This month, three new U.S. ambassadors to Latin American countries were confirmed. On August 5th, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Rose Likins to be Ambassador to Peru and Peter Michael McKinley to be Ambassador to Colombia. On August 19th, President Obama announced four recess appointments to key administrations posts, including Maria del Carmen Aponte, Obama's nominee to be Ambassador to El Salvador. Aponte's confirmation had been on hold for almost one year after Republican Senators Jim DeMint (South Carolina) and Jim Risch (Idaho) blocked her nomination because of a past relationship with a Cuban-American who allegedly had contact with the interests section in Washington, according to the Los Angeles Times. "At a time when our nation faces so many pressing challenges, I urge members of the Senate to stop playing politics with our highly qualified nominees, and fulfill their responsibilities of advice and consent," President Obama said upon announcing the recess appointments. "Until they do, I reserve the right to act within my authority to do what is best for the American people."
Larry Palmer, nominated by President Obama to be Ambassador to Venezuela, however, must wait to be confirmed until after the U.S. Senate returns from recess on September 7th. Even if the Senate confirms his appointment, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez may not allow him in the country. On August 8th, President Chávez said it was "impossible" to endorse Palmer, due to his responses to a questionnaire from the Committee on Foreign Relations in which Palmer claimed that the FARC maintain camps in Venezuela and that he is concerned about "Cuba's influence within the Venezuelan military."
The United States does not plan to withdraw Palmer's nomination. "We believe that Larry Palmer, if confirmed by the Senate, will in fact be an effective ambassador and an effective interlocutor between our government and Venezuela," said U.S. State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley at the press briefing yesterday. He also noted that Venezuela had not withdrawn their prior agreement to accept his nomination.
Below are brief biographies of the four ambassadors recently confirmed, or awaiting confirmation, to take up posts in Latin America.
Michael McKinley - Colombia
On August 5th, the U.S. Senate confirmed career Foreign Service Officer Michael McKinley to serve as Ambassador to Colombia. McKinley served as Ambassador to Peru from 2007 to 2010.
McKinley joined the Foreign Service in 1982 and has held various international posts throughout his career. According to his biography on the State Department website, Ambassador McKinley
served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels between 2004 and 2007. From 2001-2004, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Between 1994 and 2001, Ambassador McKinley was Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d'Affaires at U.S. Embassies in Mozambique, Uganda, and Belgium. Earlier assignments include U.S. Embassy London (1990-94), three tours in Washington (1985-90), and Bolivia (1983-85).
Ambassador McKinley was born in Venezuela and grew up in Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and the United States. He did his undergraduate and graduate studies in the United Kingdom, and has a doctorate from Oxford University.
McKinley is considered to be an expert on Venezuela. His history of colonial Venezuela was published by Cambridge University Press as part of its Latin America series, and has also appeared in a Spanish edition.
Rose Likins - Peru
Rose Likins' appointment to take Michael McKinley's place as U.S. Ambassador to Peru was also confirmed by the Senate on August 5th. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Likins was deputy director of the Foreign Service Institute prior to taking over McKinley's post. According to the White House press release announcing her nomination, Ambassador Likins
was previously Dean of the Foreign Service Institute's School of Professional and Area Studies. She also served as the U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador. Washington assignments include Honduras Desk Officer, Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State, Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary for Global Affairs, Director of the Department's Operations Center, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs. Overseas posts include Consular Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Monterrey, Mexico, Chief of the political section at the U.S. Embassy in Asuncion, Paraguay and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria. She received a BA in Spanish and International Affairs from Mary Washington College.
As Ambassador to El Salvador under the George W. Bush administration, Likins was said to have interfered in the 2004 presidential elections in El Salvador by stating that the U.S. would "re-analyze" relations with the country if the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), who during El Salvador's 12 year civil war fought against the U.S. backed government, won the presidency.
