NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs articles from June 2007

NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs archives from June 2007

REGION'S LEFTIST PARTIES UNITE TO FIGHT NEW TRADE PACTS.
June 7, 2007... The leftist parties of Central America and Mexico met in Tegucigalpa June 2-5 and declared they would continue to fight against free-trade agreements (FTAs) with developed countries because the pacts worsen the problems of poverty,...

NICARAGUA SEEKS NEW ARMS AND A BENEFACTOR.
June 7, 2007... Nicaragua has announced its intention to acquire major new armaments. Upon making the announcement in May, President Daniel Ortega referred to Honduras' recent acquisition of several new light planes from the US but said the new weapons would...

REGION FAILS TO ATTRACT HIGH QUALITY FOREIGN INVESTMENT.
June 7, 2007... The UN's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) published the region's foreign direct investment (FDI) figures for 2006 in May, showing that, while the numbers are up in absolute terms, they are down by world standards...

COSTA RICA BOOTS TAIWAN, WELCOMES CHINA IN DIPLOMATIC SWITCH.
June 14, 2007... Taiwan is out and the People's Republic of China (PRC) is in, as Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias ends more than 60 years of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. "The reasons are obvious," said Arias. Diplomatic relations with China will...

MANO-DURA POLICIES AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY BLAMED AS EL SALVADOR'S VIOLENCE CONTINUES UNABATED.
June 14, 2007... As President Antonio Saca enters his fourth year as president of El Salvador, policies to quell violence in the country appear to have failed. These policies include not only those he initiated but also those he inherited and maintained....

COSTA RICA AIMS FOR CARBON NEUTRALITY.
June 21, 2007... Costa Rica, already something of a paragon of virtue in things environmental, is seeking to burnish its credentials to a higher luster with President Oscar Arias' announcement that by 2021 the country will be the first in the world to become...

VILMA ESPIN--DEBORAH--DIES IN CUBA; A LEGACY OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIVISM LIVES ON.
June 21, 2007... "The Council of State of the Republic of Cuba has declared official mourning in the country on the occasion of the death of outstanding revolutionary fighter Vilma Espin Guillois." So reads an official notice in Prensa Latina to mark the death...

HONDURAS' PRESIDENT TAKES ON MEDIA MOGULS FOR ACCESS TO THE PEOPLE.
June 28, 2007... His popularity sinking, Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya in May ordered the country's private broadcast media to devote 10 two-hour segments to airing government programs. "We find ourselves obligated to make this decision to counteract the...

FOREIGN RESORTS BATTLE LOCAL CITIZENS FOR LIMITED WATER ON COSTA RICA'S GOLD COAST.
June 28, 2007... Foreign investors, say environmentalists, are sucking parts of Costa Rica dry. At issue is a US$300 million project that would divert water from dwindling Lake Arenal to the country's driest region, in Guanacaste, to satisfy the needs of...