Category: Chapter 10

What does ‘development’ mean to a President? A new football stadium in San Salvador? Possible environmental damage?

Chapter 10 / Selected political developments and politicians in Central America

By Martin Mowforth

On 30 December 2021 Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele announced on Twitter that a new national stadium would be built in Antiguo Cuscatlán on land currently used by the Military School. He said the construction project would be with the direct collaboration of the president of China, Xi Jinping, although no mention was made of the costs involved.

Bukele indicated that the new stadium would have a seated capacity of 50,000 compared with the old Cuscatlán stadium’s capacity of 34,000. President Bukele did not mention anything about the costs of the stadium construction, but it is expected to amount to $500 million (USD).

The Salvadoran Ecological Unit (UNES), however, has expressed concerns about the project. Prime among these are:

  • The production of a meaningful environmental impact assessment which would ensure that the project was not simply imposed on the people.
  • The possible implications for water supply and the recharging of the water table – a covered stadium surrounded by a concrete car park will reduce retention and diminish groundwater supplies
  • The micro-climatic changes of temperature brought about in this area as a result of the building.
  • Possible drainage and flooding problems in the low-lying area of the affected zone.

Luis Gónzalez of UNES explained that this type of project has often given rise to environmental abuse in the areas affected by these ’developments’, at a time when the country has so many other problems that should be prioritised. But he said: “We have a State that is incapable of responding to these needs, but which instead approves laws that privatise the provision of water in El Salvador.”

Additionally the stadium will be built in a protected natural area, described as “the last important forest” of the metropolitan area of San Salvador. According to the Salvadoran media, Julio César Acosta, an expert in wildlife observation, says that the El Espino forest is characterized by a great diversity of flora and fauna, including over 150 species of birds, two of which are seriously threatened with extinction: the yellow-headed parrot and the white-fronted parrot.

Construction is scheduled to start during 2022, but that seems especially optimistic given that there has not yet been a feasibility study or environmental impact study.

Sources

Karla Ramírez, 30.12.21, ‘Anuncian la construcción de un nuevo estadio con donación de China en terreno de Escuela Militar’, La Prensa Gráfica.

 Verónica Martínez, 31.12.21, ‘Ambientalistas temen daño medioambiental por construcción de nuevo estadio de fútbol’, La Prensa Gráfica.

Rafal Zagrobelny, 15.01.22, ‘El Salvador: Construction of the national stadium will start soon?’ StadiumDB.com

La valoración del medio ambiente costarricense por el nuevo presidente tico

Chapter 10 / Selected political developments and politicians in Central America

Delfino.cr es una revista digital costarricense con una circulación diaria. Es administrada por el escritor Diego Delfino Machín. Le estamos muy agradecido a Diego por la autorización para reproducir el artículo aquí.

25 Mayo 2022

Delfino.cr

diego@delfino.cr

 

Como recordarán, el presidente de la república, Rodrigo Chaves Robles, se encuentra en Davos, Suiza, donde asiste por primera vez al Foro Económico Mundial en su calidad de representante del país. El encuentro, que reúne a delegaciones de países de todo el orbe a fin de charlar sobre retos sociales y económicos de la comunidad internacional arrancó el domingo pasado y terminará este jueves.

El mandatario participó ayer del Panel Presidencial de Latinoamérica (con Iván Duque de Colombia, Luis Abinader de Dominicada y Dina Boluarte, vicepresidenta de Perú) en el cual se discutió en torno a la recuperación de la zona tras la pandemia.

La moderadora del espacio, Marisol Argueta de Barillas, dirigiéndose a Chaves, hizo un comentario sobre la situación costarricense. Nos piropeó diciendo que Costa Rica es conocida como una nación estable, segura y con equidad social y dijo: “Usted se libró de esta ola tan grave que ha producido la pandemia, pero también existen algunos riesgos emergentes y va a corresponder un periodo complejo en su presidencia”.

Fiel a su estilo, Chaves contestó: “Yo no me libré de nada, al revés. Estoy heredando lo que hay que corregir porque, desafortunadamente, al contrario de las experiencias que han comentado mis colegas (aludiendo a los otros panelistas), Costa Rica no lo hizo tan bien y, más bien, hemos tenido un deterioro importante”.

