La Secretaría General de la Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) ha iniciado la coordinación del proyecto “América Latina ante la Segunda Administración Bush”.  

Como parte de este  proyecto, la Secretaría General de FLACSO ofrece otro canal de información con un resumen noticioso semanal sobre lo que se publica acerca de América Latina en algunos de los principales diarios de los Estados Unidos.  Esto permitirá identificar   cuales son los temas que despiertan mayor  interés en Estados Unidos sobre la región latinoamericana y su tratamiento en la prensa estadounidense.  Las noticias han sido clasificadas bajo las categorías de:
 

MIGRACIÓN
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LOOKING OVER THE WALL
The New York Times
October 9, 2006

Congress has adjourned to plead for its re-election, having bequeathed to the nation a giant fence-building project as its official strategy for fixing the immigration problem. No doubt some voters will be reassured by the idea that covering 700 miles of the 2,000-mile southwestern border with razor wire and floodlights will solve this thing once and for all. But many others will continue to suspect that it is more complicated than that.

With a better start, this election year could have featured a rational debate about immigration policy that went beyond xenophobia and the fear of disorder caused by the presence of immigrant day laborers on suburban street corners. Americans — particularly those struggling to find decent jobs themselves — have a reasonable concern about what effect the presence of so many unplanned-for workers has had on the economy. They deserved to hear that talked about in a realistic way.

JUSTICES HEAR CASE ON IMMIGRANT DRUG OFFENDERS
The Washington Post
October 4, 2006

The Bush administration urged the Supreme Court to declare that legal immigrants can be deported for drug offenses that are felonies in some states but only misdemeanors under federal law, as the court heard its first oral arguments of the new term yesterday.

At issue are provisions of the 1996 immigration law that require any noncitizen guilty of an "aggravated felony" to be sent back to his country of origin, with no chance to ask for leniency. The law defines "aggravated felony" to include any drug-trafficking offense that is a "felony punishable under" federal drug laws.

Federal appeals courts, however, have differed as to that language's precise meaning. Some have upheld deportations based on state felonies, such as simple drug possession, that would not be felonies under federal law.

The seemingly technical dispute could have real-world consequences for thousands of green-card holders. In 2005, the United States deported about 77,000 immigrants with criminal records, of whom about 9.5 percent had arrests for drug possession, according to the Justice Department.

IN BORDER FENCE'S PATH, CONGRESSIONAL ROADBLOCKS
The Washington Post
October 6, 2006

No sooner did Congress authorize construction of a 700-mile fence on the U.S.-Mexico border last week than lawmakers rushed to approve separate legislation that ensures it will never be built, at least not as advertised, according to Republican lawmakers and immigration experts.

GOP leaders have singled out the fence as one of the primary accomplishments of the recently completed session. Many lawmakers plan to highlight their $1.2 billion down payment on its construction as they campaign in the weeks before the midterm elections.

But shortly before recessing late Friday, the House and Senate gave the Bush administration leeway to distribute the money to a combination of projects -- not just the physical barrier along the southern border. The funds may also be spent on roads, technology and "tactical infrastructure" to support the Department of Homeland Security's preferred option of a "virtual fence."

ADVOCATES SAY ILLEGAL WORKERS SUFFER AFTER 9/11 CLEANUP
The Washington Post
October 8, 2006

Jose Moncada watched the World Trade Center towers tumble, and, like so many Americans, felt a patriotic urge to help rescue survivors and rebuild after Sept. 11. "It was my time to put my hand on my heart," he said. "It was my time to help somebody."

It did not matter to him that he was an illegal immigrant from Honduras. And that did not seem to matter to supervisors who oversaw the retrieval of human remains and the removal of toxic debris at Ground Zero. They welcomed Moncada and thousands of other illegal immigrants, no questions asked.

Working on the pile for 10 days, Moncada breathed in thick dust, grainy asbestos and foul-smelling gases driven by an angry downtown wind. Now, five years later, he suffers from a hacking cough, nosebleeds, wheezing breath and life-threatening respiratory illnesses that also trouble thousands of legal U.S. residents who worked there.