Maria del Carmen Aponte - El Salvador
Maria del Carmen Aponte was nominated by President Obama to be Ambassador to El Salvador in late 2009. Aponte is an attorney, former board member of the National Council of La Raza and former president of the Hispanic National Bar Association. As noted above, her confirmation was put on hold in late December, by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) and other Republicans, over her past relationship with a Cuban-American with an alleged link to the Cuban interests section. Last week, President Obama used a congressional recess appointment to bypass the Senate confirmation process and ended the eight-month long hold on Aponte.
Maria del Carmen Aponte is currently an attorney and independent consultant with Aponte Consulting and serves on the Board of Directors of Oriental Financial Group. From 2001-2004, Ms. Aponte was the Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA). Prior to that, she practiced law for nearly twenty years with Washington D.C. based law firms. Ms. Aponte also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council of La Raza, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the University of the District of Columbia. She is also a member of the Board of Rosemont College. She served as president of the Hispanic National Bar Association; the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia; and as a member of the District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Commission. In 1979, as a White House Fellow, Ms. Aponte was Special Assistant to United States Housing and Urban Development Secretary Moon Landrieu. Ms. Aponte has a B.A. in Political Science from Rosemont College, an M.A. in Theatre from Villanova University, and a J.D. from Temple University.
Larry Palmer - Venezuela
Larry Palmer, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and former U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, is awaiting confirmation from the Senate to be Ambassador to Venezuela. As described above, his recent remarks on Venezuela angered Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who said on television that "he can't come here, he has disqualified himself by breaking all the rules of diplomacy, by prejudging all of us, even our armed forces." The United States government, however, does not plan to choose a new nominee for the post, stating that Palmer "is still the best candidate for the job."
is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. He is currently serving as President and CEO of the Inter-American Foundation. Prior to that he served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Honduras and as Charge D'Affaires in Quito, Ecuador. He also served as President of the 41st Senior Seminar and as Assistant to the President of the University of Texas at El Paso. Overseas posts include the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Paraguay, Korea, and Sierra Leone. Born in Augusta, Georgia, Palmer received a B.A from Emory University, an M.Ed. from Texas Southern University and a Doctorate (Ed.D) in Higher Education Administration and African Studies from Indiana University, Bloomington. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Palmer served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released its annual reports on coca cultivation and cocaine production in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador yesterday.
The main headline surrounding this year's release of the three main reports is Peru's significant increase and Colombia's decrease in coca cultivation in 2009--making Peru a contender for taking Colombia's title as the region's--and world's--top coca cultivator. "If the current trend continues, Peru will soon overtake Colombia as the world's biggest coca producer - a notorious status that it has not had since the mid-1990s," warned UNODC executive director Antonio Maria Costa.
Coca cultivation in Peru increased 6.8% in 2009--from 56,100 hectares in 2008 to 59,900. Cultivation of coca in Colombia, however, decreased in 2009 by 16%--from 81,000 hectares in 2008 to 68,000 hectares in 2009. Despite Colombia's sharp decline, total coca cultivation in the Andean region only decreased 5.2% in 2009.
According to the UNODC data, cultivation of coca in Bolivia barely changed between 2008 to 2009, increasing only by 400 hectares (about 1%--from 30,500 hectares in 2008 to 30,900 in 2009). This contradicts the United States' estimate for Bolivia, which shows a 9.4% increase in cultivation between 2008 and 2009 (and a 2009 cultivation estimate that is 4,100 hectares higher than the UNODC's estimate).
The above coca cultivation estimate reflects what the UNODC believes to be left over after all eradication takes place. Below is a chart that shows the total attempted number of hectares of coca under cultivation in the region, which is calculated by adding the cultivation data to the eradication data. This graph shows that even before eradication, Colombian coca growers were planting less of the crop in 2009. Colombia's attempted coca growing decreased 25% from 2008 to 2009, while the actual amount of uneradicated coca decreased by only 16%.
Colombia registered its second consecutive annual decrease in coca cultivation, dropping from 81,000 to 68,000 hectares. This is the lowest figure UNODC has detected in Colombia since it began measurements in the late 1990s.
