Latin America is home to the "B" in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) quartet of leading emerging economies, but is still relatively small as a regional telecom service market, accounting for only 10 percent of total global revenues. A combination of large geographical size and population, economic resources, growth, telecom liberalization and investment are moving the market forward. Big international carriers such as Telefonica and BT certainly see the region’s potential with large acquisitions in the area.
Led by Miguel Angel Garay – CEO Central America, AMNET Telecommunications, a consortium of over fifty world telecom leaders united this week in Panama at the illustrious NGT Summit and outlined the ethos that innovation is the key to exploit the inevitable growth.
A committee set up by the NGT, featuring Pedro Planas, CTO Latin America, Telefonica Media; Humberto Roca, CTO, Antel; and Robert Masse, CTO, Telefonica Del Sur, gave their viewpoints on Latin America Market Environment, turning challenges into opportunity through innovation.
“Nowadays, service providers face a more and more challenging market environment.” Stated the panel “Current macroeconomic ecosystems, competitive pressures and more demanding customers push service providers to differentiate by being more innovative”.
But will integrating value-added services into their portfolios keep high efficiency and profitability levels as demanded by their shareholders? Or will it redistribute wealth to software developers as it has in more saturated markets such as Europe?
The consortium announced the importance of new technologies, such as the much talked about LTE to push the network and reduce the risk of operators being relegated to the sidelines as bit-pipe providers.
“A meeting such as this is crucial for the developing market in Latin America. Investment in new technologies and infrastructure in the region will increase employment and will send a strong message to foreign investors." Paul Southwell – Director for Latin America at the NGT Summit.
This is an exciting time for the region, and to capitalize on such growth opportunities requires the entire industry to pull together, and as such a secondary meeting has been agreed with the NGT Summit on May 11th 2010.Latin America is home to the "B" in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China)... more
Since 2006, McKesson has partnered with humanitarian organization World Vision to provide more than 175,000 World Vision Caregiver Kits to local community caregivers who care for those living with AIDS in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The Company's expertise and infrastructure in distributing medical-surgical supplies have allowed McKesson to negotiate dramatic discounts with suppliers on the kits' contents, passing these savings on to the community groups — schools, churches and businesses — that purchase materials and assemble the kits for World Vision to distribute in remote areas of developing countries.
Amid all the news out there this Monday morning (health care bills, awakened Ft. Hood shooters, menacing Gulf hurricanes, over-bonused bankers) this little gem caught my eye.
From the AP: Chavez to troops: Prepare for war with Colombia
"President Hugo Chavez ordered Venezuela's military on Sunday to prepare for a possible armed conflict with Colombia, saying the country's soldiers should be ready if the United States attempts to provoke a war between the South American neighbors. "The best way to avoid war is preparing for it," Chavez told military officers standing at attention during his weekly television and radio program."
Chavez is worried about the influence the US exerts over Colombia, their military cooperation, and argues that the Obama Administration could try to stir up a conflict between the two South American nations (because they're not busy enough?). From the Venezuelan perspective a new military pact between the US and Colombia threatens the region's stability.
"According to Francisco Javier Arias, deputy Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Colombia signed a pact with the U.S. allowing the Americans to freely use Colombian military bases and airports to secure the "continuity of the empire." "President Uribe is putting the region at risk to secure his re-election, dragging an elephant like the United States into a china shop, with the idea of solve problems that this northern country is not interested in," the official told Colombian Caracol Radio.
Chavez ordered 15,000 additional Venezuelan troops to the border. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe plans to appeal to the UN Security Council.
over 1200 youth gathered from all over Latin America for the International Conference of the Americas in the Dominican Republic last week.
Part Model UN, part UN conference, the students and guest speakers discuss salient topics in international development, the MDGs and share the challenges and successes associated with global issues.
Most notably, CILA took part in the "Seal the Deal" campaign for climate change - part of the UNs outreach program on climate related issues as they gather momentum for the Copenhagen Climate Change summit in December.
As part of an International Student Journalism program Tyler Batson (UCLA) and Sandra C. Roa (CUNY Journalism Grad School) produced this video to demonstrate how youth at the CILA 2009 conference are dealing with climate change issues.over 1200 youth gathered from all over Latin America for the International Conference... more
PCI-Media Impact, a New York-based non-profit with 25 years experience using communications for development, is initiating its sixth year of the My Community program on November 2 with an international training on Entertainment Education and Social Marketing in Lima, Peru.
The 32 selected participants – including radio hosts, journalists, community activists, and professors– representing Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, will participate in a five-day hands-on training and learn how to design, produce and broadcast entertaining radio soap operas that address urgent community needs.
“This year’s training promises to be one of the best,” said Media Impact Programs Director, Sean Southey. “Between staff, community activists and media leaders, and representatives of current My Community coalitions, we will have representatives from leading NGOs and grassroots social movements in Latin America coming together to discuss how to create global changes beginning at the local level.”
