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rachelramirez

The Nicaraguan Firewall: How the Narco Gangs Have Breached It - TIME - 0 views

content.time.com/...0,8599,2116269,00.html

Nicaragua gangs corruption

shared by rachelramirez on 04 Jul 16 - No Cached
  • The Nicaraguan Firewall: How the Narco Gangs Have Breached It
  • Nicaraguan military and police leaders insist they've created a "firewall" against the western hemisphere's more than $40 billion drug trade and the ultra-violent narco-gangs pushing in from both the north and the south.
  • the country is a leader in drug busts and has managed to reduce its homicide rate to the second-lowest in the region behind Costa Rica.
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  • Roberto Orozco, a Nicaraguan security expert at the Managua-based Institute for Strategic Studies and Public Policy (IEEPP). "We had already identified narco-penetration in lower levels of government, where municipal and local officials have been bought by organized crime. This is especially true along the principal drug-trafficking routes, where we've seen the worst corruption among police and local judges.
  • Substitute Magistrate Julio César Osuna, who was arrested May 27, is accused of using his government post to smuggle drugs, launder money and sell fake Nicaraguan IDs to foreign drug traffickers.
  • the drug gangs terrorizing Central America's northern triangle are moving into the rest of the isthmus.
  • Those who know the inner workings of the CSE say it's highly unlikely that Osuna, who is accused along with 21 other people who are not public officials, was working alone inside the government.
  • In the final months of Ortega's first Sandinista government in 1990, when party apparatchiks were busily divvying up confiscated properties and other spoils of their decade-long revolution, the National Assembly quietly passed a decree granting Nicaraguan citizenship to some 600 foreign revolutionaries, extremists and other political misfits who were being harbored by Nicaragua as an act of "solidarity.
  • While the Sandinistas' strong central government has slowed the narco-contamination of Nicaragua, the country's democratic institutions are extremely weak and vulnerable to corruption, analysts warn. It remains to be seen how far police will go — or be allowed to snoop — behind the thick curtain of secrecy that has shrouded the Sandinista government for the past five years
  • rachelramirez on 04 Jul 16
     
    Although Nicaragua is doing a good job fending off corruption considering where the country is located, corruption is beginning to seep into the government. Based off of this article it seems as if it would be a nearly impossible task to keep Nicaragua from turning into a mini-Honduras or El Salvador, where corruption and gangs rule. Additionally, the government seems divided at the higher and lower levels, as the lower levels of the government have been taken over by gang members, and they have allowed terrorists from numerous countries to gain citizenship. It seems as though the best course of action that Nicaragua could take is unifying the government, and supporting the economy so that the government does not have to play into gang's desires.
redavistinnell

Exclusive: leading candidate to be Commonwealth secretary general alleged to have recei... - 0 views

www.telegraph.co.uk/...ainst-Antiguan-government.html

leading candidate commonwealth fraud government politics foreign policy caribbean

shared by redavistinnell on 16 Jun 16 - No Cached
  • Exclusive: leading candidate to be Commonwealth secretary general alleged to have received $1.4m in fraud against Antiguan government
  • A fax dated 28 November 1997 appears to show that Rappaport opened an account with the Bank of Bermuda called the “IHI Debt Settlement Co Account”.
  • Sir Ronald served as High Commissioner to Britain from 1982 until 1987 and then again from 1996 until 2004. Soon after he returned to London, the Queen made him a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG). She proceeded to award him a knighthood in June 2002. Two years later, Antigua’s then government commissioned an investigation by Robert Lindquist, a Canadian forensic accountant, after a routine audit suggested the state was overpaying a loan.
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  • The Lindquist report named Sir Ronald as a “person of interest” in this alleged fraud which cost Antigua $14 million (£9.3 million) between 1997 and 2006.
  • Mr Lindquist found that the monthly surplus of $203,594 – amounting to 40 per cent of Antigua’s total revenue from petrol sales tax - was shared between various beneficiaries, apparently including Sir Ronald. The architect of the alleged fraud was the late Bruce Rappaport, a S
  • Sir Ronald Sanders, now the Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to Washington, apparently received monthly payments of £10,000 while serving as High Commissioner in London, according to a report ordered by his country’s government but never subsequently published.
  • The document says that “funds received monthly from the Government of Antigua” amounting to $403,334 were to be used to repay IHI to the tune of $199,74
  • Including funds that were channelled through Bellwood Services – a Panamanian company owned by Sir Ronald until 1996 – the Lindquist report says that he appeared to receive a total of $1,398,492 (£933,000).
  • But on 29 June 2015, Antigua’s police commissioner wrote to Sir Ronald’s lawyers saying this should never have happened, adding: “I hereby confirm that the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda has no interest in interviewing Sir Ronald Sanders and that there are no current or pending investigations that involve him in any way.”
  • Antigua's current government has described the Lindquist report as “riddled with hearsay, rumour and conjecture” and the result of a “partisan witch-hunt” launched by a previous administration. Sir Ronald has never been shown the report.
  • redavistinnell on 16 Jun 16
     
    This article shows the corruption with in the Antiguan government. There is an obvious gap between the government officials in Antigua and Barbuda and the people. One of the biggest problems facing Antigua's government is how corrupt it is.  
lenaurick

