by the El Reportero’s news services
In mid-January relations between Ecuador and Colombia entered what seemed like a phase of renewed acrimony, as Bogotá reacted to new Ecuadorean immigration controls calling them ‘discriminatory [and] maybe even xenophobic.’ However, at the same time, both governments were taking steps in other areas which suggested a more conciliatory approach; Ecuador explicitly stated that its security buildup in the border area was intended to eliminate the presence of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) guerrillas while Colombia announced the establishment along the border of a large military presence of its own.
Freed hostage accuses Farc of massacre
On 5 February Sigifredo López, the last of the politicians held by the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc), was released. López immediately accused the Farc of killing in 2007 the other 11 politicians who were kidnapped with him in 2002.
The government of President Alvaro Uribe has always argued that the Farc killed the state politicians on 18 June 2007. López, though not an eye-witness, endorses the government’s version, and his evidence, though not conclusive, is convincing. López suggests that the Farc killed the deputies by mistake when one Farc group mistook another for a government (or mercenary) rescue attempt to free the hostages.
Brazil still loves Lula, but Serra is president in waiting
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s popularity remains unassailable. In fact, according to the latest (January 2009) CNT/Sensus opinion poll, the most widely cited barometer of the prevailing public mood in the country, Brazilians take comfort from his sunny disposition and his resolute confi dence in the face of the current economic downturn, which is threatening jobs and household incomes this year.
The president’s approval rating reached a new record-breaking 84 percent in January, up from 80.3 percent in December 2008, while the government’s approval rating was 72.5 percent, up from 71.1 percent previously. Frustratingly for Lula and his ruling centreleft Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), however, the main centre-right oppostion candidate, São Paulo state governor José Serra, of the Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB), remains the firm favourite to replace Lula in the next presidential election in 2010.
