by the El Reportero’s news services
Mauricio Fumes
Mauricio Funes was inaugurated as president on June 1, completing the first transfer of a right-wing to a left-wing government in El Salvador’s history.
Funes’ inaugural speech, like his cabinet appointments, was a skilful political balancing act. On the one hand, he played to the orthodox wing of the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) by savaging the political legacy of the outgoing Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (Arena), and announcing his decision to re-establish diplomatic ties with Cuba.
On the other hand, he was careful to dispel concerns at home and abroad that he would move El Salvador into Venezuela’s orbit.
Nicaragua a winner of UN-backed grants for conserving crops
Nicaraguan farmers preserving ancient varieties of potatoes, and Kenyan women revitalizing differing types of millet are among projects in 11 developing countries to win supporting grants for their work, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced today.
A total of more than $500,000 will go to farming projects in Egypt, Kenya, Costa Rica, India, Peru, Senegal, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Cuba, Tanzania and Morocco, according to a news release issued by the agency.
The winners were announced today in Tunis at a meeting of the governing body of the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources in Food and Agriculture.
Other winners include on-farm protection of citrus diversity in Egypt, conservation of native potato varieties in Peru, the preservation of mountain varieties of maize and beans in Cuba, and a study of the adaptability of potatoes in Costa Rica to climate change.
Cuba ‘declares victory’ over OAS
Fidel Castro said on Wednesday that the OAS was complicit in ‘crimes’ against Cuba.
Cuba has declared a “major victory” following the decision by the Organization of American States (OAS) to allow it to rejoin the organization, reports have said.
The group voted in favor of Cuba rejoining the organization, 47 years after it was expelled.
But on Thursday, Ricardo Alarcon, the president of Cuba’s national assembly, was quoted by AFP as saying that the OAS vote was “a great victory for Latin America and the Caribbean and also for the Cuban people.”
However, the Caribbean nation said it would not rejoin the group, which it sees as dominated by US interests.
“[The move “does not alter what Cuba thought yesterday, the day before yesterday and today,” Alarcon said as quoted by AFP.
Neither Raul Castro, president of Cuba, or his brother, former president Fidel Castro, have commented publicly on the OAS move so far.
Uribe tight-lipped as Colombia edges towards re-election
Colombia’s senate has fi nally approved the referendum that would allow for the re-election of President Alvaro Uribe for an unprecedented third term in May 2010. Uribe maintains he is still undecided on the matter.
His government, however, has been tirelessly propelling the referendum forward since October 2008. Meanwhile, Uribe’s reticence is putting presidential hopefuls from his ruling coalition in a diffi cult position: the defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos, has resigned from his post in order to run for the presidency – but only if Uribe decides to stand aside.
Ecuador’s Correa makes cabinet moves
On 4 June President Rafael Correa announced three cabinet appointments. All three ministers are women and loyalists. As Correa’s Movimiento País (MP) will not have a majority in congress, these appointments, coupled with some radical statements about the role of banks in the economy, indicate that Correa’s new administration will attempt major economic changes.
