scholarly journals Genetic tolerance to Ceratocystis wilt in melina (Gmelina arborea Roxb.)

2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-204
Author(s):  
Dawa Méndez-Álvarez ◽  
Olman Murillo-Gamboa ◽  
Yorleny Badilla-Valverde ◽  
William Hernández-Castro

Abstract Gmelina arborea is the second most planted tree species in Costa Rica, and one of the most important in several Latin American countries. In recent years, a disease caused by Ceratocystis fimbriata, has spread throughout Latin America, leading to the complete root of the tree in a few months. This study was conducted to evaluate the incidence, severity and genetic tolerance control of the Ceratocystis wilt in G. arborea. Data is based on a 2.4-year-old clonal trial, with 34 elite genotypes, at Río Jiménez, Guácimo in the Costa Rican Caribbean region. The variables diameter at breast height (DBH), total height, disease incidence and disease severity were evaluated. A pathogenicity index was proposed as a new selection criterion. SELEGEN (EMBRAPA) software was used for the evaluation of the genetic control in all traits investigated. Overall incidence rate was 39 % and severity was 13 %. Mean clonal heritability for severity was h2mc= 0.59 and for incidence h2mc= 0.47, these values were high evidencing that both traits are under a strong genetic control. The pathogenicity index becomes a useful discrimination criterion for ranking genotypes by their disease tolerance. An infection pattern inversely proportional to the DBH was observed. Although none of the 34 genotypes evaluated recorded total resistance to C. fimbriata, eight of these genotypes show strong genetic tolerance to the disease, and high productivity. Their use can be encouraging and will contribute to the reduction of Ceratocystis wilt impact in the country, as well as in the tropical Latin America region.

1973 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-308
Author(s):  
Harold Molineu

During the past twenty years, the United States has been involved in three cases of armed intervention in Latin America: Guatemala in 1954, Cuba in 1961, and the Dominican Republic in 1965. In addition, there was the naval blockade and possibility of intervention in Cuba in 1962 during the missile crisis. Each of these episodes occurred in the Caribbean region (defined as including those areas either in or adjacent to the Caribbean Sea). There were no similar armed interventions elsewhere in Latin America during this period, and in fact, all of the incidents of United States armed intervention in the Twentieth Century have taken place in the Caribbean area. Therefore, in its actions in Latin America, the United States appears to distinguish between the Caribbean area and the rest of the continent. The Caribbean is treated as a special region where military intervention is apparently more justifiable than elsewhere in Latin America. Only in the area outside the Caribbean has Washington found it possible to abide by its inter-American treaty commitments to nonintervention.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2467
Author(s):  
Sergio Fuentes ◽  
Roberto Villafafila-Robles ◽  
Joan Rull-Duran ◽  
Samuel Galceran-Arellano

Energy transitions are transforming energy systems around the globe. Such a shift has caused the power system to become a critical piece of infrastructure for the economic development of every nation on the planet. Therefore, guaranteeing its security is crucial, not only for energy purposes but also as a part of a national security strategy. This paper presents a multidimensional index developed to assess energy security of electrical systems in the long term. This tool, named the Power System Security Index (PSIx), which has been previously used for the evaluation of a country in two different time frames, is applied to evaluate the member countries of the Latin American Energy Organization, located within the Latin America and the Caribbean region, to measure its performance on energy security. Mixed results were obtained from the analysis, with clear top performers in the region such as Argentina, while there are others with broad areas of opportunity, as is the case of Haiti.


Author(s):  
Oleg Kondratenko

The policy and implementation of geostrategy of the Russian Federation in relation to the countries of the Latin-Caribbean region are considered. Russia is increasingly trying to demonstrate the status of a strategic partner with respect to Latin American Caribbean countries through the conclusion of various partnership agreements. On this basis, since the 2000s, the Russian Federation has sought to regain its influence in those Latin American countries that were the traditional sphere of presence of the USSR during the Cold War. It has been established that Russia is trying to gain favour among Latin American countries by establishing economic relations, mainly of a commercial nature. The Russian Federation has significant contracts for the supply of weapons to Latin American countries and is involved in the implementation of a number of energy projects, including the construction of nuclear power plants. Russia is also trying to demonstrate its presence in the region through the manoeuvres of its long-range strategic aviation and naval forces. At the same time, Russia is resorting to the support of bankrupt Latin American regimes such as the government of N. Maduro in Venezuela. All this has only exacerbated the crisis in Venezuela and its autocratic rule and led to a double rule in the country. However, Russia risks being pushed out of the region by China and the United States, which consider Latin America as a proving ground for a strategy of geo-economic “conquest”. The key countries for implementing the strategy of restoring Russia’s presence in the region are: Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and partly Brazil. The Russian Federation views these countries as strategic partners and a foothold for the further expansion of geopolitical and geo-economic influence in Latin America, as well as restrictions in the region of US influence. Against the backdrop of isolated manoeuvres by the Russian Air Force and the Navy, Moscow makes periodic statements about the rebuilding of former Soviet military bases in Latin American countries. However, such rhetoric of the Russian Federation can be regarded more as geopolitical PR in order to represent the virtual grandeur of Russia.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 521-533
Author(s):  
Viktor Lazarevich Jeifets

