Cuba and the ‘mad cows’ from the U.S.
Latin American Weekly Summary
Havana, Radio Progreso Alternativa (RPA) — Pedro Álvarez, president of Alimport, the Cuban food import agency that has been negotiating the import of U.S. food products, offered scientific assistance against the “mad cow” disease in the United States. The offer was made by letter to Phillip Seng, president of the Federation of U.S. Meat Exporters.
Alimport, which in the last two years has bought $690 million worth of U.S. agriproducts, is willing to buy U.S. cattle again. Álvarez has assured U.S. suppliers that Cuba will honor its commitments.
John Parke IV, a Florida cattleman who has sold 500 head to the Caribbean island, expects to increase his sales to Cuba.
“We firmly believe that U.S. cattle will play a decisive role in the increase of our milk and meat production”, said Álvarez to Prensa Latina news agency.
Cuba: Child mortality rate of 6.3 in 2003
Havana (RPA) — In 2003 Cuba’s child mortality rate of 6.3 for every thousand children born was the lowest in its history. According to UNICEF, the figure is the lowest in all of Latin America, even better than in the United States, which has a rate of 7 per thousand.
The Cuban success is attributed to pre- and perinatal control and attention that is carried out all over the country through the Family Doctor, the basis of the Cuban free health system.
Colombia: A new leftist mayor in Bogotá
Bogotá (Comcosur) — Luis Eduardo Garzón, a veteran union leader of humble origins, was sworn in as Bogotá’s mayor, the first one from a leftist organization. In his inaugural speech in front of a huge crowd gathered at the Colombian capital’s main plaza, he said that “to be a revolutionary today I would have to rule well.”
Garzón will head a city of seven million inhabitants with an incredible disparity between the rich and poor, and thousands of displaced persons due to the civil war that has ravaged the country for decades.
According to his first announcements, the new mayor will have as his main goal the fight against hunger and undernourishment, opening up community kitchens where initially the neediest will receive a daily meal. Garzón expects to reach three meals a day by the end of his term.
Although some of his projects have been criticized, Garzón says that “when people are hungry, there is no possible theoretical discussion.”
Ecuador: Lucio Gutiérrez’s approval drops
Quito (Comcosur) — A survey which made the front page headlines of the daily Hoy found that 20% of Ecuadorians demand the resignation of President Lucio Gutiérrez, while 65% do not approve his administration. Only a year ago Gutiérrez had an approval rating of 63% of the population. 38.5% said that the government has been corrupt, but 24% agreed that the economy has improved in the past year.
Gutiérrez began his administration on January 15, 2003, after winning an election in which the support of native Indian communities was the main factor. Initially those communities were part of the government, but Gutiérrez drifted away from his campaign promises and the indigenous movements withdrew their support and left the government. The administration’s loss of prestige is growing as fast as the protests of its former allies.
Guatemala: The promises of the new president
Guatemala City (Comcosur) — The new Guatemalan president, Oscar Berger, has the support of businessmen and the financial sector. Berger, a conservative, pledged to back efforts to bring to trial former military dictator Efraín Ríos Montt for human rights violations.
“Nobody is above the law,” said the recently elected president to the press. “Trials should begin and we are going to facilitate the investigation. We will make sure that resources be appropriated to carry out a swift investigation.”
Berger is committed to fight against poverty and to improve education and health care services. He also promised to re-launch the peace accords as one of his administration’s main points as soon as he is inaugurated on January 14. Yet, many promises of the same sort by different administrations have never been kept.
Of the 11 million of Guatemalans, more than half are Mayan Indians who live in poverty.
The country’s social inequalities are such that differences between opulence and poverty are wide and insulting.
Peru: Growing discontent with Toledo’s government
Lima (Adital/Argenpress) — The popularity of President Alejandro Toledo hit an all time low of 8.1%, according to the results of a national survey. The investigation, carried out last December 16 to 19 with a sample of 2,452 subjects, found that disapproval has grown to 83.4%
61.8% also rejected the nomination on December 15 of the officialist Congressman Carlos Ferrero as chairman of the Council of Ministers, a decision backed by only 29.8% of the population.
Most people (89.9% of those polled) believe that Toledo will not finish his mandate, which runs until July 28, 2006, while a mere 5.3% answered positively to the question.
Reacting to the findings, Hugo Garavito, national leader of the government party Perú Posible, disqualified the results arguing that they should be investigated accusing the researchers of being partial to the opponent Aprista Party.
The survey was conducted by the Institute of Development and Research of Economic Sciences (IDECE), by order of the private Garcilaso de la Vega University.
Congressman Alcides Chamorro, of the Moralizing Independent Front, also a government ally, said that the results of the survey should not be rejected, for they show the population’s distrust of the government.
Meanwhile, Mauricio Mulder, of the opposing Aprista Party, said that the fact that 87.6% of the population is in favor of advance elections should be taken into account.
“I don’t want to be misunderstood, but in order to attain a minimum of governability, political forces should take into account the possibility of recalling elected officials,” Mulder said.
