LATIN AMERICAN YEARENDER 2009/REVIEW OF THE YEAR: Tragedy over the Atlantic, H1N1 panic and a coup in Honduras mark the first half of 2009 for Latin America - PART 1

Record ID: 585040

  • Title: LATIN AMERICAN YEARENDER 2009/REVIEW OF THE YEAR: Tragedy over the Atlantic, H1N1 panic and a coup in Honduras mark the first half of 2009 for Latin America - PART 1
  • Date: 18th December 2009
  • Summary: CROWD SHOUTING CHAVEZ CAMPAIGN SLOGAN: "HEH-HO - CHAVEZ WILL NOT GO" GENERAL VIEW OF CELEBRATIONS AT PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
  • Embargoed: 2nd January 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADYTOZ4PH5KGGUZCCEZH98KYVG
  • Story Text: The first half of Latin America's 2009 is marked by constitutional reforms in Venezuela and Bolivia, an historic presidential win in El Salvador, a mysterious plane crash over the Atlantic, the rapid spread of H1N1 and a coup in Honduras.
    A blaze of fireworks over Rio de Janeiro rang in 2009, heralding a year for Latin America that would see bloodshed consume Mexico, Hugo Chavez press on with his revolution, and a little-known Central American president rise to international headlines.
    The New Year opened in Havana, banners and flags festooning the city as Cubans commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution. The revolution's own iconic leader, Fidel Castro, was glaringly absent from the festivities though, leaving younger brother, fellow revolutionary and current president Raul to lead the celebration.
    He recalled the past five decades of Cuba's history and looked ahead to the coming years.
    "When we commemorate this half century of victories, a reflection on the future is necessary - on the next fifty years which will also be those of permanent struggle," he said.
    The audience honoured the ailing Fidel with a resounding cheer of "Viva Fidel!", little suspecting the changes to U.S.-Cuban relations which lay in store later in the year.
    Down in Argentina, ralliers revved their engines for the January start of the 31st Dakar Rally, held for the first time in South America. Motorcyclists, quad, car and truck drivers sped, slid and spun their way through 15 grueling stages that took them across gravel roads, desert sand dunes and rugged paths. Spain's Marc Coma won the bike category, the Czech Republic's Josef Machacek won the quads, South African Giniel De Villiers took the cars and Russian Firdaus Kabirov won the truck category. Rally fans lined the route, shouting and cheering, ensuring the Dakar's return to South America in 2010.
    A more somber scene, however, dominated Argentina's northeastern province of Santa Fe as the country's most severe drought since 1961 killed off thousands of head of cattle. Day after day, a scorching sun baked the land, drying up water sources and destroying corn and wheat crops. As the year went on, farmers found relief in the occasional spit of rain, but admit they're still struggling.
    South America's year took a turn toward politics at the end of January when Bolivians voted in favour of constitutional changes that allowed President Evo Morales to run for re-election. The referendum passed with 60 percent support, coming mostly from Morales' indigenous base. Approval of the reforms set Morales up to take another shot at the presidency in a December election that would see him leading Bolivia for another five years.
    Over in Colombia, a Brazilian helicopter choppered into a rebel-occupied jungle region to pick up a handful of hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Colombian opposition Senator Piedad Cordoba, a familiar face on the rescue missions, led the delegation as she sat down with FARC rebels and hostages. Three captive police officers and a soldier won their freedom on February 1. Two days later, the FARC released a former Colombian governor, and on February 5, local legislator Sigifredo Lopez was freed. Lopez was one of 12 lawmakers kidnapped from a state assembly building in 2002 and the only survivor after the other 11 were fatally shot amid circumstances that remain uncertain. Lopez's grim days of captivity appeared to be momentarily forgotten though as he stepped off the helicopter and was nearly knocked over by embraces from his two sons, who were just children when he was captured. The releases prompted speculation the weakened rebel group would free more hostages to build political leverage for Latin America's oldest insurgency, but the year saw no others.
    Onto Mexico, where the drug gang warfare plaguing the country exploded in early February with 21 killed in heavy gun battles between Mexican soldiers and drug cartel hitmen. The year's first major battle broke out amid a snowstorm in the northern state of Chihuahua, after gangsters dragged nine people, including some police officers, out of houses and shot six of them at a nearby ranch. Troops pursued the hitmen through the freezing desert on foot and by helicopter onto the ranch where they fatally shot several. The ongoing drug war showed no signs of abating, with more than 14,000 people killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched an army-led assault on cartels in late 2006.
