Juanson World

Luis Posada Carriles was released from jail and ordered under house arrest in Miami where he will await trial on immigration charges. US authorities chose not to extradite him to Venezuela or Cuba, where he faces numerous charges of terrorism. New York Times, Miami Herald

Marcela Sanchez comments on the phenomenon of foreign human rights abusers that flee to the US. Washington Post

Colombian attorney general Mario Iguaran has faced a tremendous challenge in prosecuting the parapolitical scandal. Miami Herald

Al Gore withdrew from appearing at an environmental conference in Miami because he did not want to appear with Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, who is ensnared in the parapolitical scandal. AP

Mexican president Felipe Calderon’s plan for improving dilapidated toll highways is privatization. LA Times

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, froze $54 million in military aid to Colombia due to revelations in the parapolitical scandal. Financial Times, Reuters

Violence is escalating as two provinces in the southern Bolivian department of Tarija clash over jurisdiction of the Margarita oil field. Financial Times

Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa’s administration has implemented populist measures such as cash transfers, housing subsidies, and microgrants, in addition to convening a constituent assembly. Economist

The parapolitical scandal in Colombia is edging closer to President Uribe. Economist

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Mexican president Felipe Calderon hosted a recent meeting of the Plan Puebla Panama countries, in an attempt to revive the integration initiative. Plans call for the construction of an oil refinery and better cooperation on the drug trade and security matters, among others. Economist

As Ecuador prepares to vote in a referendum for a constituent assembly on Sunday, President Rafael Correa faces an institutional crisis. Financial Times

Officials in the Pernambuco state of Brazil have broken up a contract killing company believed to have carried out over 1000 murders in the past five years. BBC, AP

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez announced that federal troops will accompany government officials when they take over private projects in the Orinoco oil fields. AP

On the fifth anniversary of a short-lived coup, Chavez declared that any soldier that does not agree with his socialist project should leave the military. AP

A crowd of thousands marched through Cali, Colombia to protest in solidarity against violence in the wake of Monday’s bombing outside a police barracks in the city. AP

Competing drug cartels in Mexico have launched extended PR campaigns using new media such as YouTube to display evidence of their grisly killings. AP

# posted by Juanson : 2:18 PM  1 comments

BY MARIFELI PEREZ-STABLE

and CHRISTIAN GOMEZ

When established in 1991, Mercosur heralded free trade and regional integration in South America. Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay had already embraced democracy after years of dictatorship. A new day was, indeed, dawning.

Today the Mercosur trade pact, which added Venezuela last year, includes a market of more than 250 million and three-fourths of South America's GDP. Trade within the customs union has increased by $25 billion in the last decade. Mercosur's vast potential has, nonetheless, gone unrealized.

While the trade asymmetries between Paraguay and Uruguay -- in effect, junior partners -- and Brazil and Argentina are not news, the addition of Venezuela has not tempered them. In 2006, despite an export boom, Uruguay tallied large trade deficits with Argentina ($777 million), Brazil ($495 million) and Venezuela ($521 million).

Is it any wonder that Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez's government signed a trade and investment agreement with the United States despite opposition within his ruling coalition?

Efforts to give Paraguay and Uruguay greater access to Brazilian and Argentine markets have stalled. At Mercosur's January summit, members squabbled over how to modify the rules to provide preferences for the smaller partners. Néstor Kirchner's government resisted the changes, and Brazil publicly censured Argentina.

Afterward, Finance Minister Danilo Astori said that Uruguay felt ''trapped, a prisoner of the collective wishes of the group.'' Should Uruguay's pursuit of an FTA with the United States materialize, Mercosur would be in a bind. Its rules prohibit bilateral agreements with third parties.

Ideally, Mercosur would grant Uruguay a waiver but, if not, Vázquez has threatened to downgrade his country's membership to associate status. Chile is a Mercosur associate, for example, and has negotiated several bilateral FTAs, including one with the United States. Perhaps Uruguay is upping the ante, knowing full well that trade promotion authority -- which allows the U.S. president a fast track for trade agreements that Congress can approve or reject, but neither change nor filibuster -- expires in July, leaving little time to craft an accord that the Democratic Congress would pass.

Mercosur has also failed the test of conflict-resolution among its members. For the past two years, Argentina and Uruguay have clashed over the largest foreign investment ever in Uruguay: the construction of a pulp mill by the Finnish company, Botnia, on the Uruguay River, which marks the border between the two countries. Argentina claims the mill will cause considerable environmental damage to the river.

