Jueves 25 de Octubre 2007. Año III, No. NOVENTA Y DOS

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 correspondientes a la semana del 25 al 31 de Octubre 2007 han sido clasificadas bajo las categorías de:

COMERCIO
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IN COLOMBIA, A WASHINGTON SALES PITCH
The Washington Post
October 19, 2007

MEDELLIN, Colombia -- The U.S. congressmen were speedily transported in vans with tinted windows, their convoy escorted by policemen on motorcycles who ensured that no car ventured close. When the lawmakers stepped out, guards carrying M-16s watched wearily, whispering into microphones on their sleeves.

What the congressional delegation was told in Medellin, however, is that this city is no longer among the most dangerous in the world. In fact, its recovery has been "nothing short of a revolution," one American official said.

OFFICIAL SAYS CHAVEZ GAINS IF TRADE PACTS NIXED
The Washington Post
October 22, 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is poised to score a public relations victory in Latin America if the U.S. Congress fails to approve free-trade pacts in the region, a top State Department official said on Monday.

Failure by Congress to ratify trade pacts with Peru, Colombia and Panama would spark a crisis in U.S. relations with Latin America, which Chavez, a U.S. adversary, would turn to his advantage, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told reporters.

"If we turn away (from approving the pacts), it's going to embolden someone like Hugo Chavez that he can make hay out of that crisis," said Burns. "We certainly don't want to see someone like Chavez gain a public relations benefit if it doesn't get through, that's surely what he'll try to do."

US OFFICIAL URGES PASSAGE OF TRADE DEAL
The Miami Herald
Oct. 22, 2007

NEW YORK --
The Bush administration warned Monday that failure by Congress to adopt a free trade agreement with Colombia would bolster the anti-American campaign of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said that refusal by lawmakers to pass the agreement "will embolden someone like Hugo Chavez to think that he can make hay out of that crisis, and it will be a crisis if the free trade agreement does not pass."

Since Democrats took control of Congress last January, it has not approved any free trade agreements that the administration has negotiated. Agreements are pending with three countries in Latin America - Peru, Panama and Colombia - and also with South Korea.

COLOMBIA SEEN TO DESERVE VOTE ON TRADE PACT
The Washington Post
October 22, 2007

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress should vote as soon as possible on a controversial free-trade pact with Colombia, despite concerns raised by labor groups, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said on Monday.

"Colombia deserves a vote," Gutierrez told reporters. "It's not right to give a vote to Peru, give a vote to Panama and sort of let (Colombia) go away by not bringing it to a vote. Colombia should be voted on ... as soon as possible."

The Bush administration has been pushing hard for weeks to persuade Congress the time is right to vote on the Colombian agreement, which is fiercely opposed by the AFL-CIO labor federation, a core Democratic constituency group.

MIGRACIÓN
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OFFICIAL: 24 DROWN OFF MEXICO COAST
The Miami Herald
Oct. 20, 2007

MEXICO CITY --
The bodies of two dozen people washed ashore Friday in southern Mexico, a state official said, after a boat believed to be carrying Central American migrants capsized in the Pacific Ocean.

Oaxaca's state government later released a statement saying three people were confirmed dead and 20 others missing following the shipwreck. It said there was one survivor and authorities were searching for bodies near the towns of San Francisco Ixhuatan and San Francisco del Mar, about 200 miles from the Guatemalan border.

ABUSE OF SKILLED-WORKER VISAS
Opinion
The Christian Science Monitor
October 22, 2007

Immigration reform skidded off the road in Congress this year, but that hasn't stopped interest groups from restarting their engines. The technology industry, for instance, is revving up for more skilled guest-worker visas. That idea, sensible as it may sound, should sputter and quit – at least for now.

It's hard to say "no" when America's tech sector moans it has no future without more temporary, professional, foreign workers.

There's no denying the argument that skilled and educated legal immigrants contribute greatly to the US economy. An August study by Duke, Harvard, and New York universities shows just how much: Last year, a quarter of the inventors or co-inventors named on international patent applications in the US were foreign nationals living in America.

AIN’T THAT AMERICA
Editorial
The New York Times
October 22, 2007

Think of America’s greatest historical shames. Most have involved the singling out of groups of people for abuse. Name a distinguishing feature — skin color, religion, nationality, language — and it’s likely that people here have suffered unjustly for it, either through the freelance hatred of citizens or as a matter of official government policy.

We are heading down this road again. The country needs to have a working immigration policy, one that corresponds to economic realities and is based on good sense and fairness. But it doesn’t. It has federal inertia and a rising immigrant tide, and a national mood of frustration and anxiety that is slipping, as it has so many times before, into hatred and fear. Hostility for illegal immigrants falls disproportionately on an entire population of people, documented or not, who speak Spanish and are working-class or poor. By blinding the country to solutions, it has harmed us all.