Luego dijo que él (también a diferencia de sus colegas) no podía reportar éxitos porque solo tiene 15 días al frente del país, por lo que solo estaba en capacidad de puntualizar en torno a “los desafíos y qué vamos a hacer”. Acto seguido abordó varias de las principales problemáticas que ha encontrado en Costa Rica: déficit fiscal, inequidad social, mala calidad de servicios públicos y trato de aguas negras.

Una vez más señaló que recibió “una casa muy desordenada” con “una herencia de muchísimo desorden fiscal”. Explicando cómo enfrentará ese escenario dijo que espera generar política pública que acabe con quienes se han beneficiado históricamente de monopolios privados para el beneficio de “la inmensa mayoría del pueblo costarricense”.
“Tenemos que generar más y mejores empleos, y eso pasa por dar un golpe de confianza al sector privado. En Costa Rica, la falsa dicotomía que veníamos oyendo por años era sector privado o sector público. No, no ha habido un país en la historia del mundo que haya logrado prosperidad solo con el sector privado o solo con el Estado”. 

Más adelante Argueta intentó piropear de nuevo a Costa Rica, esta vez hablando de la política ambiental del país. Chaves tampoco le recibió esa miel pues acotó que el país no invirtió lo suficiente en alcantarillado y como resultado sus ríos están contaminados. Luego dijo que sobreinvertimos en generación eléctrica “sobre todo con combustibles fósiles”.

No sé a qué vino esa observación tomando en cuenta que el 99% de la electricidad que se consume en el país viene de fuentes renovables pero lo voy a dejar ahí, no vaya a ser que vuelva a saltar alguna persona afín al gobierno acusándome de ser prensa canalla plegada a intereses políticos y económicos y… ZZZZ.

— Dicho lo cual: sí es cierto que nuestros ríos dan pena y que nuestro sistema de alcantarillado da todavía más pena. De hecho, nuestra lista de agravios ambientales no es nada modesta. Quizá no se estila que un presidente ventile la ropa sucia frente a todo el vecindario y se pasee por el discurso ambientalista que tenía a Alvarado recibiendo vítores del futuro rey de Inglaterra hace menos de un año pero al menos a Chaves hay que darle que es consecuente y que asumir la presidencia no le hizo modificar su tono de campaña.

Eso sí, el presidente dejó claro que no piensa revertir lo que se ha avanzado en la materia, pues dijo: “Costa Rica es un país que no va a echar para atrás en sus compromisos y en sus deseos de alcanzar neutralidad del carbono”. 

Como parte de su intervención Chaves también dijo que ha estado conversando con inversionistas y que les ha dicho que “Costa Rica is open for business” y que les va a romper todos los “cuellos de botella” para invertir en el país en un mejor ambiente. En efecto, el propio Chaves había adelantado que el principal objetivo de su viaje al Foro Económico Mundial es buscar empleos e inversiones para Costa Rica.

Ojalá pues, que a su regreso, el próximo jueves, venga con una agendilla de teléfonos más cargada que la de los Hombres G. Que llegue buena inversión extranjera. Que ofrezca buenos empleos. Que la regulación sea atractiva para los inversionistas y cuidadosa con los derechos de la fuerza laboral. Que de verdad empecemos a darle forma a esa Costa Rica más equitativa que tanto añoramos.

The new Costa Rican President’s assessment of the country’s environment

Chapter 10 / Selected political developments and politicians in Central America

Delfino.cr is a digital Costa Rican journal with a daily circulation. It is managed by the writer Diego Delfino Machín. We are grateful to Diego for permission to reproduce his article here.

25 May 2022

Delfino.cr ,

diego@delfino.cr

Translated for The Violence of Development website by Martin Mowforth

 

The president of the republic, Rodrigo Chaves Robles, is in Davos, Switzerland, where for the first time he is attending the World Economic Forum in his capacity as representative of the country. The summit, which gathers delegates from all over the planet with a view to discussions on social and economic challenges facing the international community, took place from 23rd to 26th May this year.

Our leader participated in the Latin American Presidential Panel (with Iván Duque of Colombia, Luis Abinader of Dominica and Dina Boluarte, Vice-President of Perú) in which in turn they discussed the region’s recovery after the pandemic.