MEXICO MAY TAKE FENCE DISPUTE TO U.N.
The Miami Herald
Oct. 09, 2006

paris - mexico's foreign secretary said monday the country may take a dispute over u.s. plans to build a fence on the mexican border to the united nations.

luis ernesto derbez told reporters in paris, his first stop on a european tour, that a legal investigation was under way to determine whether mexico has a case.

the mexican government last week sent a diplomatic note to washington criticizing the plan for 700 miles of new fencing along the border. president-elect felipe calderon also denounced the plan, but said it was a bilateral issue that should not be put before the international community.

FENCE MEETS WALL OF SKEPTICISM
The Washington Post
October 10, 2006

CALEXICO, Calif. -- Legislation passed by Congress mandating the fencing of 700 miles of the U.S. border with Mexico has sparked opposition from an array of land managers, businesspeople, law enforcement officials, environmentalists and U.S. Border Patrol agents as a one-size-fits-all policy response to the nettlesome task of securing the nation's borders.

Critics said the fence does not take into account the extraordinarily varied geography of the 2,000-mile-long border, which cuts through Mexican and U.S. cities separated by a sidewalk, vast scrubland and deserts, rivers, irrigation canals and miles of mountainous terrain. They also say it seems to ignore advances in border security that don't involve construction of a 15-foot-high double fence and to play down what are expected to be significant costs to maintain the new barrier.

And, they say, the estimated $2 billion price tag and the mandate that it be completed by 2008 overlook 10 years of legal and logistical difficulties the federal government has faced to finish a comparatively tiny fence of 14 miles dividing San Diego and Tijuana.

POLÍTICA INTERNA
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DEATH SQUAD FEARS AGAIN HAUNT ARGENTINA
The New York Times
October 8, 2006

BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 7 — A crucial witness in the trial of a notorious human rights abuser has been missing for nearly three weeks, and authorities and rights groups here say they fear he may have been abducted and killed in a new campaign to intimidate prosecutors, judges and witnesses in cases that have not yet gone to court.

The disappearance of Jorge Julio López, 77, a retired construction worker and former political prisoner, has awakened a host of old fears among Argentines. Some worry that it is a signal of a return of right-wing death squads that were thought to be extinct, precisely at the moment when the leaders of those groups are belatedly being summoned to justice.

FORMER ARGENTINE LEADER'S REMAINS TO BE REBURIED
The Miami Herald
Oct. 11, 2006

BUENOS AIRES - The remains of former Argentine political strongman Juan Domingo Perón are to be reburied in a new mausoleum at a ceremony next week to be attended by leaders of the Peronist movement he founded 61 years ago, organizers said Tuesday.

The move of Perón's remains from a Buenos Aires cemetery to suburban San Vicente comes amid the run-up to next year's presidential election -- a traditional time for reinvoking the name and party ideals of the caudillo who dominated Argentine political life of the last century.

President Néstor Kirchner was invited to attend the ceremony Oct. 17 and former Presidents Carlos Menem and Eduardo Duhalde, also members of the dominant Peronist party, were expected to be on hand.

IN MEXICO, THE BURRO MAKES A COMEBACK
The Christian Science Monitor
October 11, 2006

TLAJOMULCO, MEXICO – A single donkey the locals call "The Precious One" stands alone, grazing in a field with the low-lying mountains of western Mexico in the background.

The forlorn image is a sign of the times. Burros, or donkeys, once thronged the country's dirt roads. Mules - the hybrid offspring of male donkeys and female horses - hauled everything from maize to Mexicans, laying down tracks extending from Veracruz to the state of Mexico.

Once a symbol of farm life, donkeys today are often dismissed and derided as an indicator of underdevelopment. Over the decades, their role in plowing fields and carrying wood has been usurped by trucks and tractors. Instead of carrying goods, donkeys have been sent to the slaughterhouse and churned into goods - used to feed more esteemed creatures like cows.

STRIKING TEACHERS AGREE TO TENTATIVE PACT TO END UNREST IN OAXACA
The New York Times
October 11, 2006

MEXICO CITY, Oct. 10 — An increasingly violent standoff in the southern city of Oaxaca that has stretched on for almost five months appeared headed for a peaceful end on Tuesday, as leaders of a group of striking teachers reached a tentative accord with the government.