Curiously, the drop occurred during a year in which coca eradication - both aerial and manual - fell sharply. U.S.-funded aircraft sprayed 104,771 hectares in Colombia in 2009, a 39 percent drop from the 172,026 hectares sprayed in 2006. Meanwhile manual eradication – teams of eradicators pulling plants out of the ground — dropped 37 percent from 2008 to 2009 (from 96,115 to 60,544 hectares).
The UNODC data seem to indicate that increased forced eradication does not correlate closely with reduced coca-growing. The same phenomenon was evident in past years, when increased coca cultivation came at the same time as increased eradication.
UNODC's explanation of Colombia's 2009 drop does, though, give some credit to forced eradication. It notes, however, that the reduction also owes to an increase in Colombian government presence in many remote coca-growing areas — part of an effort to "consolidate" control of territories dominated by illegal armed groups. It also notes an increase in investment in alternative development programs. "Dry weather conditions in 2009," UNODC adds, "also played a role."
The Colombia report notes a sharp (17 percent) drop in the estimated annual income of a coca-growing household, from US$10,508 in 2008 to US$8,710 last year. That adds up to a per capita income of only US$2,120 per year - far less than half the national average. Coca is not offering growers the attractive economic option that it once did. The UNODC found no significant variation last year in the farm-gate price of coca or coca paste, nor did it find any change in the price of cocaine in Colombia's internal market.
Colombia's largest coca-growing department continued to be Nariño in the far southwest. Colombia's entire Pacific coastal plain — from Nariño north through Cauca, Valle del Cauca and Chocó — now accounts for 37 percent of all the country's coca and may be the most violent part of the country. Though the Pacific zone decreased, a sharp increase was detected in Guaviare, the south-central department where the U.S.-funded aerial spray program began in the mid-1990s.
After a few years' growth, coca cultivation declined sharply again in the department of Putumayo along the Ecuador border, where massive eradication operations under "Plan Colombia" first began in late 2000. Putumayo's 45 percent one-year decline was surprising because the department not only saw a sharp decrease in eradication from 2008 to 2009, but it was experiencing severe economic hardship. The population was hard hit in late 2008 by the collapse of pyramid schemes that had thousands of investors. Meanwhile, efforts to "consolidate" or build state presence in Putumayo are incipient at best. The report is unable to explain the drop.
Chewing coca leaf is a centuries-old tradition among Bolivia's large indigenous population, and Bolivian President Evo Morales, a former coca-grower, has tolerated "rational" amounts of coca cultivation. The United States has harshly criticized Morales for refusing to eradicate coca leaf more aggressively, arguing that much of the crop is being turned into cocaine and exported. U.S. officials have cited three years of increased coca-growing in Bolivia as evidence that Morales' "legal cocaine, zero coca" policy isn't working.
In its latest report, UNODC detected increased Bolivian coca-growing for a fourth consecutive year--but this time the growth is insignificant, from 30,500 to 30,900 hectares (about 1 percent). The stagnation in coca-growing, UNODC finds, owes in part to the relative success that the Morales approach is enjoying in the President's home region, the Chapare region of Cochabamba department. Most recent growth instead has occurred in a difficult to access zone near La Paz, the Yungas, which now accounts for 68 percent of all coca in Bolivia.
UNODC also notes that the value of Bolivia's coca market fell by 10 percent in 2009, which may have offered a disincentive to new planting. It is not clear why this drop occurred after several years of increases.
The biggest headline from the UNODC findings was the continued increase in Peru's coca cultivation. UNODC found 59,900 hectares in Peru in 2009, 3,800 more than in 2008 and the highest figure detected since UNODC began monitoring in Peru in 2001. (This is far lower, however, than levels of Peruvian coca the United States detected between the late 1980s and mid-1990s, when Peru was the region's main coca producer.)
Even though Peru grew about 8,000 hectares fewer than Colombia last year, UNODC estimates that Peruvian growers harvested more coca leaf from these hectares than did their Colombian counterparts. This is the first time in nearly 15 years that Colombia — which still has the highest coca acreage — is not the Andes' largest coca-leaf producer.