The moderator of the fórum, Marisol Argueta de Barillas, addressing Chaves, made a comment on the Costa Rican situation. She flattered us all when she said that Costa Rica is known as a stable and secure nation with social equity and added: “You freed yourself from this serious wave produced by the pandemic, but there are also some growing risks which will lead to a complex period in your presidency.”

In his usual style, Chaves replied: “I haven’t been freed of anything, quite the contrary. Unfortunately I’m inheriting a situation that needs to be put right, contrary to what my colleagues (alluding to the other panellists) have commented on; Costa Rica isn’t doing so well, and we have even experienced a significant deterioration.”

He went on to say that he (in contrast to his colleagues) could not report successes because he’s only had 15 days in post, meaning that he’s only able to determine “the challenges and what we are going to do about them”. Among those that they have to address in Costa Rica are: the fiscal deficit, social inequality, poor quality of public services and dealing with contaminated waters.

Again he pointed out that he had received “a house in a mess” with “an inheritance of huge fiscal disorder”. Explaining that he will address this scenario, he said he hopes to generate public policy which puts an end to the historical beneficiaries of private monopolies in favour of “the vast majority of Costa Rican people”.

“We have to create more and better Jobs, and that might happen with a blow to the confidence of the private sector. In Costa Rica, for years we have been hearing about the false dichotomy between the private sector and the public sector. No, there hasn’t been a country anywhere in the world which has achieved prosperity with only the private sector or only the state sector.”

Later, Argueta tried again to flatter Costa Rica, this time referring to the country’s environmental policies. Chaves again rejected the flattery and noted that the country had not invested sufficiently in its sewage system and as a result of this its rivers are contaminated. Later he stated that we had over-invested in electricity generation “above all with fossil fuels”.

I don’t know where this observation came from, considering that 99 per cent of the electricity that is consumed in the country comes from renewable sources[1]; but I’m going to leave it at that; I’m not going to lay myself open to government accusations of being a member of the gutter press tied to political and economic interests and ….. ZZZZ

Anyway, yes, it is certain that our rivers are suffering and our sewage system is even worse. In fact, our list of environmental grievances is not modest. Perhaps it isn’t fashionable for a president to air the dirty clothes for all the neighbours to see and it parades for all to see the environmental discourse of Alvarado[2], receiving praise from the future king of England less than a year ago. But at least Chaves, on assuming the presidency, has not modified his campaign tone.

Indeed so, and he made it clear that he does not want to go back on what has been put forward on this theme. He said, “Costa Rica is a country that is not going to take one step backwards in its commitments and its wishes to reach carbon neutrality.”

As a part of his intervention, Chaves also said that he has been talking with investors and that he told them that ‘Costa Rica is open for business’ and that he intends to break all the bottlenecks to investment in the country and create a better environment [for business]. Effectively, Chaves himself had stated that the principal aim of his trip to the World Economic Forum is to seek jobs and investments for Costa Rica.

Let’s hope, then, that on his return to Costa Rica he comes back with a little list of useful telephone numbers; that good foreign investment may arrive; that it will offer good jobs; that regulation will be attractive for investors and respectful of the rights of the labour force; and that will genuinely begin to give form to a more equitable Costa Rica that we miss so much.

 

[1]  Editor’s note: over 70 per cent of Costa Rica’s electricity is generated as hydroelectricity, and as ENCA newsletters have made clear in the past, the environmental credentials of damming rivers are open to public debate.

[2]  Carlos Alvarado was the outgoing President of Costa Rica who handed over to Rodrigo Chaves in April this year, 2022.

The Belizean Crocodile Research Coalition Countering snap judgements on crocodiles

Chapter 10 / Biodiversity loss, species loss, and coral loss

Jill Powis of ENCA (Environmental Network for Central America) has provided The Violence of Development website with a report of a presentation made by two members of the Crocodile Research Coalition (CRC) in February 2022: Dr. Marisa Tellez, Executive Director and Founder and Darcy Uclez, CRC Education Coordinator.  Established in January 2016, the CRC seeks to preserve crocodiles and their environments throughout Central America and the Caribbean to ensure the long-term sustainability of biodiversity in the region. Its base is on the Placencia Peninsula in Belize bordering the wildlife-rich Placencia Lagoon, which features in our website’s December 2021 article about the threats to manatees. 

