by the El Reportero’s news services
Sandinista flag
Every year on July 19, hundreds of people from all over the country gather at Plaza La Fe in Managua to commemorate a historical and inspiring event: the fall of the militarized Somoza family dictatorship. This family ruled the country in a harsh and unscrupulous way for more than four decades. The dynasty was overthrown after the National Sandinista Revolution, which took place when people from all sectors workers, businessmen, peasants, students, and guerrillas joined forces and finally defeated the Somoza dynasty and the National Guard on July 19, 1979.
Unfortunately, nowadays this celebration and the whole heritage of the Revolution is monopolized and manipulated with proselytizing ends by a political party. Consequently, thousands of Nicaraguans do not anymore identify themselves with this important moment of national history that had the friendliness and solidarity of the entire world. Others do not anymore attend the gathering at the plaza; instead, they celebrate in their own neighborhoods or houses.
Mexico oil referendum questionnaire approved
Federal District (FD) head of government, Marcelo Ebrard, okayed on Wednesday the questionnaire for an oil consultation scheduled for Mexico City on July 27.
People from the capital are to decide whether to approve private companies’ participation in activities currently exclusive to the State and the energy reform submitted to Congress by the Executive.
Same procedure will be applied to Zacatecas, Michoacán, Guerrero, Baja California Sur, Chiapas and 14 municipalities of Mexico State during August. According to Isidro Cisneros, president of FD Election Institute, terminology used in the yes/no questions is not tendentious and does not relate to political stances of governments, parties, individuals or groups.
Silence from anti-Colombia coalition
President Rafael Correa of Ecuador played host to his Nicaraguan and Venezuelan counterparts, Daniel Ortega and Hugo Chávez. Chávez appears to have convinced Correa and Ortega to stop their sniping at Colombia’s president, Alvaro Uribe. Shortly before the three leaders met, Ortega predicted that relations with the Colombian government would be top of the agenda. Surprisingly, however, there was no mention of Colombia following their 20-minute meeting, which took place behind closed doors.
Bad news for war on drugs
Upswing in Colombian coca growing is major upset for ‘war on drugs’. The ‘war on drugs’ is not faring well. The most recent Andean coca survey conducted by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows that coca cultivation in the three major producing countries — Bolivia, Colombia and Peru — increased in 2007 by 16 percent to 181,600 hectares, the highest level since 2001. The greatest individual increase was recorded in Colombia, the country which has been at the heart of the ‘war on drugs’.
Bolivian prefects flip-flop on recall referendums
The prefects of the Media Luna departments of Santa Cruz, Tarija, Pando and Beni will stand in recall referendums on 10 August along with President Evo Morales. They had previously insisted that they would not take part in an “illegal” vote. However, Manfred Reyes Villa, the maverick prefect of Cochabamba, remains adamant that he will not take part, fuelling concern that the department could be plunged into the kind of political violence that engulfed it in January 2007 after he tried to hold a referendum on autonomy.
Uribe unstoppable after Betancourt rescue
On 2 July the Colombian military rescued Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages held by the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc). The operation has captured the world’s attention, not just because it freed Betancourt, the world’s most famous captive, but also because of its breathtaking bravery and cunning. Yet while the hostages bask in their freedom and the military in its glory, the undisputed hero of the hour is the president, Alvaro Uribe.
(Prensa Latina and Latin News contributed to this report.)
