LatinNews Daily Report -13 November 2014

Ecuador: On 5 November Ecuador’s foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño, said that the explanations offered by US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson regarding the alleged participation of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in a 2008 bomb attack launched by the Colombian air force on a Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) camp located in Ecuadorean territory were “insufficient”.  Patiño’s comments came a day after he met Jacobson in Quito during her recent visit to Ecuador. After their meeting, Jacobson reiterated the US’s willingness to continue cooperating with Ecuador in “areas of mutual interest”, including security. Patiño said that while he was appreciative of the US’s “disposition” to collaborate with the government led by President Rafael Correa, the Correa administration was primarily interested in establishing stronger bilateral relations by “clearing up” some of the conflictive issues that have recently affected the bilateral relation. Patiño said that he would present Jacobson’s explanations to President Correa before deciding how to proceed. After meeting with Correa, Patiño gave a press conference in which he said that: “We feel that the information provided by Mrs. Jacobson on the reports presented in US newspapers about the possible participation of US security organisations in the attack is insufficient”. Patiño refused to be drawn any further but reiterated the Correa government’s interest in continuing to improve bilateral ties through cooperating in areas such as science & technology, the environment and human capital development.

Guatemala: On 10 November the US released documentation outlining the details of the legal action it has taken against Guatemala in a dispute over labour regulations included in the US-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (Cafta-DR). US Trade Representative Michael Froman said that after years of criticising Guatemala for its failure to comply with Cafta-DR labour regulations the US government had opted to proceed with a labour enforcement case, originally filed in 2013, against Guatemala. On 3 November the US filed its first written submission to the dispute settlement process, citing more than 400 instances in which, it claims, Guatemala has neglected to enforce the regulations. The US accuses Guatemala of breaching its obligations under Article 16.2.1 of Cafta-DR. The move comes after 17 months of collaboration between the countries in an effort to monitor the implementation of the labour legislation enforcement plan agreed by the two in April 2013. Since then, the case’s referral to an arbitration panel has been suspended on three occasions to give Guatemala more time to meet its commitments. However, the US maintains that Guatemala has failed to meet the terms of the enforcement plan. Froman said the US’s aim is “to ensure that Guatemala implements the labour protections to which its workers are entitled”.

Region: On 6 November the US government renewed partnership agreements with a number of its Latin American neighbours in an effort to ensure that immigrants coming from those countries are fully informed about their labour rights. Under the renewed agreements the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Wage and Hour Division enforcement agencies will continue to work with consulates and embassies in Latin America to provide information and guidance on US labour laws. After meeting with the ambassadors from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico and Nicaragua in Washington D.C., US Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez stated that, “All workers have a right to a safe workplace and fair payment of wages”. A lack of awareness amongst immigrants regarding issues such as health and safety, wages and working hours is known to leave them exposed to exploitation in the US, particularly in high-risk, low-wage industries. It is hoped that renewing the workplace rights agreements will go some way to tackling this issue. Dominican Ambassador to the US, Aníbal de Castro, said that for his country, the agreement was, “a step in the right direction to reduce our workers' vulnerability and preserve their rights”. Representatives from all of the involved countries echoed De Castro’s positive sentiments.

Region: On 5 November various prominent organisations supporting the rights of Hispanics in the US expressed disappointment in the country's politicians, in the wake of the 4 November midterm elections. The vote took the number of Latinos serving in the US Congress to a record 32, with politicians of Latin American origins winning seats for both the Democrat and Republican parties. Yet Hispanic associations complained that their communities feel “ignored by Democrats and mistreated by Republicans” and called on both President Barack Obama and the Republican Party to address the problems of the country's 11m undocumented immigrants. The election results, which saw the Republican Party consolidate its majority in the House of Representatives and seize control of the Senate, is a cause for concern for many in the Hispanic community which, according to polling company Latino Decisions, voted in favour of the Democrats by more than 2:1. Gary Segura, co-founder of Latino Decisions, warned Obama that, in the run up to the 2016 presidential elections, he should remember the support he received from the Hispanic community for his 2012 re-election campaign following his implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that provided relief for many undocumented immigrants. However, the Obama administration’s inability to push though a major migration reform has become a sticking point. Hispanic civil rights organisations have urged Obama to “act boldly” to protect migrant rights in the face of continued deadlock in Congress over migration reform. But Obama’s promise to resort to executive measures to improve the US immigration system if no deal can be struck in Congress has met with resistance from the Republican opposition. On 6 November the Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner (R-OH) warned that any executive action on immigration would “poison the atmosphere” in Congress for the approval of any migration reforms. “When you play with matches”, Boehner warned, “you risk burning yourself, and he (Obama) is going to burn himself if he continues to go down this path”.

Venezuela: On 5 November US Senator Marco Antonio Rubio (R-FL) called for tougher sanctions against the Venezuelan government. Speaking in Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, Rubio praised the US government’s July decision to impose a travel ban on over 20 Venezuelan government officials who played a role in the violent repression of anti-government demonstrations earlier this year. However, Rubio said that further action was now needed and called for sanctions to be imposed on even more Venezuelan government officials including members of the Bolivarian national guard, who have been accused of human rights abuses during the repression of the protests. Rubio's comments came the day after his party emerged victorious in the US midterm elections, securing control of both houses of the US Congress; and Rubio expressed hopes that the new balance of power in Capitol Hill would now pave the way for tougher sanctions on Venezuelan officials, who he claims steal money in their country and spend it on holidays and investments in his own constituency in Florida. Rubio added that Venezuela has clearly opposed the US in all international forums and that it is “always aligned with the most criminal and terrorist organisations in the world”. The Barack Obama administration argues that additional sanctions on Venezuelan officials are unnecessary and fears that the introduction of tougher measures could provide President Nicolás Maduro with an excuse to use the US as scapegoat for his government's problems. This all takes place as links between Venezuelan officials and organised crime are very much in the limelight in the US, where a Venezuelan former judge is due to be sentenced for drug related charges at a Miami federal court. Benny Palmeri Bacchi, who was arrested in Florida in July, admitted to charges of extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice and is due to be sentenced on 6 February 2015, facing six to seven years behind bars. Palmeri Bacchi's case is the first to link officials from the administration led by former president, Hugo Chávez (1999-2013), to Colombian drug gangs. The case also involves other high-profile individuals suspected of aiding and abetting Colombian nationals including Venezuela’s former chief of military intelligence, Hugo Carvajal Barrios; and the former director of Interpol in Venezuela, Rodolfo McTurk. The trio have been accused of conspiring with drug trafficker, Jaime Alberto Marín Zamora, to distribute cocaine in the US. They are also believed to have obstructed Marín’s extradition to the U

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