July 1, 2008        www.LatinEPR.com      

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LATIN AMERICA - NEWS BRIEFS

 

Media and technology

 

Yahoo! Inc. Launches New Internet Sites in LatAm

 

This past month Yahoo! Inc. announced the launch of four new country-specific websites in its top Latin American markets.   Yahoo!’s popularity among internet users in Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela prompted the creation of yahoo.cl, yahoo.com.pe, yahoo.com.co, yahoo.com., locally relevant versions that will offer established content like Search, Mail, Messenger, among others, while giving local advertisers the opportunity to reach customers through leading-edge technologies.   Currently, Yahoo! is notable for being the most popular web mail in the world with 266 million users worldwide.

 

TRAVEL

 

Ecuador Removes Visas

 

On June 20th Ecuador removed its visa requirement for all foreign visitors, with the new law taking effect almost immediately after the government’s initial announcement.   The visa removal allows tourists from any country to stay for up to 90 days, and will affect the citizens of 130 nations, including those with whom Ecuador has recently had strained relations such as Colombia. According to the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry, the move is intended to promote the principle of free circulation and strengthen ties with the whole world through tourism promotion. 

 

Whale Tourism Big Business in Latin America

 

Whale-related tourism brings $280 million to Latin America each year, according to a recently released study by the International Whaling Commission, during its 60th annual meeting in Chile.  The study shows that some 91 towns in 18 Latin American countries are involved in the commercial activity of whale-watching, and that the sector has grown by an average of 11.3% between 1998 and 2006.  In Costa Rica it grew as much as 74%.  In total, whale-watching brought $80 million in direct revenue to the coastal communities involved.  But while the revenue numbers grow, so do the number of physical tourists, close to one million last year, which many remote towns in places like Patagonia are not yet equipped to handle, to say nothing of the environmental impact so many visitors might have.  Currently 75% of all known whale species exist in the region, and finding the balance between preservation and tourism will not immediately be an easy task.  Destinations like the Galapagos and Antarctica have recently faced the same dilemma, with varying degrees of success. 

 

LAN Traffic Increases by 13.5%

 

May was a month of significant growth for Chile-based airline LAN, with a system-wide passenger traffic increase of 13.5% over May 2007 on the back of a capacity boost of 8.9%, the airline recently announced.  International traffic rose 12.3%, while domestic passenger traffic rose 22.3%.  LAN attributed its long haul success to an increase in operations to the US, Europe, the South Pacific and the Caribbean, and its domestic traffic growth to an expansion in Argentina and Peru, as well as a new business model for short haul operations.  Although punctuality only increased by one point in May, the on-time rate for the company’s total flights was nevertheless an impressive 86.1%.

 

Dominican Republic Decries Erroneous Tourism Report

 

The Dominican Republic was frustrated this past month by what it saw as damage to its reputation as a tourism destination after an Associate Press article quoted the outdated travel advisory that was still listed on the US State Department website.  The travel advisory on the website was three years old, and according to National Police Chief Major General Rafael Guillermo Guzman, an inaccurate reflection of crime on the island.  Says Guzman, contrary to the widely-released AP report, crime has decreased by 60% in the last three years.  But according to DR1 Daily News, Guzman was also quick to point out that he had met with members of the US Embassy who were surprised by the release of the report.  Presidential Palace Press representatives who spoke with Hoy newspaper first expressed outrage, but then conceded that it is normal for governments to inform its citizens about possible travel dangers.  In this case, Nunez believes the island’s increasing tourism prompted the cautionary, if erroneous, report.  Four million tourists now visit the island each year, many of them hailing from the US and Canada, and the number should grow as the government prepares to invest $1 billion in tourism infrastructure over the next four years.

 

Economy and Politics

 

EU Immigration Law Sparks Condemnation

 

A new EU law that could jail immigrants for up to 18 months, seen by many as an attack on human rights, sparked concern and outrage across Latin America this past month.  The law, which will come into effect in 2010, might well affect the hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans who live and work throughout Europe, as EU countries are forced to choose between issuing residency and sending people home.  Carlos Alvarez, the head of Mercosur recently condemned the measure, claiming that it openly violated human rights.  Rafael Correa of Ecuador urged a united regional front against what he called a hate initiative, while Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez went so far as to threaten the EU with cutting oil exports.   Latin American leaders seem united in seeing the measure as a xenophobic attempt to make poverty illegal and punish the workers who have so long performed the work Europeans would not do themselves.  One European leader who has tried to calm the furor, however, according to EurActiv, is Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.  Explaining the law is not meant to incarcerate illegals so much as to impose regional standards for dealing with immigration, he has explained that it actually protects people’s rights by addressing the policies of countries like the UK, where jail terms for illegals can be indefinite.  For its part, Spain has pledged its commitment to the Latin American immigrants living there, and will act as mediator in this diplomatic row.

