by the El Reportero’s news services
Raúl Castro
It had been 14 years coming. But between April 16 and 19, 1,000 delegates finally gathered for the first congress of the Partido Comunista Cubano (PCC) to be held since 1997. President Raúl Castro tacitly acknowledged during his inaugural speech that the Cuban Revolution has been sunk for years, weighed down by cumbersome party structures and excessive bureaucracy.
He argued that if it is to be raised triumphantly to the surface it will require the overhaul of the party apparatus and an infusion of youth: his most eye-catching proposal was for two five-year term limits on officials, not just apparatchiks but also members of the politburo and council of state and even his own position at the head of the Revolution, although by then old age is likely to have carried off all of the históricos.
Humala takes the lead in Peru
On April 24 the first national opinion poll for the decisive second round of the presidential elections on 5 June gave leftist nationalist, Ollanta Humala a clear lead (of six percentage points) which is the equivalent of 1m votes. Humala’s lead (42 percent to 36 percent, according to the Ipsos Apoyo poll) is not unbridgeable but if Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned former president, Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) is to overtake him she will have broaden her appeal. Currently Fujimori is ahead in Lima, (43 percent to Humala’s 35 percent) where a third of the electorate lives and in the north. Humala is well ahead in the south and interior.
Uruguay: Falling into a Kantian trap
Often cited (along with Chile) as a regional example of a successful and peaceful transition to democracy after overcoming its military dictatorship, Uruguay is revisiting old demons as it looks set to repeal part of its amnesty laws. The initiative has become the most important political issue in the country, dividing the ruling left-wing coalition, Frente Amplio (FA), and simultaneously sparking high-minded debate about constitutionality, the role of government and even the meaning of democracy itself.
U.S. Govt. Refused Habe as Corpus for Cuban Fighter
The US Government urged to reject an habeas corpus request on behalf of anti-terrorist Cuban fighter Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo, who has been held in US prisons for nearly 13 years now.
This government call implies not granting him a hearing to examine his arguments and the alleged evidence presented against him, which proves again the double standard applied by the White House in its alleged war on terror., Fernando Gonzalez Llort and Rene Gonzalez Sehwerert, also known as The Cuban Five, sentenced in 2001 in a trial full of irregularities held in Miami.
Latin News and Prensa Latina contributed to the report.