15 BODIES RECOVERED IN MEXICO SHIPWRECK
The Miami Herald
Oct. 21, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO IXHUATAN, Mexico --
Authorities have recovered the bodies of 15 Central American migrants whose boat capsized in the Pacific Ocean, the Mexican navy said on Saturday. The vessel was believed to be carrying more than 20 migrants.

Survivor Noemi Martinez, 29, of El Salvador, said the boat departed from Guatemala and capsized Tuesday with more than 20 people aboard, according to Moises Hernandez, regional commander for ministerial police in Oaxaca.

State authorities identified the only other known survivor as Salvadoran Walter Alan, 23.

LANDLORDS AREN'T FEDERAL AGENTS
The Miami Herald
Oct. 22, 2007

Landlords should not serve as agents of the immigration service. They are not allowed to in California, thanks to a new law, and that's the way it should be all over the country.

On Oct. 10, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that prohibits California cities from passing municipal ordinances requiring landlords to ask the immigration status of their tenants. The law takes effect at the beginning of next year.

It passed after a bitter fight. The Concerned Women for America, a fundamentalist Christian group, argued that cities should restrict undocumented immigrants to ``prevent squalor that is dangerous not only to the individuals involved, but also to the surrounding neighborhoods where sanitation, parking and other troubles ensue.''

FEDS: HAITIAN GIRL WAS A SLAVE IN DADE HOME FOR SIX YEARS
The Miami Herald
Oct. 23, 2007

A rolled-up mattress on the dining room floor served as her bed. Her shower was a hose in the backyard. When visitors came over, she was told to hide in a closet or the garage.

Federal court documents paint a grim picture of a slave-like life for Simone Celestin -- 15-hour work days, seven days a week, no schooling and no freedom. An orphan smuggled into Miami from Haiti at age 14, she lived in a Southwest Miami home for almost six years, fearful of being deported, under conditions that amounted to involuntary servitude, prosecutors say.

A CHANCE TO DREAM
Editorial
The Washington Post
October 24, 2007

The Senate has a chance today to pluck a small gem from the ashes of the immigration debate. A critical procedural vote is scheduled on the Dream Act, a bill to open opportunities for college and military service to the children of undocumented immigrants.

Roughly 65,000 children graduate each year from high school into a constrained future because they cannot work legally or qualify for most college aid. These are the overlooked bystanders to the ferocious bickering over immigration. They did not ask to be brought here, have worked hard in school and could, given the chance, hone their talents and become members of the homegrown, high-skilled American work force.

The bill is one of the least controversial immigration proposals that have been offered in the last five years. But that doesn’t mean much. Like everything else not directly involving border barricades and punishment, it has been branded as “amnesty,” and has languished.

POLÍTICA INTERNA
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HAITI'S PREVAL SEEKS TO AMEND TERM LIMIT
The Miami Herald
Oct. 17, 2007

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti --
Haitian President Rene Preval on Wednesday called for a constitutional amendment to allow presidents to serve consecutive terms - a change he said would bring more stability to a country frequently mired in political chaos.

Preval, in a speech at the National Palace, proposed overhauling the country's entire constitution to give the government more flexibility to promote development and fight corruption.

BUYING VOTES
Economist Intelligence Unit ViewsWire
Oct 17th 2007

The government of President Néstor Kirchner is pressuring financial institutions to make credit more accessible, in a clear move designed to boost votes for his wife, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, just two weeks ahead of presidential elections. On October 12th he called on banks to lower interest rates and lend more, or risk that the government will impose measures to achieve these goals. Such an interventionist threat is in line with other policies pursued by the Kirchner administration, though it is the first time it has targeted banks. While some agreement with the banks is expected to be announced shortly, it is unclear how significant it will be in practice.

With presidential and congressional elections set for October 28th, the Kirchner administration has taken steps in recent months to bolster economic activity and to reduce inflation. Only a week ago the government convinced supermarkets to roll back prices on some basic goods by 5%, in a bid to tame inflation that is running at an annual rate of 8.6% officially, but is up to 20% according to unofficial estimates. The price accord was also a response to a week-long boycott of tomatoes spontaneously organised by consumer groups on October 10th in the capital, in protest over sky-high prices.

BRAZIL SLUM RAIDS LEAVE 12 DEAD
The Miami Herald
Oct. 17, 2007

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil --
Hundreds of police agents swooped in on drug gangs in two Rio de Janeiro shantytowns, setting off gunbattles that killed 12 people, including an officer and a 4-year-old boy, officials said.

