July 1, 2009        www.LatinEPR.com 

To add your e-mail to our distribution list, or to be removed from it, please contact Ellie Perla at: ellieperla@aol.com, or call 305-535-0951

Carola Perla, Editor

Missed last months' LatinEPR Newsletter?  Click here to see past issues

LATIN AMERICA - NEWS BRIEFS

Media

Silenced Media: An Alarming Regional Trend

Shortly following June’s military coup, which saw the Honduran army depose President Manuel Zelaya and fly him out of the country, soldiers moved to shut down the majority of Honduras’s radio and television stations, Reuters reported this past week.  Closures targeted, among others, networks CNN en Espanol and Venezuelan left-leaning Telesur, with only a few popular music stations staying open.  Newspapers El Heraldo and El Tribuno also remained operational, on account of their support of the coup.  The closures have drawn protests from journalistic groups like Paris-based Reporters without Borders, who are urging the OAS to restore press freedom in the country.

The coup d’etat took place following President Zeyala’s controversial and unpopular attempt to introduce the sort of term-extension referendum Venezuela ratified last year, and which several other countries like Ecuador are currently considering.  Zeyala’s ill-advised decision to fire the chief of the army for refusing to support the referendum only served to alienate him from the Supreme Court, which promptly overturned the army chief’s dismissal and ordered the removal of the president.  But the forcible removal of a democratically elected leader at gunpoint, and the violent street protests resulting from this upheaval, are dark reminders of the region’s past instability, which leaders from across political spectrums are loathe to revisit.  Leftist Hugo Chavez and market-friendly Felipe Calderon of Mexico have already met in Nicaragua to find a solution to this crisis, while the US, the EU, and the OAS have all expressed condemnation. 

In regards to the latest case of media repression, however, the alarming fact of the matter is that this is no longer a tactic limited to military coups and dictatorial regimes.  When Venezuelan authorities detained Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa at the border last month and forbade him from making political speeches - a rather ironic demand considering that Chavez soon after invited Vargas Llosa to appear on his national television program to debate politics with a panel of Venezuelan academics - it must be said that few following the awkward international incident were greatly surprised.  Chavez has for years come under fire for his government’s media repression.  The most recent is the suspension of Globovision, the television station which, in addition to being investigated for alleged tax evasion, incurred several fines over the last couple months for airing dangerous material.    The government accuses Globovision of political subversion (the broadcast of an interview with a guest who compares Chavez to Mussolini is being interpreted as an assassination call), and ‘fear mongering’ (for scooping state-run stations on the report of an earthquake).  Pro-Globovision demonstrations in Caracas and Miami rallied supporters on Venezuela’s ‘Day of the Journalist’, and private citizen donations have been collected to help pay off the fines - donations already total more than $1 million. But an equally massive group of government supporters marched the same day, opposing Globovision and “media terrorism”.

And Venezuela is not the only nation that considers itself under the ominous threat of uncensored media.  Ecuador’s Rafael Correa announced in May that he intended to defend government from ‘corrupt media’ when he takes over as president of the 12-country Union of South American Nations (Lawrence Journal World&News).  Ecuador recently sanctioned the popular television station Teleamazonas for airing a bullfight before 9 pm and gave it a three-month suspension for the June broadcast of a Simpsons episode.  A third violation guarantees closure of this ‘corrupt’ outlet.  According to the report, Bolivia and Venezuela immediately backed Correa’s proposal.  Meanwhile, neighbors are keeping mum.

Media Giant Televisa Jumps on Social Networking Bandwagon

This June Spanish-language media giant Televisa joined the booming social networking trend, by announcing an exclusive ad deal, as well as a co-branded online video channel, with international website Hi5.  Televisa already streams video content through Esmas.com and Tvolucion, both of which are available in the US, but the new Hi5 channel, set to debut this summer, will be targeted to a Latin American audience.  The additional exclusivity of the advertising deal, which sees Televisa become Hi5’s only online advertising inventory representative in Hispanic Latin America, should help the media company solidify its position as a business leader in the region.  The two companies already reach a combined audience in Hispanic Latin America of more than 33 million unique users each month.  The latest deal should benefit from the ever growing user numbers in the region.  According to ComScore, Internet use in LatAm countries grew by 16.6% last year.  In comparison, Internet use in North America grew 5.7% in the same period.

