The News Roundup is a regular feature of the blog where we select news articles from various sources around the web, with the goal of providing an overview of the weekly conversation about the countries where MCC works in the region. Quotes in italics are drawn directly from sources and do not necessarily reflect the position of MCC.
COMPANY EXECUTIVES COULD NOW BE TRIED FOR LAND GRABS AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION
At its worst, this violence is fatal. According to Global Witness data, in 2015 more than three people were murdered a week defending their land from theft and destructive industries – the deadliest year on record. (2) Conflicts over mining were the number one cause of killings, followed by agribusiness, hydroelectric dams and logging. “Chasing communities off their land and trashing the environment has become an accepted way of doing business in many resource-rich yet cash-poor countries,” said Gillian Caldwell, Executive Director at Global Witness. “Today’s decision by the ICC shows that the age of impunity is coming to an end. Company bosses and politicians complicit in violently seizing land, razing tropical forests or poisoning water sources could soon find themselves standing trial in the Hague alongside war criminals and dictators. The ICC’s interest could help improve the lives of millions of people and protect critical ecosystems.”
The U.S. Spends Millions Funding Central America’s Drug War. A New Report Says It Hasn’t Worked
“In terms of crime, there’s been all kinds of alternative approaches proposed and there’s certainly a lot of criticism of this kind of approach,” Beeton said. “This militarized, anti-gang and anti-drug approach to crime in Central America, you see a lot of criticism of this on the right and the left.” Beeton explained that the CEPR hopes the report will force legislators to pause when thinking about appropriating money to Central America to fight drug trafficking and violence under initiatives like CARSI. “We’re looking at the effectiveness in reducing crime and violence in Central America,” Beeton says. “The U.S. is giving money to security forces to conduct these anti-crime programs, but how effective are they?” He adds, “I don’t want to understate the effects of gangs and criminal networks in the region, but there are alternative methods beyond a militarized response. Based on the data that we have, there’s no conclusive evidence that these programs are effective and producing results.”
Central American migrants desperate to reach US risk new dangers at sea
The involvement of organised crime groups means that migrants who travel by boat in an attempt to avoid danger, are instead at risk of falling prey to human traffickers. In this zone, Los Zetas, the Gulf and New Generation Jalisco cartels are currently battling for control over land and sea territory to transport drugs, arms and people. Reports of extortion by local police are common. Amid ever-increasing violence in Central America, thousands of people continue to flee every month in search of safety and a better life. Activists and fishermen fear trafficking and drownings will rise as more migrants are persuaded to travel by sea. Salinas said: “I’ve seen dead bodies, I’ve tried to rescue people. The open sea is dangerous, small boats can easily overturn, and most can’t swim. But people keep coming because they are desperate.”
But critics say voluntary corporate social responsibility amounts to self-policing unless Canada brings in a mining act like the one Liberal MP John McKay unsuccessfully tabled in 2009 and again in 2014 (and Trudeau voted for as an opposition MP). The alternative is laws allowing communities like Azacualpa to use our courts to pursue criminal charges against companies that commit abuses. In December, BC’s Supreme Court ruled against hearing a civil claim launched by half a dozen Guatemalans against Tahoe Resources. Meanwhile, three cases against Toronto’s HudBay Minerals are still gradually proceeding toward hearings. Says Spring, “This is a Canadian problem that needs to be dealt with in Canada.”
Former El Salvador president granted asylum in Nicaragua, government says
Funes, a former journalist who was elected as a member of the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) party, is facing a civil prosecution back home for alleged illicit enrichment. Investigators argue that he and his family need to justify the origin of more than $700,000 in income. Salvador prosecutors have also opened an investigation into possible corruption dating to his 2009-2014 government. In August, Salvadorian authorities raided several homes and businesses searching for evidence related to alleged “crimes of embezzlement, illicit negotiations, misuse of funds, illicit enrichment and influence-trafficking”. Funes denies any wrongdoing.
Aristide, in rare public appearance, supports Narcisse for Haiti president
“It’s not money, it’s dignity,” said Aristide, sitting alongside Narcisse, who is running under his Fanmi Lavalas political party banner. “The rendezvous with dignity is Feb.7, 2017.” That’s the date a newly elected Haitian president is supposed to take office if all goes well with the country’s scheduled Oct. 9 presidential rerun. The balloting is taking place almost a year after allegations of fraud and street protests plunged a poverty-stricken Haiti into a messy transitional period run by a caretaker government. Most in the international community, including the United States, opposed the rerun and wanted the runoff to take place between Jovenel Moïse and Jude Célestin, who were named the top two finishers in a field of 54 candidates by Haiti’s elections body. But Célestin, an engineer and opposition leader, refused to participate in a runoff until the fraud allegations were addressed and measures were put in place to ensure the integrity of a second round.
Colombia’s peace vote campaign turns violent: 13 assassinated since ceasefire
The increase in killings and death threats was confirmed by independent electoral observers. The Electoral Observation Mission (MOE), said that so far this year 22 activists and community leaders have been killed and another 45 have received death threats. “What is concerning is that in the majority of cases they were killed presumably for reasons related to the promotion of ‘Yes’,” electoral observation NGO MOE said in their first report on irregularities leading up to the vote.
How Bolivia Fights the Drug Scourge
These tactics have been hailed by scholars and some Western officials because they place a premium on the rights and needs of farmers in poor areas. Coca growers who have voluntarily registered with the government are given title for small parcels of land and are authorized to grow a limited amount. Mr. Morales, a former coca growers union leader, has played a hands-on role in negotiating the terms of this arrangement with unions and other local leaders. This stands in stark contrast to the strategy the United States has long financed in the region — a combination of aerial herbicide spraying, manual eradication and the prosecution of drug kingpins in the United States. The inadequacy of this approach is most obvious in Colombia, which has been Washington’s closest ally in Latin America on counternarcotics. Last year, coca cultivation in Colombia increased by nearly 40 percent compared with the previous year, according to U.N.O.D.C. The tough-on-crime approach has often exacerbated violence there. Colombia, however, did not get the “failed demonstrably” label. It may be time for Washington to drop that marker altogether and study the merits of innovative approaches, including Bolivia’s.