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Information | Archive of News
Highlights
Publication Highlights
Reflections
and commentary on articles appearing in ISLA by Karen Crump, Chief Editor.
Highlights from our January 2007 issue
Guatemala
“Guatemala
still fights war legacy,” by Adriana Beltran appeared in the commentary section
of the Miami Herald, January 2, 2007 (ISLA, January 2007, page 53.) Beltran
launches her commentary by acknowledging the anniversary of the signing of
peace accords in Guatemala. However, the focus of her article is on-going
violence in Guatemala, violence linked to armed clandestine groups operating
with impunity. Guatemala has called upon the UN for help in identifying and
controlling armed actors, which the UN has agreed to provide. This is an
important step forward, as noted by Beltran. The task will not be easy, and has
not been left unexplored. Luis Solano’s recently published book, Guatemala:
petroleo y mineria en las entranas del poder, digs deeply into the topic,
revealing a vicious web firmly entrenched in Guatemalan society, most notably
the upper echelons of society and the military. This is a hot topic given
little space in the press. Beltran’s article is a refreshing example of the
virtues of op-ed contributions.
Mexico
Although Washington Post coverage of Latin America
has declined precipitously over 2006, a trend we hope will change in 2007, they
have included some exceptional reporting.
Perhaps Peter Goodman’s January
7, 2007 article, “In Mexico, ‘People Do Really Want to Stay” (ISLA, January
2007, page 29) presages a better year to come. Goodman documents the
correlation between NAFTA and immigration, looking ahead to changes in the
poultry sector. He carefully outlines the imbalances of trade with a nation
(the U.S.) that heavily subsidizes agriculture and how this will impact Mexico’s
poultry industry, and immigration. Both immigration and trade are bound to be
major issues throughout 2007.
Nicaragua
“Nicaragua’s green lobby is
leaving rainforest people ‘utterly destitute’” by Rory Carroll, January 25,
2007, the Manchester Guardian Weekly (ISLA, January 2007, page 68.) The
Manchester Guardian Weekly has a longstanding tradition of including cutting edge
environmental coverage on a regular basis. This article is short on
documentation, while groundbreaking in coverage. Needless to say, with an
Ortega win at the polls, the press has not been concentrating on the
rainforest. Nevertheless, the bottom line of Carroll’s article resonates
throughout Latin America and needs to be understood abroad: the forests are
inhabited by a myriad of indigenous communities and have been for millenium.
Simply setting the forests and jungles aside as untouchable reserves is not an
option in Latin America. Carroll highlights the immediate impact of
well-meaning, poorly thought out policies on indigenous communities in
Nicaragua, in this case the Miskitos. The Miskitos appear to be enmeshed in the
ultimate irony: imperiled by both deforestation and forest protection measures.
Bolivia
Keeping up with Wall Street Journal attacks on Latin
American democracies can be a challenge for regional ambassadors. While actual
reporting on Latin America may vary in the Journal from a trickle one month, to
a deluge the next, the always acerbic and frightfully prolific writing of Mary
Anastasia O’Grady are omnipresent. O’Grady carefully selects information that
suits her argument. The information she doesn’t include is glaring in its
absence and often elicits a strong response from diplomats. O’Grady’s January
8, 2007 piece, “Coca Democracy” (ISLA, January 2007, pp. 142-143) hit a nerve
with Gustavo Guzman, Ambassador of Bolivia to the United States. He was able to
dissect O’Grady’s argument, refuting key elements. Unfortunately, his rebuttal
did not appear until January 30, 2007. Both O’Grady and the responses her articles
generate are very worthwhile reading. She tends to mirror the dubious reasoning
behind Bush administration decisions. However, in this case, there is dialogue.
