DEVELOPMENTS

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner prevailed in a prolonged power struggle over the country’s central bank earlier this month when Mercedes Marcó del Pont was appointed as the institution’s new head. The ascension of Marcó del Pont, an ally of the president, concluded a month of political maneuvering that began when Fernandez de Kirchner tried to dismiss central bank President Martín Redrado on January 7.

His offense? Refusing the president’s demand of $6.5 billion of the bank’s reserves to help pay the government’s debt.

Redrado’s dismissal was done via an emergency decree with Congress out of session, (a time-honored tradition in Argentine politics). The Supreme Court cried foul, briefly reinstated Redrado, and then ruled that a congressional commission should decide his fate. Undeterred, Fernandez appointed the bank’s deputy governor as interim head and barred Redrado from the bank. Awaiting the outcome of the commission, Redrado submitted his resignation on January 30, which was bizarrely rejected by the president, who speciously insisted the commission reach its conclusion.

The unexpected appointment of Marcó del Pont on February 3 confirmed the obvious: the central bank will be under the president’s control for the remainder of her term. The new bank chief said as much upon taking office, when she expressed the view that central bank independence should be limited.

What might Fernandez have in mind for the country’s near record $48 billion of reserves? A rash of spending will probably be needed for Fernandez to revive her flagging popularity ahead of the 2011 presidential elections – or, in a scenario analysts consider more likely, to position her husband and predecessor Néstor Kirchner for a bid to return to the presidency. Either way, the specter of four more years of kircherismo bodes poorly for the state of Argentine democracy.

 Haiti's recent unexpected catastrophic 7.0 earthquake has brought global attention to the long-ignored impoverished island nation. As images of Haiti started populating the international media outlets, writing about hope became quite difficult. The media's attention on Haiti generally focuses only when tumultuous events occur: hurricanes, political turmoil, protests. To see a country that has recently shown positive improvement to be reduced by what’s now reported as a significant setback to the domestic and international aid that now stands stunned.

DEVELOPMENTS

The United States and Colombia have finalized a deal that will allow U.S. military access to seven Colombian bases for the next ten years.  Both parties have insisted that the agreement reinforces an existing partnership fighting regional narco-trafficking; however, very few of the terms have been released, garnering policy-makers’ suspicions and regional accusations. At stake may be U.S. aid standards founded on humanitarian and legal bases, as well as U.S. legitimacy in a pocket of the world growing increasingly resentful of historical U.S. hemispheric hegemony.  After the announcement of the deal’s conclusion, Latin American leaders and policy-makers officially condemned the move; and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dramatically declared at a meeting of the Union of South American nations that “winds of warfare” were blowing across the continent.

The deal centers on the construction of an air hangar at Palanquero, Colombia’s central air force base, with $46 million set to fund the endeavor.