[From Yoani Sanchez's blog Generation Y, from Cuba]
No one knows the mechanisms of censorship in Cuba better than those who write in the few newspapers of national circulation. The press here has been turned into a delicate profession required to measure adjectives, carefully weigh topics and often to hide personal opinions in order to keep a job. It is a life decision to be a journalist for the official media, I know, but I also know some who have been trapped in the twists and turns of complicity, waiting for the day when they can write what they think.
From the Juventude Rebelde newspaper office where Reinaldo Escobar (His blog: http://www.desdecuba.com/reinaldoescobar/) worked until 1988, there is very little left because most of his colleagues now live in Miami, Mexico and Spain. Others have retired from the profession, disillusioned with the aborted glastnost and the consecutive calls for criticism, which ended up being bait for the most daring. José Alejandro Rodríguez survived all this and carried his personal battle into the “Receipt Requested” section where he published readers’ letters with their complaints and questions. Every time I read his crusade against bureaucracy and poor work, I sense the regressive countdown that will probably culminate in his professional silencing.
A few days ago José Alejandro could take no more. He took everything he has accumulated about the “excessive centralization” that the press on this Island is subject to and condemned the secrecy surrounding government decisions. In his article “Against the demons of kidnapped information” he used the language of an honest man who always believed in the possibility of humanizing the current system through the transparency of information. I respectfully differ with him, because what has been built on a foundation of hiding, condemning and filtering cannot survive the clear light that emanates from an incisive and free journalism.
The three pages of his harangue lasted just a few hours on the on-line version of Juventud Rebelde. The article was kidnapped by the shrewd hawks of orthodoxy, who know well the danger of a Nation that begins to learn everything you have hidden.
The week that the Olympics welcomed South America as its new home Telecom Heavy-weights announce key meeting in Panama
Latin America is predicted to be the strongest region of growth in 2010, Investment is flooding to the area and telecommunications is essential for the region to fulfill its potential. Backed by Government incentives and commercial opportunities figureheads such as Humberto Roca, CTO , Antel, Israel Madiedo, CTO, Cablevision , Claudio Bermudez, CTO Grupo ICE, Peter Jones, VP Technology, LIME , Miguel Angel Gray , Millicom International Cellular CEO Central America , Robert Masse, CTO Telefonica del Sur (Telsur) and Pedro Planas , CTO LA, Telefonica Media Networks SA have agreed to meet in Panama on November 10th this year at the illustrious NGT Summit to discuss technology investment to support market growth.
‘As Latin America continues its socio-economic Growth, development in ICT clearly sends out the right message to Global investors.’ Paul Southwell – NGT LA Summit Director
Massive investments in 3G has been highlighted as operators will start to see an increase in mobile application use and IPTV may finally take hold. The cost of voice services is at such a low point that voice alone is no longer a viable competitive advantage, operators must improve service levels and delivery methods in order to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Partnering with IDC and Pyramid Research the NGT Summit LA is set to outline the path to success in 2010.The week that the Olympics welcomed South America as its new home Telecom... more
Please join Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) for a moderated panel discussion on Chagas disease, a forgotten illness that threatens over 100 million people throughout the Americas. RSVP on Doctors Without Borders Facebook Event for Chagas Disease http://bit.ly/1jZUd0
Or you can read more about the neglected a.k.a "Kissing Bug" disease here: http://bit.ly/PHnAj
Learn at the event what you can do to help.Please join Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Drugs for... more
Qaddafi and Chavez are working with many other african, and latin american nations in attempts to form an alliance similar to that of NATO.
Do you think that this will benefit their continents, or will it raise world hostility?Qaddafi and Chavez are working with many other african, and latin american nations in... more
Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya remains cooped up in the Brazilian Embassy in the capital of Tegucigalpa. The Associated Press reports on his conditions saying:
"Honduras’ deposed leader is sleeping on an air mattress. His “roommates” have not bathed, shaved or changed their clothes in three days. Tap water is scarce and dinner is limited to dry biscuits or rice and beans."
We posted a video of protests earlier in the week, and Current.com user Juas, claiming he had recently been in Honduras reported:
“I was there.
We are going towards a civil war. Please keep your eyes on us.
Police are murdering people as I speak right now. We have lost all our constitutional warranties. We have 48 hours or curfew, people are hungry.
The president is in danger.
Please keep your eyes on us.”
At least one person has died in clashes with the police thus far and with Zelaya refusing to give himself up and the Honduran military agreeing not to storm the Brazilian embassy, the siege looks likely to drag on.
If you, like Juas, have a local perspective, let us know over here on Current News.Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya remains cooped up in the Brazilian Embassy in... more
Talk like a communist, walk like a democrat. That has been the paradoxical strategy pursued by Latin America's new radical left - at least until now. Venezuelan President Hugo ChÁvez will gush effusively in the presence of Fidel Castro one moment, then just as earnestly he'll remind the world that he submits to the kind of free elections and free speech that Castro and his brother, Cuban President RaÚl Castro, still forbid.
But in recent months, ChÁvez and his allies from Argentina to Nicaragua have taken steps that critics say make them walk too Cuban for comfort - especially when it comes to independent media, an institution critical to the region's modernization. ChÁvez's socialist Bolivarian Revolution recently revoked the broadcast licenses of 32 private radio stations and two television stations - it plans to take more off the air soon - and just passed a sweeping and often vague new education law outlawing media material that "produces terror in children" or "goes against the values of the Venezuelan people."