    In Venezuela, Hugo Chavez barreled onto the 2009 scene with a clear referendum victory allowing him to seek re-election indefinitely. Chavez's faithful thronged the Miraflores presidential palace on February 15, celebrating the win with fireworks and the steadfast chant: "Heh-ho, Chavez will not go." The Venezuelan leader addressed the crowds from the palace balcony, buoying his supporters and defying his detractors.
    "And I say to Venezuela and to the world, that here are the people of Simon Bolivar raising the flags of dignity, winning the dignity of the homeland," he said.
    The victory tasted even sweeter to Chavez, coming after he had lost a similar referendum proposal in 2007 and had worked to solidify his position in the face of a fracturing opposition movement.
    It was all politics aside though in Brazil as the samba dancers shimmied their way through the streets of Rio, dedicating five days to the world's most extravagant Carnival celebration. From the whirl of sequins and confetti, pounding drums and pulsating bodies, the samba school Salgueiro emerged as the 2009 winner, breaking a 15-year losing streak with a acrobat-inspired show on the history of the drum.
    A far grimmer scene dominated the streets of Mexico's violence-plagued border city of Ciudad Juarez at the end of February as thousands of soldiers streamed into the area. The deployment of some 5,000 troops and federal police aimed to reinforce units already there, struggling to restore law and order. By many accounts, however, their presence did little to curb the violence throughout the year. In December, thousands of exasperated residents marched against the troops, some even saying the escalation had contributed to the surge in drug gang warfare.
    As if to prove their point, barely a week after the soldiers' arrival, a riot between drug gangs broke out at a jail near Ciudad Juarez, leaving at least 20 dead. Military helicopters circled the facility and police clad in riot gear moved in, ultimately cuffing dozens of inmates as they worked to restore order.
    On March 15, El Salvador made history, electing the country's first president from the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, more popularly known as the FMLN. Mauricio Funes, a former television journalist, won 51.3 percent of the vote against 48.7 percent for the ruling conservative ARENA party. It was a momentous victory for the left in a nation where memories of the 1980-92 civil war between the FMLN - then seen as a left-wing insurgency - and the right-wing government hangs heavy over politics. Funes was a familiar face on TV, who had covered the war as a young journalist. Despite representing the FMLN, he is often identified as center-left, calling himself a pro-business moderate who will maintain El Salvador's close ties with Washington.
    One month later in Peru, former President Alberto Fujimori faced some grim news when a judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison for ordering two massacres that killed 25 people in the 1990s. The 70-year-old Fujimori took the news in stony-faced silence, but his children spoke out against it. His daughter Keiko, a popular lawmaker and 2011 presidential candidate, led thousands in a vigil to support her father who was still drawing significant support despite the verdict.
    Meanwhile, another historic change marked 2009 when U.S. President Barack Obama opened a crack in a decades-old U.S. embargo against Cuba, lifting restrictions on family ties to the island and allowing American telecommunications firms to start providing service for Cubans. In a major shift from the Bush administration's hard-line approach to Havana, Obama ended limits on family travel and money transfers to their homeland by Cubans in the United States. The moves by the White House do not eliminate Washington's trade embargo against Cuba, set up 47 years ago, but they do hold out the prospect for improving relations between the two longtime foes.
    On the heels of his Cuba announcement, Obama made his first foray into Latin America as president when he headed down to Mexico to meet with President Felipe Calderon. He was welcomed with the usual official pomp and circumstance and cheers from the crowds. A few small scattered groups protested, but the demos paled in comparison to the flag-burning, barricade-bashing hordes that had greeted the last visit of U.S. President George W. Bush in 2008. During his trip, Obama pledged strong support for Mexico's fight against the drug cartels and discussed energy and economic cooperation with Calderon in an effort to improve relations with Mexico, which many believe deteriorated during the Bush years.
    Then it was onward to Trinidad for Obama as he set off for the Summit of the Americas. Little did he know then that a simple handshake with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez would grab headlines and lead-off newscasts throughout the world. Early in the summit, Chavez presented Obama with a book, "The Open Veins of Latin America" by left-wing Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano. Obama accepted the gift with a smile. Addressing Obama directly during the plenary session, Chavez told him in English: "I want to be your friend." The greeting drew applause from the other leaders. Following the summit, Obama won praise for offering a closer friendship with Latin American and Caribbean leaders, but they also urged him to end the U.S. embargo against Cuba.