2010 Human Rights Reports: Antigua and Barbuda - 0 views

www.state.gov/...154490.htm

human human rights politics latin america foreign policy economy

shared by lenaurick on 28 Aug 16 - No Cached
  • Antigua and Barbuda is a multiparty, parliamentary democracy with a population of approximately 100,000.
  • There were human rights problems in some areas, including excessive use of force by police, poor prison conditions, some limits on press freedom, societal discrimination and violence against women, sexual abuse of children, and discrimination against homosexuality.
  • There were no reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.
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  • Nonetheless, there were occasional reports of police brutality, corruption, excessive force, discrimination against persons on basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and allegations of abuse by prison guards.
  • Prison conditions were very poor. Her Majesty's Prison, the country's only prison, was overcrowded, did not have toilet facilities, and slop pails were used in all 122 cells
  • Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors, were permitted religious observances, and had reasonable access to complaint mechanisms and the ability to request inquiry into conditions.
  • Security forces consist of a police force, the small Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which coordinates law enforcement and prosecutorial action to counter narcotics trafficking. The police force had approximately 750 officers.
  • The constitution provides that criminal defendants should receive a fair, open, and public trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Trials are by jury. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence, have timely access to counsel, may confront or question witnesses, and have the right to appeal. In capital cases only, the government provides legal assistance at public expense to persons without the means to retain a private attorney
  • There were no reports of political prisoners or detainees
  • The constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, but the government respected these rights on a somewhat limited basis
  • There were no government restrictions on access to the Internet or reports that government monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. There were 75 Internet users per 100 inhabitants, according to Internet World Statistics.
  • The constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.
  • Members of the Organization of American States observer group reported that the elections were generally free and fair.
  • There were two women in the 19-seat House of Representatives and five women appointed to the 17-seat Senate. The governor general, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and the president of the Senate, all appointed positions, were women. There were two women in the cabinet.
  • The Freedom of Information Act gives citizens the statutory right to access official documents from public authorities and agencies, and it created a commissioner to oversee the process. In practice citizens found it difficult to obtain documents, possibly due to government funding constraints rather than obstruction.
  • The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, creed, language, or social status, and the government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
  • The Directorate of Gender Affairs, part of the Ministry of Labor, Public Administration, and Empowerment, established and publicized a crisis hotline for victims and witnesses to sexual assault, and managed a sexual assault center that coordinates responses to sexual assault. When rape cases are reported to the police, a female police officer accompanies the victim for both questioning and medical examinations at the center. Once the doctor's report is completed, an investigation commences.
  • n situations where the victim did not know her assailant, the cases rarely came to trial.
  • Violence against women, including spousal abuse, was a problem. The law prohibits and provides penalties for domestic violence, but many women were reluctant to testify against their abusers.
  • Sexual harassment is illegal, but it was rarely prosecuted. According to the Labor Department, there was a high incidence of sexual harassment incurred by employees in both the private and public sectors. However, only approximately 20 cases were formally reported during the year; the small number was believed to result from concerns about retaliation.
  • Women in society enjoy the same rights as men under the law. However, economic conditions in rural areas tended to limit women to home and family, although some women worked as domestics, in agriculture, or in the large tourism sector. Despite these limitations, women were well represented in the private and public sectors. There was no legislation requiring equal pay for equal work, but women faced no restrictions involving ownership of property.
  • Citizenship is acquired by birth in the country, and all children were registered at birth
  • Child abuse remained a problem. The press reported regularly on the rape and sexual abuse of children.
  • Statutory rape is illegal; the minimum age for consensual sex is 14. Despite a maximum penalty of 10 years to life, authorities brought charges against few offenders, and those convicted did not serve long jail terms due to lack of witness cooperation
  • Homosexual acts for both sexes are illegal under indecency statues, and some male homosexual acts are also illegal under anal intercourse laws.
  • Some LGBT persons claimed that homophobia impairs the willingness of HIV-positive persons to obtain treatment; however, there were no reports of violence or discrimination directed toward persons with HIV/AIDS.
  • Workers have the right to associate freely and to form labor unions. Approximately 60 percent of workers in the formal sector belonged to a union. Unions were free to conduct their activities without government interference
  • Labor law prohibits retaliation against strikers, and the government effectively enforced this prohibition.
  • he constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children.
  • The law stipulates a minimum working age of 16 years, which corresponds with the provisions of the Education Act. In addition persons under 18 years of age must have a medical clearance to work and may not work later than 10 p.m.
  • The minimum wage was EC$7.00 ($2.59) an hour for all categories of labor, which provided a barely adequate standard of living for a worker and family. In practice the great majority of workers earned substantially more than the minimum wage.
  • The law provides that workers are not required to work more than a 48-hour, six-day workweek, but in practice the standard workweek was 40 hours in five days
  • While not specifically provided for by law, in practice workers could leave a dangerous workplace situation without jeopardy to continued employment.
  • lenaurick on 28 Aug 16
     
    This article is about common issues that countries face, and how Antigua and Barbuda deals with these issues. For the most part, it seemed that Antigua and Barbuda was a relatively developed country with a strong and fair government, rights for children, good working conditions, and unrestricted access to internet. However there were also areas where Antigua and Barbuda needed improvements. For example their prisons are overcrowded, women continue to be victims of sexual assault, and homophobia is acceptable. Overall this article helped me to get a better sense of where Antigua and Barbuda stands on major issues.
jackhanson1