We are grateful to Jill Powis for her summary report and to Marisa Tellez and Darcy Uclez of the CRC for their presentation.

Crocodile populations in Belize have undergone a resurgence after being virtually wiped out in the 1940s and 50s when they were killed for their skins. While the Indigenous people of Belize are accustomed historically and culturally to coexisting with them (with certain Mayan groups revering them in the past, including Belizean groups), for other sectors of the population this recovery in crocodile numbers has caused alarm.

In 2017, the CRC received many calls from around the Placencia Lagoon to relocate the crocodiles.  Instead, it established a community science programme to provide the community with the knowledge on how to coexist with them and be part of its research and conservation mission. It has supplied many residents with educational literature on how to live with crocodiles and avoid human-crocodile conflict, and for those that are interested, with a behavioural observation sheet to record further crocodile sightings. Over the years, this scheme has expanded to include manatee and other wildlife sightings around the lagoon. As well as contributing to knowledge about wildlife populations, the data can also be used by the authorities to identify hotspots and reduce negative crocodile-human interactions.

The CRC considers community engagement to be key to successful conservation efforts.  As well as the Placencia Lagoon community science programme, other initiatives such as frequent talks to schools, with repeat visits, and the Visitors’ Centre at the Lagoon, have borne dividends in increasing awareness. The CRC says that members of the local community are now genuinely distressed and concerned when they hear of crocodiles being injured or killed, and the police now take reports of crocodile-killing seriously and investigate. (COVID has brought particular challenges as crocodiles have been killed because people have been desperate for food.)

As well as being killed by humans, whether out of fear or for food, the crocodile population of Belize is also threatened by pollution and habitat loss, with the American crocodile in particular, as a saltwater species, affected by the boom in coastline development (see, for example, Issue 85 of the ENCA newsletter, July 2022, about Vulcan Materials Company and Gales Point). As the last crocodile surveys took place in the 1990s, the CRC, in collaboration with the state authorities, has been undertaking new ones to establish the extent of these impacts, which will help in the development of a conservation strategy. In all survey locations, the CRC takes time to engage with the local communities, performing outreach but also actively involving them with the surveys.

In its work, the CRC takes a holistic approach, aware of the need to protect entire ecosystems rather than just a single species, which means that other species are also beneficiaries of their work – see ENCA 83, p.7, November 2021.  A current focus of its research is the New River in the north, the longest river that is entirely confined to Belize.  It is a habitat for numerous types of fish, birds, as well as crocodiles, but is being seriously polluted by factory effluent, human waste, and waste from agricultural developments – see ENCA 77, pp.7-8, November 2019.  The CRC found crocodiles in a very bad condition, some to the extent that their organs were decomposing while they were still alive.[1] The CRC calls them ‘The White Walkers’, after the undead in A Game of Thrones. It is conducting research which will hopefully establish the precise sources of the pollution.

The CRC is raising funds to build a state-of-the-art research centre on the Placencia Peninsula.  However, in the meantime, it has the space and lodging to accommodate interested researchers and small academic groups nationally and internationally who wish to conduct wildlife and conservation research.

For more information: https://crocodileresearchcoalition.org

[1]  Some crocodiles there have been found to be unable to mate and reproduce and are thought to be suffering from reptile dysfunction. (Well we tried to avoid the more obvious jokes about crocodiles.)

Title 42 still denying asylum seekers’ rights

Chapter 10 / Migration and Remittances

November 2022

By Martin Mowforth

Title 42 is a Trump era policy that seeks to debar migrants seeking asylum at the US borders on grounds of public health policy. It was a policy that Trump brought in to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic and it effectively gave immigration officials the power to block and expel anybody seeking asylum if they came from or through a country where a communicable disease was present. At the time of the pandemic, that was pretty much most of the nations of the world. It is a policy of particular relevance to The Violence of Development website as a high proportion of migrants and asylum seekers at the US southern border were, and still are, from Central America.

On his first day after inauguration, Biden introduced six bills relating to immigration policy and in his first year he introduced a total of 86 immigration-related bills, dismantling much of the Trump anti-immigration legislation. Despite that, Title 42 expulsions have been continued under the Biden administration. In November 2021, the Biden administration opened its borders to tourists but kept Title 42 in place. Julia Neusner, an attorney with Human Rights First, said: “The fact that now vaccinated tourists and shoppers are allowed to enter but vaccinated people who are fleeing violence and are in urgent danger are not, is further evidence that this policy has never been about public health.”

