Likely top stories this week: presidential candidates in Costa Rica and El Salvador will advance to runoff elections; the dispute over the Chile-Peru border continues; Colombia brings charges against the U.S.-based coal company Drummond; heavy rains in Uruguay lead to flood warnings in most of the country.
Costa Rican Presidential Elections: Costan Rican voters on Sunday sent former San José Mayor Johnny Araya of the Partido de Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Party) and Partido de Acción Ciudadana (Citizen Action Party) candidate Luis Guillermo Solís to a runoff election that will decide who becomes the country’s next president. With 82 percent of the vote counted, Solís had received 30.9 percent of the vote, while Araya received 29.6 percent. The two candidates will face each other again on April 6.
El Salvador Presidential Elections: Salvadorans will vote in a March 9 runoff election for president after neither Salvador Sánchez Cerén, an ex-guerrilla from the Frente Farabuno Martí para la Liberación Nacional (Farabuno Martí National Liberation Front—FMLN) and Normán Quijano, from the Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (National Republican Alliance—Arena) won a majority of the vote in Sunday’s election. With 81 percent of the vote counted, Sánchez Cerén narrowly missed a first round victory, capturing 49 percent of the vote. This will be the first time since 1994 that El Salvador will vote for its president in a runoff election.
Peru-Chile Border Ruling: A week after the International Court of Justice in The Hague redrew the maritime border between Peru and Chile in a historic ruling that largely favored Peru, the two countries are continuing to debate the ownership of a small portion of land known as the triángulo terrestre (land triangle). According to Chile, the 3.7-hectare triangle of land is Chilean because the ICJ ruling determined that the maritime border begins at a landmark known as “Hito 1” and not at a point further south called “Punto Condordia.” Meanwhile, the Peruvian government maintains that the land is Peruvian, adding that the ICJ ruling only refers to the maritime border between the two countries, and not to land.
Colombia Plans to Sue U.S. Coal Company Drummond: Colombian Chief Prosecutor Eduardo Montealegre said Friday that the country will bring charges against Drummond, an Alabama-based coal company, after crane operators dumped tons of coal into the sea off Colombia’s Caribbean coast in January 2013. The crane operators were attempting to rescue a sinking barge. Drummond has been ordered to pay a $3.5 million fine and Montealegre said that six of the company’s employees will face charges. Colombia has since banned the use of cranes and barges in all its ports to prevent spillage and pollution.
Flooding in Uruguay: The Uruguayan government declared a flood warning in 13 of the country’s 19 departments on Sunday night after heavy rainfall over the weekend led to the evacuation of more than 150 people from their homes. The rains affected a large portion of the country and may jeopardize the country’s agricultural production this year.