About 400 police officers, including members of elite units, entered the sprawling Coreia and Senador Camara slums on Wednesday to search for weapons and serve arrest warrants, said a police spokesman who declined to be identified according to department policy.

Intense gunfire broke out between police and alleged drug members as authorities staged the raid in broad daylight. Television news footage showed a police helicopter flying over the area and people running for cover as agents opened fire from atop a hill. One woman sought shelter from the hail of bullets by cowering behind a concrete wall, clutching a child.

CHURCH RESTORES MEXICO INDEPENDENCE HERO
The Miami Herald
Oct. 17, 2007

MEXICO CITY --
Mexico on Wednesday learned that the father of the nation's independence movement did not die excommunicated nearly 200 years ago, clearing a stain from his legacy ahead of the 2010 bicentennial celebrations.

Roman Catholic investigators announced that the excommunication of priest and independence hero Miguel Hidalgo was annulled when he confessed his sins shortly before being shot by a Spanish firing squad.

AMAZON GREENPEACE STANDOFF ENDS
The Miami Herald
Oct. 17, 2007

SAO PAULO, Brazil --
Eight Greenpeace members prevented from leaving an Amazon town for more than 24 hours by loggers and angry residents were escorted away peacefully Wednesday by authorities.

The activists, however, were unable to depart with the scorched tree trunk they wanted to take with them for an exhibit on global warming in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, said Greenpeace campaigner Andre Muggiati.

The standoff began Tuesday when loggers and residents used trucks to prevent the Greenpeace activists from leaving the area with the fallen tree trunk, Muggiati said. They were reportedly angry the activists were removing the trunk without the community's permission.

MEXICO CITY BORROWS IDEAS FROM PARIS
The Christian Science Monitor
October 18, 2007

Mexico City - Taxi drivers are now wearing seat belts. Office workers can finally stroll through downtown streets without dodging vendors at every turn. And residents in one of the world's largest and most polluted cities – which is landlocked – can even swim at a local "beach" now.

This is the Mexico City of Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, whose mantra is a better quality of life for all.

Some Mexicans say the mayor has presidential aspirations, and is making his mark on this sprawling metropolis of 8.7 million at the expense of more pressing problems. Others say that Mexico City residents have a right to less noise, leisurely bike rides, and smoke–free dinners just like urban residents in the US and Europe.

ARGENTINA STARTS ‘DIRTY WAR’ TRIAL OF AN EX-OFFICER
The New York Times
October 19, 2007

BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 18 (AP) — The first trial involving charges of torture at a notorious military prison during Argentina’s “dirty war” began Thursday with a former coast guard officer facing possible life in prison.

The former officer, Héctor Febres, 66, is accused of kidnapping and torture in the case of four people who were seized by government agents and taken to the feared Navy Mechanics School during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

Argentine prosecutors have brought a series of charges against former state security agents and their civilian allies for crimes committed during the “dirty war,” when the government seized, tortured and killed thousands of suspected leftists.

GLASS MONUMENT TO CHE IN VENEZUELA SHOT
The Miami Herald
Oct. 19, 2007

CARACAS, Venezuela --
A glass monument to revolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara was shot up and destroyed less than two weeks after it was unveiled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government.

Images of the 8-foot-tall glass plate bearing Guevara's image, now toppled and shattered, were shown Friday on state television, which said the entire country "repudiated" the vandalism.

The monument on an Andean mountain highway near the city of Merida was unveiled Oct. 8 by Vice President Jorge Rodriguez and Cuba's ambassador to Venezuela to mark the 40th anniversary of Guevara's death.

IRONY AND INTEGRITY
The Washington Post
October 19, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Soon after former President Alberto Fujimori was extradited to Peru to face human rights and corruption charges, his daughter Keiko, a Peruvian lawmaker, began pleading for his rights. She argued that his jail cell was too small and that he should receive family visits, appropriate care for his ailments and be able to exercise.

It seems that Fujimori -- accused of hiring death squads and ordering massacres while in power during the 1990s -- has acquired a newfound appreciation for human rights. As Monica Feria pointed out, "life is ironic."

LOCALS RETAKE BOLIVIA AIRPORT FROM ARMY
The Miami Herald
Oct. 19, 2007

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia --
Armed with clubs and waving provincial flags, thousands of residents of Bolivia's wealthiest province seized control of the country's busiest airport Friday from troops sent in by President Evo Morales.

The retaking of the airport was a victory for leaders of a province fighting for greater autonomy from the socialist central government.

Soldiers and military police melted away before the protesters flooded into Santa Cruz's Viru Viru airport, avoiding clashes. It was not immediately clear if the troops had left the airport entirely or withdrawn to a distant part of the facility.

