NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs articles from July 2002

NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs archives from July 2002

COSTA RICA: JUDICIAL DECISION COULD ENDANGER FUND FOR SOCIAL PROGRAMS.
July 4, 2002... By Isis Campo [The author is a staff writer for Inforpress Centroamericana, published in Guatemala] A ruling from Costa Rica's Constitutional Court may endanger the budgets of several social programs, particularly those directed...

REGION: CHILD LABOR & PROSTITUTION PLAGUE CENTRAL AMERICA.
July 4, 2002... Several recent reports indicate that laws protecting children in Central America are poorly enforced. The region is not only plagued with high rates of child labor but also child prostitution and trafficking in children. The International...

GUATEMALA: HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER JENNIFER HARBURY LOSES SUPREME COURT CASE AS FORMER OFFICIALS CLAIM RIGHT TO LIE.
July 4, 2002... The US Supreme Court has rejected human rights lawyer Jennifer Harbury's suit against officials of former President Bill Clinton's administration whom she accuses of misleading her about the fate of her late husband, Efrain Bamaca Velasquez, a...

CUBA: SPEECH BY FIDEL CASTRO ON CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE CAUSES MOMENTARY FEAR OF MASS EXODUS TO FLORIDA.
July 11, 2002... On June 26, the Cuban National Assembly approved a constitutional amendment making socialism "irrevocable" in Cuba. While the change was generally seen in the US as a response to a dissident-sponsored petition drive to legislate, among other...

REGION: PLAN PUEBLA PANAMA HUNTING FOR PRIVATE INVESTMENT.
July 11, 2002... By Velia Jaramillo [The author is a staff writer for Inforpress Centroamericana, published in Guatemala] In the year since its signing in El Salvador, Plan Puebla Panama (PPP) has entered the execution phase with the commencement of...

HONDURAS: CIVIL SOCIETY CHARACTERIZED BY OVERCONCENTRATION ON SELECT GEOGRAPHIC AREAS & ISSUES.
July 11, 2002... [The following article was prepared for NotiCen by Inforpress Centroamericana, published in Guatemala.] Just under half of 227 Honduran Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) controlled a total of US$270 million in 2000, a quantity equivalent...

NICARAGUA: GOVERNING PARTY SPLITS INTO TWO FACTIONS OVER ANTI-CORRUPTION FIGHT.
July 18, 2002... Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos' anti-corruption battle against the administration of former President Arnoldo Aleman (1997-2002) has split the governing Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (PLC) into two factions. Bolanos demands that...

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: EX-PRESIDENT JOAQUIN BALAGUER DIES; CAUDILLO ERA COMES TO AN END.
July 18, 2002... Joaquin Balaguer, former president of the Dominican Republic, died July 14 of cardiac arrest at the age of 95. Balaguer was an ally of former dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo (1930-1961) and was elected president six times after Trujillo's...

CUBA: FLORIDA GOVERNOR JEB BUSH SENDS FULGENCIO BATISTA'S GRANDSON TO THE STATE SUPREME COURT.
July 18, 2002... Florida Gov. Jeb Bush named Raoul Cantero III to a seat on the state Supreme Court. Cantero is the grandson of former Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista (1933-1959). Cantero supporters praised his accomplishments as a lawyer while opponents...

EL SALVADOR: DENGUE EPIDEMIC SPREADS, GOVERNMENT CRITICIZED FOR NOT TAKING EARLIER ACTION.
July 25, 2002... . Dengue fever has reached epidemic proportions in El Salvador this year, killing nine children and one adult. The epidemic, which appears to be receding now, reached its highest levels in June. Some doctors and political leaders say the...

MIGRATION CONFERENCE MISSES KEY ISSUES.
July 25, 2002... By Isis Campos, Inforpress Centroamericana [The author is a staff writer for Inforpress Centroamericana, published in Guatemala] The VII Regional Conference on Migration (RCM) convened in Antigua, Guatemala, on May 28-31. The agenda...

NICARAGUA: SANDINISTAS CELEBRATE TWENTY-THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF VICTORY OVER SOMOZA DICTATORSHIP.
July 25, 2002... On July 19, the Nicaraguan opposition Frente Sandinista de la Liberacion Nacional (FSLN) celebrated the 23rd anniversary of its overthrow of the dictatorship of ex- president Anastasio Somoza (1963-1979). At the celebration in Managua, FSLN...