NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs articles from January 2002

NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs archives from January 2002

HAITI: OPPOSITION SAYS GOVERNMENT FAKED ATTACK ON NATIONAL PALACE FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES.
January 10, 2002... Police thwarted an attempt by a band of heavily armed men to take over the Haitian National Palace Dec. 17. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide says the attack was a failed coup attempt, but opposition leaders called the government's version...

NICARAGUA: JUDGE THROWS OUT SEXUAL-ABUSE CASE AGAINST DANIEL ORTEGA BROUGHT BY STEPDAUGHTER ZOILAMERICA NARVAEZ MURILLO.
January 10, 2002... A Nicaraguan judge dismissed rape charges brought against Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional (FSLN) leader Daniel Ortega by his stepdaughter Zoilamerica Narvaez Murillo. In 1998, Narvaez said Ortega had sexually abused her for 19...

COSTA RICA: PARTIDO DE LIBERACION NACIONAL COULD LOSE MORE THAN ELECTION BECAUSE OF HEAVY BORROWING TO FINANCE CAMPAIGN.
January 10, 2002... By Tim Rogers [The following article is reprinted with permission of the weekly newspaper The Tico Times in San Jose, Costa Rica. It first appeared in the Dec. 21, 2001, edition of the newspaper.] If the most recent voter-intention...

NICARAGUA: OUTGOING PRESIDENT ARNOLDO ALEMAN SEEKS LEADERSHIP ROLE IN LEGISLATURE, DEFYING NEW PRESIDENT ENRIQUE BOLANOS.
January 17, 2002... The inauguration of Enrique Bolanos as president of Nicaragua was overshadowed by the political ambitions of his predecessor Arnoldo Aleman. Aleman's noisy and relentless campaign to take over the job as president of the National Assembly...

CUBA: PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH MAKES RECESS APPOINTMENT OF OTTO REICH TO STATE DEPARTMENT.
January 17, 2002... The White House announced Jan. 11 that President George W. Bush had named Cuban-born Otto Reich as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs. Since Congress was not in session, the recess appointment does not need Senate...

GUATEMALA: PRESIDENT ALFONSO PORTILLO DENIES THERE IS AN ECONOMIC CRISIS BUT ACKNOWLEDGES HUNGER & CORRUPTION.
January 24, 2002... In several recent speeches and interviews, Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo has given himself good grades for his first two year in offices. While acknowledging in his annual report to Congress that there were unsolved problems, he...

CUBA: WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION APPELLATE BODY FAILS TO SETTLE HAVANA CLUB DISPUTE IN RECENT RULING.
January 24, 2002... The long-running fight over who owns the Havana Club rum trademark is not over, even though the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) issued a ruling that is considered final. In a complex decision, the body gave both the...

HONDURAS: RICARDO MADURO TAKES OVER PRESIDENCY VOWING TO CARRY OUT A TRANSFORMATION OF THE COUNTRY.
January 31, 2002... Ricardo Maduro, of the Partido Nacional (PN), took the oath of office as president of Honduras Jan. 27. Maduro, a businessman, defeated Partido Liberal (PL) candidate Rafael Pineda Ponce in the November presidential election (see NotiCen,...

REGION'S PRESIDENTS EXUBERANT ABOUT PROPOSAL BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH FOR FREE-TRADE PACT WITH U.S.
January 31, 2002... Central American presidents are talking euphorically about the benefits from a proposed trade pact with the US suggested by President George W. Bush on Jan. 17. Addressing the World Affairs Council in Washington, Bush used Argentina's...

PANAMA: ACCUSATIONS OF MASSIVE BRIBERY IN LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY START NATIONAL FUROR OVER CORRUPTION.
January 31, 2002... Panamanian Legislative Assembly Deputy Carlos Afu charged in mid-January that all deputies of the Partido Revolucionario Democratico (PRD) were offered US$20,000 bribes in exchange for votes on a public-works construction project. He also said...