Week in Review

02/04/11
Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) electoral board announced that the Preval government's candidate, Jude Celestin, will not advance to the second-round presidential runoff on March 20. Instead, Michel Martelly will face off against Mirlande Manigat. This decision came after many groups and governments voiced their opinions and concerns about who should advance to the runoff--and debated whether an entirely new election should be held. The list of people voicing their concerns included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who traveled to Haiti on Sunday. Secretary Clinton encouraged the Haitian government to accept the OAS recommendation to drop Celestin from the second-round runoff. While in Haiti, Secretary Clinton met with President Preval, and held individual meetings with Celestin, Martelly and Manigat.
  • Former Haitian dictator "Baby Doc" Duvalier, who returned to Haiti over three weeks ago after 25 years in exile, was interviewed on Univision on Tuesday. When asked about being described as a tyrant, "Baby Doc" laughed, saying "When they talk of me as a tyrant, they make me laugh, it gives me the impression that people suffer from amnesia, they've forgotten the way in which I left Haiti, how I left voluntarily." He also said that he was the "first person" to start a democratic process in Haiti.
  • Continuing with Haiti, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's lawyer announced that the Haitian government has agreed to issue a diplomatic passport to the former president, who has not returned to Haiti since he was ousted in 2004, if he asks for one.
  • The Washington Post reported on Monday that proposed budget cuts might threaten the future of Project Gunrunner, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF) effort to stem the flow of guns from the United States to Mexico. The preliminary budget document obtained by the Post outlined a 12.8 percent reduction in the ATF's budget--amounting to a $160 million cut. However, on Wednesday, an
    • Adam Isacson looks at "Why Latin America is Rearming" in his recent article in the February 2011 issue of Current History.
    • Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez celebrated 12 years as president on Tuesday, and said he was ready to battle for six more years in next year's election, according to the Associated Press.
    • Argentina's Foreign Minister, Héctor Timerman, criticized Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri's decision to send the capital police officers to the U.S.-run International Law Enforcement Academy in El Salvador. Timmerman said via Twitter:

      As a [Buenos Aires resident] I'm frightened that Macri continues sending police to study 'antiterrorism' in courses taught and financed by the USA.... In the past, they were dedicated to training the military in coup techniques and courses in torture and persecution of political enemies. It seems to me that these are limits that we shouldn't cross.

      In an opinion piece, Timerman explained that transit police don't need terrorism experts. He wrote, "obviously ... Macri hopes to count on a repressive shock force trained in intelligence operations. All of this is very far from the law that created the police." Joshua Frens-String has more details on his Hemispheric Brief blog.

    • There has not been much good news coming out of Mexico recently:
      • Only one month after taking the job, the police chief of Nuevo Laredo, General Manual Farfan, two bodyguards and his personal assistant were killed this week.
      • Mexico's second- and third-largest cities both experienced a series of attacks by suspected drug cartel members this week, as reported by the Associated Press.
      • A woman who distributed newspapers in Ciudad Juárez, Maribel Hernandez, was shot to death by a drug cartel member because "his gang thought she threatened their control over street vendors," reports the Associated Press.
      • BBC Mundo reports on the failure of "Todos Somos Juárez," the anti-violence program announced by the Mexican government one year ago, after 15 youth were killed at a birthday party in Ciudad Juárez. Despite the tens of millions of dollars spent on the program, the border town "has changed very little."
    • Next week, two Obama Administration officials will travel to Latin America:
      • Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) William R. Brownfield (former Ambassador to Colombia) will travel to Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Colombia February 6-11, 2011. "Assistant Secretary Brownfield’s visit will demonstrate U.S. support and encourage continued partnership between the U.S., the governments of Central America, and other international donors to improve citizen security in the region," according to the State Department's press release.
      • Timothy Geithner will travel to Brazil on February 7th, where he will meet with government and economic leaders in the country and "will discuss the importance of cooperating economically and financially with the growing South American nation."
    • Colombia's Minister of Defense, Rodrigo Rivera, traveled to Miami and Washington this week, where he met with government officials, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates. According to El Tiempo, during his meeting with Secretary Gates, Defense Minister Rivera expressed his concern about potential cuts in U.S. aid to Colombia this year.
    • In two weeks, presidents from South American and Arab countries will meet in Peru.