From Spanish Wire Archives

Clara Nieto at her home in Bogotá. Credit: Margarita Carrillo/IPS

Q&A: “Cuba’s Presence at OAS Summit Would Have Caused Serious Problems for Obama”

Colombian diplomat Clara Nieto says President Juan Manuel Santos managed to work out in his favour the boycott that was looming over the sixth Summit of the Americas, after several countries threatened to stay away if Cuba was not invited.

Argentina Responds to Climate Challenge with Transgenic Seeds

By Marcela Valente

Researchers in Argentina have isolated a sunflower gene and implanted it into corn, wheat and soybean seeds to make them more resistant to drought and soil salinity, problems increasingly faced by this South American agricultural powerhouse as a result of global warming.

Most of the victims of Guatemala's civil war were indigenous people. Credit: Danilo Valladares/IPS

Victims of War, Victims of Oblivion

By Danilo Valladares and - -

"In 1982 they killed my mama and 15 other people, and they burned down our house. Now we are trying to get support, because we have not received any aid," says Jacinto Escobar, an Ixil Indian who is seeking reparations for the damages sustained during Guatemala’s 1960-1996 civil war.

Juan Carlos Alfonso, director of ONEI’s Centre for the Study of Population and Development. Credit: Dalia Acosta/IPS

Q&A: Cuban Census “Will Show a Very Diverse Reality”

By Dalia Acosta and - -

Thirteen hurricanes, three of which had a major impact on housing; increased access to goods and services; and the start of the so-called "updating" of the country’s economic and social policies are a few of the aspects that make Cuba different from what it was a decade ago.

Schoolchildren and Teachers Under Fire in El Salvador

By Edgardo Ayala and - -

Wilber Geovany Hernández was gunned down as he left his night classes at a school in the capital of El Salvador. He was the 11th murder victim among the country's schoolchildren since the school year began on Jan. 23.

Argentine Dictatorship’s Economic Crimes Coming to Light

By Marcela Valente and - -

While the trials against members of the military and police for human rights abuses committed during Argentina’s 1976-1983 dictatorship move ahead, the regime’s economic crimes have also begun to come to light.

Mesoamerica Ignores Its Water Footprint

By Emilio Godoy

It takes 1,600 litres of water to produce one kilo of bread. This is the type of calculation used to measure a water footprint, the total volume of freshwater used to produce the goods and services consumed by people and communities.

Euribor: an unknown quantity added to mortgage payments. Credit: Tumejorhipoteca.es

Euribor Under Scrutiny by People’s Campaign in Spain

By Inés Benítez and - -

Two Spanish lawyers have launched a campaign on social networking sites to prise out information about Euribor, the reference interest rate used for calculating mortgage payments in Spain, and to draw attention to the lack of transparency surrounding the way the rate is set.

Women Have New Weapon against Domestic Violence in Argentina

By Marcela Valente and - -

Women victims of domestic violence in a city in Argentina will be given an electronic device with a panic button that will bring them immediate assistance from the police.

Cuba Never Asked to Attend Summit of the Americas

By Patricia Grogg and - -

Cuba never asked to be invited to a Summit of the Americas, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said in response to protests from some governments in the region at Havana’s exclusion from the meetings of Western Hemisphere leaders.

An association of small farmers in Guatemala sells natural, organic products like honey, jam and shampoo. Credit: Danilo Valladares/IPS

Central America Looks to Sustainable Development

By Danilo Valladares and - -

Central America, a narrow tropical isthmus flanked by the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, suffered 259 extreme weather-related events between 1930 and 2009, while the cumulative effects of innumerable smaller-scale events have not even been recorded.

Market in the indigenous village of Oxchuc, Chiapas, Mexico. Credit: Mauricio Ramos/IPS

U.N. Chastises Mexico’s Support for Agribusiness

By Emilio Godoy and - -

The United Nations criticised Mexico’s food policy, a month and a half after President Felipe Calderón launched to great fanfare an alliance of agribusiness for sustainable development, which was welcomed by giant food corporations.

Brazilian women have been making headway in traditionally male-dominated fields. Construction workers in Rio de Janeiro. Credit: Fabiana Frayssinet/IPS

Brazilian Women Are the World’s Happiest

By Fabiana Frayssinet and - -

Money may not buy happiness – but it has helped make women in Brazil become the happiest, most optimistic women in the world, according to a study.

CHILE: Promoting Women’s Empowerment on Two Wheels

By Pamela Sepulveda

What does riding a bike have to do with women’s rights? According to the Chilean feminist group Macleta, which promotes cycling and a gender perspective on public transport, a bicycle is a powerful tool for social change.

Clean-up crew at the site of a bonfire in a square in Coyhaique, the capital of Aysén. Credit: Movimiento Social por la Región de Aysén

Protesters Lift Roadblocks in Southern Chile

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Leaders of the protests in Aysén decided to end the roadblocks that had paralysed this southern region of Chile for more than three weeks, and the government promised to "immediately" resume talks to defuse the conflict.

Brazil’s population is made up of a mix of migration flows, as reflected by the mural on this wall at the Bom Jardim Cultural Centre in Fortaleza. Credit: Mario Osava/IPSBrazil

Brazil to Open Doors to Skilled Immigrants, Slam Shut to Others

By Fabiana Frayssinet and - -

In designing a new immigration policy, Brazil is caught between the need to attract skilled workers and professionals in order to meet the challenges posed by economic growth, and its tradition of taking in immigrants for humanitarian reasons.

Faithful and Non-Catholics Alike Prepare to Welcome Pope to Cuba

By Patricia Grogg

The Catholic Church in Cuba expects people to welcome Pope Benedict XVI with warmth and enthusiasm, even though Catholics are not a majority here like they are in Mexico, the first stop on the pope’s Latin America tour that begins Mar. 23.

Green Credit Scarce in Latin America

By Emilio Godoy and - -

In Latin America, where bank loans for environmentally sustainable activities are rare, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is seeking to foment green credit.

Mesoamerican Coral Reef on the Way to Becoming a Marine Desert

By Danilo Valladares

Scientific studies show that global warming is causing irreversible damage to the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, the world’s second largest coral reef, yet efforts to protect this biologically and economically vital ecosystem remain insufficient.

Green Economy Seeks to Maintain Growth Threatened by Disasters

By Mario Osava

There is every indication that major disasters could be the new midwives of history. Seeking to prevent them, the green economy aims to reduce "environmental risks" and "ecological scarcities" while improving human well-being and social equity.

The organisers of More Women in Power at the launch of the campaign. Credit: Más Mujeres al Poder

Campaign in Chile Fights “Disgraceful” Under-representation of Women in Power

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The More Women in Power campaign in Chile, carried out by a group of social organisations, is seeking to increase the number of women in public decision-making positions, to move towards "parity democracy".