The deal, which is expected to be presented to the teachers for approval this week, would remove blockades in the city’s historic downtown and allow the local police to begin patrols in what has become a lawless zone. Teachers would return to classes, with their salaries increased over the next six years.

Still unresolved, however, is the fate of Ulises Ruiz, the governor of Oaxaca State, who demonstrators say must step down before their protests end completely. Mr. Ruiz’s government responded aggressively to the teachers’ strike in June, infuriating teachers and turning the conflict into far more than a demand for better wages.

REGIONAL
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LATIN AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES GET POOR GRADES
The Miami Herald
Oct. 08, 2006

Forget about oil-rich demagogues and retro-progressive populists: Latin America's real long-term problem to compete in the global economy may be the poor quality of its universities.

The 2006 editions of the two most authoritative rankings of the world's best universities -- put out respectively by the London Times Educational Supplement and by the University of Shanghai -- have now been published, and they coincide in giving pretty bad grades to the region's higher education institutions.

The "World's top 200 universities -- 2006" edition of the London Times Education Supplement, released Friday, is led by Harvard University, and includes only one Latin American or Caribbean university, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, which last year made the top 200, fell off the list in this year's ranking.

RELACIONES BILATERALES
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IT'S CHÁVEZ VS. U.S. ALLY FOR U.N. SEAT
The Miami Herald
Oct. 11, 2006

WASHINGTON - Beyond the diplomatic chatter and a sense of international respect for the winners, elections to seats on the United Nations Security Council are usually drab affairs.

Until this year. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is challenging U.S.-backed Guatemala for a seat, triggering what many analysts and diplomats are calling the hottest Security Council race in nearly 30 years.

The 192 U.N. member nations will vote at a General Assembly session Monday on which of the two countries will succeed Argentina for a two-year term in the council seat reserved for Latin America. A two-thirds vote is required to win. There's a chance that neither will prevail and another country will be chosen as a compromise.

IN 30-YEAR-OLD TERROR CASE, A TEST FOR THE U.S.
The Washington Post
October 5, 2006

HAVANA -- A quarter-century before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a bomb ripped a gash in a civilian jetliner in the skies off Barbados.

The Cubana Airlines plane plummeted into the Caribbean Sea just before noon on Oct. 6, 1976. All 73 people on board died, including teenage members of Cuba's national fencing team who were returning to Havana after winning gold and silver medals at a tournament in Venezuela.

The attack marked a new era of fear. It was the first act of midair airline terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.

The 30th anniversary of the bombing is Friday, and it coincides with a critical juncture in the case of Luis Posada Carriles, a main suspect in the bombing who has been held on immigration charges in the United States for the past 16 months.

CASTRO FOE PUTS U.S. IN AN AWKWARD SPOT
The New York Times
October 8, 2006

EL PASO, Oct. 6 - Thirty years ago, long before liquids and gels were restricted on airliners, a tube of Colgate toothpaste may have brought a plane down from the sky.

Cubana Airlines Flight 455 crashed off the coast of Barbados on Oct. 6, 1976, killing all 73 people aboard. Plastic explosives stuffed into a toothpaste tube ignited the plane, according to recently declassified police records.

Implicated in the attack, but never convicted, was Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban exile who has long sought to topple the government of Fidel Castro.

Today, Mr. Posada, 78, is in a detention center in El Paso, held on an immigration violation while the government tries to figure out what to do with him. His case presents a quandary for the Bush administration, at least in part because Mr. Posada is a former C.I.A. operative and United States Army officer who directed his wrath at a government that Washington has long opposed.

CORREA SEES PROFILE RISE IN ECUADOR RACE
The Miami Herald
Oct. 10, 2006

QUITO, Ecuador - Ecuador's front-runner in Sunday's presidential election has rattled Wall Street with anti-U.S. rhetoric and nationalist pledges torn from the playbook of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Rafael Correa's surge in the polls from a distant third a month ago to first place caused investors to dump Ecuadorean bonds last week amid fears the former economy minister would move the South American nation into a leftist alliance with Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia.

Both U.S. officials and Chavez - apparently wary of tilting the race with ill-advised comments - have been studiously silent about the rise of the 43-year-old Correa, who last month called President Bush a "tremendously dimwitted" president and vowed to oppose trade talks with Washington.

