WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A new report issued by the United Nations says that while Latin America has experienced an economic recovery in the 1990s, unemployment in the region has increased in the last several years.

The report from the International Labor Organization (ILO), which is affiliated with the United Nations, said that in the 1990s, the region as a whole has been experiencing "moderate economic recovery after the economic crisis" of the 1980s. Regional output has grown on average 3.3 percent per year between 1990 and 1998 and prices have become increasingly more stable as inflation dropped to an average of 10.2 percent in the region in 1998 as compared to 550 percent registered between 1990 and 1993.

Release of the report was timed for the ILO's "14th American Regional Meeting" held August 24-27 in Lima, Peru. Delegates from 35 countries attended the meeting, including representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor.

The ILO pointed to four countries -- Chile, Bolivia, Costa Rica, and Colombia -- where longer-term economic reforms have resulted in better labor conditions and wages, with a decrease in unemployment. However, in countries that have made only recent economic reforms -- Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela -- labor problems have increased.

Integration of Latin America into the world economy has spurred new job opportunities and higher wages, the ILO said. In addition, reforms on trade and finance have included the lowering of foreign trade barriers, while numerous restrictions on imports have been eliminated and the level and disparity of tariffs reduced. This has paved the way to the opening of capital markets, coinciding with a strong inflow of foreign capital, the ILO said.

Also helping to improve the region's economy, the ILO said, was a change in "property of enterprises from public to private, and a reduction of the role of the State on matters" such as investment and employment.

"Worth underscoring are the reforms of social security pension schemes in several countries, involving participating of the private sector in the administration of resources," the ILO said. It added that most countries are undertaking reforms in medical care managed by social security institutions, leaving an "important space for private sector intervention. These reforms have facilitated the introduction of mechanisms oriented to mobilize financial resources and to contribute to investment and economic growth. However, despite the reforms, a high percentage of workers still do not benefit of any system of social protection."

Economic growth and price stability have not produced a significant improvement in the employment situation or wages, the ILO said. The region's unemployment rate for 1997 was 7.7 percent in 1996, dipped to 7.2 percent in 1997, and then rose to eight percent in 1998. The increase from 1997 was due, the ILO said, to the fact than an expansion of jobs was not sufficient to absorb the region's larger labor force.

The ILO noted a large cut in public sector jobs, but added that the private sector "did not fill the void left behind by the state with regard to its role as an employer of first resort." The private sector, the ILO said, generated only 11 percent of every 100 new job positions since 1990. The private sector's share in total employment was 28 percent in 1998, down from 32 percent in 1990. Where jobs are being created, they are most often "informal," such as in small-scale service jobs, farming, and temporary, or part-time work. The ILO said workers in the informal economy usually are not protected by labor laws, nor are they usually able to join recognized unions that would protect their interests.

The ILO said the "evolution of unemployment" showed not only "varieties between countries but also among different population groups, being detrimental mainly for youths and women." The rate of youth unemployment was especially high for those between the ages of 15 and 19, while female rates of unemployment and underemployment are higher than those of male rates in most countries in the region.

"One of the most important challenges" for Latin America, the ILO said, "is ensuring that economic benefits derived from globalization and the growth of international competition are equitably distributed, thus leading to sustainable social progress. In the realm of labor, this means the attainment of workers' basic rights."

The ILO bills itself as the United Nations "specialized agency" which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labor rights. It was founded in 1919 and is said to be the only surviving major creation of the Treaty of Versailles, which brought the forerunner of the United Nations -- the League of Nations -- into being.

Speaking Aug. 11 at the Freedom Forum foundation, Canton said 18 journalists were murdered in 1998, a number higher than in any other region of the world. Last year, two murders occurred in Brazil, one in Canada, nine in Colombia, four in Mexico, and two in Peru.

"The murder of journalists," Canton said, "is an extremely grave threat to the exercise of freedom and the most direct way of attacking this fundamental right."

He added that there have been about 150 journalists killed in the hemisphere in the past decade, as well as many cases of physical attacks and threats.

Canton said the best way for states to strengthen freedom of expression is by "guaranteeing an effective, wide-ranging, objective, and independent investigation into all cases of murders, attacks, and threats."

However, on a positive note, Canton added that "in general terms it is possible to say that with democratic elections" in 34 of the 35 States of the hemisphere, "the recognition and protection of freedom of expression has improved greatly in comparison to previous decades, when dictatorial or authoritarian regimes were in and of themselves a clear restriction to freedom of expression."

Canton reiterated findings he made in a new report to the OAS that most of the cases regarding the intimidation and killing of journalists have gone unpunished and are not being investigated by the judicial authorities "with the requisite effectiveness, thoroughness, and dedication."

"There can be no doubt," Canton said, "that these killings and intimidations constitute the most direct attack on freedom of expression, in that they are silencing the chief exercisers of that right: journalists."

Canton, a native of Argentina and a lawyer by training who became the first OAS media watchdog in November 1998, expressed concern that some countries are using what is known as "desacato" laws, which criminalize offensive statements made against public officials. Canton said such laws, such as desacato, should be repealed, since the OAS' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights maintains that they do not constitute incitements to lawless violence and are incompatible with freedom of expression and thought. The Inter-American Commission, which created the Office of the Special Rapporteur, has as its principal function promoting the observance and protection of human rights in the hemisphere.

