Blog entries

Una maratón de 110 horas de mensajes radiales en favor de los secuestrados, tuvo lugar la semana pasada en Colombia en el marco de una jornada exitosa en términos de las palabras de solidaridad escuchadas, pero triste en términos de la presencia que hizo la sociedad civil en el lugar del encuentro. Una escalada de … Read more

Ecuador President Rafael Correa announced yesterday that he would pardon the columnist and three publishers of the newspaper El Universo that were found guilty of libel against the government. The transgressors were facing three years in prison and were ordered to pay Correa $10 million each in damages—a decision upheld by the Ecuador’s National Court … Read more

AQ Online today launches its weekly Monday Memo that looks ahead to what it expects to be the top headline grabbers for the week. The top anticipated stories for the week of February 27 include: Hugo Chávez’ surgery; U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano’s current five-country Latin America tour; U.S. Vice President’s forthcoming visit … Read more

Piri Thomas, revered as an icon of New York City’s East Harlem neighborhood (El Barrio) and author of Down These Mean Streets, was honored last weekend by fans and fellow artists at the Museo del Barrio. Thomas passed away last year, and was known for infusing terms like cheverete! (fantastic) and punto! (period) into New … Read more

With a visit this week to Washington by Guatemalan Foreign Minsiter Harold Caballeros, and an impending first-time visit to Guatemala City by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Guatemala appears to have momentarily captured the attention of the United States. For Guatemala, the bilateral relationship is a top foreign policy priority. In addition, the … Read more

The White House announced yesterday that Joe Biden will travel to Mexico and Honduras on March 4–6. In Mexico City, he will meet with President Felipe Calderón to underscore the U.S. commitment to dialogue and collaboration on a range of issues important to both countries. Following that, Vice President Biden will travel to Tegucigalpa for … Read more

From Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online’s news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup. Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email. Venezuelan Election Outlook Complicated by Chávez Cancer News President of Venezuala Hugo Chávez … Read more

On Tuesday, the Unidos de Vila Isabel school took this top honor at carnival with the theme “You semba there[…] I sambo here. The free song of Angola.” The announcement came as the Carnival celebration ended on Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after attracting what Brazilian authorities believe is a record total of 2.2 … Read more

Last week, a United Nations Security Council delegation visited Haiti to assess the 10,500-member peacekeeping force, known as the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti or MINUSTAH. The visit was to assess security needs in Haiti before the UN Security Council makes a decision about whether to reduce the number of forces stationed in the country. … Read more

The director of the Apodaca prison in Monterrey, Mexico, was fired yesterday along with several prison officials following Sunday’s bloody riot that killed 44 inmates and led to the escape of 30 more prisoners. The escaped prisons are suspected of having ties to the Zetas drug cartel, while most of the murdered inmates were from … Read more

Exactly 40 years ago, Richard Nixon landed in China for the beginning of a seven-day state visit that was quickly dubbed “the week that changed the world”. It probably didn’t, but it certainly had long-lasting effects on the delicate balances of power of Cold War diplomacy. The visit, which had been carefully prepared by Henry … Read more

El derecho a la ternura (The Right to Tenderness), a book that argues in favor of treating thy neighbor kindly, was somewhat of a local bestseller in Colombia in the mid-1990s. Its author, Luis Carlos Restrepo, had already been mildly successful with another book, La trampa de la razón (The Trap of Reason), which develops … Read more

Ecuador’s National Court of Justice upheld a ruling on Thursday that found a columnist and three publishers of the newspaper El Universo guilty of defaming President Rafael Correa. The 2011 opinion column in question, written by chief opinion editor, Emilio Palacio and titled “No a las mentiras” (No more lies), referred to Correa as a … Read more

Lending by the Chinese Development Bank (CDB) and Export-Import Bank of China (China Ex-Im) to Latin America is larger, newer, and growing faster than its Western counterparts.  According to our research, since 2005, China has provided $75 billion in loans and credit lines to Latin American countries.  In 2010, Chinese funding exceeded the region’s combined … Read more

The Argentine government announced tough new regulations on Wednesday to crack down on corruption in the country’s soccer league. The rules published by Argentina’s Financial Information Unit require the Argentine Football Association and every club in the top two divisions to file annual reports on everyone on the payroll who make at least 60,000 pesos … Read more