DOCUMENTS: CIA WARNED OF PLANE BOMB PLOT
The Miami Herald
Oct. 10, 2006

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - An anti-Castro militant now in a Texas jail warned the CIA months before the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that fellow exiles were planning such an attack, according to a newly released U.S. government document.

The document shows that Luis Posada Carriles - who had worked for the CIA but was cut off by the agency earlier that year - was secretly telling the CIA that his fellow far-right Cuban exiles opposed to Fidel Castro's communist government were plotting to bring down a commercial jet.

The document does not say what the CIA did with Posada's tip. A CIA spokesman said he had no comment on Monday, a federal holiday.

SOME ALASKANS PREFER COLD TO CHÁVEZ'S OIL
The Miami Herald
Oct. 10, 2006

anchorage, alaska - in alaska's native villages, the punishing winter cold is already coming through the walls of the lightly insulated plywood homes, many villagers are desperately poor, and heating-oil prices are among the nation's highest.

and yet a few villages are refusing free heating oil from venezuela, on the patriotic principle that no foreigner has the right to call their president ``the devil."

the heating oil is being offered by the petroleum company controlled by venezuelan president hugo chávez, president george w. bush's nemesis. while scores of alaska's villages say they have no choice but to accept, others would rather suffer.

"as a citizen of this country, you can have your own opinion of our president and our country. but i don't want a foreigner coming in here and bashing us," said justine gunderson, administrator for the tribal council in the aleut village of nelson lagoon.

NEW TASK FORCE TO TARGET CUBA BAN OFFENDERS
The Miami Herald
Oct. 11, 2006

Although the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba is more than four decades old, criminal prosecutions of violators have been rare -- especially in South Florida.

But if U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta has his way, that's about to change.

Acosta announced on Tuesday the creation of a task force of federal agencies to target embargo offenders more aggressively -- whether they violate travel bans, business restrictions or limits on currency remittances to relatives on the island.

"The purpose of these sanctions is to isolate the Castro regime economically and to deprive the Castro regime of the U.S. dollars it so desperately seeks," Acosta said at a news conference.

PERU'S GARCÍA TOUTS FREE TRADE, SOUNDS ALARM ON CHÁVEZ
The Miami Herald
Oct. 11, 2006

WASHINGTON - Once a furious critic of U.S. policies, Peruvian President Alan García brought his charismatic ways to Washington on Tuesday to meet with President Bush on a free-trade pact and attack Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez for sowing divisions in Latin America.

In a reversal for a man who during his recent presidential campaign said he wanted to review a free-trade agreement negotiated by his predecessor, García urged Bush at their White House meeting to lobby a reluctant U.S. Congress to pass the pact.

The Peruvians wanted Congress to vote on the agreement before it went into its summer recess, and are now pushing for approval during the lame-duck session after the Nov. 7 elections in what many analysts see as a tough vote.

U.S. EASES OFF HAITI ARMS EMBARGO
The Miami Herald
Oct. 11, 2006

PORT-AU-PRINCE - The United States has partially lifted a 15-year-old arms embargo against Haiti, the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday, allowing the troubled Caribbean nation to buy weapons for police battling violent -- and often better armed -- street gangs.

The move comes after President René Préval's new government openly criticized the embargo, saying it was hampering its ability to restore order and confront gangs that flourished after a February 2004 revolt toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The modified embargo approved by the U.S. State Department is aimed at helping Haitian and United Nations authorities "fight against rampant criminal and gang activity," said U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Shaila B. Manyam.

HONDURAS TO NAME CUBA AMBASSADOR
The Miami Herald
Oct. 11, 2006

TEGUCIGALPA - AP) -- Honduras announced Tuesday that the Central American country will send an ambassador to Cuba in 2007, 45 years after the staunch U.S. ally pulled its diplomatic representative from the Communist-run island.

Foreign Minister Milton Jiménez told the local radio station HRN that President Manuel Zelaya already was considering candidates for the January 2007 posting.

Honduras withdrew its ambassador in 1962 after the United States imposed an embargo against President Fidel Castro's administration.

The government reestablished diplomatic relations with Cuba in 2002 but still has no ambassador in Havana. Cuba sent an ambassador back to Honduras four years ago.