In November 2022, however, a federal district court judge ruled that Title 42 violates US law. District Judge Sullivan also found the Title 42 order to be “arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.”

“The Title 42 policy is a human rights disaster and a public health travesty. It expels asylum seekers to danger and subjects people seeking protection in the United States to horrific harms,” said Eleanor Acer, senior director of refugee protection at Human Rights First. “The Biden administration should let this flawed policy die and restore regular asylum processing immediately at US ports of entry and along the southwest border.”

A Human Rights First report (‘The Nightmare Continues’, 2022), records that in Mexico alone, recorded incidents of “kidnapping, rapes and other violence against non-citizens subject to Title 42 have spiked from 3,250 cases in June 2021 to over 10,318 in June 2022.” The same report also documents the grave harms inflicted by the Title 42 policy and the way in which it forces asylum seekers to attempt dangerous border crossings, spurs repeat crossings and causes chaos at the border.

The Biden administration recently expanded the Title 42 policy to expel Venezuelans seeking safety in the United States, subjecting more asylum seekers and migrants to danger – triggering swift condemnation by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNICEF and the International Organisation for Migration. The court’s ruling should make clear that the Biden administration must end its embrace of this illegal Trump administration policy.

Human Rights First: humanrightsfirst.org

 

Costa Rica’s roads in chaos?

Chapter 10 / Transport infrastructure developments

Compiled by Martin Mowforth from a range of sources.

December 2022

As Costa Ricans and frequent visitors to the country already know, the state of Costa Rican highways is far from good. Potholes, diversions and city congestion add a lot to the time and cost of car journeys in the country.

In September [2022] a stretch of the Panamerican Highway near San Ramón was closed for at least three months for emergency repairs, and some say that this is a considerable time under-estimate. The section of the road in need of repair was recently hit by a landslide which swept a bus and several other vehicles off the road causing the deaths of nine people. The road had been re-opened only the day before after an inspection by the Ministry of Public Works (MOPT).

Additionally, journeys on Route 27 from San José southwards along the Pacific coastline towards Panama, are now taking three times longer to complete than they should. Recently, various routes from San José to the Caribbean coast have also been closed because of landslides.

In October, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves declared a national emergency due to the poor road conditions. Clearly, these difficulties are due in part to the heavy rains and consequent landslides, but as Chaves also made clear, “… the infrastructure in this country is truly deplorable  … This is due to the carelessness and ineptitude of how the country has been administered.”

Various transport specialists have warned travellers to expect considerable delays over the coming weeks and months. The President of the CNE, Alejandro Picado Eduarte, said “We cannot allow the rainy season of 2023 to cause the same conditions as this year and inflict more damage. Above all, we must activate measures to protect life.”

It is reported that the National Emergency Commission (CNE) will issue ‘imminent danger declarations’ due to the appalling infrastructure conditions. The Legislative Assembly is expected to approve a bill for the urgent approval of credit to begin repairs in the dry season. President Chaves has sought $700 million (USD) from an environmental fund of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and will seek further funds as a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

President Chaves is reported as planning the 4-lane widening of Route 32 (the North Ring Road plan) and the Government City project to be finished by the end of his administration in 2026. In the same time period he sees partial completion of the San José – San Ramón road and the San José – Cartago road improvement, along with a new electric train route.

A deep-water port in Bluefields, Nicaragua?

Chapter 10 / Transport infrastructure developments

By Martin Mowforth

In November 2022, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) signed a collaboration agreement with the Nicaraguan government’s Transport and Infrastructure Ministry (MTI) to provide funding for a deep-water port project in Bluefields on the country’s Caribbean coast.

Plans for the port were first put forward in 2015 but were followed by several years of delay whilst the search for funding went ahead. CABEI considers that the project will not only integrate well with Nicaragua’s other infrastructure improvements but will also aid the process of Central American economic integration.