The article contains an outline of evolution of so-called Russian return into Latin America. The author tries to analyze how Russian foreign policy towards the Latin American and Caribbean region over the last three decades pointing some its key features and trying to define existing obstacles for its implementation, and to make some conclusions about possible prospects for Russias position in the region facing new challenges. Based on a literature and media review and a survey of documents and available statistical data, as also on the analysis of official statements, the aim of this article is to contribute towards a more profound understanding of Russias policy in Latin America. The extension of the article doesnt permit to make a thorough research of all the details of Moscows return to the continent; however, the author will refer to Venezuelan case at the contemporary stage as one of the important issues for Russian policy. The crisis in Venezuela proves to be a test for Russia: is it able to maintain an influential actor in Latin America or not. To sum up, this case is important in the context of this article as it shows if Russian diplomacy in Latin America is really new or it is a re-edition of Soviet policy toward the region.


2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. S119-S127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Pérez-Escamilla

The objectives of this paper are to examine recent breastfeeding duration trends in Latin America and the Caribbean to document: (a) rural-urban differentials, (b) differences in educational levels, and (c) changes in breastfeeding duration across time. Secondary data analyses were conducted with 23 Demographic and Health Surveys collected between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Results indicate that median breastfeeding duration is still greater in rural (as compared to urban) areas and among less (versus more) educated women, although these differentials are decreasing with time. In five of the six countries examined for secular trends, breastfeeding duration continues to increase in both rural and urban areas. Breastfeeding duration in urban and rural areas was strongly correlated within countries. Breastfeeding duration improved more among women with the highest and declined among those with the lowest levels of education. Results indicate that breastfeeding duration has increased in Latin America and the Caribbean at a time when the opposite was predicted, given the region's increased urbanization. Breastfeeding protection policies and promotion programs may explain part of the increase in breastfeeding duration.


Author(s):  
Ina Chepik

Relevance of the research topic. The article discusses the foreign trade of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Latin American region in the context of economic integration. Formulation of the problem. The SMEs are particularly vulnerable if the country integrates into the trade block, opens up the domestic market and is subject to competition from foreign companies. This aspect requires further study. Analysis of recent research and publications. The issues of regionalization and integration were studied by the economists J. Weiner, B. Balassa, R. Cooper. A special attention was paid to small business and international entrepreneurship by the authors F. Weidersheim-Paul, J. Johanson, P. MacDougall, A.Danilchenko and D. Kalinin. Problem statement, research objectives. The purpose of the article is to summarize information about SMEs foreign economic relations, as well as directions to encourage internationalization in the Latin American trading blocks. Research methodology. When writing the article, the basic methods of general scientific study were used, an analysis of expert opinions and international databases was carried out. Presentation of the main research material (results of work). The article compares the state of the SME sector in the Latin American region. The author shows the imperfection of the support policy for enterprises and the limited opportunities for the internationalization of Latin American SMEs. It discusses the integrated approach to encourage the SMEs foreign trade and its implementation by the given governments. The field of the results application. The results of the study can be used by the relevant government agencies in developing support programs for SMEs internationalization. Conclusions according to the article. Currently Latin America and the Caribbean’s have not reached a level of integration at which a unified sector development strategy and a support policy for SMEs internationalization are being developed. The governments have embarked on poverty alleviation issue and raising living standards through creating microenterprises in low value-added industries. Along with this, the measures are being taken to include SMEs in the supply chains of large businesses, encouraging the indirect internationalization of the sector. Integration with the developed countries will increase the chances of SMEs internationalizing. It will be facilitated by a vast foreign market, FDI and the establishment of supporting competitive industries among SMEs, as well as financial assistance from the regional funds.