BOLIVIAN AIRPORT IS WRESTED FROM GOVERNMENT TROOPS
The New York Times
October 20, 2007

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia, Oct. 19 (AP) — Armed with clubs and waving provincial flags, thousands of residents of Bolivia’s wealthiest province seized control of the country’s busiest airport on Friday from troops sent in by President Evo Morales.

The retaking of the airport was a victory for leaders of Santa Cruz Province, who are clamoring for greater autonomy from the socialist central government.

Soldiers and military police officers melted away before the protesters flooded into Viru Viru Airport, avoiding clashes. It was not immediately clear whether the troops had left the airport or had withdrawn to a distant part of the facility.

FUJIMORI'S LIFE IN BRIEF
The Miami Herald
Oct. 20, 2007

NAME - Alberto Fujimori
AGE and BIRTH DATE - 69; July 28, 1938
EXPERIENCE - President of Peru, 1990-2000; president of the National Assembly of University Rectors, 1987; president of the Universidad Nacional Agraria 1984-1989; dean of the science faculty at the same university; professor of mathematics at the university.

FUJIMORI: WEIGHING PLUSES AND MINUSES
The Miami Herald
Oct. 20, 2007

Fujimori is admired as well as hated in Peru. Here's how Peruvians generally see the upside and the downside of his 10-year presidency:

PROS:
- Ended the four-digit inflation he inherited from his predecessor and restored confidence in the economy.
- Wiped out the Maoist Shining Path insurgency, which had taken the lives of thousands of Peruvians and appeared increasingly close to seizing power.

CONS:
- Allowed his closest adviser, intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos, to install a network of corruption that drained hundreds of millions of dollars needed to develop the impoverished nation.

PERU'S FUJIMORI TO BE TRIED FOR MURDER
The Miami Herald
Oct. 20, 2007

LIMA, Peru --
As Peru heads into the most sensational trial in its history, the country is being taken back 16 years to the night when hooded men stormed a barbecue in a Lima tenement courtyard and machine-gunned the crowd, killing 15 people including an 8-year-old boy.

It was November 1991 - just a year into the 10-year presidency of Alberto Fujimori - and a dirty war was raging between government forces and Maoist rebels calling themselves the Shining Path. The police investigation of the Lima massacre went nowhere, but many Peruvians assumed the targets at the barbecue were Shining Path supporters, and some felt a firm response to the murderous rebel movement was just what the country needed.

PERU FREER, RICHER TODAY
The Miami Herald
Oct. 20, 2007

LIMA, Peru --
When Alberto Fujimori abandoned the presidency in November 2000, faxing his resignation from Japan, his ancestral homeland, thousands of Peruvians celebrated the end of an increasingly oppressive regime that was clinging to power in constitutionally questionable ways.

But his legacy lives on in the free-market reforms he introduced and the political violence he snuffed out. Peru today is prospering and peaceful. Democracy, meanwhile, has survived Fujimori's authoritarian ways, deepening its roots under two presidents who were judged to have been freely and honestly elected.

MEXICAN EX-LEADER'S STATUE, AND STATURE, FALL
The Washington Post
October 20, 2007

BOCA DEL RIO, Mexico -- Former president Vicente Fox was immortalized in bronze in this seaside resort city -- for about seven hours.

That's how long it took a mob to form and rip a newly installed, six-foot statue of Fox from its pedestal, the latest indignity heaped upon an ex-president whose international profile is on the rise but who is battling troubles at home. While Fox has jetted across the United States promoting his new autobiography, which was written in English, his enemies in Mexico's Congress have formed a commission to investigate allegations that he lives lavishly in retirement because of favors received while in office.

KIDNAPPED CANINE RECOVERED IN COLOMBIA
The Miami Herald
Oct. 20, 2007

BOGOTA, Colombia --
A kidnapped German Shepherd has been returned to its elderly owners in Bogota, days after a police sting operation thwarted payment of a $350,000 ransom.

The dog, named Aldo, had been left by his captors at a veterinarian's office earlier this week and was identified and returned to his owners on Friday, after the story of his kidnapping was published on the front page of the country's largest newspaper, El Tiempo.

Capt. Wilfredo Vasquez, spokesman for the police's elite "Gaula" anti-kidnapping unit, said the dog's owners refused to discuss the case, but described them as a wealthy, retired couple.

CUBANS VOTE WITHOUT CASTRO IN CHARGE
The Miami Herald
Oct. 21, 2007

HAVANA --
Cubans opened an election cycle Sunday that will lead to a decision next year on whether ailing leader Fidel Castro will remain atop the communist-run island's supreme governing body.

The nationwide municipal voting marked the start of a multitiered process that culminates with parliamentary elections next spring. Lawmakers could then decide to officially replace Castro, 81, with his younger brother Raul as head of the 31-member Council of State.