Tourism:

Chile Takes Stand Against Sex Tourism

This past month, Chile took steps to battle sex tourism that targets minors by launching an awareness campaign that also publicizes the penalties for such offenses, the Xinhua News Agency recently reported.   The National Minors’ Service, the National Tourism Service and the International Labor Organization joined forces to save the thousands of minors who suffer from sexual exploitation each year at the hand of tourists, by beginning to dispel the myth that teenagers are willing participants in the sex trade.  The article quotes figures which show that of the 600 million annual tourist trips to Chile, 20% are for the purpose of sex, while 3% of that section target sex with minors.  This means 3 million tourist trips sustaining illegal prostitution and pornography rings.  The article points out that although there are no separate figures on child sex tourism, lax legislation has until now undoubtedly perpetuated sex tourism aimed at all minors by offering a safe haven for visitors who stem mostly from developed countries.

Regional Travel Boost Central American Tourism Numbers

Regional travel within Central America has helped boost tourism numbers by as much as 11% in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Panama, the Gobal Post recently reported.  The article argues that as opposed to neighbor Costa Rica, which is currently suffering a tourism industry downturn because the majority of its visitors come from the US and Europe, countries like Nicaragua and Guatemala are enjoying sustained growth thanks to regional tourists, who prefer the lower prices and shorter distance of these destinations.  Regional tourists also visit more frequently.  The average stay of such visitors in countries like Panama is two or three days, as opposed to the 11-day stay of international travelers in Costa Rica.  The nature of Costa Rica visits has contributed to a 13% decline in the country’s tourism visits in the first quarter of 2009 (compared to the same period in 2008).  Now with upcoming low season, Costa Rican industry officials are bracing for an even harder fall.  But the international NGO Rainforest Alliance is calling for calm.  From their point of view, decreased numbers to Costa Rica’s forests will help shift the country away from the dangers of over-development and back onto where it should be - sustainable ecotourism.  Last year, the Central American nation recorded an unprecedented 2 million visitors.

Brazil Calls off Air France Search

The Brazilian Air Force and Navy have called off the search for additional victims and wreckage from the tragic Air France Flight 447 that crashed over the Atlantic earlier this past month, Reuters reported recently.  An extensive month-long search recovered 51 bodies and some 600 pieces of wreckage, but after coming up empty the last nine days, officials lost hope that any more of the 228 people on board would be found.  While French navy ships continue to scan the area for fading beacon signs from the plane’s lost black box, families joined the Brazilian navy in paying tribute to the victims with a ceremony aboard the frigate Bosisio in the northeastern port town of Recife.  The tragic crash was the worst in Air France’s 75-year history and involved a search effort that spanned over 135,000 square miles of ocean.  

Economy and Politics:

Peruvian Tribes Victorious over Big Business

Indigenous groups are celebrating a temporary victory over big business, after weeks of violent protests in the Amazon caused the Peruvian government to repeal two 2008 laws that threatened tribal lands by opening the country’s forests to foreign oil and mineral interest.  The government’s initial refusal to rescind the two controversial regulations, intended to meet conditions of the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement and pave the way for investment, sparked protests and roadblocks in April, which then escalated into fatal clashes with police.  The official casualty count stands at 24 police officers and 10 indigenous protesters, but protest leaders, humanitarian groups, and foreign media covering the fighting put the number of native deaths much higher (WorldFocus.org).  Suspicion over police conduct coupled with wide-spread opposition to aspects of the Free Trade Agreement has turned this national incident into a political disaster for President Alan Garcia, whose popularity has continued to sink despite the latest government backtracking.  Political views among the Peruvian populace tend to be dictated by rural vs urban origins, but a recent poll shows that 80% of all Peruvians are critical of Garcia’s handling of this issue and his treatment of the Amazonian tribes. 

Although it has been later revealed that the repealed laws were not obligated by the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement, but instead examples of government greed (Embassy Magazine – Canada), the recent protests have raised anxiety over the impending Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement.  Garcia continues to face rural opposition to mining and agrarian regulations that favor foreign companies, but if in addition to the indigenous concerns, people in the cities also fail to reap the benefits of these trade agreements, Peru’s government might experience a serious turnabout in coming months.  Waiting in the wings?  Ollanta Humala, the 2006 losing ‘nationalist’ presidential candidate and a close ally of Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales. 

