by the El Reportero’s news services
The financial crisis in the US and the rescue of a US investment bank, Bear Stearns, has prompted a raft of commentary about a crisis in international capitalism. This sits oddly with what is happening in Latin America, the scene of so many financial and economic crises, where financial markets, entrepreneurship and market solutions to economic problems, are all in rude health. The most telling symptom of this glowing health is the first ever public debt issue on the domestic Bolivian capital market.
Colombia offers to free guerrillas
On 27 March the peace commissioner, Luis Carlos Restrepo, announced that the government will suspend the sentences of all imprisoned members of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) if the Farc frees its hostages. The proposal will delight the international community, in particular Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Nicolas Sarkozy of France. Sarkozy will be especially pleased by Restrepo’s repeated assertion that the government’s top priority is to ‘save the life’ of Ingrid Betancourt, whose health is thought to have deteriorated rapidly.
Bush uses Andean dispute as springboard for fierce attack on Chávez
US President George W Bush has launched two strongly worded attacks on his Venezuelan peer Hugo Chávez, or rather his “regime”, in recent weeks. Both were designed to persuade the US Congress that Venezuela is a genuine threat to stability in Latin America and to exert pressure on congressmen to approve an FTA with Colombia as a matter of national security. This, Bush argues, would be a just reward for an ally which serves as a geopolitical counterweight to Venezuela in the Andean region. Quite apart from the fact that the FTA should be judged on its own merits, there is a very real concern that the conflation of trade and national security issues could set a dangerous precedent.
Education is the key in Latin America
by Marifeli Perez-Stablemps_opinion@comcast.net
Latin America is doing better but still not good enough. One reason lies in the quality of its labor force and its schools.
A good education lies at the heart of a virtuous circle: rising skills, promoting growth and reducing poverty. Governments, the private sector and civil society need to act faster than has been the case to bolster the region’s educational systems.
- Latin America no longer offers low-cost labor to attract investors. Elsewhere, middle-income countries — the range where most in the region fall — provide other incentives such as a growing pool of highly skilled workers, which Latin America lacks.
- Without quality improvements, the region’s expanding school enrollments won’t attract the investments to grow faster and compete. Studies show that quality — especially in student achievements in math and science — is at least as important, if not more, than enrolling and keeping children in school.
- Inferior educational systems aggravate Latin America’s income inequality, already the worst in the world. For the most part, only the children of the rich and the middle class complete secondary and higher education, which reinforces inequality while keeping most workers from living up to their potential. No wonder growth and social stability suffer.
Between 1960 and 2000, the average schooling of Latin America’s labor force doubled, albeit from the low base of three years. In a world rapidly moving to technologically advanced production and higher valued-added products, Latin America is still producing workers best suited for labor-intensive and raw-materials industries.
Inadequate systems Secondary education presents the toughest climb. Latin America lags 19 percentage points behind the expected secondary-education performance for its income levels, while East Asian countries register almost 18 percentage points above theirs. (The Miami Herald).