This appears to be a classic, textbook example of the "balloon effect" — a much-used metaphor to describe U.S. drug-supply efforts in Latin America. Like squeezing a half-inflated balloon, pressure applied in one area causes the problem to emerge in another area. With the "balloon" being squeezed in Colombia, the "air" is rushing into Peru, where the remnants of the Sendero Luminoso guerrilla group encourage production and Colombian and Mexican cartels are battling for control of the trade.
Most of Peru's increase occurred in jungle zones that had little or no coca as recently as five years ago. Two of these zones are near the Colombian and Bolivian borders. However, over 80 percent of Peru's coca continues to be grown in three "traditional" zones: the Alto Huallaga river zone in north-central Peru, the Apurímac and Ene valleys (VRAE) in central Peru, and the La Convención-Lares zone just to the east of the VRAE.
This post was written by Abigail Poe and Adam Isacson
On Sunday, a Colombian Army jungle raid freed four policemen who had been held hostage by the FARC guerrillas since the 1990s. Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva said that although there was combat, the rescue took place without a single death. It happened less than 20 miles from the site where the 2008 “Operación Jaque” hostage rescue occurred. Details of the operation – in particular, how it happened without the guerrillas carrying out their threat to kill hostages at the first sign of a rescue attempt – are still emerging. We’re posting links to coverage here.
The rescue happened on the same weekend that Colombia’s principal newsmagazine, Semana, reported that the country’s military, angered and “discouraged” by verdicts in high-profile human rights cases, had become almost inoperable. “The situation is so delicate that some analysts have dared to propose it as the reason [the Army] has not repeated its strong blows against the FARC high command, such as the bombing of Raúl Reyes and Operación Jaque in 2008.”
Meanwhile, a week before Sunday’s presidential election runoff in Colombia, former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos leads opponent Antanas Mockus by a broad margin. 66.5 to 27.4 percent, according to the last Gallup poll.
Mexico is angryabout a June 7 incident in which a Border Patrol agent fired across the border at a group of people throwing rocks, killing a 15-year-old boy in Ciudad Juárez. Mexico’s Interior Secretary issued a diplomatic note expressing concern, and legislators of all major parties have called for the agent’s extradition to Mexico. The State Department’s response was terse.
“[M]ost of Chile didn’t notice the dictatorship of Pinochet. On the contrary, they felt relieved,” Chile’s ambassador to Argentina, Miguel Otero, told an Argentine newspaper. Otero downplayed the 1973-1990 dictatorship’s human rights abuses (“everywhere in the world, there are people who abuse their authority”), adding that had it not been for Pinochet’s coup, “Chile would be Cuba today.” The resulting political firestorm not only forced Otero’s resignation; it shone a light on the pro-Pinochet elements in the right-of-center coalition backing recently inaugurated President Sebastián Piñera.
Peru’s defense minister, Rafael Rey, accused the country’s human rights groups of going on a “witch hunt” against the armed forces.
Honduran President Porfirio Lobo claimed that a conspiracy, possibly involving the right wing of his own National Party, is plotting a coup to overthrow him. “I know who you are,” Lobo cryptically warned the alleged plotters, whoever they are.
Though it wasn’t on the official agenda, the question of whether to re-admit post-coup Honduras to the Organization of American States was a dominant point of discussion at the annual OAS General Assembly meeting in Lima, Peru. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a pitch for Honduras’s reinstatement, but a significant number of countries demand that the Tegucigalpa government take further steps to demonstrate that democracy has truly been restored. Meanwhile, U.S. aid to the Honduran military re-started with the delivery of twenty-five trucks.
Secretary Clinton’s trip to the region was also notable for a surprisingly friendly visit to Ecuador, where leftist President Rafael Correa declared, “The new left that I represent is not anti-anything. We’re not anti-American; we love America.” Correa’s new tone has been marked by kind words from Colombia on border-security cooperation, postponed and less-frequent meetings with Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, and increasing opposition to the President on Ecuador’s left.
