Paraguay Opens Doors to Unregulated Foreign Investment [View all]
Source: Inter Press News Service
Paraguay Opens Doors to Unregulated Foreign Investment
By Natalia Ruiz Diaz
ASUNCION, Jul 27 2012 (IPS) - In his first month as president of Paraguay, Federico Franco has thrown open the doors of his country to foreign investments that have raised questions about environmental safety.
Among the measures taken by the new government were fast-track approval of the planting of transgenic cotton and authorisation of the construction of an aluminium plant.
Franco was named to replace Fernando Lugo after the centre-left former Catholic bishop was removed as president in a swift impeachment trial on Jun. 22. The government has failed to overcome its international isolation, having only been officially recognised by Taiwan and the Vatican.
It is concerning that a government that was not elected by popular vote is giving the green light to these foreign investments, without any oversight or control, Luis Rojas, an economist with BASE Investigaciones Sociales, a local non-governmental organisation, told IPS.
Read more: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/07/paraguay-opens-doors-to-unregulated-foreign-investment/