NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs articles from March 2007

NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs archives from March 2007

FOUR ARRESTED IN KILLING OF MURDERED PARLAMENTARIANS; GUATEMALANS FEAR A FAILED STATE.
March 1, 2007... The murders of three Salvadoran members of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) Feb. 19 in Guatemala (see NotiCen, 2007-02-22) plunged both countries deeper into confusion with the subsequent murders of four Guatemalan police officers...

REGION'S REFINERY DEAL WITH MEXICO IN DOUBT, BUT VENEZUELA MAY BE WAITING IN THE WINGS.
March 1, 2007... A planned gasoline refinery that would go a long way toward solving Central America's high energy costs may never be built. All the countries of the isthmus will suffer from the loss of the plant but the suffering will be distributed unevenly,...

CUBA FOREIGN INITIATIVES IN HIGH GEAR WHILE WINDOW REMAINS OPEN.
March 8, 2007... Cuba's Foreign Ministry has in the past week announced an extraordinary number of foreign-policy initiatives with other nations, and particularly with island nations, from neighboring Saint Kitts and Nevis to the far-off Solomon Islands. The...

SINGLE SOURCE SOLUTION TO ENERGY COSTS NOT WORKING IN HONDURAS.
March 8, 2007... Honduras' innovative approach to lowering energy prices, a bidding process to select a single vendor, is now mired in disputes as gas prices inexorably rise. In 2006, beset with budget-busting costs of keeping the nation's cars on the road and...

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH IN LATIN AMERICA: LOW EXPECTATIONS UNMET.
March 15, 2007... US President George W. Bush had a rough time of it during his "social justice" tour of five Latin American countries, a trip with the goal of recovering some of the influence and prestige lost in the region during the past six years of his...

HAITI GETS HELP FROM VENEZUELA AND CUBA; PRESIDENT RENE PREVAL MUST TREAD LIGHTLY TO KEEP U.S. IN LINE.
March 15, 2007... The Western Hemisphere's poorest country, Haiti, got a much-needed hand from its neighbors on March 12, when Cuban and Venezuelan officials signed an aid package with President Rene Preval. An accord worth somewhere between US$20 million and...

COSTA RICA AND NICARAGUA COULD TURN THE TIDE FOR THE WORLD'S WHALES.
March 22, 2007... If whales are still endangered species, Costa Rica and Nicaragua could be crucial in saving them from extinction. Both countries are undergoing internal battles to preserve their votes against lifting a ban in force since 1986 on hunting the...

CHILE'S PRESIDENT VISITS GUATEMALA, PLEDGES HELP WITH POLICE AND SOCIAL ISSUES.
March 22, 2007... Chile's President Michelle Bachelet touched down in Guatemala for a two-day visit, during which she attended the XLVIII Assembly of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and responded to a plea from President Oscar Berger for...

GUATEMALAN GOVERNMENT CRUMBLING UNDER FALLOUT FROM PARLACEN MURDERS.
March 29, 2007... The February murders in Guatemala of three members of Parlacen from El Salvador along with their driver remain unsolved, as do the subsequent murders of four policemen while in jail on charges stemming from the original crime (see NotiCen,...

INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK CHALLENGED ON ITS POLICIES, PROJECTS, AND PLANS.
March 29, 2007... The Inter-American Development bank (IDB) wrapped up its 48th assembly of governors in Guatemala City March 20 with a promise to improve equality for all Latin Americans and reduce the social divides and poverty that characterize the region....