Regional News

Ecuador just passed a new law with regard to control of the media. I feel it is worth discussing here as it helps show where Nicaragua fits in the realm of media control.

Opponents of the law (and, generally, Correa's government) say the law gives the state a virtual media monopoly. But you also see a lot of positive coverage of what the law is designed to do. For example, a common statement in opposition to the law is that it only gives private media the right to control 33% of the media.

The mysterious and unknown company now has a web site. http://hknd-group.com/ -It seems they planned their public debut pretty well. I am sure this web-site has been ready to launch for a while, just waiting for the Sandanistas to approve the plan. The route is still unknown, impact studies have not been accomplished and the indigenous people are still very concerned about the appropriation on their lands.

Most of the debt was acquired in the 1970s.

Latin America's economic powerhouse is increasingly expanding its economic ties with Africa, a sign of how crises in the rich world are pushing faster-growing emerging economies to trade and invest among themselves, economists say.

Article from Yahoo news

An article in Indian Express reports on a smuggling ring in Ecuauor being broken up. Cocaine? No. Not even bananas. Indian and Sri Lankan nationals.

Deputy Interior Minister Xavier Cordoba said the smugglers charged USD 5,000 per person. After entering Ecuador illegally, the migrants would be sent to Central America and from there to the United States.

Historically, the news sources in Central America tend to be country specific. For some news that makes sense but there are also many things that fit into the category of regional information. A couple of recent topics that come to mind are the Mexican Fake Journalists and border conflicts between Nicaragua and its neighbors. Certainly the coup in Honduras was also a multi-country issue.

The "Train of Death" is the common name for a train in Mexico that heads north to Mexico City which is a common method for illegal immigrants from Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala use as part of their trip to the US. An article in Nigerian Tribune has an article about this including a photo. (Yes, really, Nigerian Tribune.)

A short AP article which appeared in boston.com includes the following:

Venezuela’s president says Honduras and Guatemala have been included in the Petrocaribe program, under which his country provides oil and natural gas on preferential terms.

Well, a White House fact sheet titled United States Support for Central American citizen security pretty much suggests that.

This fact sheet is a result of the meeting that just took place. While most of it is the usual, one item stands out to me. It seems to be inspired by efforts in Central America, led by Guatemala, to characterize the drug problem as one of US consumption rather than Central American transport.

In a rather fact-free article, the latest acquisition is the Chinese did it. That is, the decision granting a lot of ocean previously owned by Colombia to Nicaragua was a scam on the part of China.

The article appears on the ABC/Univision site. The material seems to be derived from an article which appeared in Colombia reporting on what two Colombian ex-government officials claim. Then, toss in a stock image of someone's patrol boat just for effect.

A short AP article talks about a proposal to create a natural gas pipeline from Mexico to Panama. The suggested goal would be to make the region more self-sufficient. One of the places where this article appeard in in the Washington Post.

Or, more accurately, to Guatemala. Telefonica, Movistar's Spanish parent company just announced that is is selling 40% of it's assets in Central America to CMI, a Guatemala-based business. An article in Domain-B has the details.

CMI is one of the most important business groups in Latin America. It was established in 1920 and is a family-owned multinational corporation. It operates in 19 countries on three continents, and manages a selective and diversified portfolio of businesses.

Get on the bandwagon. Today's the day for FLISOL. See Flisol 2013

Over 20 countries will participate this year, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Even Spain is joining the Festival.

During the 1980s, Nicaragua wasn't the only country in Central America being manipulated by the Reagan administration. One other was Guatemala. A few weeks ago Efrain Rios Montt, former president/dictator finally went on trial for genocide conducted by his administration in the early 1980s. Yesterday, however, the trial was stopped because of what amounts to a prodecural error. The case must go back to the pre-trial phase. (Note that the lawyers representing Rios Montt are the ones who represente John McAfee.)

There have been a few articles here about Nicaragua being granted a big chunk of the Caribbean that was claimed by Colombia. There are certainly continuing issues such as patrolling this area still of concern on the Nicaraguan end.

An article in Colombia Reports talks about the Colombia end. It's not clear what is going to come up in the investigation but it is happening.

Once Hugo Chávez revealed he had cancer what was happening became a very well kept secret all the way through the time of his death. Finally, a reasonable story of what he had and what was happening is revealed in a Reuters article. No matter what else you may think about Chávez, it is pretty clear he will willing to put what he felt was best for Venezuela ahead of even his own life.