Adam and Abigail discuss Colombia's May 30 presidential vote; the upcoming OAS meeting in Peru; Secretary of State Clinton's planned visit to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Barbados; and Peruvian President Alán García's meeting with President Obama.
The "Just the Facts" podcast is available here and on iTunes. Thank you for listening.
This post was written by CIP Intern Cristina Salas
On April 9th, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that Defense Secretary Robert Gates would be traveling to Peru, Colombia and the Caribbean "to reaffirm U.S. commitment to the region and promote closer defense cooperation."
As we wrote last week on this blog, Defense Secretary Gates began his Latin America-focused week by signing a defense cooperation agreement with Brazil's Defense Minister Nelson Jobim at the Pentagon on Monday. This accord will be the first in effect with Brazil in more than 30 years. The last one dates back to 1977.
According to Secretary Gates, "this agreement will lead to a deepening of U.S.-Brazil defense cooperation at all levels and will demonstrate how much more effectively we can confront shared security challenges when we work in partnership." Transcripts of the remarks by Secretary Gates and Brazilian Minister of Defense Jobim at the signing of the agreement are available here.
There has been much comparison between the U.S.-Brazil agreement and the agreement the United States signed with Colombia last year. However, according to El Espectador, aside from the name "Defense Cooperation Agreement", there is not much in common between them. The U.S.-Brazil agreement "has three fundamental differences: it does not allow presence of U.S. military personnel in the country and it does not include an immunity clause. Instead, it provides a broad general framework for cooperation in multiple subjects, among them information exchange, military exercises, research and development, and professor and student exchanges, which will not involve a lot of real changes." The U.S.-Brazil defense deal does not reference a new base, as the Brazilian release stated, and contrary to the U.S.-Colombia agreement, it does not allow the use of Brazilian bases by the United States.
Peru
On April 13th, Gates arrived in Peru looking to broaden relations between both countries' militaries and to help the Peruvian military "restructure themselves and be more focused on their internal challenges." Gates told reporters traveling with him he also planned on raising the issue of human rights abuses by the Peruvian military and would encourage them to take advantage of training provided by the U.S. and Colombian militaries in the subject.
The next day, Secretary Gates met with Peruvian Defense Minister Rafael Rey where they talked about the importance of a future bilateral security agreement. Gates told reporters at Peruvian Army headquarters that the United States. is engaged in helping Peru with illicit trafficking, narcotics and terrorism. The discussion did not include the possibility of a U.S. military base in Peru. In a joint press conference, Minister Rey said, "We haven't talked about the presence of American troops in Peru and we talked only about the continued deepening and the ongoing relationship between the United States and Peru."
After the meeting with Defense Minister Rey, Gates encountered Peruvian President Alan García at the presidential palace for over an hour. Following the meeting, Gates told reporters they "had very wide areas of agreement." They also discussed the "positive development of relations between the U.S. and Peru and the opportunities for a greater growth of that relationship in the future."
Colombia
On April 14th, Defense Secretary Gates continued his Latin American tour with a visit to Colombia, where he planned to "offer congratulations and support for Colombia's progress in the fight against its insurgency and the lessons it is sharing with its neighbors in the region," according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
The next day, Gates met with Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and Defense Minister Gabriel Silva Luján where he congratulated them for their "heroic" efforts against both the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and paramilitary groups, and called Colombia an "exporter of security" and a model in the region for its fight against narcotrafficking and insurgency.
Gates later held a press conference with Silva where the Defense Secretary referred to Venezuelan-Colombian relations, saying the warning issued by the Colombian government cautioning its citizens against traveling to Venezuela "is clearly an expression of concern by the Colombian government."