Construction of Nicaragua Canal Threatens Indigenous Lives and Livelihoods | Cultural S... - 0 views

www.culturalsurvival.org/...threatens-indigenous-lives-and

shared by jackhanson1 on 04 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • Construction of Nicaragua Canal Threatens Indigenous Lives and Livelihoods
  • The Nicaraguan Government has failed to properly consult Indigenous communities regarding the canal’s construction.
  • The construction of the canal promises environmental abuses and human rights violations as the proposed route cuts through the land of multiple Indigenous territories on Nicara- gua’s coasts and within its mainland. Thousands of people are expected to be impacted with many being forcibly displaced, primarily including the Kriol and Indigenous Rama people,
in a clear violation of Indigenous autonomy laws in Nicaragua and international human rights documents.
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  • In June 2013, Nicaraguan officials approved a $50 billion (US) deal with a Hong Kong firm to oversee the construction of a 278-kilometer long canal. The HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Company’s proposed project would attempt to link the Pacific to the Caribbean, allowing the passage of container ships
too large for passage through the Panama Canal.
  • The Nicaraguan Constitution of 1987 recognizes the Indigenous cultures that reside on the land and their right to maintain their languages and cultures. Two additional laws, 28 and 445, grant autonomy and “the use, administration and management of traditional lands and their natural resources” to Indigenous people. Additionally, Nicaragua signed on to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People in 2008 and ratified ILO Convention 169 in 2010, a legally bind- ing document guaranteeing prior consultation before such projects.
  • The government is reportedly anticipating that 7,000 homes may be expropriated to make way for the 278-kilometer canal. However, an independent report by the Centro Humboldt states that the impact will be much greater. The report found that 282 settlements and 24,100 homes were identified within the direct area of influence, estimating that the number of people anticipated to be directly affected by construction at over 119,000. The canal’s construction will not only bring the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, but also irreversible environmental damage. The loss of Indigenous communities will be accompanied by the loss of some of Nicaragua’s most precious and rich resources: its ecologically diverse lands and waters.
  • Meanwhile, the social impact assessment conducted by the Nicaraguan government, if being conducted at all, has lacked any transparency. While quick to boast the economic impact of the canal, officials have blatantly disregarded the needs and fears of community members from coast to coast. A coalition of 11 groups including affected In- digenous communities and environmental and legal organiza- tions submitted a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights criticizing the rights violations inherent in the Canal Law.
  • jackhanson1 on 04 Nov 16
     
    This article relates to my topic of promoting intercultural dialogue and inclusion because this article deals with the absence of communication and dialogue between the government of Nicaragua and the indigenous groups of Nicaragua. This article talks about a proposed plan to build a canal across the largest lake in Nicaragua, Lago Nicaragua. Without consulting the indigenous groups living around the lake, the government went ahead and approved the construction of the canal. Thousands of indigenous homes will be wiped out due to the construction of the canal. These indigenous groups have petitioned the government to come up with a different plan for constructing the canal, but the government refused to grant their requests. As a result, many indigenous villages will be wiped out and many people will have to relocate and start again.
jackhanson1

Nicaragua's Indigenous Peoples Protect their Forests Even Without Government Support | ... - 0 views

www.wri.org/...ven-without-government-support

shared by jackhanson1 on 04 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • Nicaragua’s Indigenous Peoples Protect their Forests Even Without Government Support
  • Nicaragua is the second-poorest economy in Latin America after Haiti, and has already lost much of its forest cover to agricultural development. About 21 percent of the country’s forests disappeared between 1990 and 2005.
  • Established in 1991, the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve in Nicaragua in north-central Nicaragua, together with the Rio Platano Reserve in Honduras and adjacent protected areas, is one of the largest areas of protected tropical forest in Central America. The core area and buffer zone of Bosawas covers 854,000 hectares, or about 7 percent of Nicaragua.
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  • Large parts of the reserve and remaining tropical forests are inhabited by indigenous groups like the Mayangna (Sumo) and Miskito Indians. These indigenous peoples subsist on the reserve’s natural resources, employing sustainable practices to conserve ecosystems. Farming is based on shifting agriculture, with the land cropped for a year and then allowed to revert to forest. Few families have cattle, although they do keep other animals such as pigs.
  • The Mayangna and Miskitu attempted to get the government to legally recognize their lands in the 1990s. After this attempt failed, thousands of colonists encroached on the communities’ forests—encroachments that continue to this day. Colonists’ livelihood strategy is very different from the indigenous Indians. They typically keep more cattle, removing forest cover to develop as much pasture as possible. They then sell the “improved” land to the next wave of colonists before moving deeper into the forest.
  • Indigenous Peoples Are Good Protectors of Forest
  • A comparison of forest cover loss within and outside of the Mayangna’s recognized territories reveals that their commitment to protect forests has been effective. Deforestation rates are 14 times higher in settler-occupied lands adjacent to the Mayangna territories. The story is not over, of course. Colonists continue to settle in community forests to this day, and government agencies continue to look the other way. But with legal recognition, Indigenous Peoples have more ownership over the forests they call home. By defending their homeland and legally establishing customary ownership of their forests, Nicaragua’s Indigenous Peoples can provide a strong bulwark against deforestation and climate change.
  • jackhanson1 on 04 Nov 16
     
    This article relates to my topic about intercultural inclusion and dialogue because this article addresses the issue of Nicaragua's forest land. There have been many different indigenous groups who have attempted to petition the government to let them take control over the forests of Nicaragua. The government has been very unwilling to negotiate with these indigenous groups.
mikecoons

