Latin America

Hospital ship brings comfort to so many I object to The Sun's coverage this week of the USNS Comfort's humanitarian assistance and training mission to Latin America this summer ("Symbol of Hope," Oct. 28-29). The USNS Comfort provided health care and training to approximately 100,000 of the most impoverished people in the Caribbean and Central and South America. Admittedly, this effort was constrained by limits of both time and U.S. taxpayer dollars, which were used judiciously to help others and to provide our military personnel and civilian organizations experience in delivering humanitarian assistance.

MEXICO CITY -- City legislators voted yesterday to legalize abortion in this capital during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, an action that supporters say will serve as a landmark for women's rights in Latin America. The move could result in thousands of Mexican women traveling to the nation's capital for safe and legal abortions. Catholic activists and the leaders of the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, have promised to challenge the law in court. "Women have self-determination over their bodies," Deputy Daniel Ordoqez said as he formally introduced the bill to the city's Legislative Assembly.

WASHINGTON -- At a conference in El Paso, in mid-August, Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, heaped praise on a man whose exploits, he joked, had been the inspiration for the television show 24. From fast cars to fine wines, Reyes said, the appetites of the man, Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., are the stuff of legend. Then turning serious, Reyes hailed Rodriguez's three decades of undercover work for the CIA, where he recently stepped down as head of its clandestine service, and called Rodriguez an "American hero."

The spirit of Teddy Roosevelt is back in Latin America, and it's not a pretty sight. Despite repeatedly warning against the pitfalls of turning away from our own hemisphere, Congress is nonetheless rapidly lining up behind an updated version of Roosevelt's credo, urging the United States to "speak loudly and carry a whip." Exhibit A: the trade agenda. President Bush's power to "fast-track" trade deals has expired, without much hope for renewal before 2009. The current round of World Trade Organization talks is moribund, thus killing any possibility for a revival of Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations.

An opportunity to buy emerging-market stocks is likely to surface within a few weeks as nervous investors continue to flee from risky stocks, experts say. But analysts are warning investors not to be too eager to overindulge now. With emerging markets down about 10 percent, analysts say it would not be surprising for the stocks to tumble another 10 percent or 15 percent. Long term, they are confident that emerging markets - developing areas of the world in Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia - will be among the world's most profitable investments.

ARMENIA, Colombia -- When the massive seismic waves subsided last week, the residents of the impoverished warrens in the south of this town could barely find an unchipped brick to salvage. But in the north, in what passes for the ritzy uptown of this city of 300,000, there were condominiums and apartments with hardly a crack.The town hit by the 6.0-magnitude earthquake is split by a socioeconomic fault line between the poor, who build where they can with materials at hand, and the more wealthy, whose housing was built with more care, under stricter codes.

Sun, local media eluded local protest against trade groupOn Nov. 30, a large, peaceful protest was held at the World Trade Center in Baltimore against the World Trade Organization (WTO) to coincide with the demonstrations in Seattle against the WTO.In freezing weather, about 120 people rallied to oppose the WTO. The media was informed in advance with press releases. So where were they?The Sun did not send a reporter. Channels 2 and 45 did not come. On the 11 p.m. news on Channels 2 and 11, I saw coverage of the Seattle demonstrations, but not of the demonstration here.

U.S. manufacturing expanded in February for the first time in nine months, adding fuel to an economy benefiting from rising incomes and increased construction spending. The National Association of Purchasing Management's factory index, released last week, rose to 52.4 in February -- from 49.5 the month before -- as production, orders and hiring gained. It was the best reading since April's 52.5.Does this mean, as some economists proclaimed, that the manufacturing slowdown is over? Or are the problems of Asia, Latin America and a slowing Europe still lurking in the wings?

YORK, Pa. -- York International Corp., the world's largest industrial-refrigeration company, said yesterday that it will shut three European plants and cut 1,200 jobs, and it warned that third-quarter earnings will fall short of estimates because of weaker sales in Latin America and the integration of an acquisition.York said it will earn 65 cents to 70 cents a share in the third quarter. It was expected to earn 95 cents, the average estimate of three analysts surveyed by First Call.Fourth-quarter earnings will also be below forecasts, the company said.

The world's financial markets were sent into a tailspin yesterday when Brazil's top financial official resigned unexpectedly and his successor devalued the country's currency by 7.6 percent.Economists feared that the latest troubles of Latin America's largest economy could spread to other countries in the region -- and to the United States, which has substantial export and financial interests in Brazil.The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 260 points in the first half-hour of trading after the announcement that Brazilian Central Bank chief Gustavo Franco had stepped down, and his replacement, Francisco Lopes, would allow the Brazilian currency, the real, to trade in a wider band against the dollar.

