NotiSur - Latin American Political Affairs
August 16, 1996
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L A T I N A M E R I C A D A T A B A S E
NotiSur - Latin American Affairs
ISSN 1060-4189 Volume 6, Number 31 August 16, 1996
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Copyright 1996, Latin America Data Base (LADB), Latin
American Institute, University of New Mexico
Director: Nelson Valdes
Associate director: Roma Arellano
Managing editor: Kevin Robinson
Staff writers:
Patricia Hynds, Carlos Navarro, Robert Sandels
In This Issue:
REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS PROMOTE RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
& INTEGRATION PROJECTS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
ARGENTINA: INVESTIGATION REPORT ON 1992 BOMBING
OF ISRAELI EMBASSY BRINGS ANGRY REACTION
ECUADOR: SIXTO DURAN BALLEN TURNS OVER
PRESIDENCY TO SUCCESSOR ABDALA BUCARAM
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GENERAL
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REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS PROMOTE RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
& INTEGRATION PROJECTS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
In early August, representatives of 34 countries from
around the hemisphere met in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to promote
the use of renewable sources of energy and to coordinate
energy production and consumption in the region. The
conference discussions were aimed at hammering out an agenda
for the next Summit of the Americas, which will be held in
Bolivia Dec. 7-8. The upcoming summit will focus on promoting
clean and renewable energy sources as a basis for sustainable
development in the region.
At the December 1994 Summit of the Americas in Miami--
which brought together the heads of state of 34 countries in
the hemisphere for the first time in nearly three decades--the
presidents and prime ministers adopted a series of economic
and social accords, the most important of which was to create
a hemispherewide free-trade zone by the year 2005 (see
Chronicle of Latin American Economic Affairs, 12/15/94). As
an essential step toward economic integration, the governments
also agreed to pool their energy resources to ensure that all
countries in the hemisphere have access to adequate and clean
supplies of fuel to permit sustained growth and development.
Given this presidential mandate, the ministers of energy
and representatives from state institutes in North and South
America met on two occasions in 1995 to begin discussing
regional energy development. On October 30-31 of last year,
representatives participated in the first Hemispheric
Symposium on Energy in Washington, D.C. The symposium was
followed by a three-day conference of energy ministers and
representatives in Ecuador Nov. 9-11.
At the Ecuador conference, which was sponsored by the 26-
member Organizacion Latinoamericana de Energia (OLADE), the
participating governments agreed in principle to construct
integrated electric grids throughout the hemisphere in the
short to medium term. They also agreed to promote development
projects that exploit clean and renewable energy resources,
particularly the use of hydroelectric plants, solar energy,
and natural gas in place of the highly contaminating fossil
fuels that are currently used in the region.
The Ecuador conference paved the way for the latest
meeting of energy ministers and representatives, held July 31-
Aug. 2 in Bolivia. At the gathering, the participants
reviewed eight energy-related themes:
* investment promotion in the energy sector;
* use of clean technology;
* an integrated regulatory system in the hemisphere;
* promotion of energy efficiency;
* the use of natural gas to replace other fossil fuels;
* planning and implementation of joint energy projects;
* petroleum production and consumption; and
* rural electricity programs.
Although the participants agreed on recommendations for
energy development, the overriding conclusion of the
conference was that the promotion of clean and renewable
sources of energy is urgent for economic and social progress.
"From now on, energy development must be based on clean
and efficient resources, which we consider an essential
prerequisite for sustainable development in the hemisphere,"
reads a declaration signed by the participants at the close of
the conference. "All efforts to satisfy energy demand must be
based on minimizing the costs to the environment to guarantee
the livelihood of current and future generations."
Indeed, speakers at the conference stressed that
environmental protection must constitute the hallmark for
energy development in the region.
"Through our actions now, we are defining the future that
will be inherited by our children's children," said Bolivian
President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, who inaugurated the
conference. "God always forgives; human beings, sometimes;
but nature, never."
Bolivia hopes to play a central role in energy
integration in the hemisphere. At the conference, the Sanchez
de Lozada administration proposed to make Bolivia the
principal conduit for natural gas distribution in the Southern
Cone.
