over a project area of 6,500 hectares.

During construction, 650 additional jobs were created and local businesses benefited from the increased activity. Going forward, the local communities and municipalities will receive a package of benefits valued at more than $20 million over the lifetime of the farm due to construction and operation permits and lease agreements with landowners.

Beyond the obvious economic and environmental benefits of the project, the Cerro de Hula wind project has also undertaken many social, environmental and health and safety procedures that have set the standard for the country’s future construction projects.

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With its options dwindling and the mistakes of its legal team mounting, Chevron has suffered another courtroom setback in its eleventh-hour attempt to block indigenous rainforest communities from enforcing their $18 billion judgment against the oil giant’s assets around the world.

A three-judge appellate panel in Ecuador on Friday ruled  that a Chevron request for a special bond waiver had no basis in Ecuadorian law, thereby paving the way for the commencement of enforcement actions. Chevron has stripped its assets from Ecuador, forcing the rainforest communities to consider standard judgment collection lawsuits against the oil giant in other countries.

“We intend to do everything in our power to ensure Chevron’s management team meets the company’s legal obligations and pays the full amount of the judgment,” said Pablo Fajardo, the lead lawyer for the 30,000 Ecuadorians who initiated the lawsuit against the oil giant in U.S. federal court in 1993.

“Chevron broke the rainforest of Ecuador,” said Fajardo. “Now it must fix it.”

Once the judgment against Chevron was affirmed by the same Ecuador appellate panel in early January, the oil giant was obligated to request the bond pending an extraordinary final appeal to the nation’s highest court. Payment of such a bond was the only way under Ecuadorian law to temporarily suspend enforcement of the judgment, but Chevron’s legal team blundered by never asking for it, said Fajardo.

Instead of requesting the bond — which easily could have been paid given Chevron’s annual revenues of$240 billion – Chevron requested an unprecedented waiver of the bond requirement.  After Chevron sought the waiver, the rainforest communities charged the oil giant was seeking “special treatment” not available to any other litigant in Ecuador.

The court, in a four-page decision, said seeking a bond “is the only established legal mechanism to give litigants in Ecuador the opportunity to suspend execution of a judgment.”  In reference to Chevron, it added:  “The losing party decided not to exercise this right.”

Separately, the court rejected an “order” issued Thursday from a private investment arbitration thatEcuador’s government freeze the 18-year litigation until it can rule on a separate set of Chevron claims that it the court system in Ecuador treated it unfairly. See here. The private investment panel has been harshly criticized by jurists for violating international law, and the rainforest communities have said its actions have no bearing on their claims given they are not a party to the proceedings. See here and here.

In a detailed analysis of the international law obligations of Ecuador’s government, the appellate panel said the Inter-American Convention of Human Rights and Ecuador’s Constitution trumped any authority from the investment panel, which was convened by Chevron under the U.S.-Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty.

The rainforest communities recently filed a petition with a noted human rights court to block any order from the secret arbitral panel, whose members — all private lawyers — stand to reap millions of dollars of fees for simply granting jurisdiction over the case.

“No part of this Convention can be interpreted to permit any person (such as Chevron or the Arbitral Panel) to interfere with the enjoyment and exercise of rights and liberties recognized in the Convention, nor can it override other rights and guarantees that are inherent in the rights of all men,” the panel wrote in its decision.

The panel also ruled that international law to protect investors can never override international treaties that protect fundamental human rights of individuals, including the right to life and the right to seek legal redress, both of which are being exercised by the rainforest communities.

“A simple arbitral award … cannot obligate judges to do violence to the human rights of the citizens of the country where it sits,” said the panel.

A representative of the rainforest communities was pleased with the decision, which she said protects the independence of Ecuador’s courts and ensures that a private investor treaty cannot trump the fundamental human rights of ordinary citizens.  The trial was held in Ecuador only after Chevron moved it there from U.S. federal court, promising to abide by any adverse judgment.

“The Ecuador appellate panel spoke in a way that is consistent with both Ecuador’s laws and the country’s international treaty obligations,” said Karen Hinton, the U.S. spokesperson for the rainforest communities.  “It shows that Ecuador’s independent courts will not succumb to Chevron’s political pressure nor its request for special treatment.”

“After 18 years of dealing with Chevron’s bad faith and abusive litigation tactics, the rainforest communities have a final and enforceable judgment,” she added.

The Ecuador appellate court did grant Chevron’s request for an extraordinary appeal to the National Court of Justice, a process that likely will take one to two years to conclude.

The appellate ruling comes at a time when Chevron officials are furiously trying to cut a side deal withEcuador’s government to illegally quash the environmental case, said Fajardo.  The company apparently offered $1 billion to the government to end-run the legal process, an act that could expose Chevron to criminal liability under various anti-bribery statutes in the United States and other countries, he added.

The Ecuador trial court in February 2011 found overwhelming scientific evidence that Chevron deliberately dumped billions of gallons of toxic waste into Amazon waterways when it operated in Ecuador under the Texaco brand from 1964 to 1992.  The dumping decimated indigenous groups and caused an outbreak of cancer that could lead to thousands of deaths in the coming years, according to evidence before the court. See here and here.

A video that tells the story of the environmental disaster and of Chevron’s fraudulent cover-up can be seen here.