In an interview given to El Tiempo, he continued to talk about Venezuela. Asked if he thought there is an arms race in Latin America, he said, "I don't think so. In fact, if there is an arms race, it only has one runner," clearly referring to Venezuela but without explicitly naming it. Gates also told the reporter that he thinks Venezuela is less destabilizing to the region than it was a few years ago: "I think Venezuela faces severe internal and economic problems. That makes it a less attractive model for others."
Caribbean
Defense Secretary Gates started his Caribbean part of the tour by arriving in Barbados on April 16th where he met seven Caribbean Island member states of the Regional Security System. In the press conference held after the meeting, Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson said the issue of most importance discussed was "stemming the flow of illegal drugs." In the same conference, Secretary Gates recognized "Barbados' strong partnership in the area of security cooperation, especially its consistent support of the Department of Defense's regional training programs."
Gates then addressed the Regional Security System member states saying, "I want all the ministers to know that the United States understands the enormous challenges that you face in combating illicit trafficking and violent crime in the Eastern Caribbean, challenges that touch our shores as well." Gates also referred to the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), recently allocated with $45 million for Fiscal Year 2010 and with an estimated increase of $25 million for Fiscal Year 2011. "That money will help us all improve our maritime patrol and interdiction capabilities, as well as domain awareness. It will also allow for additional joint training and exercises" and it will provide "development assistance in hopes of addressing the root causes of regional problems." Technical working groups are still discussing how the money will be allocated specifically.
This post was written by CIP Intern Cristina Salas
Last week, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela visited Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. His trip received very little press attention in the United States. While the assistant secretary was still traveling, we posted an entry covering the little information we could find about the first half of his trip, in Ecuador and Colombia. Below is a recap of the second part of Assistant Secretary Valenzuela's visit to Colombia and Peru.
In Colombia – Part II Read our coverage of the first part of Assistant Secretary Valenzuela's visit to Colombia here.
In the second part of his Colombian visit, Valenzuela traveled to Cartagena on April 7th, where he met President Álvaro Uribe and discussed opportunities for regional cooperation.
The Colombian Presidency's Office released a brief press release about the meeting. The release did not divulge many details, but noted that the President and Assistant Secretary Valenzuela spoke about the "importance of the ratification of the Free Trade Agreement between both countries, the fight against narcotrafficking and terrorism, and the strengthening of diplomatic and economic relations."
On the U.S. Department of State blog, "DipNote," Valenzuela says he had a "good meeting" with President Uribe, and recognizes President Uribe's role in improving Colombia's situation of insecurity. In the video blog, Valenzuela also referred to Colombia's Constitutional Court decision not to allow President Uribe to run for a third term. He said, "Colombia is an example where the rule of law and where institutions are working well and where a president decides, even if he is very popular, that at the end of his term, he indeed steps down."
Assistant Secretary Valenzuela also participated in a panel with high-ranking government officials from other countries, and representatives of the private sector and of multilateral banks about regional governability in the World Economic Forum in Cartagena. According to a video posted on the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá's website, Valenzuela said at the Forum that he was in Colombia "to deliver the message that Colombia is still a trusted and important ally..." In his Facebook profile, Valenzuela reiterates the U.S. government's commitment to passage of the bilateral trade accord and the high regard the U.S. has for Colombia's example in the region, including its support to Haiti in the aftermath of the fatal earthquake.
Valenzuela's final part of his stay in Colombia included a visit to a private foundation in Cartagena that helps displaced Afro-Colombians. This USAID-supported community development center is called Granitos de Paz, or Little Grains of Peace, and they offer options for income generation to this vulnerable population. Assistant Secretary Valenzuela said, "it was very moving to see what they do."
In Peru
Assistant Secretary Valenzuela continued his Andean regional tour with a final stop in Peru. The U.S. Embassy in Lima issued a press release saying the Assistant Secretary's agenda included meetings with President Alan García and Foreign Minister José García Belaunde to discuss a range of mutual bilateral interests, including economic development and free trade, security cooperation, democratic governance and social inclusion. He also met with Peruvian analysts and opinion leaders as well as a range of political leaders. Assistant Secretary Valenzuela ended his stay in Peru with a trip to San Martin to see alternative development projects and to meet with cocoa and coffee farmers and association leaders.
