NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs articles from October 2002

NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs archives from October 2002

MILLIONS SUFFERING IN CENTRAL AMERICA DROUGHT CORRIDOR.
October 3, 2002... About 8.6 million people living in rural areas in the Pacific Coast regions of Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala, and in west-central Honduras, are suffering from hunger and malnutrition as a result of recent droughts, according to a report...

GUATEMALA: A NEW FRONT AGAINST RACISM.
October 3, 2002... A "tribunal of conscience," designed to bring attention to the problem of racism against the indigenous population of Guatemala, took place on Sept. 30. The exercise, convened at the Guatemalan National Theater before a packed house, did not...

AID TO HAITI IS UNFROZEN, BUT CORRUPTION AND CHAOS REMAIN.
October 3, 2002... [The following article by Jane Regan is reprinted with the permission of Noticias Aliadas in Lima, Peru. It appeared in the Sept. 23, 2002, edition of Latinamerica Press.] After two years of political impasse that led to what Haitian...

GUATEMALA: ONE CONVICTION IN MYRNA MACK MURDER TRIAL.
October 10, 2002... On Oct. 3, the Tribunal Tercero de Sentencia de Guatemala, the court hearing the Myrna Mack murder trial (see NotiCen, 2002-09-02), issued its verdict. Guilty of having ordered the assassination of the anthropologist was Col. Juan Valencia....

HONDURAS: PRESIDENT RICARDO MADURO PROMISES ACTION ON KILLINGS OF CHILDREN.
October 10, 2002... The Honduran government on Oct. 4 gave official recognition to charges that authorities were involved in executing children, as had been charged by human rights organizations. Minister of Government Jorge Hernandez Alcerro said that a report...

CUBA: U.S. TRADE FAIR IN HAVANA MAKES DENT IN EMBARGO WITH SALES CONTRACTS WORTH U.S.$90 MILLION.
October 10, 2002... US firms such as Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Cargill signed sales contracts for US$90 million during the five-day Food and Agribusiness Exhibition held at Havana's Pabexpo center Sept. 26-30. Another US$13 million in sales was pending at...

LOW TECH, HIGH SCIENCE IN EL SALVADOR.
October 17, 2002... A Salvadoran scientist has invented a device that could be the salvation of what little is left of the forests and woodlands of El Salvador. It could also revolutionize energy technology worldwide, drastically reduce the use of fossil fuels in...

DOLLARIZING HONDURAS.
October 17, 2002... Perhaps spurred on by popular opposition to free trade agreements (see other story in this edition) with the US, Canada, or the European Union (EU), drums have begun to beat for replacing the national currency, the lempira, with the dollar....

PROTESTERS SAY THE CONQUEST IS A WORK IN PROGRESS.
October 17, 2002... President George W. Bush notified the US Congress in October of his intention to start negotiations for a Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The notification was transmitted through the office of Robert Zoellick, US trade...

MOUNTING P.P.P. OPPOSITION SCORES VICTORY.
October 24, 2002... With no fanfare and scant media coverage, the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB) canceled the construction of a road early in October that would have split the Biosfera Maya, in the northern Peten of Guatemala, up the middle. The bank...

GUATEMALA RESHUFFLES COPS IN WAKE OF RIECH ACCUSATIONS.
October 24, 2002... The US has leveled strong accusations of corruption against the Guatemalan government in recent days. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Otto Reich has said that the government is linked to narcotraffic and organized...

AIRRECU: BIRTH OF A NATION?
October 24, 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 October 11-17, 2002, edition of the newspaper.] Leaders of a separatist...