The amount of damages set by the Ecuador court is modest compared to the potential liability of BP in the much smaller Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, said Hinton.  BP already has committed $20 billion in compensation for the Gulf spill, an amount that does not include an estimated$60 to $80 billion in additional liability from civil lawsuits now pending in U.S. federal courts.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/rainforestactionnetwork/

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In meeting with members of the UN Security Council, Haiti’s Minister of the Interior, Thierry Mayard-Paul, reiterated the top concerns of his office which are focused on implementing President Martelly’s vision for decentralization as a key to job creation throughout Haiti.

Outlining the steps the Martelly administration is taking to build a strong platform for constitutional rights and democratic governance in Haiti, the Minister stressed that his highest priority is to ensure the safe and stable climate required for foreign investments that will drive job creation.  “In order to carry out the vision of the President to create jobs through sustainable economic development and to empower local communities throughout Haiti via decentralization, we must consolidate democratic governance,” he said.

With safety and national security a top concern, the Minister pointed out that over the course of the last year, Haiti has meticulously studied the issue of the prolonged stay of MINUSTAH in the country.  Viewing the subject within the context of safety, election results, and other factors, he said the 2011 elections provided an exceedingly large mandate for the Martelly administration for the next five years, a reference to Martelly’s commanding 2 to 1 victory over his opponent.

“As a result, we are convinced that Haiti must assume the tasks of public safety and national security.  This is a long-term task that in our view begins and ends with civilian control over any security force to ensure ongoing disaster preparedness and to heighten the effectiveness of disaster mitigation efforts.”

To that end, President Martelly has established a Commission to study, in detail, the rehabilitation of Haiti’s armed forces in detail.  This Commission will provide recommendations once it has compiled its findings.

Mayard-Paul stated that the members of the Commission are not only conducting their own assessment regarding reinstatement of the armed forces, but are also consulting recognized international experts.  “We have also been speaking with heads of state and other elected officials and policy makers about this issue,” he said.

To that end, the Minister of the Interior has been visiting other Latin American and Caribbean countries to review Best Practices for Public and National Safety that have worked in the region.  “When the Commission presents its final report, we believe we will have a long-term roadmap that will enable us to achieve democratic sovereignty,” he remarked.

Other topics discussed with the visiting UN team included resolving border issues and accelerating the process of reconstruction.  The Minister expressed his appreciation for the UN peacekeeping force saying, “I’d like to thank the MINUSTAH, on behalf of the Haitian people and our government in particular, for their many years of collaboration with Haiti.”

Image Courtesy of  arindambanerjee / Shutterstock.com

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Today has been a tense day in the National Court of Justice in Ecuador. Three judges Wilson Merino, Paul Íñiguez y Jorge Blum gave a verdict against “El Universo” newspaper executives: Carlos Perez, Cesar Perez y Nicolas Pérez and columnist Emilio Palacio.

The accused where given a sentence of three years in jail, followed by an indemnification payment of $40 million for Ecuador’s President, Rafael Correa.

One hour and 40 minutes before reaching a decision, Judge Wilson Merino asked both sides implicated, if they had found a resolution.

Monica Vargas, the defendant’s attorney express that the Guayaquil-based newspaper “has always been open to a solution”. She recalls that in the second instance the newspaper executives proposed the President to send a letter with the appropriated corrections made for its publication in the diary.

However, Correa exposed in his defense: “”in the face of such dirty tricks at this point in time an apology cannot be accepted.” The president clarified that he had to take action to the false accusations made against him, in a column written by journalist Emilio Palacio published by the newspaper a year ago.

Once the verdict was known, Correa greeted his lawyers, Gutemberg y Alembert Vera, his family, ministers, assembly members and the citizens which attended the court and supported him in the social networks. He exposed: “The country is changing; now you will understand that the liberty of expression is for everyone”.

According to the New York Times, “The defendants had called the case a farce and accused Correa of subverting the legal system, including allowing his attorney to write last July’s original lower-court ruling”.

The secretary of the Criminal Division, Honorato Jara, started by reading the list of lawyers involved. For the prosecution: Gutenberg Alembertand Vera, and for the defendant: Xavier Zavala, as judicial attorney of “El Universo”, Monica Vargas and Jorge Hernan Salgado Roditti  on behalf of Nicolas, Cesar and Carlos Perez.

The first one to speak was Xavier Zavala, whom argument for the impossibility to declare these executives as authors of a criminal offense.

To portray his words Zavala used the next example: On a criminal situation you cannot judge the weapon which has been used to commit the crime, but to its perpetrator. The object used, has no will”.

The intervention lasted for around 50 minutes, and Zavala made a call to the adjudicators, claiming Ecuador’s Justice has been damaged during this process and has become “The international laughingstock”.

This has not been the first case of attacking journalist in the courts from Correa´s part.

According to the New York Times: “Last week, a judge ordered two journalists to pay $1 million each to the president or offending Correa’s “honor” and “professional prestige” by claiming he was aware that his older brother had some $600 million in government contracts, primarily for road construction”.

He has won congressional approval to restrict news media for broadcasting or publishing any material or information that could arouse opinions about candidates during election campaigns.

Image Courtesey of  The Government of Ecuador 

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