Antigua and Barbuda | Country report | Freedom in the World | 2013 - 0 views

freedomhouse.org/...antigua-and-barbuda

Democracy Freedom Antigua and Barbuda

shared by mikecoons on 28 Aug 16 - No Cached
  • The government of Antigua and Barbuda took steps in 2012 to reform the country’s financial regulatory environment in the aftermath of the discovery of a $7 billion dollar Ponzi scheme, which had exposed deep ties between foreign businesses and the government
  • Antigua and Barbuda, a member of the Commonwealth, gained its independence from Britain in 1981.
  • In the 2004 elections, the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), led by Baldwin Spencer, defeated Prime Minister Lester Bird and the ruling Antigua Labour Party (ALP), ending the Bird political dynasty that had governed the country since 1976.
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  • Fallout from the collapse of the Stanford Financial Group’s companies, which had been one of the main providers of jobs in the country, as well as the global economic downturn and the consequent decline in tourism, continued to impact Antigua and Barbuda’s economy in 2012.
  • Antigua and Barbuda is an electoral democracy. The 1981 constitution establishes a parliamentary system, with a governor general representing the British monarch as ceremonial head of state.
  • Parliament is composed of the 17-seat House of Representatives (16 seats for Antigua, 1 for Barbuda), to which members are elected for five-year terms, and an appointed 17-seat Senate.
  • Antigua and Barbuda generally respects freedom of the press. However, defamation remains a criminal offense punishable by up to three years in prison, and politicians often file libel suits against opposing party members.
  • The government owns one of three radio stations and the public television station. There are no restrictions on access to the internet.
  • The government generally respects religious and academic freedoms.
  • Crime continues to be a problem in Antigua and Barbuda, and the government has responded with increased community policing, the reintroduction of roadblocks, and stiffer fines for firearms violations. The United Nations Development Programme’s 2012 Caribbean Human Development Report reported that Antigua and Barbuda suffers from a high rate of property crimes, such as robberies, with a lower violent crime rate. The country’s prison is overcrowded and conditions are very poor.
  • The 2005 Equal Opportunity Act bars discrimination on the basis of race, gender, class, political affinity, or place of origin. However, societal discrimination and violence against women remain problems.
  • Women hold only 10 percent of the elected seats of the House of Representatives. Male and female same-sex sexual activity also remains criminalized under a 1995 law, and there have been cases of excessive force and discrimination of people based on sexual orientation at the hands of the police. Antigua and Barbuda serves as both a destination and transit country for the trafficking of men, women, and children for the purposes of forced labor and prostitution.
  • Antigua and Barbuda’s political rights rating improved from 3 to 2 due to a decline in corrupt foreign business influence over the government.
  • lenaurick on 28 Aug 16
     
    This article is a general description of the issues faced by Antigua and Barbuda, particularly political issues. This article also talks about the 7 billion dollar Ponzi scheme from 2012 that showed how foreign business and Antigua's government interacted. This article also talked about the elections, and in my opinion the government and its elections seemed fair. This article was helpful to my study of Antigua and Barbuda because it give me an overview of the countries government, and economy.
  • mikecoons on 18 Oct 16
     
    Political ratings have gone down in A&B.
rachelramirez

How an Indigenous Group Is Battling Construction of the Nicaragua Canal | Science | Smi... - 0 views

www.smithsonianmag.com/...tion-nicaragua-canal-180956418

indigenous nicaragua canal diplomacy

shared by rachelramirez on 04 Jul 16 - No Cached
  • live on Rama Cay, a 22-hectare island that rises from the water like a set of oversized goggles about a kilometer and a half off Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast. The island is home to roughly half of the Rama’s 2,000 or so community members;
  • Unlike most Rama, Becky McCray has a college degree
  • The Rama’s territory, along Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, stretches roughly from the Costa Rican border north to just south of Bluefields. Their territory is shared with the Kriols, descendants of Africans who adopted the Rama way of life centuries ago.
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  • The Rama-Kriols hold a communal title not only to the nine settlements where community members live, but also to the 4,843-square-kilometer territory where they fish, hunt, and farm. If current construction plans for the canal go ahead, that territory will be severed in two.
  • The massive Nicaragua Canal planned by a secretive Chinese billionaire, Wang Jing, and managed by his company, the Hong Kong Nicaragua Development Group (HKND), will stretch from the Pacific coast, across Lake Nicaragua, to the Caribbean coast and is destined to wipe at least one Rama village off the map
  • . The Rama’s fishing grounds will no longer be safe in the path of 400-meter-long megaships approaching the canal.
  • Aside from the Rama, whose territory will likely be the most impacted, at least four other indigenous groups will face disruption if the canal proceeds. Nicaraguan law explicitly bars indigenous land from being bought or sold; that means the land will be rented, not expropriated, says Kautz. Yet, critics say that because this is not expressly stated in the concession law, the land is vulnerable to seizure.
  • The following day, McCray and her companions watched in dismay as the law was adopted. “We didn’t get a chance to say anything,” McCray remembers. “They didn’t respect us, they didn’t give us a chance to defend what we were claiming.”
  • According to both international and Nicaraguan law, indigenous people must give their “free, informed, and prior consent” to any project that will affect the community’s territory or way of life.
  • According to Manuel Coronel Kautz, the president of Nicaragua’s Canal Authority, the National Assembly had documents from the Rama-Kriol government giving permission for the canal to be constructed prior to the vote that granted the concession
  • McCray was nervous as she read her remarks in Spanish. She cited three articles in the concession law that explicitly give the Canal Commission the right to expropriate indigenous land, and then she accused the government of violating international norms in the way it conducted community consultations, perhaps most blatantly by paying villagers—many of whom are illiterate—to come to the meetings. (Those villagers, Acosta claims, were then pressured into signing documents that they could not understand.)
  • Acosta filed a legal challenge to the canal concession law on July 1, 2013, just weeks after it was approved. Like the 31 other legal challenges to the law—based on environmental factors, human rights, and national sovereignty—the Rama’s legal case was dismissed. The Supreme Court said the lawsuits were invalid because the law passed the National Assembly with a wide majority and because the major development project took precedence.
  • Acosta worries that the Rama will lose their territory—displaced by golf courses and beach resorts—even if the Nicaragua Canal is never built.
  • The case at the IACHR is probably the Rama’s best chance for meaningful international intervention, but it remains to be seen whether or not this glimmer of hope is enough to protect their territory and keep their culture alive.
  • rachelramirez on 04 Jul 16
     
