Tough term ahead for Argentina's Cristina Fernandez

Argentina does not often experience such a one-sided election.

Under pressure, Bolivian president scraps highway plan

(CNN) -- Bowing to months of pressure and demonstrations from indigenous communities, Bolivian President Evo Morales has scrapped a plan for the construction of an international highway through a national park that is their ancestral homeland.

Bolivia's Evo Morales scraps Amazon road project

Bolivia's President Evo Morales has scrapped plans for a road project in the Amazon that had triggered protests by indigenous people.

Mr Morales said the road would no longer go through a rainforest reserve. 


He made the announcement two days after protesters arrived in La Paz following a two-month march from the Amazon lowlands to voice their opposition.
It is not yet clear what the demonstrators' response will be.

The president said he would send a measure to Congress that would accommodate the protesters' demands.
"The matter is resolved," Mr Morales said.

An indigenous leader, Rafael Quispe, said the president's proposal was a "good sign" but said they had 15 other demands that needed to be discussed, the Spanish news agency Efe reported.

President Morales had been under fire ever since he announced his government's plan to build the road, no matter what, says the BBC's Mattia Cabitza in La Paz.

This is the second time in less than a year that Mr Morales has backtracked under popular pressure, our correspondent adds.

The last time, just after Christmas, was dubbed the "Gasolinazo", when he tried to almost double petrol prices but was forced to drop the plan. Then, like today, he said he was "governing by obeying the people".
Development - or disaster?
 
Thousands of residents were on the streets of La Paz this week as some 1,000 protesters arrived to call for the project to be stopped.

The government had argued that the road would boost economic development and regional integration.
The protesters said the project - funded by Brazil and built by a Brazilian company - would encourage illegal settlement and deforestation in their rainforest homeland.

The plans were for a highway through the Isiboro Secure Indigenous Territory and National Park - known by its Spanish acronym Tipnis.

President Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, had already suspended the project and offered talks with the protesters.

However, there were also demonstrations in support of the road project from indigenous groups that are loyal to the president.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Fla businesses see bright future with free trade

Florida businesses are celebrating the approval of the free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, hoping they boost both the state's exports and its image as the gateway to Latin American business opportunities.

The agreements approved last week will eliminate tariffs on U.S. products, help protect intellectual property and improve access for American investors in those countries. Experts say they could boost the nation's exports by $13 billion and the Obama administration says it will add at least 70,000 new jobs for Americans. Working out the final details with the other countries could still take several months.

US says strong economic relationship with region a 'strategic necessity'

WASHINGTON, USA  — A top United States official says that strong economic relationships with the Caribbean and Latin America are "a strategic necessity".

Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources at the State Department Thomas Nides told the Chamber of Commerce that "sustainable, inclusive economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean will benefit all of us".

Brazil Retreat From Inflation-Taming Plan Makes Investors Hedge

Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Brazilian officials are turning away from a 15-year old formula for success as worldwide financial storms erode faith in three core policies that ended decades of economic crisis, according to former policy makers and analysts who lived through the turmoil.

The so-called tripod of inflation targeting, low budget deficits and a floating exchange rate has supported the longest period of growth in Latin America’s biggest economy since the 1970s, helping to lift millions out of poverty and winning Brazil its first-ever investment grade rating.

Global Insider: China-Mexico Trade Relations

Mexico's economy minister sent China a formal letter last month expressing concern over unfair trade practices used by certain Chinese firms to avoid customs duties. In an email interview, Rhys Jenkins, a specialist in China's trade relations with Latin America at the University of East Anglia, discussed the trade relationship between China and Mexico.


WPR: What is the history of China-Mexico trade ties?

Rhys Jenkins: Trade between Mexico and China has grown spectacularly over the past decade from a little more than $3 billion in 2000 to almost $50 billion in 2010. The trade balance, however, has been massively in favor of China, with the value of Mexican imports running at 10 times that of exports to China, according to Mexican figures. China reports a much smaller trade surplus with Mexico, and the picture is confused by "triangulation," where goods pass through third countries, particularly the U.S. There is no doubt, though, that Mexico does register a large trade deficit with China since it has not developed significant exports to China, unlike some of the major South American countries.

WPR: What is the source of the current trade dispute between Mexico and China?

Jenkins: Trade conflicts between Mexico and China go back at least a decade. When China applied to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), Mexico was the last country to give its approval, in 2001. Mexican concerns were twofold: first, that the guaranteed access to the U.S. market that the WTO would give China would have a negative effect on Mexican exports to the north and, second, that Chinese imports would flood the Mexican domestic market. There was little that the Mexican government could do to prevent China's access to the U.S. market, and in 2003 Chinese exports to the U.S. exceeded those of Mexico for the first time. In order to reduce the impact of Chinese competition on the domestic market, Mexico insisted on arrangements that enabled it to maintain tariffs of between 100 percent and 1,100 percent on a range of Chinese imports for seven years as a condition for agreeing to China's WTO accession. When these arrangements were due to expire in 2008, the two countries agreed on a transition period that gave Mexican producers a further three years to adjust before restrictions are finally removed. These are due to end in December of this year.

The Mexican government has serious concerns over the large and growing bilateral trade deficit with China. Mexican manufacturers in a range of industries have long complained of unfair competition from Chinese imports. They claim that Chinese goods enter the market as contraband and that they avoid paying the appropriate import duties by underinvoicing or misclassifying goods, or by shipping them through third countries. China has been the main target for anti-dumping actions taken by Mexico at the WTO, accounting for 29 out of a total of 99 cases initiated since 1995.

WPR: What are the regional implications of Mexico's tough trade stance toward China?

Jenkins: Although other large Latin American countries such as Brazil and Argentina do not have such acute economic tensions with China, since their booming commodity exports have meant that they have not experienced large trade deficits, increased penetration of Chinese goods have nonetheless led to similar calls for protection from industrialists. China has been a principal target for anti-dumping actions in these countries too.

Source: www.worldpoliticsreview.com