According to Bolivia's Ministry of Energy, the government
has done enough drilling to verify 5.2 billion cubic feet of
gas, which means that the country's natural gas reserves
surpass Bolivian crude oil reserves by a 4-to-1 ratio. As a
result, Bolivia is already supplying natural gas to Argentina
and some other neighbors, and it is now completing contracts
to construct immense pipelines to pump natural gas from
Bolivia to Brazil, Paraguay, and Chile.
Before the end of this year, construction will begin on
a 3,500 km pipeline that will link Bolivia's gas fields in the
eastern department of Santa Cruz with Brazil's six southern
states. Once completed, the pipeline will be the longest in
Latin America, eventually allowing Bolivia to supply more than
16 million cubic meters of natural gas per day to Brazil (see
Chronicle, 08/25/94, 10/20/94, 11/10/94, and 02/02/95).
In addition, the Sanchez de Lozada administration is now
negotiating contracts with Peru and Argentina that will permit
Bolivia to use its pipelines to sell natural gas from those
countries to Brazil and to other nations in the Southern Cone.
Similar integrated energy projects will form the backbone
of the recommendations that the ministers will place on the
agenda for the next presidential summit in December. In
particular, the ministers will emphasize the need for
bilateral and multilateral energy integration schemes that
allow countries with abundant resources to meet the energy
demands of their neighbors.
"Only by developing greater sources of cheap, clean, and
nonpolluting energy will it be possible to promote sustainable
development," said OLADE executive secretary Francisco
Gutierrez. "Those countries that have abundant hydroelectric
resources, for example, have to take advantage of them to
generate enough energy for their own development and for the
development of their neighbors. The Latin American and
Caribbean countries have a huge surplus of energy reserves
relative to consumption, but we need an aggressive, integrated
strategy to coordinate supply and demand."
The energy ministers plan to meet again in Argentina in
mid-September to hammer out proposals for the presidential
summit. The specific recommendations will likely include an
agreement to urge multilateral lending institutions to make
funding energy-integration projects a "development priority."
In addition, the ministers will recommend that regional
governments make the commitment to promote energy development
in rural areas, where OLADE estimates that there is a 45%
deficiency rate, compared with 30% in urban areas.
"The supply of energy in rural areas is an unpostponable
necessity given its impact on sustainable human development,
poverty alleviation, employment generation, and environmental
protection," reads the ministerial declaration approved at the
latest conference in August. (Sources: Reuter, 11/11/95,
08/01/96, 08/02/96, 08/05/96; Inter Press Service, 08/03/96,
08/05/96; Agence France-Presse, 10/30/95, 10/31/95, 11/02/95,
11/09/95, 12/07/95, 12/26/95, 03/06/96, 06/23/96, 07/20/96,
07/28/96, 07/30/96, 07/31/96, 08/01-03/96, 08/05/96, 08/08/96,
08/13/96)
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ARGENTINA
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ARGENTINA: INVESTIGATION REPORT ON 1992 BOMBING
OF ISRAELI EMBASSY BRINGS ANGRY REACTION
On Aug. 14, more than four years after an explosion
destroyed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, the Supreme
Court (Corte Supremo de Justicia, CSJ) released a report on
the incident, which did little to satisfy either the Jewish
community or Israeli officials. A technical report on the
investigation, which had been commissioned by the court, cast
serious doubt on the prevailing assumption that the 1992 blast
was the result of a car-bomb driven by a suicide-bomber.
These findings, however, brought an angry response and
indignation from Israeli officials and Jewish leaders, who saw
it as a smokescreen to cover the failure of the government to
solve the crime.
The bombing, which took place March 17, 1992, killed 29
people. Another hundred individuals were seriously injured.
The case is still under investigation by Israeli agents and by
Argentine authorities.
Immediately after the incident, the Supreme Court assumed
responsibility for the investigation, but it has so far been
unable to determine who carried out the bombing.
In its statement, Argentina's highest court announced
that a team of experts from the National Academy of
Engineering determined "with 99% certainty" that the bomb
exploded "within the embassy." The announcement only gave the
results of the investigation and did not explain how the
engineers arrived at the conclusion.
