NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs articles from October 2003

NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs archives from October 2003

REGION FEELS PRESSURE OF FREE-TRADE DISAGREEMENTS WITH U.S.
October 2, 2003... The recent curtailment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings at Cancun was credited to the cohesiveness of a group of developing countries, known as the G-21, that mounted a fierce opposition to what they deemed unfair agricultural...

EL SALVADOR: SOME PROGRESS, BUT STILL LAGS ON CHILD LABOR.
October 2, 2003... Cutting sugar cane, working in fireworks factories or in the sex industry, and garbage collecting are among the most dangerous jobs in El Salvador. Another is harvesting mollusks in mangrove swamps, a 14-hour-a-day job that earns a worker...

GUATEMALA MAY PASS ADOPTION LAW, STOP ABUSES.
October 9, 2003... Guatemala exported 2,109 babies in 2001, making it the fourth-largest trafficker in international adoptions, legal and illegal. Only Russia, China, and South Korea surpass Guatemala. Statistics supplied by congressional Deputy Carlos Mauricio...

GUATEMALA LOSING AGRICULTURAL HERITAGE AS C.A.F.T.A. COWS REGION.
October 9, 2003... The first people were made of corn. That is the fundamental fact of life as the ancient Mayans saw it. Now, some of their descendants face the prospect of being destroyed by corn, or by the economics of corn. Since 1996, imports of yellow...

GUATEMALA COFFEE STRATEGIES: POLITICS AND PRODUCTION.
October 16, 2003... Guatemala's 2002-2003 coffee year has ended with the Asociacion Nacional del Cafe (Anacafe) confirming total production of 4.5 million quintals (60-kg bags). The figure is 600 fewer bags than last year. Anacafe vice president Jose Angel...

GUATEMALA PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES OFFER COFFEE STRATEGIES.
October 16, 2003... The continuing low prices for coffee on the world market have removed the commodity from its place at the top of some of the region's exports, without a substitute having been found to replace lost income. During the past few years, emphasis...

REGION DISHEARTENED OVER AGRICULTURE IN C.A.F.T.A. ROUND.
October 23, 2003... The eighth and penultimate planned round of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) opened in Houston Oct. 20. It is at once the official opening of the latest installment in the marathon talks and the continuation of feverish...

NICARAGUA: CONTRAS DIVIDED OVER ASKING FOR U.S. AID.
October 30, 2003... Some 300 former Nicaraguan contra commanders have taken a page from the playbook of Guatemala's Patrullas Autodefensas Civiles (PAC) to demand that they and thousands of other ex- contras be compensated for their service in the internal war...

HONDURAS WILL NEGOTIATE IMF TREATY, BUT OUTCOME DOUBTFUL.
October 30, 2003... The Honduran government will try to dodge another structural-adjustment bullet and enter into negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in November, despite formidable internal opposition to the Fund's urgings (see NotiCen,...