    Nicaragua seems to be blatantly attempting to pull the wool over the eyes of the indigenous people, but not expecting to get caught. From what I have previously read Nicaragua wants to be a player on the world stage, but they cannot achieve this status if they are not treating their people humanely. Although the government did get the indigenous group the Rama to sign documents that allowed the canal to be built on their land, government representatives knowingly had illiterate members of the Rama sign these official land documents. The indigenous people of Nicaragua deserve to be better informed about the canal, and the government owe the people understanding.
runlai_jiang

PM recommits to ending corruption in Antigua-Barbuda | Caribbean News Now - 0 views

www.caribbeannewsnow.com/-in-Antigua-Barbuda-27878.html

corruption ending

shared by runlai_jiang on 03 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • PM recommits to ending corruption in Antigua-Barbuda
  • he was president of the UN General Assembly, have “cast a pall of gloom over all of us and neighbouring Caribbean countries”, in a national broadcast on Sunday Prime Minister Gaston Browne promised to strengthen the structures and machinery of good governance in his country and put an end to all corrupt practices.
  • The implication of members of the former United Progressive Party (UPP) government, including the former prime minister, Baldwin Spencer, in bribery, money laundering and other corruption charges, has also caused us great alarm,” Browne said.
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  • , Ashe “gravely misrepresented the United Progressive Party government by implying that bribe money was necessary to gain an audience with me or my colleague ministers. That was never the case during the ten years of our administration.”
  • they have encountered a residue of corrupt practices from the former UPP regime, involving the abuse of public office and organized misappropriation of state resources.
  • We intend to have the best and most transparent governance structure in the Caribbean and beyond,” Browne said.
  • Browne noted that offences may also have been committed in Antigua under the Prevention of Corruption Act, which, he said, would be independently investigated by local law enforcement agencies.
  • that is their prerogative and there will be no political witch hunt by his government or the political party that he leads.
  • runlai_jiang on 03 Nov 16
     
    PM recommits to end corruption in Antigua and Barbuda. The former government gained much bribe from China. 
jackhanson1

Nicaragua Dispute Over Indigenous Land Erupts in Wave of Killings - The New York Times - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...rupts-in-wave-of-killings.html

shared by jackhanson1 on 18 Oct 16 - No Cached
  • ve of Killings
  • Nicaragua Dispute Over Indigenous Land Erupts in Wa
  • Thousands of Nicaraguans have moved into the lush tropical rain forests that are home to the country’s nearly 180,000 indigenous Miskito people. The newcomers — called “colonists” by the Miskito — have been lured by the promise of gold and the abundance of lucrative timber. Some of the settlers have also been forced from their lands by drought. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “It’s our territory,” said Isidro Charles, a Miskito farmer who had accompanied one of the decapitated men to the village’s communal lands when men with AK-47s snatched him.
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  • Indigenous communities all over Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast say they are under attack by settlers who have taken over their ancestral lands.
  • “They are trying to get us out of here,” said Vina Ernesto Efrain, 44, who saw her nephew gunned down the day a group of heavily armed men showed up in her village. “I haven’t been to my farm since, which means they took it from me.”
  • One indigenous village was burned to the ground. At least 600 indigenous people have fled to neighboring Honduras, where they live in dirt and squalor, advocates say. The killings of at least 30 Miskitos have been documented; the settlers say at least 80 farmers have also been killed, but have been unable to provide a list of names.During a recent visit to Francia Sirpi, a remote community several hours’ drive from the coast, more than a dozen indigenous men showed off gunshot wounds they had received from attacks while fishing or hunting. One teenager lost a leg. In December, three communities were attacked in a single day, with two men killed. Three others were kidnapped that day and have not been seen since.
  • The bad blood goes back ages. The Miskitos, unlike other Indian peoples in the Americas, were never conquered by the Spanish. For a long while, the region was a British protectorate. Even now, the Miskitos call the descendants of people who came from Spain hundreds of years ago to colonize the Americas “Spaniards.”
  • But in practicality, people on both sides of the dispute say the government has allowed the settling and the violence to continue unabated, partly because several of the indigenous leaders implicated in the illegal land sales are Sandinista government officials.
  • The government formed a special commission under the prosecutor general’s office to tackle the issue. The prosecutor general, Hernán Estrada, referred questions about the matter to the Foreign Ministry, which did not respond to requests for comment. The National Police also did not respond.
  • Ms. Cunningham said the tension between Miskitos and the Sandinistas dates back to the early 1980s, when the Sandinistas, fresh from their revolutionary victory, ran the Miskitos out of their homes and burned down villages in a mass displacement.
  • ericpincus_10 on 18 Oct 16
     
