JAMAICA | Golding drops a bombshell. Prime Minister Bruce Golding has confirmed that he will step down in November, once a new leader for the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has been selected. Golding, who led the JLP back into power in 2007 after 18 years in opposition, first made the announcement on 25 September as he was preparing for his mother’s funeral. As well as citing his age and the need to “allow a new crop of leaders to step forward and unleash their energies and creativity” (see sidebar) Golding attributed his decision directly to the political fallout from his handling of a US request for the extradition of a drug baron, Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, in May 2010 in which it transpired that he had hired a US-based firm, Manatt, Phelps & Philips, to lobby on the government’s behalf [WR-10-21]. Expressing concern that his presence would damage the JLP in the scheduled 2012 general election, Golding said that “questions about the role I played in the Coke/Manatt matter have remained a source of concern in the minds of many people”. But he reiterated his government’s argument that the evidence against Coke, gathered by US authorities through wiretaps, had been obtained illegally.
EL SALVADOR | Addicted to remittances. El Salvador’s deputy minister for Salvadorans abroad, Juan José García recently warned that El Salvador is an economy “addicted to remittances”. Speaking at an event organised by the US-based Brookings Institute and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei), García pointed out that remittances account for nearly 17% of El Salvador’s GDP, rising to as much as 70% of GDP in some areas such as the Bahía de Jiquilisco on the Pacific coast. Some 337,000 households received family remittances from the 2.8m Salvadoreans abroad, 2.5m of whom live in the US. In the first eight months of 2011, remittances reached US$2.4bn, up nearly 5% on the same period in 2010. During 2010 inflows reached US$3.5bn, a 2.2% increase on 2009. Warning that the situation was not sustainable, García said that the Mauricio Funes government was exploring ways in which the Salvadorean diaspora can invest in the country, with a delegation of 16 expat businessmen due to visit the country to consider possible projects.
PANAMA | New economy minister. Deputy economy minister, Frank de Lima, officially took over the economy portfolio on 30 September, one month after his boss Alberto Vallarino, a member of the opposition Partido Panameñista (PP) quit amidst the rupture in the ruling alliance [WR-11-35]. The appointment of De Lima, a cardholder of President Ricardo Martinelli’s Cambio Democrático (CD) was in line with Vallarino’s recommendations and has assuaged concerns that the political strife at the top would translate into economy instability. Less than a week later, congress approved the new state budget for 2012 of US$14.451bn, an increase of 7.5% on the 2011 budget – itself a 23% increase on the 2010 budget. The final budget, which was US$17m less than the initial proposal, is based on a 7.5% GDP growth forecast for 2012 and expects the fiscal deficit to remain at 2% of GDP, in line with the law of fiscal responsibility. Meanwhile preliminary figures show that the Panama Canal closed the fiscal year 2011 (which ended 30 September) with a new tonnage record of 322.1m Panama Canal tons (PC/UMS), 7.1% up from last year and 2.9% more than the previous 2007 record of 312.9m tons.
PUERTO RICO | Referendum. The governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuño, has announced he will be presenting legislators with a plan for a two-stage referendum to decide the status of Puerto Rico which would allow citizens to vote on 12 August 2012 as to whether they want a change in status. If they vote in favour, a second referendum would be held concurrently with the November 2012 US general elections, in which they would choose between three different options: US statehood, independence, or a sovereign free association (essentially the status quo). The move comes amid mixed messages from the US. Following the positive noises made by US President Barack Obama during his historic visit last June, in which he backed a referendum and said he would support any outcome [WR-11-22], at the end of September, he said that he believes the island will remain a US commonwealth unless there is a “solid indication” of support for statehood.
- JLP leadership contest
The favourite to succeed Bruce Golding is Education Minister Andrew Holness who, at the age of 39, is one of the “new leaders” to which the Prime Minister alluded. The chances of Holness significantly increased after four of his five rivals, Dr Christopher Tufton (the minister of industry, investment and commerce), Dr Ken Baugh (deputy prime minister and foreign minister), Audley Shaw, (finance minister) and Robert Montague (agriculture and fisheries minister) threw their backing behind him. Nominations for the JLP leadership contest close on 19 October. The party’s conference is scheduled for the weekend of 18 November.
