Blog entries

The Honduran government has officially announced the launch of a truth commission to investigate the military overthrow last year of then-President Manuel Zelaya. The commission includes Guatemalan former vice president Eduardo Stein, Canadian diplomat Michael Kergin, and Julieta Castellanos, head of the National Autonomous University of Honduras, and was a key campaign promise of current … Read more

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva—one of Time Magazine’s newly-named most influential people in the world—will travel to Iran next week for what have become regular meetings with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The leaders are sure to discuss the month-long UN conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that began yesterday in New York, … Read more

Former Argentine President Néstor Kirchner was chosen today to be the first secretary general of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) at a summit outside of Buenos Aires attended by heads of state and foreign ministers from the 12 countries that comprise the group. Speaking after today’s vote, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da … Read more

Bolivian President Evo Morales announced on Saturday the nationalization of three private electricity firms in a move the government says will leave it in control of 80 percent of the country’s electricity production. In his speech commemorating international workers’ day, Morales said, “once again, a first of May, and as always we’re recovering our privatized … Read more

Members of the insurgent group Sendero Luminoso launched an attack on an army post yesterday in the Valley of the Apurimac and Ene rivers (VRAE) region of central Peru that left at least one police officer wounded. Earlier this week, in the first deadly attack of 2010, rebels also ambushed and killed a police officer … Read more

As próximas eleições presidenciais brasileiras não só marcarão o fim da chamada “era Lula”—quando o atual presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva finaliza o seu segundo mandato, mas também será a primeira vez que o uso das redes sociais como Twitter, Orkut, Facebook e Ning será autorizado pelo Tribunal Superior Eleitoral nas campanhas políticas. Por … Read more

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, arrived in Mexico City yesterday on an official three-day visit, expressing high expectations for the UN Climate Change Conference to take place in December in Cancun. Ms. Wahlström said that failures in previous negotiations can be overcome at the Mexico summit and urged Mexico to take … 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. Mexico Issues Arizona Travel Warning In response to Arizona’s tough new immigration … Read more

It’s not often that people come to the United Nations to praise its achievements. Accusations and recriminations are far more common around here. That’s why one press conference last week left many journalists befuddled: a delegation of prominent Guatemalans came all the way to UN headquarters to praise the international body’s work, and to urge … Read more

President Porfirio Lobo arrived early this week on his first visit to the United States since he won Honduras’ presidential elections in November 2009. On Tuesday, he spoke at the University of Miami, which followed earlier stops in New Orleans to meet with business leaders and build relationships with local universities. High on the president’s … Read more

What once looked like a predictable outcome in Colombia’s forthcoming presidential elections has recently turned into a tight race that pundits say is too close to call. The comfortable lead that presidential frontrunner and former defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos, once enjoyed in the polls is fading fast. That’s largely due to the surge of … Read more

Mexican President Felipe Calderón today announced that his government will work to defend the rights of dual nationals adversely affected by the passage last week of the controversial Arizona state law SB1070. His concern was echoed by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the governments of Guatemala and El Salvador, among others. Calderón described … Read more

The clock is now ticking for enactment of SB 1070—Arizona’s new law that makes the state the country’s most regressive in how it treats all immigrants, not just the undocumented. What can Arizonans expect? Besides the inevitable racial profiling that is to result, the economic consequences will be grave for a state that already faces … Read more

Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno Charme met today in Tokyo with his Japanese counterpart, Katuya Okada, to discuss issues including Japan’s ongoing reconstruction assistance in the wake of Chile’s February 27 earthquake, and possible future collaboration in earthquake and tsunami detection efforts. In Moreno’s first bilateral visit since assuming office in March 2010, he expressed … Read more

(Ruxandra Guidi is blogging from Bolivia’s climate change conference.) Capitalism. This was the most widely used word at the conference, mentioned over two dozen times by President Evo Morales in his many speeches and repeated by the public and government delegates alike. Then came the phrase climate change, of course; the environment, and mother earth—or … Read more