    This article is about violent interactions between indigenous people.
  • jackhanson1 on 04 Nov 16
     
    This article relates to my topic of intercultural dialogue and inclusion because this article talks about a dispute between one indigenous group, the Miskito, and outside settlers. These settlers have been trying to take over the Miskito's land, searching for valuable gold. However, the Miskito indians have been unwilling to let these settlers settle amongst them, and the two sides have become increasingly hostile toward one another. The conflict has gone on for quite some time, and many people have called upon the government to step in and ease the situation. The government has set up a task force to help solve the issue, but the task force has not been implemented at all.
redavistinnell

Grant says union and political activities should not mix | Antigua Observer Newspaper - 1 views

antiguaobserver.com/ical-activities-should-not-mix

union activities mix caribbean economy

shared by redavistinnell on 16 Jun 16 - No Cached
  • Grant says union and political activities should not mix
  • Grant made the remark to OBSERVER media, yesterday, two days after Deputy General Secretary of the Antigua & Barbuda Workers’ Union (ABWU) Chester Hughes issued a strong warning to Prime Minister Gaston Browne, at a United Progressive Party (UPP) public rally, that the ABWU would mount strong opposition to any increase in taxes.
  • “I want to tell the prime minister that my statement to the media is not a threat; it’s a promise. If you and your government go forward and add any more taxes on the working class people of this country, there will be industrial unrest in this country,” Hughes declared.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • “It really would do the workers a good deal of benefit if the major trade unions could see a difference between their trade union activities and any political interest they may have.
  • According to Grant, it could be uncomfortable for those members of the ABWU who are not necessarily supporters of the UPP, to hear comments coming from the UPP platform that they may not agree with.
  • redavistinnell on 16 Jun 16
     
    The union is a way for Antiguan workers to gain personal freedoms over working conditions, and Grant believes that this should be a separate group from the government. But this leads to an issue with the idea of helping to create a unified government. If the people can not trust the government how can a true democracy work? The union attempting to separate from all political dealings will only further breakdown the attempt to create a democracy.    
nick_gauthier

Nicaragua 2015/2016 | Amnesty International - 0 views

www.amnesty.org/...report-nicaragua

Nicaragua

shared by nick_gauthier on 25 Oct 16 - No Cached
  • Sandinista National Liberation Front party continued to excercise significant control over all branches of government
  • Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) ordered Nicaragua to provide protection measures to the Miskito people, after the ongoing conflict between the Indigenous community and colonos (settlers) attempting to take over the community's ancestral land escalated in September
  • Government officials and supporters sought to repress and stigmatize the work of civil society organizations and media outlets that had been critical of the ruling party
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • In a hearing in October before the IACHR, Nicaraguan and regional human rights organizations discussed their concerns about human rights abuses against women and g
  • However, the NGOs expressed concern about reforms passed in 2013 that weakened the Comprehensive Law against Violence against Women (Law 779),
  • by offering women mediation with their abusive partners in some cases of domestic violence.
  • nick_gauthier on 25 Oct 16
     
    The Nicaraguan government stigmatized the local groups and the NGOs that advocate human rights. National Liberation Front party continued the exercise significant control over all branches of government.
bennetttony

Nicaragua Dispute Over Indigenous Land Erupts in Wave of Killings - The New York Times - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...rupts-in-wave-of-killings.html

nicaragua dispute land

shared by bennetttony on 04 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • Thirty years later, even after the native communities were granted autonomy over the lands and given preferential treatment under the law, critics say a new land grab is underway as the Sandinista government looks the other way.
  • The Sandinistas are poised to assume another four years in office after elections on Nov. 6, and the Miskitos worry that old grudges still loom large. And that more settlers will come.
  • But the farmers and the Miskitos say the government has not done enough to settle the issue.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • But in practicality, people on both sides of the dispute say the government has allowed the settling and the violence to continue unabated, partly because several of the indigenous leaders implicated in the illegal land sales are Sandinista government officials.
  • bennetttony on 04 Nov 16
     
    This article talks about how the Nicaraguan government turned their backs on the indigenous people as they were being killed.
bennetttony

United States Could Sanction Nicaraguan Government over Authoritarian Turn - 0 views

panampost.com/...rnment-over-authoritarian-turn

shared by bennetttony on 04 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • A new bill in the United States’ Congress aims to to sanction Daniel Ortega for his many crimes and recent dictatorial behavior.
  • She referred to the refusal of the Nicaraguan government to accept oversight by international and national observers.
  • The Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act she presented reportedly aims to adopt sanctions against the Nicaraguan government for its most recent behavior.
  • bennetttony on 04 Nov 16
     
    This talks about how a bill in the US Congress is trying to sanction Daniel Ortega and how the Nicaraguan government is not accepting oversight by international observers.
rachelramirez

Ortega vs. the Contras: Nicaragua Endures an '80s Revival - The New York Times - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...ua-endures-an-80s-revival.html

