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Should Paraguay be Expelled from the OAS, Mercosur and Unasur?
Last Friday, the Congress of Paraguay removed President Fernando Lugo from office. The entire impeachment process lasted a mere two days. The presidents of Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Argentina rushed to describe this as a “coup d’état,” while the Brazilian and Uruguayan presidents have called for Paraguay’s expulsion from Mercosur and Unasur due to … Read more
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A Brazil Perspective on Rio+20
All eyes are on Brazil this week as more than 130 world leaders and some 50,000 activists, civil society representatives and business leaders are attending the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20, in Rio de Janeiro. The conference marks 20 years since the Earth Summit in 1992 concluded, when leaders—optimistic about a post-Cold … Read more
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How the U.S. is Engaging a Strategic and Evolving Region
Christopher Sabatini and Ryan Berger’s CNN op-ed (“Why the U.S. Can’t Afford to Ignore Latin America,” June 13, 2012), commenting on the scant attention the Center for a New American Security’s recent “grand strategy” report paid to the Americas, outlined three compelling reasons why Latin America must figure prominently in the United States’ strategic calculations. … Read more
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Same-Sex Marriage in Chile
Marriage equality for same-sex couples is gaining new momentum in the United States. One month ago, President Obama announced that “same-sex couples should be able to get married.” Meanwhile, major multinational corporations and top consumer brands are also coming out in favor of marriage equality. In February, Proposition 8, a voter referendum that reversed marriage … Read more
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Chile’s Tsunami and the Courtroom Battle
On the morning of February 27, 2010, Interior Minister Patricio Rosende dismissed on national television “absolutely, the possibility of a tsunami,” asking the nation to remain calm only one hour after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck south-central Chile. Meanwhile, a series of waves were heading toward Chile’s shore. Eventually, the all-powerful water would engulf a 375 … Read more
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Mexico’s Elections: The Presidency and Beyond
On July 1, Mexicans will elect their third government since the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) relinquished their grip on Los Pinos after 71 years ruling the country. But as election day approaches, anxiety and polarization continue to grow among both the electorate and political class. More importantly, this uncertainty stirs concern about the future of … Read more
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Dominican Republic Elections: A New Mandate for the PLD
As the most credited polls predicted, Danilo Medina of the governing Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) won a decisive victory on Sunday, May 20, in the first-round presidential election in the Dominican Republic.1 Medina and his running mate, First Lady Margarita Cedeño de Fernández, obtained 51.21 percent of the votes versus 46.95 percent for … Read more
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Haiti’s President: One Year Later
After a year in power, President Michel Martelly still faces the huge challenges of reconstructing a country destroyed by natural catastrophes and bad governance. In spite of growing foreign investments, the economy remains weak and vulnerable. The enormous task of finding adequate housing for over a million displaced individuals persists, and there are fears that … Read more
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State-Owned Media and the Public Interest
Regimes that seek to limit civilian and political opposition have found a new tool in controlling their messaging: state-owned media. This comes despite the fact that state media—like many means of communication—should serve the interests of all citizens and provide information free of commercial, state or political influence. According to a 2009 report by the … Read more
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[i]AQ[/i] Q&A: Judith Morrison on Race and Ethnicity
Judith Morrison, AQ author and senior advisor at the gender and diversity unit of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), speaks with Americas Quarterly about the importance of accurately integrating racial and ethnic populations into data collection. The methods for tabulating race and ethnicity vary widely between national censuses and household surveys, especially since some countries … Read more
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[i]AQ[/i] Q&A: Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco on Mixed-Status Immigrant Families
Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco, AQ author and Courtney Sale Ross University Professor of Globalization and Education at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, & Human Development, speaks with Americas Quarterly about the “legal, policy, economic, and ethical considerations” that result from an estimated 5.5 million children and adolescents growing up in the United States … Read more
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The Summit of the Americas: Why It Matters
April is Western Hemisphere month for U.S. President Barack Obama, and the capstone event is this weekend’s Sixth Summit of the Americas, a regular meeting of the 34 democratically elected presidents and prime ministers of the hemisphere. Originally scheduled to arrive in Cartagena, Colombia, on Saturday, Obama will now arrive one day earlier to get … Read more
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Dilma Rousseff’s U.S. Visit: What’s Next?
President Dilma Rousseff joined Barack Obama at the White House yesterday with the cool confidence of a pragmatic leader whose country has earned a first-of-its-kind esteem with its northern neighbor. The Brazilian president arrived for her first state visit to the United States with a strong hand of cards to play. Brazil casually edged out … Read more
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Thirty Years Later: The Importance of the Malvinas
Today marks the 30-year anniversary of the start of the 74-day Malvinas War. Although control of the islands is often seen as an issue of national pride, the Malvinas (known as the Falklands outside of Latin America) are also important geostrategic and economic assets. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, rhetoric over the islands’ status has yet … Read more
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The Pope’s Historic Visit to Cuba
Like his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Cuba at a crucial time in the nation’s history. Pope John Paul II visited in 1998, a time when Communist Europe had crumbled and expectations of change were high; Pope Benedict XVI landed during a time of unprecedented internal change. On Monday, the pontiff arrived in a … Read more