Venezuela
The December 2006 reality check evident in ISLA press
sources is definitely over (see December 2006 highlights for additional
information on this subject.) While December 2006 brought a flurry of in-depth
articles from nearly all ISLA sources examining the electoral appeal of Chavez
administration reforms on divergent sectors of the population, January 2006
heralded a return to the besieged image of Venezuelans dominating throughout
2006. A quick comparison of headlines from December 2006 and January 2007
provides some insight:
December
2006 headlines
“Venezuelan
High Life: Bulletproof BMW and a Vote for Chavez” –WSJ
“Venezuela’s
Economic Boom Buoys Chavez’s Campaign” –NYT
“With
Chavez, Some Venezuelan Entreprenuers See Opportunity” –WP
“Elections
more about stomachs than ideology” –MH
January
2007 headlines
“Venezuelan
Plan Shakes Investors” –NYT
“Victim
of His Power Grab” –WP
“Venezuela
Inc.’s Hostile Takeover” –NYT
“Chavez
policies fuel shortages” –MH
“Fidel
Chavez” -LAT
Highlights from our December
2006 issue
About Face on Venezuela
After months of pumping up the Rosales
campaign and maligning nearly every social program launched by President Hugo
Chavez, press sources monitored by ISLA were forced to do a quick about face in
December 2006 or risk looking completely out of touch with reality. Late-November,
early December pre-election polls clearly indicated a Chavez win at the polls,
and quite possibly a large win. The time had come for a reality check. These
journalists needed to face the fact that President Chavez actually enjoyed a
higher level of support than previously reported, and that this support crossed
class lines. Reporting prior to December gave every indication that the
middle-class and wealthy were uniformly anti-Chavez and offered ample space to
Chavez opponents among the poor, giving the impression that Rosales stood a
good chance of winning the presidential elections. The first week of December
2006 brought unprecedented reporting from nearly all ISLA sources in an effort
to explain why some middle class and wealthy Venezuelans would be voting for
Chavez, along with a majority of the 25 million Venezuelans classified as poor,
setting the stage for a Chavez victory.
This abrupt change of direction could not
have been more precipitous. Although elections were scheduled for December 6th
, ISLA first noted a significant
change less than one week earlier, on December 1. Richard Lapper of the
Financial Times took on the imminent Chavez win with gusto, writing a lengthy
article (Petro-populism: a third term
beckons or Venezuela’s firebrand president) on December 1, 2006, in which he
recognized the economic setbacks provoked by work stoppages in 2002/ 2003, as
well the economy’s formidable growth since 2004. He also revealed that nearly
half of all government spending is dedicated to social programs. Furthermore,
Lapper documented a significant boom in consumer and mortgage lending
–absolutely not the domain of the poor. Apparently, wealthy and middle-class
Venezuelans have taken advantage of caps on interest rates to make purchases
using credit and loans, snapping up homes, condos, and BMW’s with renewed
vigor. While mentioning that these purchases are linked to the stability of
tangibles versus the instability of currency, the bottom line is that business
is booming and people from all walks of life have more to spend. The negative
aspects of Venezuela’s economy, such as crime, corruption, capital flight and
patronage undoubtedly exist and are important. However, while they did set the
tone of articles appearing in previous months, they do not capture the spirit
of the economy. In fact, many of the
articles from previous months missed the boat entirely. The overall impact of
reforms under Chavez has been a level of unparalleled cross-sector economic
vibrancy that would be appreciated at polling time, a reality the press had
been either unable or unwilling to communicate until the very last minute.
The Wall Street Journal stepped up to the
plate on December 1, 2006 with a lengthy article focused on industrialist
Wilmer Ruperti and the emergence of the Boliburgueses –middle-class and wealthy
supporters of the Bolivarian revolution. The message is clear –the middle class
has reawakened and is on the move. On December 3rd, the Washington
Post finally jumped on board with an extensive piece documenting the trajectory
of Alejandro Uscategui. Although the Post was the only paper on December 1 to
still proclaim that “if” Chavez won it would be because he bought the election
with petro-dollars, or cheated, an “about face” was clearly necessary by the 3rd. As in the articles from other newspapers, we
are told by the Post’s Juan Forero in “With Chavez, Some Venezuelan
Entrepreneurs See Opportunity” that Chavez does have supporters beyond the
poor.
In fact, the poor are pretty much absent
from reporting during the first days of December, having been the focus of
previous months, albeit with greater attention directed toward the
disillusioned among their ranks.
Nevertheless, while October and November 2006 brought numerous articles
on the complaints of low-income Venezuelans, Steven Dudley of the Miami Herald
wrote a more objective article on December 2, 2006 documenting why most poor
people will probably vote for Chavez. The article was aptly entitled “Election
is more about stomachs than ideology.” Dudley asserts that poor Venezuelans are
shielded from relatively high inflation (around 17%) by price controls and
subsidies. The main vehicle for protecting the poor has been the establishment
of mercales -state-run stores offering food at low and reasonable prices. These
mercales, located in low-income neighborhoods but open to all shoppers, have
allowed the poor to spend 50-55% less on food, according to Data Information
Resources, a Caracas-based think tank cited by Dudley. He interviewed a
low-income mother of four who indicated that the mercales had significantly
improved her family’s quality of life. Dudley also recounts other benefits to
the poor: stipends for attending literacy classes and/or returning to school
for a high school diploma, as well as free medical care and clinics in poor
neighborhoods.
By the time elections rolled around, ISLA
sources had updated readers to the extent that a Chavez victory would no longer
be a surprise (which it probably was to television newscast viewers of both the
Spanish and English press.)