Nicaragua contras politics Venezuela

shared by rachelramirez on 04 Jul 16 - No Cached
  • Ortega vs. the Contras: Nicaragua Endures an ’80s Revival
  • Tyson and his men are contras — yes, like the ones from the 1980s who received stealth funding during the Reagan administration to topple Mr. Ortega’s leftist Sandinista government.
  • That war ended more than 25 years ago, when Mr. Ortega lost at the polls. But since being re-elected in 2006, Mr. Ortega has come to rule over this Central American nation in sweeping fashion.
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • They control fuel companies, television stations and public construction projects, which has many critics comparing his family to the right-wing Somoza dynasty that Mr. Ortega helped topple in 1979.
  • They complain they are broke and say the reason they are not more successful is that they do not have international aid, as they did during the Reagan administration.
  • Though Mr. Ortega enjoys strong support among the poor, he was widely criticized for constitutional changes that repealed term limits, allowing him to run this year for a third consecutive term.
  • The government denies that politically motivated rebels in the country still exist, despite occasional attacks on police stations and the killings of Sandinistas and known contras
  • “It is a silent, dirty war that is not recognized,” said Bishop Abelardo Mata, a Roman Catholic leader who has served as something of a mediator between the two sides.
  • Venezuela has provided Nicaragua with hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of oil a year on preferential terms, and the government acknowledges that much of it is invested in private companies closely tied to the Ortega family and its allies.
  • “The Ortega-Murillo family is getting richer while the country people starve,” a rebel who calls himself Commander Rafael said about the president and his wife, Rosario Murillo
  • He said the Ortega administration must be doing something right. In January, the World Bank projected Nicaragua’s economy to grow by 4.2 percent in 2016, one of the highest rates in Latin America.
  • It is no wonder: 38 percent of the Venezuelan oil is used to fund social projects. More than 35,000 houses have been distributed among the poor in the past two years, according to a government website. World Bank statistics show that the poverty level dropped six percentage points from 2005 to 2009.
  • “He might have an expensive car, but the other presidents before him had their luxuries but did not help the people,” Veronica Aguilar, 55, said of Mr. Ortega.
  • The rebels are not buying it. In a sign of the new allegiance the socialist administration has to the country’s richest people, the government has lifted import taxes for luxury items like yachts and helicopters.
  • rachelramirez on 04 Jul 16
     
    This article highlights some of the positive change the Ortega family has brought to Nicaragua, despite being flooded with reports of corruption, but it shows how divided the country is. There are contras roaming the country, and have been doing so for 25 years, who refuse to step down, and now finance their resistance by working with cartels within Nicaragua. It seems as though chaos has decided to run through Nicaragua. Additionally, we are able to see that under the current president poverty has decreased and new millionaires have increased. It seems as though a few people have a high concentration of the money in Nicaragua.
rachelramirez

Indigenous groups pressured to give up lands for doubtful Nicaragua Canal - 0 views

news.mongabay.com/...s-for-doubtful-nicaragua-canal

nicaragua canal economy

shared by rachelramirez on 29 Jun 16 - No Cached
  • Indigenous groups pressured to give up lands for doubtful Nicaragua Canal
  • The meetings, which the Nicaraguan government sprang on surprised community leaders several times over the past few months, are aimed at securing consent to use indigenous territory
  • Community leaders say that the government has not allowed them legal council in the meetings, violating international regulations.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Officials estimate that between 30,000 and 120,000 people will be displaced in total by the canal.
  • They say that the planned route will displace the entire communities of Bangkukuk Taik, Monkey Point and Wiringay, while most other local communities will be indirectly affected by canal support projects.
  • “They keep saying that we don’t need a legal advisor,” Allen Claire-Duncan, the leader of the Monkey Point Kriol community, told Mongabay. “Many people do not know how to read or write, and if the [government negotiators] come to the community they will speak in terms that the people don’t understand.
  • the Nicaraguan government must obtain consent from the nine community leaders as well as the 18 members of the Rama-Kriol Territorial Government (GTR-K) before construction can begin.
  • Community leaders are emphatic about their desire not to sign over their lands, but some leaders say they have been pressured into signing documents of an uncertain nature
  • But in May, government officials transferred 16 members of the GTR-K to Managua where they signed more papers. Shortly after the meeting, Nicaraguan state media reported that the indigenous territories had officially granted consent for the canal
  • Corporate and governmental secrecy have prompted concern from human rights organizations, environmental groups and the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua.
  • rachelramirez on 29 Jun 16
     
    Nicaragua is on a dangerous pathway in the pursuit of a canal that may not ever be made; there are human rights violations, environmental violations, and the economy on the line if the deal goes through. Although I am unsure of how significant the indigenous population is in Nicaragua, the canal would require a great deal of land, and the movement of between 30 thousand and 120 thousand people.
runlai_jiang

Government's Website Is Again Up And Running After A Cyber Attack | ABS TV Radio Antigu... - 0 views

abstvradio.com/d-running-after-a-cyber-attack

shared by runlai_jiang on 02 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • Government’s Website Is Again Up And Running After A Cyber Attack
  • The Minister has confirmed that the hackers originated outside of Antigua and Barbuda but was careful not to release too much details saying the issue is still under investigation.
  • runlai_jiang on 02 Nov 16
     
    The Antigua and Barbuda government website was shut down following a cyber-attack. This shows that the Antiguan government does not have a strong cyber security. The votes database is at a risk to be hacked. If the votes database is at risk, then the Antiguan democracy is also at risk.
jblackwell2