In his report, Canton expressed particular concern over the state of freedom of expression in Panama and Peru, and an analysis of the "nonexistence of freedom of expression" in Cuba.

Regarding Panama, Canton said he has received many reports of a large number of legal cases filed against journalists by Panamanian public officials. These legal actions, he said, are based on the use of what are known as "gag laws," which Canton said the government has often promised to amend, though it has never actually done so.

Panama's Attorney General, Canton said, has been accused of carrying out judicial persecution against journalists and other public figures. The country's People's Defender himself has been receiving threats of legal action for publicly stating his opposition to phone-tapping by the Department of Public Prosecutions, according to Canton.

In Peru, Canton said the "limited independence" of the judiciary has created an atmosphere of juridical insecurity for the pursuit of the journalistic profession.

Moreover, he added, "the lack of juridical security is compounded by a wave of death threats and campaigns intended to harass and discredit those journalists who criticize the government."

On Cuba, Canton said the absence of a democratic system in that country "inevitably hinders the right of free expression," concluding that "until there are democratic changes that significantly expand the basic rights of all the Cuban people, the development of the right of free expression ... will remain an impossibility. The laws that restrict freedom of expression are compounded by the common practice of harassing and intimidating all individuals who express opinions that differ from those allowed by the authorities."

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Only about 500 U.S. Army personnel will be left in Panama by the end of August as the United States prepares to transfer control of the Panama Canal to the Panamanian government Dec. 31, says a spokesman for the U.S. Southern Command (Southcom), which has jurisdiction over U.S. military operations in Central and South America.

By the end of September, the spokesman said, the U.S. contingent will be down to about 250 people and by December, the number will be "in the dozens."

The spokesman added that three U.S. military installations in Panama -- Ft. Clayton, Howard Air Force Base, and Ft. Kobee -- will be turned over to Panama Nov. 1. The last two remaining military bases, known as East Corozal and West Corozal, will be returned to Panama Dec. 1 and "that pretty much will complete our reversion process."

The 1977 Panama Canal treaties that turn custody of the Canal over to Panama by Dec. 31 also require the U.S. Army to withdraw from all its military bases on that date.

"So by December 1, we will actually have all the [U.S.] military installations reverted to the Panamanian government -- all of our forces [will be] out of there," the spokesman said.

A formal ceremony marking the end of the U.S. presence in Panama has been moved up from Dec. 31 to Dec. 10, the spokesman said, due to "hype" about the Y2K problem and the end-of-the-century millennium observances. Former President Jimmy Carter, who as president signed the 1977 treaties, has been mentioned as a possible attendee at the ceremony, as well as Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera.

Moving up the date of the ceremony means that on Dec. 31, the only thing left to do for the United States will be to lower its flag in Panama for the last time, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Army South, which is part of Miami-based Southcom, marked its move from Panama to Puerto Rico Aug. 13 with a ceremony at the parade grounds of Fort Buchanan on the Caribbean island. The ceremony was attended by Caldera, Southcom Commander Charles Wilhelm, and local political leaders. Highlighting the occasion was the parachuting from a helicopter of a U.S. Army South team onto the grounds.

A Puerto Rican member of the team parachuted in, carrying the colors of the U.S. Army South. The flag was brought to Puerto Rico two weeks after it was drawn down in Panama, signifying that the U.S military presence in Panama is about to end after almost 100 years of protecting the Canal.

Child prostitution is on the increase, according to official sources in Nicaragua, with many children prostituting themselves in exchange for food and clothes. A recent survey carried out by the government's Ministry for the Family, titled "Social Cultural Factors in Child Prostitution," states that the greatest increases can been found on the streets of the capital, Managua, in port areas and along Nicaragua's borders.

The official study involved interviews with 300 child prostitutes -- 70.3 percent adolescent girls and 29.7 percent adolescent boys -- conducted in the areas of Managua, Corinto, Bluefields, Rivas and Leon. It has been reported by one organization that in some areas, networks of taxi drivers operate delivering young prostitutes to tourists.

Some 56 percent of the children questioned said they first had sex between the ages of 12 and 13, 28 percent said they had been raped, 40 percent of those by people unknown to them, 27 percent by family members and 18 percent by friends; 41.3 percent have sex with between 1-4 clients a day, while 50 percent have more than 5 clients a day.

Eighty-two percent of the children questioned admitted that they had started to prostitute themselves less than a year ago, leading the report's authors to conclude that the phenomenon of child prostitution is on the increase in Nicaragua.

When asked why they prostituted themselves, 47 percent of the children said they did so out of economic necessity. Of those children who also work outside of prostitution, 45 percent worked in nightclubs, 26 percent in small industries and 21 percent as street vendors. The 41 children working in bars act as dancers, cooks or waiters.

The vast majority of the children, 96 percent, also admitted that they were involved in prostitution in order to gain money for drugs, (49 percent glue, 29 percent crack, 13 percent cocaine, 6 percent alcohol, and 2 percent marijuana).

The majority of the 300 children questioned said they didn't attend school: 28.4 percent said they didn't want to, 20.2 percent didn't have the money and 11.1 percent said they had to work to support their children.

Moreover, the National Police in Nicaragua have recently confirmed the existence of a network responsible for trafficking Nicaraguan girls to Guatemala for prostitution networks in the country's capital Guatemala City. Police commissioner Carlos Palacios revealed that the force had captured a person believed to be involved in the trafficking of the young girls and that they expected to arrest other key members involved shortly.