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More at the link.
Really? So vague is the idea of "Produces terror in children" that they could banned Bozo the Clown from showing in syndication there.
He elimated term limits. haha.....KING ChavezTalk like a communist, walk like a democrat. That has been the paradoxical strategy... more
Pheromones
In a quest to uncover the rules of attraction, Jason and Max roam Rodeo Drive testing the affects of a pheromone enhanced lotion on the local ladies. http://current.com/items/76297522_pheromones.htm
A commercial airliner carrying 104 passengers has been hijacked on the tarmac at Mexico City's airport, CNN affiliate TV Azteca reported Wednesday.
Three abductors aboard the Boeing 737 Aeromexico jet have threatened to blow it up if their demand to speak to President Felipe Calderon is not met, the station said.A commercial airliner carrying 104 passengers has been hijacked on the tarmac at... more
A French filmmaker who made a documentary about gangs in El Salvador has been shot dead on a road near the capital, police said.
The body of Christian Poveda, 54, was found on Wednesday in El Rosario county along with documents he was carrying close to his vehicle, a National Civil Police spokesman told AFP.
President Mauricio Funes said he was "dismayed" by the photographer and journalist's killing, which he "strongly condemned."
The Central American leader called on authorities to "conduct all necessary investigations so that those responsible are brought to justice". He called on the country to unite to "combat together" the scourge of violence hitting El Salvador.
Poveda, police say, was on his way back from filming in gang-controlled La Campanera, a poor suburb north of San Salvador.
The French-Spanish journalist has published reports in numerous journals including The New York Times, Le Monde, El Pais, Paris Match and Stern, mostly on Latin American affairs.
His documentaries have been broadcast around the world and featured at film festivals.
One of his most recent documentaries, "La Vida Loca" (2008), followed the Mara 18 gang of heavily tattooed Salvadoran youths who engage in drug trafficking and extortion.
Salvadoran journalists expressed outrage at the killing. "It is a sad loss. The cruel hand of violence has taken him from us," said Juan Jose Dalton of the Foreign Correspondents Association of El Salvador.A French filmmaker who made a documentary about gangs in El Salvador has been shot... more
In a backlash against the US 'war on drugs', Latin America turns to a more liberal policy
The economic and social cost, plus European moves towards liberalisation, have emboldened some Latin American states to try new approaches.In a backlash against the US 'war on drugs', Latin America turns to a more liberal... more
U.S. President Barack Obama is "lost in the Andromeda" galaxy on Latin American policy, his chief critic in the region, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, said on Sunday, while demanding the closure of U.S. military bases.
Last week Obama said critics of U.S. involvement in Latin America who are now asking Washington to do more to restore the ousted president of Honduras "can't have it both ways."U.S. President Barack Obama is "lost in the Andromeda" galaxy on Latin American... more
A short film about the process of Afro-Venezuelans recognizing their heritage in a small fishing village on Lake Maracaibo. Just because everyone's brown, doesn't mean it's all good.A short film about the process of Afro-Venezuelans recognizing their heritage in a... more
In fact waayyy more, up to 31 Billion Barrels.
Spanish oil company Repsol and state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) reportedly found oil in a well with reserves amounting to 31 billion barrels of oil in the Orinoco Oil Belt, said the newspaper El Economista, which quoted sources of the European oil company.
A spokesman of Repsol said that he could not confirm immediately the report, Reuters informed.
Repsol's net proved reserves of liquefied and natural gas were estimated at 122.9 million barrels of oil equivalent at the end of 2008.
According to the newspaper, the discovery of crude oil in the Junín 7 oilfield is awaiting certification by the authorities.
Repsol's CEO Antonio Brufau is currently in Caracas, and is part of the delegation accompanying Spanish FM Miguel Angel Moratinos, who is paying an official visit to Venezuela.In fact waayyy more, up to 31 Billion Barrels.
Spanish oil company Repsol and... more
Movilnet, the cell phone division of Venezuela’s national telephone and communications company, CANTV, released the country’s first cell phone made from recycled plastic bottles and equipped with a solar energy charger.Movilnet, the cell phone division of Venezuela’s national telephone and... more
Roberto Lovato, Contributing Associate Editor at New America Media, and Andres Thomas Conteris, the founder of Democracy Now! en Espanol on the political impasse in Honduras and the US role in negotiations to reach a deal between the coup leaders and ousted president Manuel Zelaya. Obama may be paying lip service to the fact that the coup is illegitimate but the actions of the US State Department speak otherwise. Meanwhile, according to Lovato, the number of those who have been beaten, disappeared, and perhaps even killed continues to rise. Does the United States support Zelaya's return to power? More than 55 scholars and experts on Latin America have urged Obama to warn the regime against further violence in Honduras.
To see the full panel visit www.grittv.org.Roberto Lovato, Contributing Associate Editor at New America Media, and Andres Thomas... more