The stunning collapse of Colombia's peace agreement with the FARC, explained - Vox - 0 views

www.vox.com/...ce-deal-referendum-vote-defeat

politics colombia war peace

shared by jblackwell2 on 03 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • On Sunday, Colombian voters narrowly rejected the government’s peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in a stunning referendum vote that has thrown the peace process into disarray.
  • All that was left was for voters to approve it in a nationwide referendum on Sunday. Most observers saw the vote as a mere formality that would officially bring an end to the 52-year war that left 220,000 people dead and displaced millions.
  • nearly every poll predicted that it would be approved by the people with a comfortable margin.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • But in what one UK pollster called “one of the biggest polling fails of all time,” the peace deal was narrowly rejected, with 50.2 percent voting against it. That means the peace agreement can’t be implemented — and is effectively dead.
  • he FARC is the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). It’s a Marxist rebel group that since 1964 has waged a bloody rebellion against the Colombian government — and it’s the longest-running armed insurgency in the Western Hemisphere.
  • Starting in 2000, the United States began providing the Colombian government with billions of dollars in mostly military aid to help interrupt the country’s massive drug trade and fight the FARC and other smaller rebel groups. The hope was that social and economic conditions in Colombia’s “historically marginalized” rural areas in which the armed groups thrive would also be improved.
  • Under the agreement, called Plan Colombia, the US pledged nearly $10 billion in assistance. As reported by the Washington Post’s Dana Priest, this was paired with “a CIA covert action program that has helped Colombian forces kill at least two dozen rebel leaders.”
  • The deal would also have allowed rebels to avoid jail time if they confessed to their crimes. Per the BBC, the agreement would have created “a special legal framework” intended “to try those who committed crimes during the armed conflict, including Farc fighters, government soldiers and members of right-wing paramilitary groups.”
  • The peace agreement as written cannot be implemented without an approval by referendum, so it will have to be renegotiated. President Santos has promised to “continue the search for peace until the last moment of my mandate, because that's the way to leave a better country to our children ... I won't give up,” he said.
  • jblackwell2 on 03 Nov 16
     
    This article talks about the basics of the agreement between the Columbian government and the FARC.
rachelramirez

Nicaragua's first lady the face of government - POLITICO - 0 views

www.politico.com/...sario-murillo-nicaragua-109508

nicaragua government politics

shared by rachelramirez on 02 Jul 16 - No Cached
  • Nicaragua's first lady the face of government
  • Her husband, Daniel Ortega, is president, but as chief of communications, Murillo is the voice and the other face of the government. At border crossings and on roadside billboards throughout the country, "Daniel and Rosario" are pictured side-by-side.
  • She speaks on behalf of her husband's government in a stream of rhetoric that blends socialism, New Age spirituality and Catholicism, but brooks no criticism.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Given that, the political partnership of Ortega and Murillo leads many here to speculate that she aspires to succeed Ortega as president one day.
  • Barring illness or death, the 67-year-old Ortega is not likely to leave office soon, thanks to his backers in Congress and on the Supreme Court who approved a constitutional change allowing for unlimited re-election
  • rachelramirez on 02 Jul 16
     
    It was interesting to read this article, after hearing no mention of the First Lady previously. Nicaraguans see Rosario Murillo as their 'mother', who many are able to look up to in a time of crisis while their president is worrying about his own family (such as during the earthquake in April 2014). We are able to learn from this by seeing the dominance of one couple over this entire country, and their need for power. If they are not reigned in, what will they do to ensure their dominance in Nicaragua?
runlai_jiang

Cyber attacks plague Antiguan investigative news site - IFEX - 1 views

www.ifex.org/...cyber_attacks

shared by runlai_jiang on 02 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • Share The International Press Institute (IPI) is deeply alarmed to hear that the editors of the Antiguan investigative news site Caribarena have left Antigua and Barbuda reportedly due to fear for their family's safety.
  • they and their children had been threatened and harassed and their home vandalised following the publication of articles alleging corruption among high-ranking Antiguan politicians and public figures.
  • Moreover, a series of alleged cyberattacks that began on July 19th have shut down Caribarena's website indefinitely.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • "We remind the Antiguan government that it is responsible for the safety of all journalists working within its borders, and we would urge the government to officially and publicly reject all acts of intimidation directed against any media house," Mills added.
  • runlai_jiang on 02 Nov 16
     
    Hackers intimidated the Antiguan investigative news site Caribarena and its employees by cyber attacing. Many Caribarena editors left Antigua and Barbuda because they were afraid. Caribarena was threatened because of the articles alleging corruption among high-ranking Antiguan politicians and public figures. The Antiguan government take responsibility for this and improve the cyber security.
nick_gauthier

For Nicaraguans, International Women's Day Marks a Step Back | Human Rights Watch - 0 views

www.hrw.org/...nal-womens-day-marks-step-back

international human human rights women rights nicaragua politics diplomacy history

shared by nick_gauthier on 05 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • Until recently, Nicaraguan women had something to celebrate on March 8, International Women’s Day.
  • decades ago the government eliminated some of the sexist laws that discriminated against women
  • Daniel Ortega’s government is chipping away at the very laws that put them in place. Nowhere is this setback starker than in women’s basic rights to life and health
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • 2006 the National Assembly enacted a blanket ban on abortion, criminalizing the procedure even when a woman’s life is at risk
  • We also asked the Supreme Court to decide on the constitutionality of the ban, and called on President Ortega to veto the measure stripping the penal code of a provision that had allowed legal abortion for more than 130 years.
  • but women’s lives and health remain at risk in the meantime. According to research by Dr. Arnold Toruño of the Universidad Autónoma de Nicaragua-León, historically although the law has prohibited induced abortions, there has in practice been a high rate of them in Nicaragua.
  • nick_gauthier on 05 Nov 16
     
    This is an article from 2008 outlining the measures Ortegas newly instated government (at the time) took that reversed Women's Human Right's progress. Banning abortion was step back for International Women's day.
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