Inteligencia y Seguridad Frente Externo En Profundidad Economia y Finanzas Transparencia
  En Parrilla Medio Ambiente Sociedad High Tech Contacto
En Profundidad  
 
06/09/2008 | The Politics of Latin American Poverty

Mary Anastasia O'Grady

Latin America has had its share of political instability and economic turmoil in recent years, and both Barack Obama and John McCain promise remedies. Sen. McCain's plans for the region don't come with a price tag. But Sen. Obama's blueprint includes "doubling foreign assistance to $50 billion by 2012."

 

Americans may wonder why taxpayer funds should be poured into a bucket as leaky as Latin America if the goal is curing underdevelopment. The region needs secure contract and property rights. If local leaders won't defend those rights, programs like Mr. Obama's $2 billion "global education fund" won't amount to a hill of frijoles.

A lesson in this reality is now playing out in El Salvador, where a $77 million investment by Pacific Rim Mining Corp., in one of the poorest parts of the country, has been stalled by the government of President Tony Saca.

Pacific Rim says that its El Dorado gold mine will create 500 jobs and another 2,500 indirectly. But for now it has had to lay off workers. And Pacific Rim is not the only investor alleging difficulties with Mr. Saca's government. A number of other projects, including much-needed energy investments, are also on indefinite hold.

Investors have come to expect antibusiness practices from Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. But Mr. Saca is no Chávez, at least not by label. He is Salvador's fourth consecutive president from the center-right Arena party. That party, which has been in power since 1989, put Salvador on the investment map in the late 1990s and the early part of this decade by implementing the most aggressive free-market reforms the region had seen since Chile in the 1970s and 1980s.

Investors around the world took notice. Pacific Rim was among them. It says it was encouraged in 2002 by the government to purchase the old El Dorado gold mine in rural Cabañas (near the Honduran border) with the goal of restarting production.

In 2004, after working with the local community to ensure that its concerns were addressed, the company filed the environmental impact study required to secure an exploitation permit. Pacific Rim says that by the end of 2006 it "had addressed every technical issue raised by the ministry of environment and natural resources." The company says the project exceeds all mining safety and environmental standards.

But when it came to issuing the permit the Saca government balked and, according to the company, the reason has nothing to do with a failure to meet regulations. Instead, it says that Mr. Saca is worried that mining is a political liability in the March presidential elections.

If so, it is absurd. Yes, nongovernmental organizations and the Catholic Church have been trying to drum up opposition to reopening El Dorado. A local NGO called Ades, which receives funding from Oxfam, is particularly militant against the project. This is consistent with Oxfam's antidevelopment bias all over the world.

But there is no evidence that the mine would harm Arena. In fact the opposite is more likely. By damaging the country's investment profile and damping economic activity, Mr. Saca is self-inflicting a potentially fatal wound. The government did not return my calls for comment.

Pacific Rim CEO Tom Shrake says that Salvador has abundant gold deposits, and that mining for them could be an engine of development similar to copper mining in Chile. Salvadorans seem to agree.

In a recent poll by Data Research, the same company that polls for the Saca government, almost 34% of those surveyed said they believe Salvador should allow unlimited mining; another 29% said the country should have some mining. Even the pro-Chávez, left-wing FMLN party, which once opposed the mine, no longer does so. It knows that Salvadorans want jobs and to work against the opportunities Pacific Rim presents would be politically risky.

Statistically there is an inverse relationship between income per capita and the percentage of people who farm for a living in the municipalities in mining territory, where soil quality is poor. The more the economy diversifies away from agriculture, the richer it becomes.

But you don't need to crunch numbers to prove that. Support for the mine is strong near El Dorado, which I visited in February. A local mayor whose father worked in the old mine told me that the town badly wants the project. "Conditions are different where there is mining," he said. "People have nice houses and their children go to school."

Pacific Rim's job cuts and the tarnishing of El Salvador's reputation as a welcome destination for capital are good news for the FMLN, which is ahead in the polls and can paint Mr. Saca and his Arena party as failing to deliver on the economy. If the FMLN wins the election next year, no one should mistake the victory as a rejection of market economics or American interests.

Hacer - Washington DC (Estados Unidos)

 


Otras Notas Relacionadas... ( Records 1 to 10 of 5720 )
fecha titulo
11/11/2022 The Ultimate Unmasking of Henry Kissinger: Ambassador Robert C. Hilland the Rewriting of History on U.S. involvement in Vietnam and Argentina’s “Dirty War”
10/11/2022 Un infierno astral se cierne sobre el Gobierno
24/04/2020 Argentina- Informe de Coyuntura semanal (versin corta) al 21 de abril sobre la situacin poltica y econmica argentina
20/04/2020 Argentina- Inflacin y emisin: qu pasar despus de la cuarentena?
14/04/2020 Coronavirus en la Argentina. Alberto Fernndez lleva al kirchnerismo a su lado ms oscuro
09/04/2020 Argentina - Coronavirus: No hay Estado presente para salvar a la economa?
06/04/2020 Argentina - Una guerra de todos?
06/04/2020 El nuevo mundo de los corona-zombies
25/03/2020 Agentina - Informe de Coyuntura semanal (versin corta) al 24 de marzo sobre la situacin poltica y econmica argentina
22/09/2018 Sin dudas, la Argentina necesita volver a tener moneda