By blockading three bridges linking the two countries, Argentine protesters have cost the Uruguayan economy nearly $1 billion. The case, which has been mediated by Spain, was presented at the International Court of Justice in January, which rejected a forced end to the roadblocks. The unwillingness of Brazil to take a leadership role in resolving the dispute underscores Mercosur's irrelevance. Unlike the European Parliament, Mercosur's -- launched last December -- cannot supersede national legislatures, making its function symbolic at best.

Complicating matters is Venezuela's entry, which has so far served to further divide Mercosur. In February, President Hugo Chávez announced the second issue of the Bono del Sur, representing a total purchase of $3.2 billion of Argentine bonds. Kirchner -- miffed at being left off the Bush itinerary -- allowed Chávez to hold a parallel anti-U.S. rally while the U.S. president was being welcomed in Uruguay.

Venezuela has also been courting Bolivia to apply for full membership. President Evo Morales seems, however, reticent to relinquish membership in the Andean Community, which Mercosur mandates. With much fanfare, Chávez bid farewell to the community last year. Were Morales to relent, Bolivia's full membership will only serve the Venezuelan agenda of ''ridding Mercosur of neoliberalism.'' Though moot, it's puzzling why Brazil in particular acquiesced to Venezuela's rushed promotion.

Unless reformed, Mercosur will become further politicized, and the hopes of bridging ideological and economic schisms among its members will fade. The Mercosur Parliament has until 2010 to harmonize national legislation, which is what its European counterpart once did. Brazil should also exercise the leadership befitting its position as the bloc's largest country. Only by putting its house in order will Mercosur live up to the vast potential its founding heralded. A happy ending may be long in coming.

--
Marifeli Pérez-Stable is vice president for democratic governance at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C., and a professor at Florida International University. Christian Gomez is program assistant at the Dialogue.

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Marcela Sanchez evaluates the Democrats’ “New Trade Policy for America” in terms of its impact on Latin America. Washington Post

Telmo Ricardo Hurtado, a former Peruvian military officer, lived under the rader in Miami Beach until his arrest by US immigration authorities. Miami Herald

Andres Mejia-Vargnaud, director of the Bogota-based Instituto Libertad y Progreso, argues in favor of the US-Colombia free trade agreement. Miami Herald

President Lula of Brazil has finally put together his second-term cabinet, which should provide him with the ability to put through some modest reforms through the congress. Economist

As Bolivian president Evo Morales announces plans to nationalize the private telecom company, analysts question to what extent Hugo Chavez is guiding his policy decisions. AP

Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa softened his stance on the proposed constituent assembly, declaring that he will not try to dissolve Congress, but rather limit its powers. AP

Protests organized by university and high school students continued in Santiago against the new transportation system. BBC

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The Cantarell oil field – the world’s second biggest by output – has seen declining production in recent months, representing a crisis for Mexico’s state-run oil company Pemex. Wall Street Journal

Agencies specialize in returning children – some of which were adopted internationally – abducted during the Salvadoran civil war. New York Times

Human rights groups are hailing the arrests on American soil of three former Latin American military officers wanted for war crimes. New York Times

The 2008 congressional budget request has $1.6 billion of aid to Latin America. This package has some winners – such as Colombia – and losers, such as Mexico and Peru. Miami Herald

Cuban vice president Carlos Lage spoke to the Communist Youth Union on the 45^th anniversary of its founding. AP

Thus far Felipe Calderon’s first term has resulted in a reform to the Mexican pension system and better relations with the congress. Economist

Cuban dissidents did not meet with Spain’s foreign minister during his three-day trip to the island. AP

Brazil’s aviation industry is in shambles. Financial Times

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Hugo Chavez has issued a controversial decree limiting alcohol sales during Holy Week. New York Times

A former Argentine and two former Peruvian military officers were arrested in the US where they will eventually be deported and tried for war crimes. Washington Post

While he originally came out in favor of sugarcane ethanol, Chavez has done a u-turn on ethanol production, echoing Fidel Castro in declaring that it is unethical. Miami Herald

Castro published another article in Granma attacking President Bush’s desire to use foodstuffs to produce ethanol. BBC

Top level Spanish officials are in Havana this week for meetings with their Cuban counterparts, hoping to improve Cuba-EU relations.

Mexico City correspondent Hector Tober laments the state of traffic in the Mexican capital. LA Times

Nancy Pelosi hopes to unite at least half of the Democratic House in order to push forward on pending trade agreements. Wall Street Journal

The popularity of indigenous languages such as Aymara and Quechua is increasing in Peru and Bolivia. Christian Science Monitor

Organized crime and the drug trade has infiltrated Peru. Christian Science Monitor

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