Washington Watch - 16 June 2010
El Salvador: The Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador recently reported that in the first five months of 2010 remittances were up by 2.6%, year-on-year, at US$1.48bn. In cash terms the rise is US$38m for the first five months of 2010 compared with the same period the previous year. The monthly average is creeping back towards US$300m: it currently stands at US$296m. In May, thanks partly, the central bank thinks, to Mother's Day, the inflow was US$327m. This was 6% above the inflow in May 2009, which was the second highest so far this year. The central bank points out that the inflow is still below 2008 levels. In the first five months of 2009 the inflow of remittances dropped by 10%, year-on-year. The bank seems to believe that remittance flows to the country will track the rate of economic growth in the US. In the first quarter of 2010 the US economy grew by 3%. The problem with this assumption is that unemployment in the US remains high: in May the overall unemployment rate was 9.7% while unemployment among Hispanics was running at 12.4%. The central bank points out that the US Bureau of Labour Statistics notes that in the first five months of 2010 the economy created 982,000 new jobs.
Haiti: On 16 June Haiti's Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told a conference in Miami that Haiti's earthquake crisis should be seen as a chance to help the country rebuild, but he warned that the Caribbean nation will need the help of Haitians living abroad as well as the aid of the international community. Today (17 June) in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, the first official meeting of the full Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission (IHRC) will take place. Bellerive is co-chairing the commission along with former US President and UN Special Envoy Bill Clinton.
Uruguay: On 15 June, Uruguay's defence ministry released a press communiqué stating that it was postponing a meeting scheduled to take place on 24 June between the defence minister, Luís Rosadilla and Frank Mora, the US deputy undersecretary of defence for western hemisphere affairs as a result of the delay and improper questioning of a Uruguayan defence official by immigration officers at Miami's international airport. Though no details of the incident have been disclosed, the statement announced that Uruguay had requested a formal explanation from US authorities through the appropriate diplomatic channels.