The elder Castro has been the island's unchallenged leader since his revolution toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. But he has not been seen in public since undergoing emergency intestinal surgeries and ceding power to a provisional government headed by his brother in July 2006.

ARGENTINE 'HILLARY' AIMS FOR PRESIDENCY
The Miami Herald
Oct. 22, 2007

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina --
She met her future husband while studying law and joined him as he rose from governor of a small state to the presidency. A powerful first lady and senator in her own right, she's now campaigning hard to be the first woman elected president of her country.

Hillary Rodham Clinton? Try Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Argentina's first lady.

The wife of President Nestor Kirchner is the clear front-runner on the presidential ballot, favored to clobber 12 rivals in voting Oct. 28 and succeed her husband at the helm of South America's second-largest economy.

ARGENTINE `HILLARY' AIMS FOR PRESIDENCY
The Washington Post
October 22, 2007

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- She met her future husband while studying law and joined him as he rose from governor of a small state to the presidency. A powerful first lady and senator in her own right, she's now campaigning hard to be the first woman elected president of her country.

Hillary Rodham Clinton? Try Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Argentina's first lady.

The wife of President Nestor Kirchner is the clear front-runner on the presidential ballot, favored to clobber 12 rivals in voting Oct. 28 and succeed her husband at the helm of South America's second-largest economy.

ACTIVIST, GUARD KILLED ON BRAZIL BIOFARM
The Miami Herald
Oct. 22, 2007

SAO PAULO, Brazil --
Two people were shot dead when activists were confronted by armed men as they invaded a Swiss-owned farm that has been a flashpoint in the debate over biotech crops, authorities and the company said Monday.

A security guard and an activist were killed by gunfire Sunday at the research farm owned by Syngenta AG, a global company with a heavy focus on genetically modified seeds.

The official Agencia Brasil news agency said four activists and four security guards were injured. Details of the clash were still unclear, but the Parana state government said seven guards were arrested, facing possible homicide charges.

CHILE VOWS TO EXPAND ANTARCTIC CLAIMS
The Washington Post
October 22, 2007

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chile said Monday it will claim an extended portion of the Antarctic seabed to uphold its rights in the face of a similar step by Britain.

Britain last week said it is preparing a claim under a U.N. treaty that allows countries to claim continental shelf up to 350 nautical miles (402 statute miles) off their shores. The treaty also gives countries the right to search for oil and natural gas there.

Earlier treaties allowed countries to claim territory only 200 nautical miles from the coast.

CHILE VOWS TO EXPAND ANTARCTIC CLAIMS
The Miami Herald
Oct. 22, 2007

SANTIAGO, Chile --
Chile said Monday it will claim an extended portion of the Antarctic seabed to uphold its rights in the face of a similar step by Britain.

Britain last week said it is preparing a claim under a U.N. treaty that allows countries to claim continental shelf up to 350 nautical miles (402 statute miles) off their shores. The treaty also gives countries the right to search for oil and natural gas there.

Earlier treaties allowed countries to claim territory only 200 nautical miles from the coast.

ANTI-REFORM PROTESTERS, POLICE CLASH IN VENEZUELA
The Miami Herald
Oct. 23, 2007

CARACAS --
Thousands of university students scuffled with police and government supporters during a protest Tuesday against constitutional reforms that would let President Hugo Chávez run for reelection indefinitely.

Police tossed tear gas canisters into the crowd of opposition students after bottle-throwing clashes broke out with a smaller group of pro-Chávez demonstrators near the National Assembly. Journalists estimated there were about 20,000 protesters, but pro-Chávez lawmakers said there were far fewer.

CUBAN EDUCATION IS IN CRISIS, STUDY SAYS
The Miami Herald
Oct. 23, 2007

Cuban education is passing through its deepest crisis, and the reforms proposed by Fidel Castro in recent years have only worsened the situation, according to a study by a group of Cuban and Slovak specialists unveiled in Miami.

The study, What is the future of education in Cuba?, gathers criticism, suggestions and proposals for a future educational reform and was carried out by the Slovak-based People in Peril, which since 2005 has been working with teachers and parents on the island.

''Cuban education is destroyed, with grave problems like the deterioration of the schools, the predominance of ideology over teaching and the bad preparation of teachers,'' Eliska Slavikova said Monday. She coordinated the study with Suzana Humajova, who visited the island in 2006 and met with teachers, Christian groups and others.

ARGENTINA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
The Washington Post
October 23, 2007

On Oct. 28, voters in Argentina will elect the country's next president to a four-year term. To avoid a November runoff, a candidate must win at least 45 percent of the vote, or get at least 40 percent and defeat the nearest challenger by at least 10 percentage points.

