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Colombia pushes back cartels, terrorists to become economic powerhouse

Colombian Ambassador Gabriel Silva Luján said the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement “generates mutual respect and symmetry between our two countries.” Photo by Lee Tablewski LA JOLLA – Colombia is pushing back against terrorists and drug cartels that once dominated the country to emerge as a regional economic powerhouse built on foreign investment and trade, Colombian Ambassador to the U.S. Gabriel Silva Lujan said during an April 24 presentation at the Institute of the Americas.

Just three weeks before the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement goes into effect, Silva told an audience of almost 80 that his country “is ready to enter a phase of rapid growth and expansion.” A Texas-size country of 46 million, Colombia has the third largest economy in South America. “The new Colombia is different…Colombia has built democratic institutions.” Ambassador Gabriel Silva LujánColombia is also a booming economy on a global scale – its economy is larger than the economies of countries such as Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Singapore and Hong Kong.

“When people think about Colombia the first three words that come up are: drugs, terrorism and violence,” Silva said.“The new Colombia is different. We still have problems like other countries, but the profound changes Colombia has experienced have created new opportunities and new trends.”

As the country has moved to control and suppress terrorists and drug traffickers, “Colombia has built democratic institutions,” Silva said. “On the economic front, Colombia bet heavily on the market economy, private initiatives, foreign investment and trade”.

Institute of the Americas joins international organizations in condemning attack on Russian journalist

Russian journalist Elena Milashina attended a May 26-29 professional workshop at the Institute of the Americas titled, “Different Worlds, Similar Threats.” Six days after her return to Moscow, Milashina was brutally beaten by an unknown assailant. She suffered a concussion, head injuries and a broken tooth. Photo by Luis J. Jimenez PARIS – The Institute of the Americas joined three international organizations in sending a letter to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin demanding a through investigation into the brutal attack on journalist Elena Milashina and Ella Asoyan, program officer of U.S.-based human rights organization Freedom House. Read Letter

Milashina, an investigative journalist at the independent newspaper Novoya Gazeta, and Asoyan were attacked April 5 by two men while walking in the Moscow suburban neighborhood of Balashikha. Milashina was severely beaten on one of the assailants, who repeatedly hit her head, causing a concussion and breaking one of her teeth. The other attacker held Asoyan back so she could not assist Milashina. The assailants also stole Milashina’s wallet and Asoyan’s laptop, but “the way the attack was perpetrated, using brutal force specifically against Elena Milashina, makes us believe the attack was not simple robbery but a retaliatory attach against Milashina’s recent investigative work,” the organizations’ letter to Putin stated.

Journalists provide global prescription for fighting violence and impunity

Pakistani journalist Umar Cheema, winner of the 2011 International Press freedom Award, spoke at the Institute of the Americas about threats that reporters face throughout the world. Photo by Luis J. Jimenez LA JOLLA -- Effective government action, solidarity within the media, and ethical news coverage are key to confronting violence and impunity, an International Media in Danger workshop held at the Institute of the Americas has concluded.

Jointly organised by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), ARTICLE 19 Mexico and Central America Office, and the Institute of the Americas, the March 26-29, 2012, event titled, "Different Worlds, Similar Threats," brought together 25 experienced journalists from 14 countries to talk about dangerous working conditions during the workshop in La Jolla, California.

The goal of the workshop was to promote safe reporting and identify measures for reducing the violence and impunity affecting journalists in their respective regions.

Discussions revealed an urgent need for effective government measures to protect journalists worldwide.

"Today, in countries like Mexico, Honduras, Pakistan or Russia, journalists face actors and groups ready to kill them, in total impunity, simply for doing their job," said Cynthia Cárdenas, legal program officer for Article 19 in México. "Authorities in every country around the world are responsible for guaranteeing journalists' safety and for sanctioning those who attempt to curtail their freedom of expression."

In light of the current crisis in Mexico, where a wave of violence sparked by the conflict between organized crime and government forces has cost the lives of dozens of journalists since 2006, participants issued a call for more solidarity within the profession.

Challenges of Mexico’s Energy Sector Builds Consensus

March 28 energy policy forum in Mexico City featured senior PRI, PRD and PAN representatives . MEXICO CITY — High-level representatives of Mexico’s three major political parties discussed a wide range of critical issues and party energy platforms in advance of the July 1 presidential election during an energy policy forum organized March 28 by the Institute of the Americas.

Energy advisors from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the National Action Party (PAN) and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) spoke during the Mexico City forum about challenges facing the country’s energy sector and how to best confront those challenges.

Each of the advisors expressed confidence in his candidate’s ability to attain the needed reforms for the energy sector if elected. And each insisted that his party’s policies would strengthen Mexico’s economy and make Mexican exports more competitive internationally. All three campaigns endorsed public-private associations across the Mexican energy sector.

During a 90-minute discussion, the three fielded questions on topics as diverse as the implementation of the 2008 energy reform measures, public-private partnership, and fiscal and regulatory reform at the nation’s energy monopolies. The necessity of addressing the tax burden on the national oil company, Pemex, provided important consensus. Panelists acknowledged Mexico’s unsustainable dependency by the federal treasury (Hacienda) on revenue derived from oil and, more specifically, Pemex. All agreed the next administration must pursue a broad fiscal reform that includes separating Pemex from the federal budget.

The energy advisors also concurred on the need for deeper corporate reform by Mexico’s state energy monopolies Pemex and the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) and their corresponding roles for the energy sector in the coming six-year presidential term. But differences in opinion emerged as to the exact prescriptions for energy reform at the state-owned enterprises.

US Diplomat: Free Trade & Drug War Initiatives Working

By Jill Replogle
KPBS/Fronteras Desk

Matthew Rooney, a deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, spoke about trade, border, infrastructure and security at the Institute of the Americas. Photo by Carlos Fernandez Podcast | Video
AN DIEGO — NAFTA worked and Mexico is winning its war against drug trafficking — albeit slowly and painfully. Those were the messages one of the top officials at the Department of State who works on on U.S. relations with Mexico delivered during a speech in San Diego.Matthew Rooney, a deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, spoke about trade, border infrastructure and security at the Institute of the Americas in La Jolla March 21.

Rooney said the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, had accomplished “everything it set out to do,” including integrating supply chains across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, and creating jobs in all three countries.

However, he said, as a result of post-9/11 security concerns along the border: “we undid some of the integration of our economies that we had created under NAFTA.”

Rooney said the Obama administration was committed to “finding ways to get back on track,” by synchronizing regulatory differences among the countries, improving border infrastructure, and enhancing cooperation among law enforcement agencies in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Along the U.S.-Mexico border, the two countries first announced a bilateral committee to improve border management in 2010. Still, wait times have not improved at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing.