Latin America & the Caribbean

U.S. and Canadian Baby Boomers Retiring to Mexico

By Bill Dahl*

REDMOND, Oregon, USA (IDN) – The term boomerang is considered a noun and a verb. As a noun, it is defined as a curved flat piece of wood that can be thrown so as to return to the thrower, traditionally used by Australian Aborigines as a hunting weapon. As a verb, boomerang means a plan or action that results in a return to the originator, often with negative consequences.

One of the overlooked, unanticipated consequences of social, economic and political policies is that they inherently possess a boomerang effect; they return to the sender with negative consequences. A current example of this phenomenon are the negative consequences U.S. President Donald Trump’s range of policies have thrust upon a major demographic cohort in the U.S.: The Baby Boomers.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 21 February 2019

Photo: Haitian National Police units have been having a tough task containing the outbreaks of violence and looting, restore order and freedom of movement. Credit: Guestonn Fermy / PNH 2019

Haiti Unrest Beginning to Take A Humanitarian Toll

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Demonstrators have been filling the streets of downtown Port-au- Prince in Haiti, as anger and frustration over government mismanagement and corruption boils over.

Protestors are now demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moise. Hundreds gathered in downtown Port-au-Prince a few days ago to demonstrate against economic mismanagement and corruption and to ask for President Jovenel Moise to step down.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 18 February 2019

Photo: José David Dominguez, 9 years old, is accompanied by his mother, Yenni Dominguez, to get his vaccine at UNICEF's health point in Ipiales, Colombia. UNICEF has launched a regional response effort to support Venezuelan children and families, as well as children in host communities. © UNICEF/UN0253234/Moreno Gonza.

UN Committed to Providing Humanitarian Aid to Venezuelans

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – In view of the increasingly critical situation for ordinary Venezuelans, the United Nations remains committed to providing humanitarian support, based on “need, and need alone”, according to a senior aid official.

But the oil-rich country is not only suffering from food and medical shortages. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) noted that dozens of opposition politicians continue to face ongoing harassment in the South American country.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 11 February 2019

Photo: Signatories oft he Montevideo Mechanism. Credit: CARICOM.

'Montevideo Mechanism' Seeks to Resolve Venezuela Crisis

By Rodrigo Pérez

MONTEVIDEO (IDN) – The United Nations is willing to bring Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido together for "serious negotiations" at their request, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said during a press conference at the 32nd African Union summit on February 10 at Addis Ababa. Ethiopia.

Earlier, the spokesman for Guterres, Stéphane Dujarric, said that the UN Chief "supports the efforts of the international community that will help find a political solution" to the situation in Venezuela.

: Rodrigo Pérez; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 11 February 2019

Photo: Caribbean Leaders with the UNGA President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (centre). Credit: Twitter @UN_PGA

CARICOM Alerts UN As Situation Escalates In Venezuela

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) – With the Venezuelan crisis worsening on its doorsteps, the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been at pains to prevent the situation in the Bolivarian Republic taking a sharp turn for the worst.

It has censured the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Luis Leonardo Almagro on his “unilateral” stance in accepting Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela, according to a report by the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

: J C Suresh; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 11 February 2019

Why Venezuela's Oil Money Could Keep Undermining Its Economy And Democracy

By Scott Morgenstern and John Polga-Hecimovich*

LONDON (IDN-INPS) – As political and economic crises threaten to topple Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, political scientists like us are not surprised that he has run into trouble.

Instead, we see Venezuela as another example of what scholars call the “resource curse.” That’s the unfortunate correlation first described by the British economic geographer Richard M. Auty between nations with vast wealth from oil or other natural resources and political instability.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 10 February 2019

Photo: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the White House had "ordered and planned" a "coup". Credit: cancilleria.gob.ec

Venezuela Crisis Drives A Wedge Between Europeans

Viewpoint by Shastri Ramachandaran*

NEW DELHI (IDN) – It’s a topsy-turvy world. President Emmanuel Macron’s France can recognise Juan Guaido, who is leading the protests in distant Venezuela, as “Interim President” of that country. But Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio cannot meet “Yellow Vest” protestors demonstrating on the streets of Paris.

Why is recognition of protests acceptable in the case of Venezuela but not when it comes to France?

Because the West led by the United States and its camp followers in Europe say so. This is the so-called “international community” known for its duplicitous standards.

: Shastri Ramachandran; OPINION; 09 February 2019

Photo: El Salvador President Salvador Sánchez Cerén greets Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro at his inauguration on 10 January 2019. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

It's Not Just About Overthrowing Maduro In Venezuela

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) – The 'Washington Consensus' on democracy today is not about respecting peoples’ right to elect their leaders by popular vote, but how to buy these votes to promote U.S. business interests. Thus, the ongoing campaign to bring “regime change” in Venezuela is not about overthrowing Venezuelan President Nicolas Madura, but overthrowing the Bolivarian development model and an alternative trading system introduced by Hugo Chavez after he came to power in 1999.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 08 February 2019

Photo: Demonstration on Avenida Bolivar, in the center of Caracas, to support President Nicolás Madura and protest the economic war that, according to the government, has been launched against Venezuela. 17 December 2016. CC BY-SA 4.0

Independent Election Monitors Could Have Averted Current Crisis in Venezuela

Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow

The writer is President of the Association of World Citizens and its Representative to the United Nations, Geneva.

GENEVA (IDN) – The social, economic, and political situation in Venezuela grows more tense and complex by the day. On January 27, Pope Francis speaking from Panama said. "Faced with the grave situation it [Venezuela] is going through, I ask the Lord that a just and peaceful solution is sought and achieved in order to overcome the crisis, respecting human rights and the good of all the people in the country."

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 31 January 2019

Photo credit: Rafael Murillo, Courtesy Congress SEE

Costa Rica Set to Achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2021

By Fabiola Ortiz

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (IDN) – It has been twenty two years since Costa Rica embarked on its national program of payment for environmental services (PES), the first in the world to start a nationwide scheme for compensating landowners for keeping the forests standing for people and the planet.

Now that the world struggles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit the global temperature rise by the end of the century, this Central American nation of five million people has served as an example of public policies addressing the taxation of fossil fuels in favour of the protection of nature. The country pledges to become carbon neutral by 2021.