Following the official announcement, court official
Guillermo Lopez also said that the investigation had
ascertained that the explosives had been located on the first
floor of the diplomatic headquarters.
"The engineers established, with 99% certainty, the exact
location where the explosives were and the quantity that was
used," said Lopez.
However, the publication of the report brought an
immediate angry response from the Israeli ambassador in
Argentina, Yitzhak Aviran, who said experts from the secret
services in Argentina, France, Israel, and the US had all
concluded that the explosion occurred outside the embassy.
"This seems very strange to me," said Aviran. "I have
the impression that the Supreme Court is trying to justify the
lack of effectiveness of its four-year investigation."
In a television conversation between CSJ president Julio
Nazareno and Aviran, Nazareno stressed that the results of the
investigation did not end the matter.
"This is not a report of the court nor a definitive
hypothesis," said Nazareno. "It is only the preliminary
conclusion of the Argentine experts who worked on the case."
Nazareno also said it did not imply the embassy was at
fault.
"This does not mean that there are accusations against
the Embassy of Israel or the Israeli government," said
Nazareno. "It only deals with the means that the delinquents
used to commit the crime."
However, Israeli officials continued to object to the
report and to the government's failure to solve the case.
"We appreciate the effort that the Supreme Court has at
last demonstrated in the case, but we believe that they have
unfortunately spent their energy in a futile attempt to make
a technical verification," said In Heiman, press secretary for
the Israeli diplomatic mission in Argentina.
Several members of the Jewish community in Buenos Aires
also pointed out that the conclusion of the team of engineers
contradicts evidence and other opinions.
"According to the material evidence, the explosion that
destroyed the diplomatic mission occurred outside the
building, not inside," one source close to the embassy said.
"The chances are almost 100% that it was caused by a car-
bomb."
Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, the Israeli Foreign Ministry
also rejected the findings and complained about the slowness
with which the investigation has been carried out.
"We categorically reject the conclusion of the Supreme
Court," said the communique from the Foreign Ministry. "And,
in any case, we request that the investigation continue with
greater effort."
The embassy explosion is not the only unsolved bombing
against Jewish targets in Buenos Aires. Twenty-eight months
after the embassy was destroyed, a car-bomb exploded in front
of a Jewish center (Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina,
AMIA), killing 86 people. That incident is also still under
investigation.
The Jewish community in Argentina is almost unanimous in
accepting the opinion of the international experts that the
embassy blast occurred outside the building and was the result
of a car-bomb, probably the work of a suicide-bomber. In
addition, most Israeli officials are convinced that Irani
terrorists are responsible for both the embassy blast and the
destruction of the AMIA.
Despite the pledge by President Carlos Saul Menem to find
those responsible for the bombings and other anti-Semitic acts
in recent years, little progress has been made. Accusations
from various groups have implicated both right- and left-wing
extremists within Argentina, anti-Semitic factions within the
military and the police, and neonazi groups, as well as
international terrorists.
However, after years of investigation, few arrests have
been made. Recently, three police were charged with being
accessories for providing the car that was used in the AMIA
bombing.
After a rash of bomb threats and attacks in April, the
opposition Union Civica Radical (UCR) charged that "the
climate of public insecurity" that exists in Argentina has its
origin in "the growing disintegration of power" within the
Menem administration.
"It is absolutely undeniable that the government has been
unable to solve any of these cases, from the bombing of the
Israeli Embassy and the AMIA to the most recent bomb threats,"
said Rodolfo Terragno, UCR president. (Sources: Agence
France-Presse, 04/12/96, 08/01/96, 08/13/96, 08/14/96; Spanish
news service EFE, 08/13/96, 08/14/96; Reuter, 08/14/96)
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ECUADOR
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ECUADOR: SIXTO DURAN BALLEN TURNS OVER
PRESIDENCY TO SUCCESSOR ABDALA BUCARAM
On August 10, Abdala Bucaram Ortiz of the Partido
Roldocista Ecuatoriano (PRE) became Ecuador's 39th president,
the fifth since Ecuador returned to democratic rule in 1979.
His four-year term will end in the year 2000. The new
president began his term by issuing several decrees, including
a controversial state of emergency to combat delinquency.