CLASHES BREAK OUT AT VENEZUELA PROTEST
The Miami Herald
Oct. 23, 2007

CARACAS, Venezuela --
Thousands of university students scuffled with police and government supporters during a protest Tuesday against constitutional reforms that would let President Hugo Chavez run for re-election indefinitely.

Police tossed tear gas canisters into the crowd of opposition students after bottle-throwing clashes broke out with a smaller group of pro-Chavez demonstrators near the National Assembly. Journalists estimated there were about 20,000 protesters, but pro-Chavez lawmakers said there were far fewer.

CHÁVEZ MAY BE SECRET SPOILER AT CHE AUCTION
The Miami Herald
Oct. 24, 2007

A lock of Ernesto ''Che'' Guevara's hair -- clipped by a Miami exile and about to go on the auction block this week -- could end up the property of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, a devout follower of the Cuban revolution and its communist ideology.

On the eve of the two-day auction that begins Thursday in Dallas, Heritage Auction Galleries received an unusual emergency request for a catalog of the Che items -- from a high-level office in Caracas.

''We were requested to ship a catalog overnight to Venezuela, but we can't say to whom,'' said Kelley Norwine, a spokeswoman for Heritage.

EX-PRESIDENT OF ARGENTINA FACES CHARGES
The Miami Herald
Oct. 24, 2007

BUENOS AIRES --
A federal judge charged former president Fernando de la Rúa with five counts of manslaughter Tuesday in connection with bloody street riots in December 2001 that accompanied Argentina's descent into economic crisis.

Federal Judge Claudio Bonadio said the former president is also being prosecuted on charges stemming from injuries to 172 other people during street clashes between demonstrators and police that year.

It was the first time a current or former democratically elected Argentine president has faced charges for the conduct of security forces under his oversight.

MEXICAN JOURNALIST HONORED FOR COURAGE
The Miami Herald
Oct. 24, 2007

MEXICO CITY --
She set out to expose a pedophile ring in Cancún, naming the rich and powerful she says were involved, and became a journalism sensation when she was abducted, threatened and sued in reprisal.

Lydia Cacho peered into Cancún's underworld and came up with a stinging indictment of powerful friends and politicians she says did little or nothing to stop a prominent businessman accused of luring poor girls in the Caribbean resort to his home so he and his friends could have sex with them.

PANEL OK'S PUERTO RICO BILL
The Miami Herald
Oct. 24, 2007

WASHINGTON --
A key House committee Tuesday approved a bill that would have Puerto Ricans voting by late 2009 if they want to continue as a U.S. territory or opt for a change, including independence or making the island the 51st U.S. state.

If approved by Congress, the bill would lead to the first federally mandated binding plebiscite on Puerto Rico's status since the United States seized the island from Spain 109 years ago.

REGIONAL
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THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
CHÁVEZ DESTABILIZES, AND U.S. PAYS BILL
The Miami Herald
Oct. 18, 2007

There is no mystery about Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's intent on destabilizing U.S.-backed Latin American democracies: he says so on his own government's website.

At first, when a Venezuelan political analyst showed me about a month ago what he said was a Venezuelan planning ministry's document calling for the support of ''alternative movements'' in Latin America, I dismissed it as an internal government memo whose authenticity and seriousness would be hard to confirm. Thus, I decided not to print a word about it.

But, to my big surprise, while surfing through the Venezuelan government's information ministry's website, www.minci.gov.ve, this week, I stumbled upon the same document, now presented as ''The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela's General Guidelines for the Nation's Economic and Social Development Plan 2007-2013.'' It included exactly the same wording calling for Venezuela's support of opposition groups in U.S.-friendly Latin American countries.

CARIBBEAN SEEKS TO SELL ITSELF AS ONE
The Miami Herald
Oct. 20, 2007

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico --
Caribbean islands, separated by diverse languages and cultures, are developing a single regional brand to promote the tourism industry that drives most of their economies.

The new campaign, whose logo presents the word "Caribbean" in a rainbow of colors, aims to reverse a decade-long decline in the region's share of international tourism, said Allen Chastanet, chairman of the Caribbean Trade Organization.

"Whether we like it or not, we're all intrinsically tied," Chastanet said Saturday in an interview at the trade organization's 30th annual conference in San Juan. "If you can create more awareness of the Caribbean, then all the destinations in the region will benefit."

THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
LATIN AMERICAN SCHOOLS DON'T MEASURE UP
The Miami Herald
Oct. 15, 2007

One of the things that struck me the most during a recent visit to India was that amid growing competition for educational excellence children have to pass rigorous admission tests starting at kindergarten. What a difference with what's happening in Latin America!

