North to south…
Miscellaneous items from the hemisphere I noticed over the last week and meant to say something about, but haven’t, and probably won’t.
Canada:
Researcher Russell Kerr is negotiating a profit-sharing deal with the Inuit living in Nunavut, Canada’s northernmost territory. Kerr, a chemistry professor at the University of Prince Edward Island, hopes to discover bacteria hidden in the mud of Frobisher Bay that can be used in commercial products like cosmetics or life-saving medicine.
Nothing is guaranteed, but an organism used in cosmetics could be worth tens of thousands of dollars. On the other hand, Kerr says, “At the upper end of the range, which is a real long shot, a cancer drug can generate billions of dollars.”
Kerr’s approach, which is “precedent-setting,” according to Jamal Shirley of the Nunavut Research Institute, could change how bioprospecting is done in the Arctic.
“Mud Bug Deal in Nunavut Could Set Precedent”, Americas Quarterly
The United States:
The prevailing political wisdom in America, to which the Obama administration evidently subscribes, is that it’s folly to challenge the gun lobby. When Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón addressed a joint session of Congress in May, he all but pleaded with lawmakers to help stop the flow of assault weapons. His call to action produced little more than a shrug of the shoulders in Washington. That ought to make us embarrassed. But the worst of it is that inaction on these issues has come to seem normal.
David Ignatius, Washington Post
Honduras:
Recent Honduran press reports have honed in on a spate of partisan teacher firings in the country’s primary education program for remote, rural communities, PROHECO (Honduran Community Education Program, Programa Hondureño de Educación Comunitaria). Journalists have documented how President Lobo’s Partido Nacional has replaced field staff with party activists, canceled teachers’ contracts to install party supporters and undermined parent organizations’ autonomy.
These reports suggest that the new ruling party has used PROHECO to divert resources and jobs to its followers, undermining the program’s ability to realize its stated objectives.
Daniel Altschuler, AQ Blog
El Salvador:
“We are all against the law [Arizona’s S.B. 1070]. We sincerely hope the judge charged with the matter will opt for a repeal, because the law in question is not only anti-immigrant, it is totally anti-human rights” said Archbishop José Luis Escobar of San Salvador.
The Archbishop said the Bill proposed in Arizona “turns innocent men and women into criminals and this cannot be allowed to happen in a country such as the United States of America, a nation of democracy. To enforce such a law would put the entire country in a very bad light”
Agenzia fides, via Tim’s El Salvador Blog
Ecuador:
The Galapagos Islands have been removed from the UNESCO list of sites endangered by environmental threats or overuse.
The island chain, about 620 miles (1,000 kms) off Ecuador’s coast, is home to unique animal species that inspired Charles Darwin’s ideas on evolution.
In 2007, the United Nations body included the World Heritage site on its endangered list because of damage from tourism, immigration and invasive species.
A UNESCO committee meeting in Brazil Wednesday said strong action by Ecuador’s government to battle these problems means the Galapagos Islands are now safer.
Colombia:
The rupture of diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Colombia after a special session of the Organization of American States (OAS) on July 22 marks increased animosity between the outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez.The dispute between the two bombastic leaders from opposite political poles is nothing new. What creates the drama — and the possibilities — of this new turn of events is the backdrop.
Uribe is a lame duck, ever since being denied a constitutional amendment to run for a third term. His successor, Juan Manuel Santos, will take office on August 7. Santos’ inauguration marks the end of the eight-year reign of Uribe, whose military strategies to counter drug runners and guerrilla groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) have been backed by the U.S. government to the tune of some $7 billion dollars. While leading to some advances in reducing assassinations and kidnappings in Colombia, these strategies failed to achieve peace, and the Colombian conflict continues to take lives and cause tension throughout the region.
Laura Carlsen, Foreign Policy in Focus
Bolivia:
The view from Coroico:
Argentina:
… The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) stated that if there’s a rumor circulating that Maradona will replace Javier Aguirre as head coach of El Tri, it was started by the Argentine himself.
Nestor de la Torre and Justino Compean–director of national selections and president of the FMF, respectively– told the hosts of ESPN Deportes show Los Capitanes that a formal offer was never made to Maradona, and that in all likelihood, it was the soccer legend’s managers that started the rumor in an attempt to get him a job. It was announced this monday that the Argentine Football Association (the AFA) didn’t renew Maradona’s contract because of staffing differences.
On a similar note, the Venezuelan Football Federation, another soccer association supposedly interested in hiring Mr. Hand Of God, announced that they have no intention of getting rid of César Faría. They did, after all, just renew his contract until 2014.
mexfiles.net 