    May broke with a smattering of swine flu cases in Mexico, which quickly resulted in many deaths. Within weeks, the issue catapulted to the level of international crisis, becoming more widely know as H1N1. Throughout the world, passengers arriving to destinations by plane from Mexico were scrutinized, sometimes quarantined, as a global panic spread. In Mexico City, men, women and children donned surgical face masks as the virus killed 44 people in the country by May 7. The Mexican government ordered a five-day national lockdown of non-essential businesses while the Metro system and many businesses received a thorough - and sometimes double or triple - cleansing. Even Mexico City's world-renowned National Anthropology Museum shut down temporarily. By June though, the worst of the scare had passed and life returned to normal - if somewhat more disinfected - in many parts of Mexico.
    Tragedy over the Atlantic Ocean on June 1 when Air France flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed, killing all 228 people on board. The plane's initial disappearance was a brief mystery and the details surrounding the crash remained unclear, though investigators said evidence from the wreckage indicated the plane was destroyed by impact with the water, which it struck facing downwards. Despite months of searching, the black boxes were never found. By the end of July, only a small amount of wreckage from the Airbus A330 and fewer than a quarter of the bodies had been recovered.
    Chaos ruled the streets of the northern Peruvian city Bagua in early June as clashes broke out between indigenous protesters and police during protests against government plans for large-scale energy projects deep in the rainforest. At least 34 people, including demonstrators and police, died in the violence. The administration of President Alan Garcia came under heavy criticism for the incident, ultimately resulting in the resignation of Prime Minister Yehude Simon.
    As winter settled in down south, H1N1 made a repeat appearance in Argentina. As in Mexico, mask-clad residents made their way throughout Buenos Aires, washing their hands and avoiding crowded places like shopping centres. Schools closed briefly and analysts worried that fears of catching the virus would take a toll on the tourism industry, slowing further Argentina's already lethargic economy. But like Mexico, the epidemic and the concern passed as winter eventually ended and summer began.
    Sunday, June 28 proved to be a pivotal day for Latin America - particularly for the small banana-exporting, coffee-producing, often-ignored Central American nation of Honduras. The sun had not yet risen when soldiers barged in on then-President Manuel Zelaya and took him from his residence, still wearing his pajamas. They whisked him to Costa Rica in a military plane while Congressional President Roberto Micheletti was sworn in as the country's de facto leader, pledging a free and fair election on November 29.
    U.S. President Barack Obama and the European Union expressed deep concern over the coup, which was Central America's first since the Cold War ended. The ouster was triggered by Zelaya, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, seeking to legalize a second run for the presidency. The mustachioed leader took office in 2006 and was limited by the constitution to a four-year term that was to end in early 2010. But he had angered the army, courts and Congress by pushing for an unofficial public vote on June 28 to gauge support for his plan to hold a November referendum on allowing presidential re-election.
    As Zelaya tried to absorb the turn of events in Costa Rica, all was not well back in Honduras. Some 2,000 pro-government protesters, some armed with shovels and metal poles, burned tires in front of the presidential palace, while two fighter jets roared through the sky over Tegucigalpa.
    Zelaya then set off on an intense travel schedule as he attempted to find his way back to Honduras. The day after the coup, he went to Nicaragua to shore up support from left-wing allies including Chavez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. Next, he flew to New York to address the United Nations.
    "They have the country in a state of shock. They have exhibited Honduras and they have committed a crime, a crime against humanity, a crime we all reject regardless of the country involved," he said.
    After that, it was onto Panama for the inauguration of President Ricardo Martinelli.
    Amid all the traveling, Zelaya was formulating a plan to return to Honduras which went into effect on July 5. That Sunday, the world's attention was focused on the capital Tegucigalpa as thousands of Zelaya supporters marched to the airport to greet him, despite hundreds of heavily armed police and troops vowing not to let the plane land. As the ousted president headed home, clashes broke out on the ground and soldiers sat on the runway. At least one person was killed and two badly wounded. Nerves remained on edge as Zelaya's plane came into view and circled the airport with the world wondering how the confrontation would go down.
    In the end, however, Zelaya and his delegation realized a successful return then and there would be impossible. The plane flew off, leaving behind a confused, angry and polarized country wondering what its future would hold.
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