Otras Notas del Autor
fecha
Título
05/07/2023|
05/10/2016|
15/07/2016|
26/05/2016|
14/04/2016|
11/02/2016|
11/11/2015|
03/06/2015|
15/04/2015|
15/04/2015|
23/03/2015|
16/03/2015|
09/03/2015|
23/02/2015|
27/01/2015|
13/01/2015|
22/12/2014|
09/12/2014|
02/12/2014|
15/11/2014|
14/10/2014|
07/10/2014|
24/09/2014|
15/09/2014|
09/09/2014|
09/09/2014|
26/08/2014|
11/08/2014|
21/07/2014|
18/07/2014|
10/07/2014|
17/06/2014|
16/05/2014|
07/05/2014|
22/04/2014|
09/04/2014|
25/03/2014|
23/03/2014|
26/02/2014|
19/02/2014|
18/02/2014|
03/02/2014|
03/02/2014|
07/01/2014|
03/12/2013|
26/11/2013|
12/11/2013|
23/10/2013|
17/10/2013|
15/10/2013|
06/10/2013|
17/09/2013|
12/09/2013|
27/08/2013|
23/08/2013|
06/08/2013|
13/05/2013|
17/04/2013|
18/03/2013|
10/03/2013|
27/02/2013|
07/01/2013|
26/12/2012|
26/12/2012|
11/12/2012|
04/12/2012|
28/11/2012|
22/11/2012|
20/11/2012|
14/11/2012|
05/11/2012|
29/10/2012|
22/10/2012|
07/09/2012|
30/08/2012|
21/08/2012|
15/08/2012|
31/07/2012|
31/07/2012|
23/07/2012|
18/07/2012|
10/07/2012|
19/06/2012|
11/06/2012|
06/06/2012|
09/05/2012|
07/05/2012|
30/04/2012|
19/03/2012|
06/03/2012|
06/03/2012|
19/10/2011|
12/10/2011|
03/10/2011|
03/10/2011|
03/10/2011|
27/09/2011|
27/09/2011|
23/09/2011|
21/09/2011|
04/09/2011|
04/09/2011|
02/09/2011|
02/09/2011|
24/08/2011|
24/08/2011|
10/08/2011|
02/08/2011|
26/07/2011|
26/07/2011|
19/07/2011|
19/07/2011|
12/07/2011|
12/07/2011|
21/06/2011|
21/06/2011|
15/06/2011|
15/06/2011|
13/06/2011|
13/06/2011|
25/05/2011|
24/05/2011|
24/05/2011|
17/05/2011|
17/05/2011|
17/05/2011|
17/05/2011|
15/05/2011|
15/05/2011|
10/05/2011|
10/05/2011|
26/04/2011|
26/04/2011|
20/04/2011|
20/04/2011|
19/04/2011|
19/04/2011|
13/04/2011|
12/04/2011|
08/04/2011|
23/03/2011|
22/03/2011|
17/03/2011|
01/03/2011|
28/02/2011|
13/02/2011|
08/02/2011|
01/02/2011|
01/02/2011|
04/01/2011|
04/01/2011|
29/12/2010|
21/12/2010|
20/12/2010|
15/12/2010|
07/12/2010|
30/11/2010|
23/11/2010|
16/11/2010|
10/11/2010|
08/11/2010|
22/10/2010|
17/10/2010|
11/10/2010|
05/10/2010|
22/09/2010|
31/08/2010|
31/08/2010|
23/08/2010|
23/08/2010|
04/08/2010|
26/07/2010|
20/07/2010|
20/07/2010|
29/06/2010|
22/06/2010|
22/06/2010|
12/06/2010|
24/05/2010|
18/05/2010|
17/05/2010|
11/05/2010|
27/04/2010|
26/04/2010|
13/04/2010|
12/04/2010|
07/04/2010|
31/03/2010|
29/03/2010|
24/03/2010|
23/03/2010|
03/03/2010|
03/03/2010|
22/02/2010|
22/02/2010|
09/02/2010|
08/02/2010|
01/02/2010|
27/01/2010|
12/01/2010|
16/12/2009|
16/12/2009|
14/12/2009|
14/12/2009|
24/11/2009|
24/11/2009|
23/11/2009|
23/11/2009|
16/11/2009|
16/11/2009|
15/11/2009|
15/11/2009|
10/11/2009|
10/11/2009|
05/11/2009|
29/10/2009|
20/10/2009|
13/10/2009|
08/10/2009|
30/09/2009|
22/09/2009|
16/09/2009|
01/09/2009|
21/08/2009|
18/08/2009|
10/08/2009|
10/08/2009|
29/07/2009|
29/07/2009|
28/07/2009|
28/07/2009|
23/07/2009|
23/07/2009|
16/07/2009|
16/07/2009|
16/07/2009|
24/03/2009|
05/03/2009|
05/03/2009|
05/02/2009|
15/01/2009|
03/12/2008|
03/12/2008|
25/11/2008|
25/11/2008|
12/11/2008|
12/11/2008|
18/09/2008|
18/09/2008|
27/08/2008|
27/08/2008|
28/07/2008|
28/07/2008|
08/07/2008|
08/07/2008|
23/06/2008|
23/06/2008|
12/06/2008|
12/06/2008|
15/04/2008|
09/04/2008|
03/04/2008|
11/03/2008|
25/02/2008|
07/02/2008|
29/12/2007|
18/11/2007|
29/10/2007|
26/09/2007|
20/09/2007|
05/08/2007|
14/07/2007|
30/05/2007|
30/05/2007|
17/01/2007|
17/01/2007|
10/10/2006|
28/07/2006|
06/03/2006|
21/02/2006|
09/07/2005|
24/08/2003|
24/08/2003|

ver + notas
 
Center for the Study of the Presidency
Freedom House