Bluefields is the capital of Nicaragua’s South Caribbean Autonomous Region and is located at the mouth of the Bluefields River. English is the most commonly spoken language of the town. It is the country’s main Caribbean port and through it are exported hardwood, seafood, shrimp and lobster. In 1984 its harbour was illegally mined by the United States and in 1988 much of the local infrastructure was destroyed by Hurricane Joan.

The proposed port will reduce Nicaragua’s dependence on ports in Honduras and Costa Rica and should lower costs for Nicaraguan exporters. In fact, finance minister Iván Acosta says that the port should help the country to double the value of its exports in five or six years, should attract considerable future investment, and should improve living conditions in the whole southern region. (But it is always worth remembering that politicians’ promises and predictions are seldom realised.)

It hardly needs to be pointed out that at present these statements are predictions rather than reality, but there is no doubt that over the last decade Nicaragua’s efforts to improve the country’s infrastructure have borne fruit and have proved popular with a majority of the populace. It is also worth noting that while CABEI, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have good relations with the Nicaraguan government, regularly praising its financial management and transparency, the government of the United States of America imposes stranglehold economic sanctions on the government of Nicaragua largely because of the latter’s supposedly fraudulent elections. The allegations of electoral fraud originate mainly from the USA which busies itself interfering in other countries’ elections in its attempts to fill the world with governments that will slavishly follow US dictats.

Sources:

  • Alliance for Global Justice, 17 November 2022, Nicanotes: ‘CABEI to Finance Deep-Water Port in Bluefields’
  • Bnamericas, 17 November 2022, ‘Nicaragua partners with CABEI to advance deep-water port project’
  • MercoPress, 14 March 2022, ‘Nicaragua announces new deep-water port in Bluefields’
  • Radio La Primerisima, 15 November 2022.

Corruption in Panama?

Chapter 10 / Selected political developments and politicians in Central America

Key words: Odebrecht corruption case; Panamanian presidents.

In mid-November 2022 the Latin America News Dispatch reported that a judge in Panama had called over 30 people for trial on charges of money laundering in the Odebrecht case, one of Latin America’s largest corruption cases in recent history.

The Odebrecht case extends throughout much of Latin America and involves the payment of bribes to officials and politicians in the region. The case originated in Brazil with the giant Odebrecht construction company which has been involved in many of the sub-continent’s major infrastructure projects.  More details on the case and its background can be found here.

Among the accused in Panama are six former ministers, former officials, and business people. Not the least significant of these are former president Ricardo Martinelli and his successor and vice president Juan Carlos Varela who are also among the accused. Previously, they had been restricted from leaving the country pending separate corruption charges. Both deny committing crimes. Varela plans to run for president in 2024.

The trial is scheduled to start on 1st August 2023 and to run for three weeks.

US Seeks to Solve Migration Crisis with Billion Dollar Investment Plan

Chapter 10 / Migration and Remittances

Guatemala Human Rights Commission

www.ghrc-usa.org

13 February 2023

 

Key words: ‘Root Causes Strategy’; migration; Central America; private sector; corruption; human rights violations.

 

On February 6th, even as Guatemalan authorities engage in a systematic evisceration of its justice system and private industry continues to dispossess Indigenous communities, Vice President Kamala Harris announced the next phase of her migration plan for Central America. Known as the “Root Causes Strategy,” this Vice Presidential initiative aims to tackle “the drivers of irregular migration by improving the conditions in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras so people do not feel compelled to leave their homes.” In May of last year, Harris announced the creation of the Partnership for Central America (PCA) with a Call to Action to potential investors. This week, in a presentation for a group of US government officials and private sector leaders, Harris announced the next phase of the initiative: Central America Forward.

In this phase, the US government will enact a series of new commitments to encourage more private sector engagement. Harris announced a new wave of private sector commitments of $950 million, raising the total investment under the Call to Action to over $4.2 billion. New commitments include Columbia Sportswear, Target, and other companies looking to purchase more textiles from Central American clothing factories, also known as “maquilas.” These clothing factories are infamous for decades’ long abuse of workers and criminal disregard for local environments. It will also include more access to funding for private companies from the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Even as the White House insists that “Central America Forward is a framework that goes beyond addressing the economic drivers of migration,” civil society organisations are deeply concerned at the plan’s failure to address the region’s persistent and alarming abuse of  human rights, failure of the rule of law, and deeply entrenched corruption. “Addressing the root causes of forced migration from Central America must focus on urging governments of the region to serve their people – without corruption and with full respect for human rights and the rule of law,” said Director of the Latin America Working Group (LAWG) Lisa Haguard. She continued, “Investment pledges mean little or can be counterproductive if US policy fails to fully address the corruption and human rights violations faced by the rural and urban poor, Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, women and lgbtq people, and human rights defenders in Central America.”

