NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs articles from December 2003

NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs archives from December 2003

NICARAGUA: U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL MAKES A MESS OF IT.
December 4, 2003... US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Nicaragua Nov. 4 for the reported purpose of discussing security and economic matters, but his visit had become a diplomatic disaster by the time he left. One item on his agenda was to convince...

PLAN PUEBLA-PANAMA FADING, EVEN AS SOME PROJECTS ADVANCE.
December 4, 2003... The languishing Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP) [see NotiCen, 2003-05-29] received another shot in the arm with an agreement to give it a "human face." PPP officials signed an accord at the XII Reunion Ordinaria de la Junta Interamericana de...

HAITI'S VIABILITY IN DOUBT, WITH OR WITHOUT REFORMS.
December 11, 2003... The regime of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was put on notice by the US ambassador that, unless the government enacts decisive reforms, the country's future will be even more bleak than its past (see NotiCen, 2002-11-07). With...

C.A.F.T.A. OPPOSITION PEAKS AS THE END DRAWS NEAR.
December 11, 2003... With the opening of the final scheduled round of Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) negotiations in Washington (see NotiCen, 2003-10-23), critics stepped up efforts to be heard and to scuttle what they see as a bad deal all the way...

COSTA RICA DECLINES PYRRHIC C.A.F.T.A. VICTORY.
December 18, 2003... The US concluded its free-trade deal, the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), in Washington on Dec. 17, but lost one country in the bargain. Costa Rica, at the very last moment, withdrew from the negotiations. The issue over...

DOMINICAN TROOPS IN IRAQ: HOSTAGE TO MEJIA RE-ELECTION?
December 18, 2003... Dominican Republic troops could be held in Iraq against their will, or that of their government, if President Hipolito Mejia decides to bring them home after six months while the US wants them to stay a full year. The soldiers could also be...

REPUBLICAN LEADERS SAVE TRAVEL BAN AS ADMINISTRATION INTENSIFIES CRACKDOWN ON TRIPS TO CUBA.
December 18, 2003... Congressional leaders killed an amendment that would have crippled the 40-year-old restrictions on travel to Cuba. An amendment, sponsored by a bipartisan coalition led by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), would have...