In an interview with RPP Noticias, Assistant Secretary Valenzuela cited Peru's excellent results in the fight against drugs as a reason for the reduction in U.S. aid to Peru. A video of the interview has been posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Peru.
According to La Voz Libre, Valenzuela's meeting with President Alan Garcia lasted around 45 minutes. Valenzuela was accompanied by National Security Council Deputy Adviser and Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs Daniel Restrepo and United States Ambassador to Peru Michael McKinley. The meeting included the participation of Peruvian Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde and Peruvian Ambassador to the United States Luis Valdivieso.
Assistant Secretary Valenzuela and President García discussed current events in Latin America and the rest of the world, and acknowledged that nuclear proliferation is one of the most complex topics in international relations.
According to a statement released by the Peruvian government:
[Assistant Secretary Valenzuela] said the meeting was useful and his government is satisfied with Peru’s efforts to cooperate on topics such as the environment.
He pointed out that there are still challenges in areas such as crime and narcotrafficking, in which both countries share responsibilities. In regard to the fight against narcotrafficking, he specified that they are looking to rebuild cooperation and talked about the importance of having a subregional strategy instead of bilateral agreements.
Valenzuela then held a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Lima, Peru where he talked about the war on drugs. He said Americans have to be involved in this fight because they share the responsibility of being part of the demand. He pointed out that Peruvian and U.S. cooperation has been excellent, but collaboration should not only be bilateral, and should include other countries in the region. He also referred to "aggressive speeches" and "excessive militarism" in some countries in Latin America:
We are obviously concerned by aggressive speeches and that sort of things. We are also concerned by excessive militarism ... but it a subject we have to work out together, with a lot of respect between all the countries that have similar goals... Some may criticize what we (the U.S. government) say, but honestly, we are looking to strengthen relations with all the countries in the region.
The next day, Assistant Secretary Valenzuela visited the laboratories of soil, biotechnology and phytopathology at the Instituto de Cultivos Tropicales (Institute of Tropical Crops). The peasants working in these organizations participate in a program to substitute growing coca with cacao. Assistant Secretary Valenzuela described his visit to the development project in his video blog:
The main theme of the trip was to talk to leaders in each of these places on how we can move ahead with social inclusion, poverty alleviation, making sure that our populations are more competitive which means in investment in infrastructure, investment in human capital and education. At the same time, we'll work more effectively together on things that are really complicated such as public insecurity, the drug trafficking, criminal violence and things like that which have affected these countries in a major way.
Adam gives an overview of issues that may come up as the Obama administration's top diplomat for Latin America travels to the Andes on April 4-11, 2010. Featuring commentary from Lisa Haugaard, director of the Latin America Working Group.
The "Just the Facts" podcast is available here and on iTunes. Thank you for listening.
In this second podcast, Adam discusses recent developments in Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, El Salvador, Peru and Venezuela that indicate the current state of civilian control over the armed forces.
The SALITRE II Chilean air force-led joint military exercises began their fifth year this week at the Cerro Moreno Air Base in Chile. Members of the Argentinean, Brazilian, French and United States air forces will also participate in the exercises. From October 17 - November 2, the coalition forces will plan and execute operations that simulate a situation where "an international coalition, under the mandate of the United Nations, carries out combined air operations to force a country that has violated international law to respect world order," according to the Salitre II website.
Over a two week period, the participating air forces will simulate multiple scenarios, as described by the 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) in a press release:
During one scenario, rescue personnel will secure an airfield and tend to patients as part of a unified team. This type of response is vital to ensure countries are able to respond to situations with their own military and law enforcement resources. Simulated peacekeeping operations will prepare participants to support UN-type coalition operations, such as global peacekeeping and stability missions, enforcing no-fly zones or patrolling for pirates. Non-combatant evacuation operations simulated during SALITRE II will prepare nations to support civilian authorities after earthquakes, floods or hurricanes.