Last March, GHRC, LAWG, and 17 other organisations sent a letter to the DFC urging it to reassess its investment plans in Guatemala in light of rampant corruption and the breakdown of protections for human rights defenders and Indigenous communities. It stated, “A sound investment climate requires stability and strong institutions, as well as consistent adherence to rule of law.” Since then, conditions in Guatemala have only worsened. For 2022, Guatemala earned a historically low rating from Transparency International on its Corruption Perception Index – a rate unseen since 1996. Meanwhile, violent evictions in rural and Indigenous communities continue to rise.

 

Costa Rica’s fishing practices make it “an international pariah”

Chapter 10 / Fishing

At the start of this year, Costa Rica was accused of violating at least two fisheries conventions. The complaint was presented to the Office of International Affairs, Trade and Commerce (IATC) of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) by 18 Marine Conservation Organisations (MCOs).

The organisations requested that the NMFS should “present a negative finding against Costa Rica in its next biannual report to the US Congress and maintain its status as a nation that repeatedly practices Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.” In 2021 the country was reported as an IUU nation, and the problems and issues still hold.[1]

Randall Arauz, a Costa Rican biologist, explained that “Costa Rica has long turned over the management of fishery policy to the sole interest of commercial fisheries, disregarding science and ignoring the public interest, with the result that Costa Rica is now an international pariah when it comes to fisheries management.” He further explained that sharks and billfish are now more endangered in Costa Rican waters than they have ever been.

Also in early 2023, representatives of the School of Biology of the National University and the Marine Sciences Research Centre of the University of Costa Rica questioned the studies used by the government to support its position and refuted the idea that there existed a space for debate around the issues.

The liberal deputy Kattia Cambronero Aguiluz described the government’s attempts to claim that these issues were debatable as a return to “the old practices of the past, repeating a pseudo-study with fake criteria which enable them to validate practices that are damaging to marine ecosystems.”

Sources:

  • Daniela Muñoz Solano, 09.02.23, ‘Diputada Cambronero: Tratando de revivir la pesca de arrastre, el gobierno pone en entredicho la imagen conservacionista del païs’, Semanario Universidad
  • Ileano Fernandez, 06.02.23, ‘Costa Rica faces accusation over International and US fishing violations’, Tico Times

[1]  Apologies for all the acronyms.

Record Alert: +100,000 Refugees On Panama-Colombia Border

Chapter 10 / Migration and Remittances

Published 14 April 2023 by Telesur

We are grateful to Telesur for their copyright conditions and regulations that enable us to: to ‘give due credit to teleSUR as the source. Users can download, inform, show, publish, copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, spread, transfer, and create derivative works based on the website content as long as they abide by copyright law.’

“…a collaborative declaration documented in the capital of Panama…”

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported on Friday that over 100,000 refugees and migrants have traversed the Darien jungle within the initial three months of this year.

The concern was expressed in a collaborative declaration documented in the capital of Panama, wherein it was indicated that, in accordance with statistical data provided by the Panamanian authorities, the populace exceeding 100,000 surpasses the number of individuals that had arrived during the comparable period in the year 2022 by a factor of six.

It was asserted by the authorities that a projection of over 400,000 individuals crossing the border could potentially materialize by the end of the year 2023, given the current trend.

It has been observed that the Republic of Panama is confronted with a highly daunting matter concerning mixed migration, which is regarded as being one of the most problematic crises within the past decade and is a significant part of an exceptional displacement all across the Americas.

Last year, 2022, witnessed the arrival of an unprecedented number of refugees and migrants crossing the Darien, with a total figure of nearly 250,000 individuals, all of whom had placed their lives in grave jeopardy.

It has been explicated by the organisations that frequently individuals opt to depart from their native land for economic grounds, which could be attributed to a dearth in employment opportunities.