Palo Alto, Calif. -President Barack Obama has encouraged Americans to start laying a new foundation for the country - on a number of fronts. He has stressed that we'll need to have the courage to make some hard choices. One of those hard choices is how to handle immigration. The U.S. must get serious about the tide of legal and illegal immigrants, above all from Latin America. It's not just a short-run issue of immigrants competing with citizens for jobs as unemployment approaches 10 percent, or the number of uninsured straining the quality of healthcare.

The Purple One to reign at Target Prince is coming to a Target near you. The superstar is releasing a three-disc set through the retailer at the end of this month. The set will include two new albums as well as one by his new artist, Bria Valente, for $11.98. Prince is just the latest entertainer to release new music exclusively through a major retailer. AC/DC and the Eagles were among the acts who sold millions of CDs through their partnership with Wal-Mart. The CD set will be on sale at Target and its Web site on March 29. Honoring Milk Fresh from his best actor Oscar for his performance as Harvey Milk, Sean Penn is pushing California to officially recognize the late gay politician's birthday.

Does the United States need a "truth commission" to uncover wrongdoing committed by the Bush administration in the war on terror? Yes, says Democratic Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont. This month, he proposed a process to do just that. "Many Americans feel we need to get to the bottom of what went wrong," he said. "We need to be able to read the page before we turn the page." But many in Washington bristle at the idea. "If every administration started to re-examine what every prior administration did, there would be no end to it," said Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Iran, the ultimate mischief maker with global reach, astounding patience, a shameless marriage to mayhem and terrorism, and interests that fall squarely in opposition to those of the United States, is making major diplomatic inroads under Washington's nose. It's amazing, really. Iran, after all, is regarded by most of the world as an outlaw country. Sanctions are in place on much of its military-industrial complex, and international loan guarantees are virtually impossible to come by. The Iranian economy is in tatters.

As Martin Davidoff trekked through the blazing heat of Mexico's Sonora Desert in the spring, he carried the migration papers of his grandfather, who came to the United States a century ago to escape religious persecution in his native Russia. Although Davidoff, a college mathematics teacher, has never known what it's like to flee a country in search of a better life, he kept the papers in his pocket as a reminder of the personal connection he had to the Migrant Trail Walk that he had decided to undergo.

Xiomara Flores gripped the ends of her powder-blue guipil, a handmade traditional Nicaraguan dress adorned with colorful embroidery. She pattered gracefully as she swayed to the sounds of the marimba, a percussion instrument often featured in Latin American music. For Flores and the three other women who performed traditional Nicaraguan dances at the Meeting House in Oakland Mills last week, the event signified much more than an artistic showcasing. It was an opportunity to share a piece of their lives.

Ana Maria R. Codas, author, activist and former Spanish professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, died Tuesday of complications from pneumonia. She was 86. Born Ana Maria Recalde, in Asuncion, Paraguay, she was an only child raised by her mother after her father died when she was 7 months old. Those difficult early days helped shape her lifelong commitment to people of modest means and a belief in the power of education, said her husband, Enrique Codas. After attending the National University in Paraguay, one of her first jobs was as a teacher and principal in a small school in Villarrica, Paraguay, made out of adobe and wood.

Black & Decker Corp. said yesterday that it will lay off 700 employees and close a U.S. plant and office after its first-quarter earnings were hammered by the prolonged housing slump and subprime mortgage crisis. The Towson-based manufacturer of power tools and hardware said earnings plummeted 38 percent and that it only expected conditions to worsen, prompting it to lower its forecast for the year. Until now, the company has managed to largely ride out the housing downturn by offsetting lower U.S. sales with double-digit growth in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Juan Carlos Arcila-Duque chokes up slightly when he recalls "The Sanctuary House" featured in his new book, Latin Style (Thomas Nelson, $24.95). Although the Miami Beach, Fla.-based decorator visited a home a day for 34 days in his styling and photo trip throughout Latin America, it was this finca, or farm-Style, Pueblo house in Pereira, Colombia, that touched his heart. The house, with a beautiful view of the mountains and colorful rocking chairs on the veranda, was almost empty except for a pair of iron beds.

Fidel Castro is stepping down? As Dorothy Parker said upon hearing of the death of President Calvin Coolidge, how can you tell? The bearded one lost most of his relevancy for us "yanquis" long ago. He once loomed large in the lives of baby boomers as we crouched under our desks in "duck-and-cover" drills, terrified of his nuclear-tipped Russian missiles. To today's youths, Mr. Castro is so last century. Even in Miami and Havana, the response to Mr. Castro's retirement is reported to be remarkably ho-hum.