Weekly Roundup: Honduran Drama Continues, PRI Resurges in Mexico, and Peru's PM Resigns

Signs of a Solution for Honduran Crisis

A week after Honduran military forced President Manuel Zelaya to leave the country in his pajamas, drama unfolded in Tegucigalpa on Sunday when the deposed leader circled over the airport but was blocked from landing by military vehicles parked on the airport’s runway. He traveled on to neighboring Managua. On the ground in Honduras, thousands of Zelaya supporters headed to the airport where violence broke out, claiming the life of a teenager and leaving several people injured. The overthrow of Zelaya, an unpopular leader who increasingly aligned himself with Venezuelan Presiden Hugo Chávez, has polarized Hondurans and led to marches both in support of and against his return. Organization of American States Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza traveled to Honduras late last week but failed to broker a deal.

Yet signs of a solution emerged on Tuesday when Costa Rican President Óscar Arias agreed to mediate a meeting between Zelaya an interim Honduran leader Roberto Micheletti. The meeting takes place July 9 in San José. Zelaya met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, after which she told reporters Arias “is the natural person to assume this role.” Speaking from Moscow, U.S. President Barack Obama voiced support for Zelaya’s restoration, “even though he has strongly opposed American policies.”

COA’s Eric Farnsworth writes in the AQ blog that mediation rather than U.S. sanctions will help solve the Honduran standoff.

On PBS WorldFocus, AS/COA’s Christopher Sabatini said, “The U.S. is seen in this case as an honest broker and is seen as a country that has a fair amount of leverage with both sides.”

Access AS/COA’s “Resource Guide to the Crisis in Honduras” for additional AS/COA and Americas Quarterly coverage, as well as for primary source links and additional news.

Arias Assumes SICA Presidency

Costa Rican President Óscar Arias will not only mediate the Honduran crisis, the Nobel Peace Prize winner also assumed the presidency of the Central American Integration System (SICA) last week. As the prior SICA leader, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega attempted to hand over the position, which rotates every six months, to Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom because Costa Rica is not part of a Central American visa agreement. However, Colom refused the post.

Costa Rica not only heads SICA, it also topped the list as the happiest, greenest country in the world according to a British think tank study published this week. Nine out of the top ten countries in the rankings are located in Latin America.

PRI Stages Comeback in Mexican Midterms

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) gained a simple majority in Mexico’s Congress during midterm elections, outpacing the National Action Party (PAN) to win as much as 40 percent of the vote, according to pollsters Mitofsky Consulta. Mexico City-based journalist David Agren blogs about how the PRI victory led PAN party leader Germán Martínez to resign. “Martínez—who some PAN politicians acknowledge works closely with Calderón—both annoyed and alienated many party members with his tactics, which were branded undemocratic,” writes Agren. In the wake of the election, PRI party member César Duarte said “It seems that the president of the republic needs to give his cabinet a good cleaning.”

On July 9, AS/COA holds a conference call with Denise Dresser, a political analyst at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México. The discussion will focus on what comes after the midterms elections.

Read an AS/COA analysis of the election.

Caracas Mayor Ends Hunger Strike at OAS

In opposition to what he called an unlawful diminishing of his power by President Hugo Chávez, Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma began a hunger strike in the offices of the Organization of American States (OAS) on July 3. Another 15 people in Venezuela joined the hunger strike. Ledezma ended the hunger strike Wednesday after OAS Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza agreed to look into concerns presented by Venezuelan governors and mayors about the Chávez government.

Listen to audio of Ledezma’s June 24 speech at AS/COA.
 
Peru’s Prime Minister Resigns, Cabinet Overhauled

In the wake of last month’s violent protests over Amazon land use and in response to intense internal pressure, Peruvian Prime Minister Yehude Simon confirmed that he will resign. President Alan García, facing a major political crisis, must now rebuild his cabinet.

The problems don’t appear to stop there. Bloggings by boz writes about a major three-day strike beginning July 7 in Peru and that “Garcia appears very unsure of how to handle the issues he is facing.”
 
Read an AQ web exclusive by Lila Barrera-Hernandez about the June clashes in Peru.

Peru and Canada Set to Implement FTA in August

A Canada-Peru free-trade pact comes into effect in August, allowing Peru to export roughly 3,800 products tariff-free to Canada.

Cabinet Reshuffled in Argentina

In the wake of Peronist Party losses in last week’s midterm elections, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner made changes to her cabinet replacing Economic Minister Carlos Fernández and Cabinet Chief Sergio Massa.

Washington: No Trade Preferences for Bolivia

Though the United States continues to seek an improved relationship with Bolivia, the Obama administration decided that Bolivia did not satisfy the requirements of the Andean Trade Preference Act. Thus, trade preferences that Bolivia lost in December 2008 will not be renewed. Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehanca met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on July 2 and expressed disappointment with Washington’s decision.

Colombia-Ecuador Duel Continues

Interpol rejected Ecuador’s arrest request of former Colombian Minister Juan Manuel Santos because of a 2008 attack on a guerilla camp on Ecuadorian territory. Meanwhile, a group of Colombian lawyers wants to bring Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in front of the International Criminal Court over his alleged affiliation with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

In Libya, Lula Talks African Investment

The African Union (AU) celebrated Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as the guest of honor at last week’s heads of state assembly in Libya. During a press conference, Lula said the Brazilian government plans to sign three cooperation agreements with the AU focused on economic and social development.
 
Lula Government to Cut Labor Costs

Brazil’s government plans to trim labor costs, including possibly abolishing the more than 25 percent of each employee’s salary that go toward welfare funds. “We want to make a qualitative leap in productivity and put Brazil at the forefront of global growth. These measures will make it possible for a range of industries to compete on world markets,” Finance Minister Guido Mantega told the Financial Times. The measures should be announced within a few weeks, said Mantega.

Last month AS/COA hosted its annual conference in São Paulo, “Brazil: Challenges and Opportunities in the New Global Scenario.”

Could the Latin American Political Pendulum Swing Center-Right?

Tomas Mandl writes in World Politics Review about recent Argentine elections—as well as upcoming ones in Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay—and the crisis in Honduras. He says such events demonstrate that Latin American voters “appear willing to give a new opportunity to center-right coalitions.”

Cuba’s Aging Woes

Like in many countries, Cuba’s population growth has reached a near standstill and its senior citizen population is the fastest growing demographic. The situation places even greater stress on a burdened social security system, reports GlobalPost.

Inside the Mara Salvatrucha

This is for the Mara Salvatrucha by Samuel Logan, founder of Southern Pulse and Senior Writer for International Relations and Security Network Samuel Logan, was published this week. The book examines the life of a gang member who turned informer and died after she fled witness protection. The Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, commands a presence in 42 states across the United States.

Most Republicans Support Amnesty

The Houston Chronicle’s immigration blog takes a look at a recent poll by Benenson Strategy Group showing that most Americans support comprehensive immigration reform. Moreover, the poll finds that 62 percent of Republican voters support undocumented immigrants remaining in the country to apply for citizenship.

Despite Healthcare Hurdles, U.S. Hispanics Live Longer

HispanicBusiness.com reports that Latinos live longer than blacks or whites, despite health problems that range from lack of quality health insurance to higher poverty and obesity rates. “There's something about being Latino that is good for their health," says Dr. David Hayes-Bautista, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Just think if we had access to health care."