Author(s):  
Sergio Fuentes ◽  
Roberto Villafafila-Robles ◽  
Joan Rull-Duran ◽  
Samuel Galceran-Arellano

Energy transitions are reshaping the global energy system. Such shift has taken the power system to become a critical infrastructure for achieving economic development of every nation in the planet, therefore, guaranteeing its security is crucial, not only for energy purposes but as a part of a national security strategy. This paper presents a multi-dimensional index developed to assess energy security of electrical systems in the long term. This tool, named Power System Security Index (PSIx), and which has been previously used for the evaluation of a country in two different time frames, is applied to evaluate the member countries of the Latin American Energy Organization, located within the Latin America and the Caribbean region, in order to measure their performance on energy security. Mixed results were obtained from the analysis, with clear top performers in the region such as Argentina, while there are others with broad areas of opportunity, as it is the case of Haiti.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  

This GSoD In Focus Special Brief provides an overview of the state of democracy of Latin America and the Caribbean at the end of 2019, prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, and assesses some of the preliminary impacts that the pandemic has had on democracy in the region in 2020. Key findings include: • Democratically, the region was ailing prior to the pandemic, with some countries suffering from democratic erosion or backsliding, others from democratic fragility and weakness. Overall, trust in democracy had been in steady decline in the decade preceding the pandemic. Citizen discontent has culminated in a protest wave hitting several countries in the region at the end of 2019. • The COVID-19 pandemic has hit a Latin American and Caribbean region plagued by unresolved structural problems of high crime and violence, political fragmentation and polarization, high poverty and inequality, corruption, and weak states. • Long-overdue political and socio-economic reforms have compounded the health and economic crises caused by the pandemic. This, coupled with heavy-handed approaches to curb the virus, risk further entrenching or exacerbating the concerning democratic trends observed in the region prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. • The challenges to democracy Latin America and the Caribbean during the pandemic include: the postponement of elections; excessive use of police force to enforce restrictions implemented to curb the pandemic; use of the military to carry out civil tasks; persistent crime and violence; new dangers for the right to privacy; increases in gender inequality and domestic violence; new risks posed to vulnerable groups; limited access to justice; restrictions on freedom of expression; executive overreach; reduced parliamentary oversight; political polarization and clashes between democratic institutions; new openings for corruption; and a discontented socially mobilized citizenry that rejects traditional forms of political representation. • Despite the challenges, the crisis ultimately provides a historic opportunity to redefine the terms of social contracts across the region, and for governments to think innovatively about how to open up spaces for dialogue and civic participation in order to build more inclusive, sustainable and interconnected societies, as well as more accountable, transparent and efficient democratic systems of government. The review of the state of democracy during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 uses qualitative analysis and data of events and trends in the region collected through International IDEA’s Global Monitor of COVID-19’s Impact on Democracy and Human Rights, an initiative co-funded by the European Union.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio Cárdenas ◽  
Juan Pablo Bonilla ◽  
Federico Brusa

This work is aimed at nontraditional climate policy actors such as the finance and planning ministries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The objective is to provide a glimpse into the existing, limited, regional examples of how effective climate policy may be achieved while also contributing to sustainable economic and social development. The objectives of this work are multiple: (i) identify regional, tested, growth-spurring policy options that also contribute to sustainable development; (ii) present public and private financial solutions that may enable a just transition; (iii) offer considerations on regionally relevant green recovery packages; (iv) frame these elements within the existing regional political economya necessary condition for effective implementation; and (v) identify existing knowledge gaps while suggesting research avenues to further support the adoption of relevant measures. The Latin American and Caribbean region is highly vulnerable to climate change. Historically, the region has adopted an “adaptation first” posture. The regions early adoption and implementation of the Paris Agreements Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) framework also led to some ambitious decarbonization plans, as well as to considerable advances in the energy and transportation sectors. As countries submit the second iteration of their NDCs, some coordinated whole-of-government approaches emerge. Notwithstanding some positive signs, plenty remains to be done in sectors such as agriculture. From an implementation perspective, the challenge remains the same: to transform ambitious objectives into measurable results.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agustín Escobar Latapi

Although the migration – development nexus is widely recognized as a complex one, it is generally thought that there is a relationship between poverty and emigration, and that remittances lessen inequality. On the basis of Latin American and Mexican data, this chapter intends to show that for Mexico, the exchange of migrants for remittances is among the lowest in Latin America, that extreme poor Mexicans don't migrate although the moderately poor do, that remittances have a small, non-significant impact on the most widely used inequality index of all households and a very large one on the inequality index of remittance-receiving households, and finally that, to Mexican households, the opportunity cost of international migration is higher than remittance income. In summary, there is a relationship between poverty and migration (and vice versa), but this relationship is far from linear, and in some respects may be a perverse one for Mexico and for Mexican households.


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