Central America
| These articles appeared in Latin.Net, a weekly newsletter published by Dr. Chris Brogan that provides an analysis of key event's in Latin America.
More information about the newsletter can be obtained at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/LatinNet/ | 
New Tico Finance Minister
(LATIN.NET) -- Costa Rica's President Jose Figueres insists that the resignation last week of Finance Minister Fernando Herrero and his replacement by economist Francisco de Paula "Qin no way means a change in our policy and program of macroeconomic balance." De Paula is an economics professor at the Central American Institute of Business Administration (INCAE), works with CEFSA, an economic consulting firm, and has served on the board of directors of the private Banco de COFISA and Atlas Electric SA, the country's largest appliance manufacturer. He also served in 1989 on the Central Bank board of directors. For his part, de Paula has pledged to stick to Figueres' policy to avoid spending on social programs in the next 18 months: "We are not going to play politics with public spending. This is nonnegotiable." Although Herrero cited personal and family commitments for resigning, he had been under attack from various sectors for hiking taxes and cutting public spending and, more recently, for ordering state companies to channel a larger proportion of their profits to the government. |
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Panama to get cellular service
(LATIN.NET) -- A consortium led by U.S. telecommunications company BellSouth Corp will start cellular phone services in Panama by the end of the month. The country's first cellular service is scheduled to begin in Panama City's banking sector and the Colon Free Trade Zone. The consortium won the 20year license to build and operate Panama's first cellular telephone network in January with a bid of $72.6 million. |
Guatemala ratifies UN tribal pact
(LATIN.NET) -- Guatemala has ratified a U.N. pact on tribal peoples, thus meeting a key demand of the URNG guerrillas and strengthened confidence that a full peace agreement could be signed as early as September. The pact obliges the government to respect the traditional values of its indigenous people and to consult with them on decisions affecting their economic and social development. Guatemala's Labor Minister Arnoldo Ortiz Moscosco called the ratification an "historic milestone in Guatemala's consolidation of democracy." Negotiations, meanwhile, are continuing over the role of the army in a democratic society and the reintegration of demobilized fighters. | |
Nicaragua axes trade agreement with Mexico
LATIN.NET) -- Nicaragua will not sign a free trade agreement with Mexico this year as planned. Reasons cited by government sources in Managua include forthcoming general elections and internal difficulties in industry and agriculture, and Mexico's reluctance to accept beef and sugar quotas proposed by Nicaragua. | |
Guatemalan peace talks resume
(LATIN.NET) -- Guatemalan government and rebel representatives have resumed peace negotiations in Mexico City. The current round of talks - the third since President Alvaro Arzu took office this year - are focusing on the role of the military under a civilian democracy. |