The Salitre exercises, which began in 2004, are one of the few joint military exercises in Latin America in which the United States participates that are not coordinated by the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM). Each year, SOUTHCOM sponsors joint training exercises with other Latin American countries to "increase the capabilities of both the U.S. military and our partner nation's security forces" in areas such as counterterrorism, disaster relief, peacekeeping and security preparedness. Two of the biggest exercises sponsored each year by SOUTHCOM are TRADEWINDS, a multinational maritime exercise in the Caribbean, and PANAMAX, a simulation focusing on the defense of the Panama Canal.
As explained by Bloggings by Boz, border tensions between Chile and Peru and a painful history between the two countries led Peru to call for Salitre II to be canceled. Tensions between the two countries go back to the late 19th century when Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific, but escalated recently when Peru asked the International Court of Justice to arbitrate the disputed maritime border between the states.
Shortly after Chile announced this year’s exercise, the Peruvian government denounced it, with Peruvian Vice President Luis Giampietri saying that the exercises were the Chileans way of "showing their teeth." Peru has also called for the formation of a non-aggression pact as a response to counter what it calls the arms race in Latin America. Chilean President Michele Bachtlet, for her part, responded to Garcia's call for a non-aggression pact negatively, saying it was an idea of "another time."
The SALITRE II exercises will continue through the end of the month.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimel recently released its annual reports on Coca Cultivation in the Andean Region - namely in Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia. This year's surveys, which provide data for 2008 levels of coca cultivation, eradication and seizures, show that the number of hectares in cultivation of coca in Colombia decreased by 18% from 2007-2008, while cultivation in Peru increased by 4.5% and cultivation in Bolivia increased by 6%. Colombia's large decrease in coca cultivation in 2008 follows a substantial increase (27%) in production from 2006-2007, while Peru and Bolivia have both been experiencing a slow but steady climb in coca cultivation over the past few years.
UNODC contends that, since many of Colombia’s remaining coca fields are recently planted, its estimate of tons of cocaine produced in Colombia fell even more sharply, from 600 to 430 tons. As a result, Colombia's percentage share of cocaine in the world market decreased from 60% in 2007 to 51% in 2008. Peru's and Bolivia's shares have both increased as a result of Colombia's decline, resulting in Peru contributing to 36% of world production (up from 29% in 2007) and Bolivia contributing to 13% of world production.
Seizures of cocaine in the three countries have also increased significantly since 2007, with Colombia reporting a 57% increase, Peru a 100% increase and Bolivia a 148% increase.
The increases in the number of hectares under cultivation with coca in Peru and Bolivia could be attributed to failed domestic policies (drug-war hardliners have argued that Bolivia's policies on coca cultivation, which allow 12,000 hectares of cultivation – and, in fact, tolerate a bit more – solely for medicinal and local use, are to blame for Bolivia's increase). However, another contributing factor could be the "balloon effect," a theory that argues that as long as demand is strong, coca cultivation will merely be pushed into new areas as it is squeezed out of existing coca cultivating areas. Therefore, as Colombia more aggressively eradicates coca plants and seizes cocaine and coca paste, the production of coca and cocaine will merely be pushed elsewhere in the Andes.
In support of the "balloon effect" theory, the table above indicates that since 1998, the total coca cultivation in the Andean region has not changed significantly - with 191,000 hectares in cultivation in 1998 compared to 167,600 hectares in 2008, even though cultivation in Colombia has decreased almost 50% since the beginning of Plan Colombia in 1999. Also, the graph below, which shows coca cultivation in the Andean Region since 1988, exemplifies this balloon effect phenomenon. From 1988-1997 Peru was the number one coca cultivator in the region, after which the cultivation of coca moved more prominently into Colombia, leaving this country in the number one spot until today. However, as shown by the graph, Peru is once again starting to catch up with Colombia.
Peru
Colombia
This post was written by CIP Intern Cristina Salas
This post is written by WOLA Intern Ursela Groat
