Blog entries

From the 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. Baby Doc Faces Corruption Charges in Haiti Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier returned … Read more

The Secretaría de Educación Pública or SEP (Ministry of Education) in Mexico has traditionally been known for being slow, over-bureaucratized and square-minded. Low quality levels are reflected year after year through a series of international comparative studies. One need only consult the results of the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) to see in disgust … Read more

Argentina’s wine exports to the United States increased 12 percent in the 2009-2010 period, overtaking Chile as the fourth-largest wine supplier to the U.S. market. Italy, France and Australia hold the top three spots.  Total exports exceeded $222 million in 2010 compared to $210 million for U.S.-directed Chilean exports.  Total foreign sales of Argentine wine topped … Read more

Political institutions tend to respond slowly in adapting to challenges. Longstanding problems typically arise and evolve long before policymakers and government officials are able to identify them. And when they do, they are generally ill-equipped to devise proposals to solving these problems. One of the more telling examples is happening in Colombia—where not only the … Read more

No member of “The Worst of the Worst”—a list put together by George Ayittey for Foreign Policy—would be expected to address the legislature of his country with an open attitude and with calls for democratic dialogue. “The Worst of the Worst” is a list of the world’s tyrants, autocrats and dictators. Prominent members include, among … Read more

Talks between government officials and local leaders on Monday failed to end protests over an increase in natural gas prices in the south of Chile. Chile’s Mining and Energy Minister Laurence Golborne travelled to the regional capital of Punta Arenas to offer a limit on the price increase to 3 percent, an improvement from the … Read more

Over the course of my week in Cartagena, I have become more steeped in the language, culture and attitudes of Colombians. It seems fitting, then, that the last music concerts I attended at the Festival Internacional de Música were distinctly rooted in Colombian traditions and modern identities, rather than the classical music of Europe. As … Read more

Rather than focus on crafting real solutions to our broken immigration system, legislators have started the new year again playing politics. Last week, on the first day of Congress, Representative Steve King (IA) introduced the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 (HR 140) as legislators from Arizona, Georgia, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and South Carolina also unveiled their … Read more

At least 511 people have been reported killed since Wednesday by mudslides and flooding in Brazil’s deadliest natural disaster in recent memory. Heavy precipitation over the past few days is now predicted to continue in the coming weeks, threatening further damage and hindering rescue efforts in the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. … Read more

(An English version of this post is forthcoming.) A edição de 13 dezembro de 2010 da Revista Época trouxe como manchete uma análise sobre os 100 mais influentes brasileiros do ano. Com cinco opções de capa, a revista dá ao leitor a opção de comprar a versão com a presidente Dilma Rousseff; a do cineasta … Read more

Julia Salvi, a native of Colombia, recalls bringing her Italian husband Victor to Cartagena for the first time, around early 2005: “Of course he loved it right away, and started thinking about what he could do here. When other people were thinking about buying houses, he was thinking about buying a theater,” she chuckles. It … Read more

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) heard Costa Rica’s formal complaint against Nicaragua yesterday—initially filed in November 2010—regarding the ongoing border dispute along the San Juan River. Nicaragua will present its arguments today. Costa Rica’s delegation headed by Jorge Urbina, the permanent representative to the United Nations, presented historical maps from Costa Rica-Nicaragua bilateral agreements … Read more

A Year after the Quake, Good Manufacturing News for Haiti In Haiti, Sae-A Trading Company, a South Korean clothing-manufacturing giant, opened for business this week. Its factory will employ 20,000 Haitians once fully operational. On the same day, the historic downtown Port-au-Prince Iron Market reopened after Caribbean mobile phone carrier Digicel paid to have it … Read more

One year has passed since Haiti was rocked by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2010. In just three minutes, a nation already suffering from hunger and neglect was hit with a seemingly decisive blow. The media’s coverage of Haiti is as insightful today as it was in the weeks immediately following the earthquake. Then, … Read more

Si no supiera que murieron casi 300.000 personas y que todavía hoy en día hay 1.200 campamentos de refugiados con casi un millón de personas diría que hoy los haitianos celebran algo. El día en que se cumple un año del terremoto por las calles de Puerto Príncipe desfilan miles de personas vestidas de blanco, … Read more