by the El Reportero’s wire services
Enrique Peña Nieto
MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s electoral tribunal officially named Enrique Peña Nieto as president-elect on Friday, clearing the way for him to focus on planned economic reforms, but his rival refused to accept defeat and held out the possibility of further protests.
The tribunal threw out an attempt to overturn his win by leftist leader Andres Manuel López Obrador, who had accused Pena Nieto of laundering money and buying votes in the July election. Centrist Pena Nieto, 46, will be sworn in on December 1.
But López Obrador, whose supporters blocked many of Mexico City’s main thoroughfares for weeks after he narrowly lost the 2006 election, rejected the judges’ decision.
“Civil disobedience is an honorable duty when directed against the thieves of the hope and happiness of the people,” López Obrador said.
Central America and South Korea improve bilateral links
The countries of the Central American Integration System (SICA) and the Republic of Korea today review their relations in the 11 th meeting of deputy foreign ministers, to expand and strengthen ties.
Seen as a cooperative dialogue, the meeting will include bilateral meetings with each of the nations and will address matters concerning foreign policy, investment and other economic ties.
Climate change and the environment are also included in the agenda, considering the vulnerability of the region to the natural disasters which places it among the 10 areas with the most problems in the world.
Nicaragua’s ambassador in Japan, Saul Arana, highlighted Central America as an area of opportunity due to its water supply and food production.
Santos takes the plunge and plumps for peace process
Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos has confirmed the rumours that have been circulating in Bogotá for weeks now. His government will seek a peace accord with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc), and indeed the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) if it wants to join talks. It is a bold move which will either make or break Santos politically. If he pulls it off, Santos will be able to stand for re-election in 2014 with the prospect of coasting to victory. If it turns into anything resembling the Caguán fiasco it will strengthen the opposition coalesced around his predecessor Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010), who has already gone on the attack.
US Marines operating in Guatemalan coasts
Some 200 US soldiers are currently in Guatemalan coasts, supposedly to fight drug trafficking, despite the fact that their country is the world´s main illegal drug consumer, according to the UN.
This is the first deployment of US Marines in the region, said US Marine Staff Sgt. Earnest Barnes, as the Guatemalan government stages today a crusade against drug trafficking in this nation.
A month ago, Guatemala and Washington signed a pact to authorize this operation.
The Guatemalan Executive is on alert against the effects of drug trafficking here, where the seizure of tones of cocaine paste and thousands of units of precursor chemicals indicate that this country is on the path of becoming a main illegal drug producer.
Nearly 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States enters the country through Mexico and Central America, according to a report of 2011 drafted by the International Narcotics Control Board, the 13 members of which are elected by the UN Economic and Social Council.
