Category: Central America
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Cuba Enacts 2 Surprising Free-Market Reforms
Huffington Post: Cuba Enacts 2 Surprising Free-Market Reforms HAVANA — Cuba has issued a pair of surprising free-market decrees, allowing foreign investors to lease government land for up to 99 years – potentially touching off a golf-course building boom – and loosening state controls on commerce to let islanders grow and sell their own fruit…
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Don’t Fence Them In
Newsweek: Don't Fence Them In The Arizona of the future won’t suffer from too many immigrants—but from too few. … Yet all this angst may be an over-reaction. A little-known, but enormously significant, demographic development has been unfolding south of our border. The fertility rate in Mexico—whose emigrants account for a majority of the United…
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We pray for Haiti
(Source: Boston.com. AP Photo/The Day, Abigail Pheiffer) We pray for Haiti Brothers and Sisters in Christ,As the eyes of the world turn to Haiti, let us join our hearts in prayer:God of compassionPlease watch over the people of Haiti,And weave out of these terrible happeningswonders of goodness and grace.Surround those who have been affected by…
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The Wal-Mart Effect
Foreign Policy: The Wal-Mart Effect When India's first Wal-Mart opened this summer in Amritsar, the response was mixed, with detractors fearing that big-box stores would eventually crowd out India's fabled "wallah" culture. What no one remarked on, however, was that Wal-Mart's debut in a country is a bellwether for future growth. Indeed, Wal-Mart has started…
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Why South American economies are rebounding first
Christian Science Monitor: Why South American economies are rebounding first Commodities-hungry China is pulling Brazil, Chile, and others out of recession. But Mexico and Central America, dependent on US sales, are lagging. Mexico City; and SÃo Paulo, Brazil – Latin America, long tied to the economic well-being of the United States, finds itself in a…
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China pursues Latin America ties
BBC: China pursues Latin America ties Two top Chinese officials have started visits to Latin America as part of an intensified effort to strengthen ties with the region. Chinese Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu is to visit Argentina, Ecuador, Barbados and the Bahamas. Vice-President Xi Jinping is visiting Jamaica, Colombia, Venezuela and China's two biggest trading partners…
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Russia’s new presence in Latin America
Christian Science Monitor: Russia's new presence in Latin America President Medvedev visits Venezuela this week as a Russian nuclear warship leads joint maneuvers. Caracas, Venezuela; and Moscow – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit this week with Venezuela's leftist leader Hugo Chávez is the first ever for a Kremlin leader to this oil-rich nation. And the…
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Latin America better girded for financial crisis
Christian Science Monitor: Latin America better girded for financial crisis The region is affected by global downturn, but more prepared this time thanks to greater foreign reserves and less external debt. Mexico City and Sao Paulo, Brazil – As leaders in Washington rushed to stem the growing financial crisis in the United States, Latin American…
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The ghost at the till: Latin America’s economies
The Economist: The ghost at the till: Latin America’s economies UNLIKE the developed world, Latin America has been barely touched so far by the credit crunch. Many of its economies are still growing fast, helped by demand for their commodity exports. But the commodity boom has started to have a less desirable effect: soaring food…
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The end of Communism? Cuba sweeps away egalitarian wages
The Independent: The end of Communism? Cuba sweeps away egalitarian wages Raul Castro's reforms continue with abolition of rule that labourers and surgeons earn the same. Cuba took another leap away from Fidel Castro's creaky egalitarian model yesterday when it swept away the wage restraints that have kept surgeons and taxi drivers on much the…