Shortly before turning the reins of government over to his
successor, outgoing president Sixto Duran Ballen assessed the
achievements of his administration in his final address to the
nation.
In his third attempt at winning the presidency, the 44-
year-old Bucaram defeated opponent Jaime Nebot in a runoff
election on July 7, taking 54.5% of the vote to Nebot's 45.5%
(see NotiSur, 07/12/96). Lawyer Rosalia Arteaga was elected
vice president, the first woman to hold that position.
Bucaram, a lawyer and the former mayor of Guayaquil, is
considered an able politician, although he is often erratic
and describes himself as "a little crazy." Bucaram founded
the PRE after the 1981 death of his brother-in-law, former
president Jamie Roldos Aguilera, in a suspicious plane crash.
Bucaram has a crusader's sense of morality and is
convinced that he can eradicate corruption, which, he says,
"corrodes the intestines of the state."
During his populist campaign, Bucaram offered massive
housing programs, employment, and education, as well as better
distribution of wealth. However, that populist style could
increase the serious problems he faces as his begins his term
by raising unrealistic expectations.
Among the new president's most difficult problems will be
relations with Congress. The administration will have to form
working alliances with opposition parties to implement its
programs, since the PRE has only 19 of the 82 seats in the
unicameral Congress, behind the Partido Social Cristiano (PSC)
with 27 seats. Bucaram has promised to end the domination of
government by a ruling elite, and, not surprisingly, signs
have already appeared that the president's honeymoon with
Congress may be short-lived.
"The historic day has arrived in which the poor will have
complete access to the leadership of the state," said Bucaram
in his inaugural speech. "It is the birth of a popular
government and the end of the hegemony of the oligarchies."
In addition to eliminating corruption, Bucaram promised
to end subsidies and bring healthy and equitable development
to the country. He said that he would allocate 30% of the
budget to education.
"Education in Ecuador will be profoundly changed to
democratize it, improve it, and decentralize it in preparation
for the turn of the century," said Bucaram. "We will bring
education to the most dispossessed sectors of the people,
those affected by the illiteracy rate that, according to the
most reliable official statistics, has reached 36%."
Bucaram said he will propose a renegotiation of the
foreign debt, calculated at US$14 billion, but he credited the
outgoing administration with policies that "allowed foreign
investment to come into the country."
Meanwhile, before he left office, outgoing president
Sixto Duran Ballen gave his last address to the nation in
which he also counted increased foreign investment among the
successes of a term in office permeated by scandals and
battles with Congress.
Duran Ballen said he was leaving office with "a healthy
and stable economy and a strong foundation on which to build
the welfare of the majority...but most of all, a free country,
a democratic country, a sovereign country."
In his evaluation, Duran Ballen stressed his economic
achievements. He said hard currency reserves, which remained
below US$225 million when he took office, topped US$1.6
billion by the end of his term, and the fiscal deficit was
reduced from 7.1% of GDP to about 1% during that period. But
Duran Ballen said his greatest accomplishment was reducing
annual inflation from 60% in 1992 to an expected 22.8% this
year.
"Faced with chronic instability that increased tensions
and fueled the crisis, we implemented economic reforms through
the use of adequate monetary, fiscal, and exchange policies,"
said Duran Ballen.
While Duran Ballen's rigid neoliberal economic reforms
increased economic stability in macroeconomic terms, most
analysts say he will be remembered as weak and indecisive. He
was never able to fully implement his policies because of his
constant battles with the opposition Congress and with
organized labor. His administration was also plagued by
corruption scandals involving members of his family and his
administration. His most difficult moment came when his vice
president, Alberto Dahik, fled the country to avoid
prosecution, asking for political asylum in Costa Rica (see
NotiSur, 09/01/95, 10/13/95, 04/26/96).
"Neither all positive nor all negative," said Alberto
Acosta, consultant at the Latin American Institute of Social
Research (ILDIS), referring to Duran Ballen's presidency.
"There were many shades of gray."
In fact, the nation that Duran Ballen turns over to
Bucaram has serious social problems, including high levels of
poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, and a serious housing
shortage.
