Full Coverage: Central America

28.10.2004 SAN JOSE, Oct 27 (IPS) - Corruption is one of the main obstacles to development in Central America, according to experts commenting on the recent series of scandals involving top-ranking officials in the region.

27.10.2004 They are a few of the results benefiting Mexico from the cross-border collaboration fostered by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) of North America. The CEC is an international organization created in 1994 through the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC)--a side accord to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

27.10.2004 L’absence de proposition de la part des autorités dans plusieurs domaines très importants pour les droits humains et le respect de l’état de droit est flagrante, a déclaré une délégation d’Amnesty International à l’issue d’une visite au Guatémala.

25.10.2004 The possible involvement of former president Rafael Ángel Calderón (1990-1994) in the corruption scandal of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) has shaken up the country and added a new twist to the case.

25.10.2004 O ex-presidente da Costa Rica, Rafael Angel Calderon, foi detido por suspeita de corrupção. Ele é acusado de enriquecimento ilícito e cumplicidade para delinqüir e ainda de responsabilidade numa conspiração para se apropriar de milhões de dólares de comissões em compras estatais.

18.10.2004 Top health officials participating in the U.S.-Mexico Binational Health Week have identified diabetes, disaster preparedness, injury prevention and immunization as priority areas for joint work. Border communities include 48 U.S. counties in four states and 80 municipalities in six Mexican states.

14.10.2004

© José Pablo Molina

Wal-mart is refusing to give up its new store in Mexico city which literally sits at the feet of the Pyramid of the Sun, a revered relic of Mexico’s Teotihuacan civilization. The retail giant claims to have legal permit to the location, but in a country that still defines itself by legends, claiming a site that is considered a collective historical and spiritual legacy can only be (and is being) interpreted as cultural insensitivity.

08.10.2004

© Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA)

U.S. representatives at a tri-national meeting last week blocked effort to phase out the use of the lindane in North America even as their Canadian and Mexican counterparts announced plans to stop agricultural and other uses of the dangerous pesticide. Lindane, a neurotoxin banned in 52 countries and restricted in 33, is still used as seed treatment for six grain crops in the U.S. even though many organizations have called for it to be banned.

08.10.2004 With about 29,000 adults and children living with HIV/AIDS, communities in El Salvador need information to counter the growing threat from the disease. World Vision is sponsoring training seminars on HIV transmission, infection and impact for pastors who are the spiritual leaders of Salvadoran communities.

07.10.2004 Acusado de ter exigido 60% de uma comissão milionária oferecida pela empresa francesa de telecomunicações Alcatel, o ex-presidente da Costa Rica (1998-2002) e atual Secretário Geral da Organização de Estados Americanos (OEA), Miguel Angel Rodríguez, enfrenta uma tormenta política que ameaça sua permanência no cargo.

06.10.2004

© El Espectador

Less than 15 years after the end of the Cold War, the United States government is increasingly militarizing its relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a new report released here this week.

05.10.2004

© Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep

What Latin Americans find so alarming about the Bush administration, says author Carlos Fuentes, is its formal denunciation of the basic rules of international intercourse. The administration’s stark principle of “with us or against us” erodes the only leverage Latin Americans have in dealing with Washington: the rule of law, the balance obtained through diplomatic negotiation.

04.10.2004 Graças ao Panamá, a imponente águia real (Harpia harpyja) talvez retome vôo, já sem o rótulo de ave ameaçada. Para que isso ocorra, e desde que se reduza a ação depredadora do homem, ainda se passarão de 20 a 25 anos. O Panamá é o único país da América Latina que colocou no centro de suas preocupações estas águias, que após voarem livres centenas de anos, em uma região que ia do México à Argentina, começaram a desaparecer pela destruição de seu hábitat e a ação de caçadores.
Em: Tierramérica

04.10.2004 More than 20,000 indigenous people from United States, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America took part in a procession of Native Nations to mark the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC last month.