by the El Reportero’s wire services
Raúl Castro
The Cuban government threw the gauntlet down to the U.S. this week by announcing significant changes to its migration policy. The timing of the announcement of the reform, which will lift strict travel restrictions for most Cubans, was carefully chosen. It coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis, and could be interpreted as a symbolic challenge to the US, just weeks before presidential elections, to move beyond its Cold War policy towards Cuba by relaxing its own stringent restrictions. Reported by Latin News.
Colombian peace talks get underway
The top two representatives of the State and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc), former Vice-President Humberto de la Calle Lombana (1994-1996) and ‘Iván Márquez’ (Luciano Marin Arango) respectively, addressed on Oct. 18 the Colombian people in separate messages from Oslo, Norway, formally establishing the peace negotiations that aim to end Colombia’s half-century-old internal conflict. Reported by Latin News.
Nicaragua maintains economic growth despite structural challenges
Nicaragua will end 2012 with a 5-percent growth of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to estimates by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), while some structural backwardness must be still overcome.
ECLAC thinks that 2012 prospects’ main support lies in the increase in exports and investments, showing better dynamism in job generation.
From January to September 2012, the FOB value of exportations increased 16.3 percent in contrast to the same period in 2011, since incomes reached 2,74,100,000 USD, according to official statistics.
The private secretary for National Policies in the Daniel Ortega administration, Paul Oquist, considers that Nicaragua is undergoing a process marked by job generation, and the reduction of poverty and inequality.
From 2007 to 2011, the country doubled exports and tripled investments, while the number of employed people went from 2.89 million in 2006 to 2,934,000 in 2011.
Compared to other Central American countries, Nicaragua shows the greatest structural backwardness in its economy, particularly in the agricultural sector, which guarantees the main income from export.
Mothers of missing immigrants visit Tamaulipas, Mexico
Mothers of missing immigrants from Central American are continuing their tour of Tamaulipas state, in northern Mexico, to demand a search for their children.
The mothers were welcomed by local authorities and civil organizations in Reynosa city, and attended a mass in memory of immigrants who have died traveling to the United States.
The 60 members of the caravan, coming from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, are carrying out a tour of 14 Mexican states.
During their stay in the country, they will address the Senate, to express their demands.
Many immigrants are victims of robberies, extortion, kidnapping, and even homicides by criminal groups and corrupt local authorities as they make their way through Mexican territory to the United States.