According to a recent World Bank study, 1.2 million of
Ecuador's 11 million people live in abject poverty, and
another 600,000 are considered in danger of falling into that
condition. In addition, 20% of the economically active
population (EAP) is unemployed and another 60% is
underemployed.
Many analysts believe that the series of structural
adjustment policies implemented in Ecuador since the early
1980s, along with the accompanying high unemployment and
poverty, is the principal reason for the weakened
governability of recent years.
However, widespread corruption and the politicization of
most institutions are also factors. Former president Osvaldo
Hurtado, now head of the Corporation of Development Studies,
warned that Bucaram will face a political scene in which "the
parties have not fulfilled their public responsibilities
because of their weakness and volatility, which will continue
to make prospects difficult for democratic governability."
Meanwhile, just before his inauguration, Bucaram
announced his cabinet, which lines up as follows:
* Interior - Frank Vargas
* Foreign Relations - Galo Leoro
* National Defense - Victor Manuel Bayas
* Presidency - Miguel Salem
* Finance - Pablo Concha
* Industry and Foreign Trade - Jorge Marun
* Energy and Mines - Alfredo Adum
* Agriculture and Livestock - Hugo Encalada
* Public Works and Communications - Vicente Estrada
* Social Welfare - Adolfo Bucaram
* Labor and Human Resources - Guadalupe Leon
* Education and Culture - Sandra Correa
* Tourism - Napoleon Icaza
* Health - Marcelo Cruz
* Housing and Urban Development - Victor Sicouret
Bucaram wasted no time in meeting with the new Cabinet
and setting the tone for his administration. In what he
referred to as "a call of solidarity with the poor," Bucaram
announced the elimination of a long-standing subsidy for
domestic propane gas, used by millions of Ecuadorans in their
homes and businesses.
"It is absolutely necessary to eliminate subsidies such
as the gas subsidy, 80% of which favors the powerful sectors
in Ecuador, because the poor need housing," said Bucaram.
On the contrary, however, the measure has received strong
criticism from those who say the cut represents an unfair cost
directly shouldered by the poor. It is fueling opposition
from some civic and labor groups who accuse Bucaram of
promising to do much for the poor, while, in practice, doing
the opposite. Many of his critics say Bucaram is unlikely to
do much for the less advantaged sectors of society "because he
also belongs to the oligarchy."
In several other early decisions, Bucaram also decreed a
state of emergency, militarized customs operations, and
devalued the currency.
The state of national emergency was imposed to combat
rising levels of street crime and delinquency and "guarantee
the peace and tranquility of citizens." Through the measure,
police operations will be subordinated to the armed forces
high command and the military will be authorized to patrol the
streets.
The decision brought mixed reactions. Luis Alberto Luna
Tobar, archbishop of Cuenca, warned about the dangers of
"state terrorism," and said the greatest emergency in Ecuador
is injustice.
Referring to remarks by Government Minister Frank Vargas,
in which he called the criminals "terrorists," Luna Tobar said
it was an abusive use of language intended to frighten people
so they would not protest the state of emergency. The
archbishop said the answer to delinquency comes first from
providing dignified work and a solid home.
However, the rector of the Universidad del Azuay, Mario
Jaramillo, said, "There has to be a response to the public's
demand for greater security." While admitting the danger that
the state of emergency could bring abuses from the
authorities, "something for which we have a propensity in this
country," he was optimistic that measures would be taken to
prevent such abuses.
The militarization of customs operations was authorized
to end tax evasion on imports and contraband operations,
according to representatives of the administration.
"Customs has been synonymous with corruption at all
levels," said assistant director of customs, Carlos Hidalgo.
"It is amazing how much both formal and informal businesses
have evaded customs duties for years."
In explaining the currency devaluation, Central Bank
administrator Augusto de la Torre said the 8% devaluation of
the sucre "was necessary to minimize uncertainty and end
speculation" that was occurring in the financial sector
following Bucaram's election. [Sources: Inter Press Service,
08/07/96; Spanish news service EFE, 08/06/96, 08/11/96,
08/12/96; Reuter, 07/06/96, 07/07/96, 08/08/96, 08/09/96,
08/14/96; Agence France-Presse, 08/08-10/96, 08/14/96; Hoy
(Quito), 08/12-14/96]