 

Mexico Freezes Prices on 150 Food Products

 

This June, Mexican food manufacturers agreed to voluntarily freeze prices on more than 150 food products for six months to help the Mexican people deal with rising costs, reported the Associated Press.  Goods include such items as beans, canned tuna, fruit juices, coffee, ketchup, and canned tomatoes.   The food manufacturers’ agreement with the government is the latest in a series of efforts to combat rising food prices.  In May, President Felipe Calderon eliminated import tariffs on several food items and won an agreement from rice farmers to sell their crop at 10% below the international market prices.  Last year, Calderon imposed price caps on tortillas.  But with annual inflation on the rise, the general fear that prices might skyrocket in 2009, once prices are unfrozen, is not unfounded.

 

Argentina's Farmers Strike Reaches Breaking Point

 

A protracted farm strike that has arrested grain sales since March threatens to slow Argentina’s economy, the 3rd largest in Latin America, according to Reuters.  The strike broke out after the government imposed an increase on grains export taxes – Argentina is one of the world’s largest food producers, third in soy bean production and second in corn only to the US.   The newly introduced taxes angered major farm groups, who regard them as one more in a line of state price controls, while President Cristina Fernandez has argued that rich farmers should show more concern for ordinary citizens and use extra profits from high food prices to redistribute wealth.  In her view, taxes would ultimately lower food prices and counter concerns over rising inflation.  Over the past three months, farm groups have responded to Fernandez’s firm stance with roadblocks and protests, which apart from hampering tourism and consumer spending, have also pushed down Argentine bonds.  But the real concern is over the political division between rich and poor which the conflict has deepened.  And with the latest protest, which saw thousands demonstrating throughout the country, banging pots and pans in the street, it doesn’t seem likely the tensions will ease anytime soon.  The end of the strike has been postponed several times and pressure is now mounting on all sides for the government to put the issue to rest once and for all. 

 

General Interest

 

New Tribe of Indigenous Indians Discovered in Brazil

 

Last month a new tribe of indigenous Indians was found in the Brazilian Amazon, on the border with Peru.  The Funai, who consist of approximately 500 people and live along the Envira River in palm-roofed huts, bring the number of Indian tribes isolated from modern society in Brazil’s Amazon forest to 68.  According to several news international sources, the Funai saw the helicopter taking pictures at the newly discovered community as a threat and proceeded to aim bows and arrows at it. 

 

Peruvian Motorists Switch to Natural Gas

 

Economic and environmental benefits have prompted over 35,000 motorists in Peru to install natural gas tanks in their vehicles, reported El Comercio in June.  According to the Peruvian daily, an estimated 70 to 80 people everyday install a natural gas tank that lets their cars use either gasoline or CNG (compressed natural gas).  The fuel alternative CNG costs 70% less than gasoline and emissions are 97% less toxic.   This makes CNG not just cheaper and environmentally friendly, but a great benefit to the people’s general health, as some 13,000 Peruvians die because of air pollution each year.  The only stumbling block thus far has been that there are not yet enough CNG-providing gas stations to meet the demand.

 

Peru Tops in Women Entrepreneurship

  

Peru has topped this year’s GEM annual ranking of women entrepreneurship, with a Female Entrepreneurship Indicator of 26.06%, the Xinhua news source recently reported.   GEM, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor is a global research project that measures entrepreneurship activities throughout the world.  The GEM’s latest ranking in terms of women entrepreneurship includes seven Latin American countries among its top 10 nations, indicating that women are increasingly thriving in the region.  Apart from first place Peru, the other countries to feature in the list were Colombia, Venezuela, Dominica, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.  Chairman of the Argentine Entrepreneurship Foundation Alejandro Machada attributed the high rate to several factors, such as women’s increasing levels of education, the rise of grass-roots leaders and favorable policies, and the overall growing access to the work place and politics.  As it happens, in Cuba and Costa Rica the number of women in parliament has outpaced men, while Chile and Argentina have elected female presidents.  And as cultural perceptions change, women have also begun commanding more money for their work.  The wage gap between the sexes has narrowed over the last two decades, with women earning 90% of men’s wages last year compared to 70% in 1990.  In the US, the average was still 77% in 2006.  Technology is also playing a part as the internet enables home businesses. 

 

But the report points to another, less positive phenomenon called ‘forced entrepreneurship’, where women must be enterprising when they are unable to step into the stable job market.  The resulting businesses, which include catering, tourism, and other such services, are relatively small-scale and prone to bankruptcy.  Women-run businesses in the areas of real estate, finance, software, and engineering would be much more successful, but are currently rare.  Says Peruvian economist Silvia Torres, who works with GEM, the true social significance of female entrepreneurship lies in women being valued and respected, regardless of whether their businesses are successful or not.