Americas-MOAS

the digital divide in Latin America, even in an international context, always has been about more than just access to the Internet, or a computer.

a big majority of poorer areas within countries—the periphery of the periphery—continue to live in the dark, some with the equipment (machinery) but not the tools (knowledge) to promote  the same socioeconomic empowerment of their richer counterparts

a majority of the targeted populations have not become integrated like their more affluent neighbors

a problem of knowledge and sustainable innovation

over the last 10 years, the digital divide has been shrinking in terms of accessibility based on the numbers of fixed phone lines, mobile subscribers, and Internet users around the world.

Few reports can be found focusing on specific countries within the region, leading most international analysts to base their generalizations based on the experience on similar groups of countries

Unprecedented economic growth now gives Latin America the opportunity to address some of its most pressing need

opportunities in Latin America for sales growth are considered massive, especially for equipment manufacturers and as well as for telecom services providers

government-sponsored programs focus mostly on expanding access

computer ownership continues to rise with unprecedented speed, even if Internet access proliferation follows at much reduced speed.

policy initiatives have remained access-obsessed without evolving to tackle some of the effects of persistent inequality characteristic of the region

Dr. Sanabria successfully managed to implement ICTs to give medical advice to remote, marginalized communities

an understanding of how technology penetration works can, with some innovation, breed sustainable and meaningful development

the work of Fundación Proyecto Maniapure and other organizations like it are having a more lasting impact in alleviating poverty, health deficits, and inequality, than perhaps some nationally sponsored projects that are bringing more technology to communities, but are not quite putting it to its full possible use.

there is a direct correlation between internet and the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in creating jobs and reducing poverty

GSMA’s study found a lack of local content as the most important factor for a lack of connectivity – more than affordability or coverage – in most of Latin America

They are unaware of how much research, data, health information and other tools can be accessed online

Fixed broadband and mobile Internet (measured by both adoption and speed) and overall data traffic in Latin America are all projected to grow,

Latin America is closing the gap, especially in mobile, with the rest of the developed world and nearly 400 million people will be connected in the near future.

things are not looking as bright for the growth of the Internet of Things there.

an emerging digital divide in the next phase of the Internet, ironically hidden by Latin America's current booming adoption of the consumer Internet.

Latin America isn't expected to make much progress over the near-term in the number of connected devices, especially of the M2M-variety.

But in Latin America, leading countries like Brazil and Mexico are expected to reach 32 percent by that year, falling behind the global average by about the same amount that the region as a whole currently surpasses global average Internet penetration today.

Then imagine 50 billion objects being connected together, from consumer goods to manufacturing systems, to appliances, healthcare systems, infrastructure, mass and personal transportation -- and the list goes on and on. In the future, IoT is what most of the Internet will be, and anyone left behind will be at a huge disadvantage

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.

In early October 2008, Nicaraguan authorities raided the offices of the Communications Research Center (CINCO) and the Autonomous Women's Movement (MAM), confiscating files and computers containing financial records.

"It is vital that the government promptly and thoroughly investigate acts of intimidation and harassment and hold those responsible accountable,

Member countries of the Organization of American

States (OAS) should promptly ensure that the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights receives enough financial support to fulfill its mandate, Human Rights Watch said today. The commission, a key defender of human rights in the Americas, faces a financial crisis that threatens justice and protection to victims of abuses across the continent.

If OAS member countries don’t address this financial crisis, it will cast serious doubts on their commitment to human rights, and raise suspicions that they want to do away with the commission’s scrutiny.”

Such standards relate, amongst others, to the incompatibility of amnesties for serious human rights violations with human rights law, the scope of criminal military jurisdiction, access to public information, the rights of LGBT people, and gender-based violence.

OAS member states fail to promptly address this financial crisis, the risks for activists, human rights defenders, and others are likely to increase, Human Rights Watch said.

dozens of human rights organizations bring complaints of abuses before the commission and have the opportunity to call government authorities to account on their rights record in what is the most important human rights forum in the Americas

However, the OAS has yet to live up to its commitment and the commission continues to rely on voluntary donations, which account for around half of its budget. Such donations – especially from non-OAS member states – steeply decreased in 2015 and 2016, fostering this financial crisis.

o prevent and fight the smuggling of migrants and trafficking of persons, particularly of women, children and adolescents, and to promote cooperation among states to that end, respecting and fully protecting their human rights

eiterate our commitment to protect and promote human rights in our Hemisphere, and to the strengthening of the inter-American human rights system, with due respect for its autonomy and independence. We express our support to continue furthering the constructive dialogue with the participation of all actors, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Right

Our commitment to full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is based on shared principles and convictions. We support strengthening and enhancing the effectiveness of the Inter American human rights system, which includes the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Human rights organizations and independent media alleged some killings during the year were politically motivated.

rison conditions continued to deteriorate due to antiquated infrastructure and increasing inmate populations. Many prisoners suffered mistreatment from prison officials and other inmates. Inmates also suffered from parasites, inadequate medical attention, frequent food shortages, contaminated water, and inadequate sanitation

Once again, Nicaragua finds itself in a nefarious cycle in which advocates of change must depend on external pressure to compensate for an inability of the country to find domestic solutions to its problems of governance. The only piece of good news seems to be that Mr. Ortega’s apparent strength rises from clay feet. As Somoza’s experience demonstrated, in a one-person regime that aspires to be a one-family dictatorship, the inevitable corruption and repression that it cultivates eventually make the regime unsustainable.