In many Latin American countries, there is so little emphasis on the quality of education that you can go all the way from kindergarten to giant state-run universities such as Mexico's National Autonomous University or Argentina's University of Buenos Aires without ever having to pass an admissions test.

CHÁVEZ’S PLAN FOR DEVELOPMENT BANK MOVES AHEAD
The New York Times
October 22, 2007

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 21 — The idea by Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s president, to create a Bank of the South to finance regional development projects is moving forward, aided by the tacit approval of Brazil, which has South America’s largest economy.

Colombia’s president, Álvaro Uribe, right, said his country would join the bank being created by Hugo Chávez, left.

But doubts persist about the need for such a bank, which many economists and analysts continue to see as a political move by Mr. Chávez to try to spread his influence and carry out his crusade against Washington-based multilateral institutions like the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

RELACIONES BILATERALES
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LEADERS OF VENEZUELA AND COLOMBIA, IDEOLOGICAL OPPOSITES, ARE TIGHTENING TIES
The New York Times
October 19, 2007

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — The Bush administration has no closer friend in South America than President Álvaro Uribe, an Oxford-educated lawyer raised in the privileged world of cattle estates and elite schools. Hugo Chávez, the president of neighboring Venezuela, was born into poverty and rose through the ranks of the army before emerging as the chief scourge of American policy in the region.

Such ideological opposites might be expected to focus on historical rivalries between their countries, which were at the edge of war as recently as the late 1980s. Instead, they are rapidly moving to strike energy deals, resolve a boundary dispute and increase trade, with Colombia’s exports to Venezuela climbing to a record $4 billion this year.

BRAZIL GUNMAN RECOUNTS KILLING U.S. NUN
The Miami Herald
Oct. 22, 2007

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil --
The gunman convicted of killing American nun and rain forest defender Dorothy Stang told the jury at his retrial Monday that he shot her out of fear and rage, court officials said.

Rayfran das Neves Sales was sentenced in 2005 to 27 years in prison for shooting Stang six times with a .38-caliber revolver on a muddy road deep in the heart of the Amazon rain forest that same year. Brazil grants an automatic retrial for any sentence longer than 20 years in prison.

Stang, a 73-year-old from Dayton, Ohio, spent the last 30 years of her life defending poor settlers in the violence-plagued rain forest region and prosecutors say two ranchers hired Sales to kill her because of a dispute over a piece of forest they wanted to clear for pasture.

DYNAMITE TOSSED AT VENEZUELAN CONSULATE IN BOLIVIA
The Miami Herald
Oct. 23, 2007

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia --
(AP) -- Unknown assailants tossed sticks of dynamite at the Venezuelan consulate in this eastern city early Monday, while others hurled gasoline bombs at the residence of Cuban doctors, government officials said.

No one was injured and the explosions, which are being investigated, caused only minor damage, said Col. Enrique Urquidi, Santa Cruz director of the Bolivian national police. ''We condemn these type of violent, cowardly actions designed to create a climate of tension, anxiety, and terror in the country,'' said presidential spokesman Alex Contreras.

A center of opposition to leftist President Evo Morales, Santa Cruz chafes at his close ties to socialist governments in Venezuela and Cuba and is pushing for greater local autonomy.

BRAZIL GUNMAN GETS 27 YEARS IN KILLING OF U.S. NUN
The Miami Herald
Oct. 23, 2007

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil --
(AP) -- A Brazilian judge sentenced a gunman to 27 years in prison for killing American nun and rain forest defender Dorothy Stang in a retrial Monday, handing down the same punishment as in the first trial.

The jury of four men and three women in the Amazon state of Para voted unanimously to convict Rayfran das Neves Sales for the Feb. 12, 2005, killing, said court spokeswoman Gloria Lima.

The judge sentenced Sales to the same 27 years he received at his first trial in December 2005. Brazil grants an automatic retrial for any sentence longer than 20 years.

BUSH ASKS CONGRESS FOR $1.4 BILLION TO FIGHT DRUGS IN MEXICO
The New York Times
October 23, 2007

MEXICO CITY, Oct. 22 — President Bush asked Congress on Monday to approve a $1.4 billion aid package over the next three years to help the Mexican government fight narcotics traffickers, who have unleashed a bloody underworld war that has left more than 4,000 dead across Mexico in the last two years.

The plan calls for the United States to give Mexico $500 million over the next 12 months to provide training for the police and tools to dismantle drug cartels, including helicopters, surveillance planes, drug-sniffing dogs and software to track cases.

An additional $50 million would go to Central American countries for the same purposes.

