Blog entries

Word from the annual OAS General Assembly in Lima this week is that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appealed to the hemispheric community to re-instate Honduras to full membership, but that a number of other hemispheric countries, notably Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, demurred.  After a year wandering in the hemispheric wilderness since being expelled from … Read more

Centroamérica es muy propensa a desastres naturales, muy pero muy propensa. Como si no fuera poco con la pobreza, incipiente institucionalidad y frágil democracia cada cierto tiempo uno o varios de los países del Istmo se ven afrontando algún desastre natural: huracanes, tormentas tropicales, terremotos, deslaves, erupciones volcánicas, etc. La más reciente es el paso … Read more

Bolivia’s national congress today passed legislation that officially codifies the application of “original” or “communal” justice in indigenous communities. The measure was approved in an early morning session of the Cámara de Diputados with strong support from President Morales’s Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party. According to some reports, however, the law was approved with little … Read more

Representatives from the 33 countries comprising the Organization of American States (OAS) convened in Lima, Peru on Sunday for its 40th general assembly. Top issues on the agenda include the readmission of Honduras into the hemispheric body and Arizona’s tough new immigration bill SB 1070, which numerous Latin American leaders have decried. Also high on … Read more

This week, from June 6 to 8, the Organization of American States (OAS) will hold its General Assembly with all the region’s foreign ministers and secretaries gathering in Lima to discuss affairs in the hemisphere….well, almost. Last year the theme of the General Assembly, held in Honduras, was supposed to be security, but the event … Read more

A year ago this past weekend 34 people died near a section of road in Peru’s Amazon known as “Devil’s curve.”  In many ways it was a typical Peruvian protest. The indigenous people who had congregated from all over the region to call for the right to be consulted over energy and mining projects on … Read more

In advance of world leaders coming to Toronto and Huntsville, Ontario, on June 25, Canadian police have displayed the security measures that will be used to deter protesters, which will include thousands of federal, provincial and municipal police officers on horseback and motorcycles as well as officers in riot gear with SWAT and police snipers … Read more

In a meeting on Wednesday between President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina and her Uruguayan counterpart, José Mujica, the two countries agreed to jointly monitor and manage the water quality of the Río Uruguay, a river they share. The decision brings a four-year dispute over a pulp mill built on the Uruguayan side of … Read more

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. Santos Surges in Colombia’s First Round as Polls Prove Inaccurate Despite the … Read more

Mexico warned Israel of possible United Nations Security Council action if they continued to block humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza only hours after assuming the UN body’s rotating presidency at midnight on June 1.  In a carefully crafted statement released yesterday, the council president, Ambassador Claude Heller of Mexico, condemned Israel’s actions against the Turkish … Read more

The two leading vote-getters in Sunday’s presidential election are now focused on building political alliances ahead of the June 20 run-off election.  Juan Manuel Santos of the Partido de la U (46.6 percent of the vote) and Antanas Mockus of the Partido Verde (21.4 percent) came in first and second, respectively, but neither secured enough … Read more

Nadie: Ni las encuestas ni los uribistas más optimistas vaticinaron el desenlace de las elecciones del domingo pasado en las que el candidato oficial Juan Manuel Santos, obtuvo un 46 por ciento frente a un 22 por ciento de su futuro contendor en la segunda vuelta, Antanas Mockus del partido Verde. Este resultado, si bien … Read more

Colombia se acerca a la primera vuelta de una de las campañas presidenciales más emocionantes de los últimos años, pues tras la caída del referendo reeleccionista que le impidió al mandatario Álvaro Uribe aspirar a regir los destinos del país por otro periodo más, todas las predicciones resultaron desacertadas. Es cierto que el candidato que … Read more

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega voiced the possibility on Wednesday evening of dissolving the Nicaraguan legislature if it continues to stall the confirmations of 25 executive-branch appointees.  “If you give me the word, I’ll refound congress,” Ortega said in comments that were republished by the president’s communications office. “If the business council supports me, I’ll rewrite … Read more

In the days following the Haitian earthquake, well over 1,000 children departed Haiti as “adoptees” bound for the U.S. and other nations like the Netherlands and France. Those children now in the U.S. were brought across the border in an expedited manner on humanitarian visas and without passports. This marks a “first” for U.S. immigration … Read more