At the time of the groundbreaking in December 2014, the Chinese government said it was not involved with the project. This and Mr. Wang’s recent setbacks — he has reportedly lost about 80 percent of his $10 billion fortune — make some experts say the deal is probably dead.

Some question whether the canal would even be commercially viable. Few supertankers and massive container ships now afloat will not be able to pass through the expanded Panama Canal set to open soon. And few ports are big enough to welcome those megaships. In the short term, some experts say, the combination of the Panama and Nicaragua canals would lead to overcapacity and price wars.

That aspect has prompted protests from farmers, some of which have turned violent. Experts say Mr. Wang will have to pay only the assessed value, or about 5 percent of the market value, for any lands he takes. But many farmers would not be entitled to even that. In a country that is short of adequate roads and government offices, many do not have formal title to the fields they have cultivated for generations.

But the plan is much broader than just a canal. Mr. Wang’s vision includes new airports, new ports on both ends of the canal, new lakes in the mountains to make sure the canal has enough water, and new islands in Lake Nicaragua to dispose of excavated sediment and rock. Advertisement Continue reading the main story A 1,100-page study of the project, conducted by the British consulting firm ERM and issued five months ago, reinforced the notion of how much is at stake. It recommended further studies in many areas before going forward and noted that a wide range of mitigation efforts would be needed, like reforestation and job training.Some see hope in those efforts. Jeffrey McCrary, an American fish biologist who lives in Nicaragua and worked on the study, supports the project, saying Mr. Wang’s company will have to provide money to clean up environmental damage already caused by deforestation, poor land management, crop fumigation and general dumping into Lake Nicaragua.

milo Lara, a member of the Nicaragua Canal Commission, a group appointed by the government to oversee the project, said many critics of the project were political opportunists. Mr. Lara said the canal plan had been adjusted to deal with problem issues, like potential earthquakes, tsunamis and environmental concerns. And people who might be displaced by it, he said, could be moved to small cities with new schools and services they never had before.

In the meantime, speculating about the canal has become a national pastime, though polls show that Nicaraguans grow less inclined to believe that it will be built.“We used to talk about it every day,” said Carlos Fernando Chamorro, the editor of Confidencial, an investigative magazine. “Now we only talk about it every two days.”Some still hope it will lift this country out of poverty.But in Brito and the nearby city of Rivas, those who expect to be displaced are angry. Teresa de Jesus Henriquez Delgado, 31, is one of the residents who used a stencil to paint “Go Away Chinese!” on the outside of her house. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “I will resist with all of my strength when the bulldozers come to tear down my house,” she said. “I will fight until I die. I have to for my children. They can’t take this land from my family.”

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.

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.

The Nicaraguan Government has failed to properly consult Indigenous communities regarding the canal’s construction.

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.

Fish consumption is high and commercial fishing accounts for 1.48% of GDP (2003) and employs over 1,000 people (2% of population). Catch includes conch, lobster and finfish and total export in 2001 was 368 metric tonnes. There are 9 export facilities in Antigua and 2 in Barbuda (2004). Fisheries Regulations, revised in 2013, limit the fishing of certain protected species like lobsters, marine turtles, conch and parrotfish. Fishing these species requires special permits for spear guns and beach seine nets that have minimum mesh sizes.

Famous for its 365 beaches ‘one for every day of the year’, tourism dominates the economy and accounts for over half of the nation's GDP. Tourism in Antigua and Barbuda accounted for over 70% of GDP in 2002 and was valued at $528 million. Boating tourism is particularly popular, due to the numerous sheltered bays and inlets ideally suited to fishing, snorkeling and SCUBA diving.

Coral reefs and their associated resources are essential to the economic sustainability and growth of Antigua and Barbuda, which is said to have the highest reef dependence in the Caribbean.

Key environmental threats include hurricanes and coral bleaching events. Hurricanes Hugo (1989),  Luis and Marilyn (1995) caused extensive damage to reefs in the south and southeast.

ll reefs are threatened by human activities and key threats include overfishing and recreational diving. 70% of reefs are threatened by coastal development and 30% by marine based pollution and sedimentation, resulting in turbid coastal waters and elevated algal cove

According to climate modelling, reefs in the area will experience thermal stress severe enough to cause bleaching every year after 2040. Ocean acidification is expected to cause declines in coral calcification by 2040 of approximately 10%.

Six Marine Parks have been established, encompassing 13% of the total reef area. These include: Diamond Reef Marine Park; Palaster Reef Marine Park (both gazetted in 1973); the Cades Bay Marine Park (gazetted in 1999); and the Codrington Lagoon and the North Sound (gazetted in 2005). However, there is little active management of these reserves

In addition to the domestic problems, Nicaragua, a staunch ally of Communist Cuba and Venezuela, is causing regional tensions to rise.

Corrupt officials, for example, should be denied U.S. visas to visit the United States, something that should extend to immediate family members