by Latin News and Prensa Latina
Manuel Santos
According to Latin News, there was a time not so long ago when Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos seemed to have the Midas touch.
He delivered two crushing blows against the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) with surgical strikes accounting for its leader, Guillermo León Sáenz, ‘Alfonso Cano’, and military commander, Víctor Julio Suárez, ‘Mono Jojoy’; he brought Colombia back to the front rank of regional powers after the country had suffered diplomatic isolation under his predecessor, Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010); and he recovered Colombia’s investment grade rating, which resulted in record foreign direct investment of US$13bn in 2011. Recent weeks, however, have categorically proven that everything he touches no longer turns to gold.
Venezuela gets its Mercosur wish
After a bit of deft maneuvering by Brazil and Argentina, Venezuela will be formally welcomed as a full member of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur, founded by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) on 31 July next, reported Latin Briefs.
Lopez Obrador presents Plan in Defense of Democracy in Mexico
The leader of the Mexican left announced today its National Plan for the Defense of Democracy, a struggle by peaceful means requiring the invalidity of the presidential election on July 1st.
As López Obrador stated at a press conference, this plan includes information meetings in public places and the convening of intellectuals, artists, scientists, youth and general public to participate in creative activities in defense of democracy and Mexico’s dignity.
Over 170 meetings are planned between July 29th and August 5th in major public places in the country.
This way, citizens will know, he explained, the way the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) operated “to get the votes and justify the supposed triumph of their candidate Enrique Peña Nieto.”
He felt that elections were purchased and therefore, he added, it was violated the Article 41 of the Constitution, referring to the elections were neither free nor authentic.
Panama advocates for Lat Am, caribbean digital inclusion
The Summit “Connecting the Americas” of the International Union of Telecommunications (IUT) advocated so that the Latin American and Caribbean governments boost the deployment of bandwidth connectivity in the region to achieve a necessary digital inclusion.
Delegates from 35 countries, convened by the IUT, are attending the meeting, whose objective is to seek a sustainable access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
The digital inclusion supposes the world, particularly indigenous people, those with disabilities, women, youth, and children, can use accessible ICT as a main tool for its economic and social development, experts stated.
IUT general secretary Hamadoun Toure recognized the Panamanian initiative of “Internet for Everyone” that seeks to achieve free access to people’s networks.