Argentina: Midterm Elections

Argentina’s First Couple were dealt a massive political blow in this month’s mid-term elections, when President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner lost control of Congress, and her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner failed to win a representative seat for the Buenos Aires region, reports the Independent.  The stunning loss for Mr. Kirchner put a damper on his plans to run for presidential re-election in 2011 – in fact, rather than picking up where his wife left off, Mr. Kirchner announced he was resigning as the head of the ruling Peronist party.  For President Fernandez de Kirchner, the second half of her term in office will be difficult with Congress against her, but perhaps no more than her first two years have already been.  Unlike her husband, whose term was marked by economic prosperity after the 2001 crisis, President Fernandez de Kirchner faced a global economic downturn with rising commodity prices and domestic inflation.  Her approval rating declined to 30% after several unpopular decisions, including raising farm export taxes in 2008 and adopting the debt-ridden Aerolineas Argentinas.  On the bright side, according to the Wall Street Journal, election results have sent Argentine bonds soaring.  States the report, foreign investors welcome new legislative voices and feel the country is now less likely than before to default on sovereign debt.    

General Interest:

Hispanic Boycott Census

As the 2010 US Census approaches, debate over the participation of undocumented immigrants is intensifying and dividing Hispanics nationwide.  Last month, a report in the L.A. Times revealed that the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders, which represent 20,000 Latino churches across 34 states, had called for a boycott of the census as a way of urging immigrant reforms.  According to the coalition, a fourth of its 4 million members who are undocumented residents in the US are prepared to join the boycott. Speaking as chairman of the coalition, Rev. Miguel Rivera told the newspaper that to be counted, immigrants need to be legalized first, a sentiment being echoed by numerous other clergy groups around the country.

Supporting this argument is the Federation for American Immigration Reform.   Hardly known for pressing the expeditious legalization of undocumented immigrants, the conservative group maintains that legalization should determine participation in the census, because in their view, participation of illegal immigrants unfairly shifts political representation away from US citizens. Census numbers determine the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives, as well as seats in the Electoral College.  Census numbers, however, also determine federal funds for education, housing, transportation, and healthcare, with roughly $1000 allocated per person counted.  Hispanic advocacy groups who are decrying the boycott as an ill-advised reaction of frustration, argue that refusal to participate in the census lowers public funds and services the Latino community needs.  Rev. Rivera counters that increased numbers would inadvertently fund harassment by local law enforcement.  In fact, the growing reluctance of many illegal immigrants to participate in the census stems from the fear it would increase arrests and spell their deportation. 

Speaking to the Providence Journal, a Boston representative of the Census Bureau insists that contrary to popular belief, answers are strictly confidential and are not shared with any federal entity.  The Census Bureau has to this end stepped up its awareness program to quell fears about privacy.  March 2010 will show to which side of this argument Hispanics adhered. 

LatAm and the Caribbean Lead World in Winning AIDS Battle

This past month, executive director of UNAIDS, Michael Sidibe announced that the battle against the disease was being won in Latin America and the Caribbean.  Speaking with the Miami Herald on his first official visit to the US, Sidibe (nicknamed the global AIDS czar) said that life-saving medication was reaching those in the region, based on 2007 figures which give Latin America and the Caribbean an antiretroviral therapy coverage of 62%.  That is the highest of any region in the world.  Sidibe attributes this success to a general global trend in the past five years towards AIDS awareness and government responsibility boosting coverage, as well as particular effort on the part of Caribbean states, which negotiated lower prices of treatment drugs early on.  But Sidibé points out that AIDS treatment continues to be a problem in larger populations like Brazil, home to 40% of region’s AIDS sufferers.  The difficulties of penetrating the city slums, where many of the infected live, keep treatment at a low rate.  The UN also has had little effect on the cases in Cuba, where treatment is still coming up against discrimination and stigmas associated with the disease.

Los Premios MTV Latin America 2009 Will Rock Bogota

This month MTV Latin America confirmed the Colombian capital of Bogota, alongside Los Angeles, as the first of several cities set to host its international award show, Los Premios MTV Latin America 2009.  The company recently announced the 8^th annual event would stage the first multi-city event come October 15, 2009, airing live throughout the US and Latin America.  Bogota’s time in the global limelight is surely owed to Colombia’s strong presence in pop music with such influential figures as Shakira and Juanes proving not only international superstars, but known for their philanthropic work as well.  People en Espanol voted Shakira ‘Humanitarian of the Year’ this January, for her multi-million dollar efforts towards improving education in the region, while rock idol Juanes recently held fundraising concerts for land mine victims and met with Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton to organize a concert in Havana on September 21^st, to celebrate the UN International Day of Peace.  Bogota itself adds this distinction to a list of awards in recent years, including Bogota as World Capital of Books 2007, Bogota Ibero-American Cultural Capital 2007, and the Gold Lion Award at the Venice Biannual Architectural Awards in 2006.  Winners of the MTV Latin America Music awards are chosen by viewers online.  An unprecedented 12.5 million votes were cast online in 2008, breaking the previous year’s record of over one million.