BUSH REQUESTS MILLIONS FOR MEXICO'S DRUG FIGHT
The Miami Herald
Oct. 23, 2007

WASHINGTON --
The Bush administration on Monday unveiled a $1.4 billion, multiyear aid program to help Mexico defeat drug cartels whose turf wars have left about 2,000 dead this year and led President Felipe Calderón to deploy his military.

The White House said it wants Congress to immediately allocate $500 million for Mexico, plus $50 million for counter-drug help to Central America. The request was tucked into an Iraq-Afghanistan spending bill.

The initiative, the most ambitious U.S. effort in the region since a similar program for Colombia was crafted in the late 1990s, reflects U.S. concerns over spiraling violence in neighboring Mexico.

CASTRO CLAIMS BUSH COULD SPARK WWIII
The Miami Herald
Oct. 23, 2007

HAVANA --
Fidel Castro wrote Tuesday President Bush is threatening the world with nuclear war and famine - an attack on Washington a day before the White House plans to announce new plans to draw Cuba away from communism.

"The danger of a massive world famine is aggravated by Mr. Bush's recent initiative to transform foods into fuel," Castro wrote in Cuban news media, referring to U.S. support for using corn and other food crops to produce gasoline substitutes.

The brief essay titled "Bush, Hunger and Death" also alleged that Bush "threatens humanity with World War III, this time using atomic weapons."

BUSH COULD SPARK WORLD WAR III, CASTRO CLAIMS
The Miami Herald
Oct. 23, 2007

HAVANA --
Fidel Castro wrote Tuesday that President Bush is threatening the world with nuclear war and famine -- a blast at Washington a day before the White House plans to announce new plans to draw Cuba away from communism.

''The danger of a massive world famine is aggravated by Mr. Bush's recent initiative to transform foods into fuel,'' Castro wrote in Cuban news media, referring to U.S. support for using corn and other food crops to produce gasoline substitutes.

The brief essay titled Bush, Hunger and Death also alleged that Bush ``threatens humanity with World War III, this time using atomic weapons.''

BUSH RALLIES NATIONS TO HELP CUBA MOVE TOWARD DEMOCRACY
The Miami Herald
Oct. 24, 2007

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, ever pushing for a Cuba without Fidel Castro, wants allies around the world to offer money and political support so the island can be ready to transform itself.

It is Bush's vision for Cuban regime change: providing help on the outside, prodding change on the inside.

Seizing on Castro's fading health as a rare opening, Bush was to ask other nations Wednesday to help Cuba become a free society.

In remarks prepared for delivery at the State Department -- his first stand-alone address on Cuba in four years -- Bush looks to the day when Castro is gone. Bush describes a nation in which Cuban people choose a representative government and enjoy basic freedoms, with support from a broad international coalition.

BUSH TO TALK TOUGH, URGE CHANGE IN CUBAN RULE
The Miami Herald
Oct. 24, 2007

WASHINGTON -- President Bush will make it clear in a speech Wednesday that he won't compromise with Havana, saying he favors freedom over stability and directly urging Cuba's security forces to stop repressing dissidents, according to government officials familiar with the text.

Bush also will promise more aid if Cuba takes a democratic turn, including new programs like scholarships for Cuban students and computers that would allow more people on the island to access the Internet.

BUSH TO WARN CUBA ON PLAN FOR TRANSITION
The New York Times
October 24, 2007

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 — President Bush is planning to issue a stern warning Wednesday that the United States will not accept a political transition in Cuba in which power changes from one Castro brother to another, rather than to the Cuban people.

As described by an official in a background briefing to reporters on Tuesday evening, Mr. Bush’s remarks will amount to the most detailed response — mainly an unbending one — to the political changes that began in Cuba more than a year ago, when Fidel Castro fell ill and handed power to his brother Raúl.

The speech, scheduled to be given at the State Department before invited Cuban dissidents, will introduce the relatives of four Cuban prisoners being held for political crimes. A senior administration official said the president wanted to “put a human face,” on Cuba’s “assault on freedom.”

CASTRO: BUSH COULD SPARK NUCLEAR WAR
The Miami Herald
Oct. 24, 2007

HAVANA --
Fidel Castro is accusing President Bush of threatening the world with nuclear war and famine - an attack on Washington that comes as the White House is set to announce new plans to draw Cuba away from communism.

"The danger of a massive world famine is aggravated by Mr. Bush's recent initiative to transform foods into fuel," Castro wrote Tuesday in Cuban news media, referring to U.S. support for using corn and other food crops to produce gasoline substitutes.

The brief essay titled "Bush, Hunger and Death" also alleged that Bush "threatens humanity with World War III, this time using atomic weapons."

The White House on Tuesday brushed off Castro's comments - particularly his assertion that Bush was pursuing a forceful conquest of Cuba.