Blog entries

Bogotá, 4 de febrero, 2008. La indignación de un ingeniero civil que veía como una burla los intentos frustrados de la liberación de las secuestradas Clara Rojas y Consuelo González (que se conoció como la Operación Emmanuel), fue el origen de la creación de un grupo en Facebook llamado Un millón de voces contra las … Read more

When listening to often negative newscasts in Canada and the U.S., one would think that everything revolves around politics—whether the GOP primary in the U.S., the consistent debate on economic policy, or parliamentary tactics by the Harper government to end debate on controversial legislation. It’s as if all issues or solutions must have a political … Read more

  Ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) candidate Donald Ramotar yesterday claimed victory in Monday’s presidential elections in Guyana, after the national Election Commission announced the he had captured  49 percent of the vote. Ramotar, who ran under the campaign slogan “Let Progress Continue,” promised to maintain social policies and infrastructure development projects that he said … Read more

Meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderón yesterday, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde praised the Mexican government for its “strong fiscal, financial and monetary policies,” which have contributed to the country’s development in spite of the global economic downturn. She also lauded Mexico’s “solid” financial institutions just one day ahead of Mexico assuming … 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. Peru’s Largest Mining Project Suspended Following Protests In Peru’s Cajamarca province, American company … Read more

  Por primera vez en 26 años de incipiente democracia, llega un militar a la presidencia de Guatemala. La oferta política del General Otto Pérez Molina se enfocó en una mano dura hacia la delincuencia y narcotráfico. Curiosamente los estratos sociales y étnicos que sufrieron la mayor cantidad de abusos de derechos humanos durante el … Read more

  Three weeks ago, breaking news announced the killing of Alfonso Cano, commander of the FARC, during a military operation in the department of Cauca in southwestern Colombia. Questions were raised about the effects this could have on the possibility of peace negotiations with the FARC, a scenario considered by some as the only possible … Read more

  No matter the outcome, Mexico’s next president will not have the needed credentials to effectively run this country and neither will the majority parties that compose Congress. Mexico’s political system has entered a credibility vacuum. These first lines sound fatalist but the real intention here is to prepare and alert the Mexican citizenry of … Read more

Former Estado de México Governor Enrique Peña Nieto is the only candidate on the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI) ballot for Mexico’s July 2012 presidential election, after the party’s internal filing deadline passed yesterday. PRI is expected to formally certify Peña Nieto’s candidacy next month. Many believed that Peña Nieto would face … Read more

As part of President Raúl Castro’s stated aim to “modernize” Cuba’s socialist economy, the Cuban government plans to slim down its postal service, Empresa Correos de Cuba (Cuban Mail Company–ECC) and make it a decentralized state-owned enterprise by the middle of 2012. According to the official business weekly Opciones, ECC “will shed the old mega … Read more

Venezuela froze prices on 18 key products as the Ley de Costos y Precios Justos (Law of Fair Costs and Prices) went into effect yesterday. The law was promoted by President Hugo Chávez as a necessary measure to “defend” the economy and curb the inflation rate, which was 26.9 percent last month and the highest … Read more

Indigenous leaders who represent the Comité Técnico de la Confederación de Pueblos Indígenas de Bolivia (CIDOB) will meet with the Bolivian government today to discuss implementation of the ley corta, which cancelled construction of the controversial Villa Tunari-San Ignacio de Moxos road in the Territorio Indígena y Parque Nacional Isiboro Sécure (TIPNIS). In October, President … Read more

Honduran President Porfirio Lobo said on Saturday that the surge of police and military personnel in cities highly affected by drug-related violence—part of a mission known as Operación Relámpago (Operation Lightning)—has been successful in reducing crime. According to the president’s remarks on national television and radio, the operation, which began on November 1, has lowered … Read more

  Carlos Lupi, Brazil’s minister of labor appeared before the Senate yesterday to defend himself against a series of corruption allegations that surfaced earlier this month in an exposé by news magazine Veja. According to reports, advisers to the minister demanded kickbacks on government contracts with nongovernmental groups. Also, reports allege that Lupi accepted travel … Read more

El tsunami de noticias que sacude permanentemente a Colombia es una de las cosas por las que me gusta ser periodista en este país. No se acaba de reponer uno de una tremenda cobertura sobre las elecciones regionales cuando la agenda de la guerra, de la paz y de la protesta social, sigue moviendo las … Read more