The majority of individuals expressed that their decision to seek refuge in foreign territory because of general levels of insecurity or threats, alongside targeted violence directed towards themselves and their loved ones.

Furthermore, it is notable that a significant proportion of the populace, amounting to 75%, encountered an injury or accident during their expedition.

Conversely, a concerning proportion of approximately one-third of the group were subjected to mistreatment or abuse, particularly during the crossing of the Darien jungle.

 

Two new airports

Chapter 10 / Transport infrastructure developments

Compiled by Martin Mowforth, August 2023

Two new international airports, one in Costa Rica and one in El Salvador, are proposed for Central America. Indeed, work on the construction of the new Salvadoran airport has already begun.

 

Aeropuerto del Pacífico, El Salvador

In El Salvador, the Airport of the Pacific (Aeropuerto del Pacífico) will be located in Conchagua in the east of the country and will principally serve the city port of La Unión. It will serve as a military base as well as an international public airport. Construction was approved by the Legislative Assembly in April 2022 and land clearance work began in March 2023. Construction costs are estimated to be $500 million (USD) over ten years.

Despite its approval by the Legislative Assembly and its obvious employment potential in the area, the project has not been without its objectors. Ten of the 150 landowners whose property was affected by the airport’s construction refused to sell their land to the government.

According to opposition lawmakers cited by news outlet ‘Estrategia y Negocios’ in April, members of the communities Flor de Mangle in La Unión department and Condadillo in Conchagua department allege that lies and blackmail were used by the Autonomous Port Executive Commission (Comisión Ejecutiva Portuaria Autónoma, CEPA) to push them to relocate. There are also claims that CEPA did not pay a fair price for the land.

Social conflicts and a lack of funding transparency have been issues since the project was announced, without a clear plan on how works will be carried out. Additionally, it is clear that a small area of mangroves will be destroyed in part of the construction area. Whilst it is only a small area (up to 2 hectares), as José Maria Argueta, programme director for the local NGO the Mangrove Association, says, “No matter how small the mangrove area is, it serves as a rest area for migratory birds and a livelihood for communities.” It is also an essential nursery for young fish and crustaceans.

Two non-governmental organisations have also opposed the airport development. Cristosal claims that three of the laws passed to enable development of the airport open the door to possible corruption. The Movement for the Integration of the Struggles of the Ancestral Peoples of El Salvador (MILPA) claims its construction violates the people’s right to private property and degrades the area’s environment.

Sources:

Costa Rica

A proposed new airport in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica is meeting strong opposition from environmentalists, local affected communities and academics. The site for the airport is close to the Terraba Sierpe National Wetland and to various significant archaeological and cultural sites of interest.

The President, Rodrigo Chaves, and Minister of Tourism have both spoken strongly in favour of the scheme on the grounds that it would stimulate tourism and economic opportunities. A range of organisations and local communities have voiced concerns about the economic implications for local trade compared with the mega-hotels that are likely to be attracted to the region by the scheme.

The environmental organisation Preserve Planet was established in 1995 to campaign for conservation and the protection of nature. It works in countries other than Costa Rica but has several campaigns in Costa Rica. It has strongly criticised the airport plan on the grounds that its negative impacts on the ecosystem outweigh the possible economic and employment benefits. It believes that the airport will promote the growth of mega-hotels which will offer seasonal employment, leaving many workers without work for the rest of the year.

Luis Diego Marín, Preserve Planet’s regional Coordinator, explained that “Costa Rica is a country characterised by attracting a very special type of tourist who seeks to experience nature and biodiversity. We do not want mass tourism because, as we have seen in other places, it has negative consequences.”

Marín also pointed out that one of the major threats from this particular development would be the degradation of one of the most important pristine ecosystems on earth: Corcovado National Park.

 

Sources:

  • Ileana Fernandez, 20 March 2023, ‘Preserve Planet Fights Against Costa Rica’s Plans to Build New Airport’, Tico Times, San José.
  • Ileana Fernandez, 16 May 2023, ‘Costa Rica Airport Project in Osa: A Controversial Issue’, Tico Times, San José.
  • Environmental Network for Central America (ENCA), July 2023, ‘Costa Rica’, ENCA, London.

TVOD Editorial note: Clearly, the addition of two new international airports in Central America is unlikely to help in the battle against global warming.