This week’s likely top stories: Colombia inaugurates a new legislature; Argentina must pay its debt by July 30; Reforms to Peru’s environmental agency are criticized; Five Nicaraguans are killed after a Sandinista anniversary celebration; Bolivia allows those as young as 10 to work.
Colombia installs new legislature: As Colombia’s new legislature was sworn in on Sunday, re-elected Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos hailed the installation of a new “Congress of peace.” Though Santos’ Partido de la U (Party of the U) faces a reduced majority in Congress and outspoken opponents like current Senator and former president Alvaro Uribe, Santos said he hoped that the newly-elected legislators would continue to support the government’s ongoing peace talks with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—FARC) in Havana. Since the talks began in 2012, the FARC and the government have agreed on three points of a six-point plan, and must still decide on restitution for victims of violence, rebel disarmament, and how to ratify the final peace agreement.
Argentine debt negotiations near deadline: Argentina must reach a deal with its holdout creditors before July 30 or face its second default in 13 years. There is still a possibility that U.S. courts could issue a stay to allow the country to continue negotiating with holdouts, but a default would likely trigger recession, inflation, high unemployment and other economic woes for the country. Argentina has been ordered to pay approximately $1.5 billion to its holdout creditors, but if other bondholders demand the same terms as the holdouts, Argentina said it may have to pay up to $120 billion. Meanwhile, Argentine Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich said that the holdouts may try to seize YPF-Chevron assets in the Vaca Muerta shale gas deposit.
Controversial reforms to Peru’s environmental agency: After Peruvian President Ollanta Humala enacted a controversial law on July 11 to reform the country’s Organismo de Evaluación y Fiscalización Ambiental (Environmental Evaluation and Regulation Organization—OEFA), environmental groups, Peru’s ombudsman, environmental authorities and some elected officials say the changes will weaken the country’s environmental protections. The law—which the Peruvian government says will refocus the OEFA on “preventative” rather than disciplinary actions—will streamline the environmental review process and lower fines for all but the largest environmental infractions, among other changes designed to attract mining investment. Meanwhile, the agency faces a lawsuit by the mining sector that could slash its 2014 budget by 40 percent.
Five Killed in Nicaragua: Five people were killed and at least 24 wounded in Nicaragua on Sunday following a Sandinista political celebration. In two separate attacks, two men and two women were killed by gunshots as they traveled on the Pan American highway outside the community of Las Calabazas, while north of Matagalpa, another man was killed. Thousands of Nicaraguans had gathered in Managua on Saturday to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution. An anti-Sandinista group reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack on Facebook.
Bolivia legalizes child labor: Bolivian Vice President Alvaro García Linera signed a law last Thursday that will permit Bolivian children as young as 10 to work independently, and will permit 12-year-olds to work for others with parental authorization. The measure was approved by Bolivia’s congress earlier this month. Previously, the minimum working age in Bolivia was 14, but the government said that the new law would help to combat extreme poverty, and reflects the realities of a nation where some 800,000 children are already employed. The International Labour Organisation says that it will study the legislation to decide whether it contravenes international conventions. Human Rights Watch issued a statement in January calling on the Bolivian government to reject a proposal to lower the minimum working age.
