Blog entries

The Truth Commission mandated by last year’s Tegucigalpa / San José Accord now appears ready to get to work in Honduras, but controversy has already ensnared it.  Supporters of last year’s coup are demanding that the government let sleeping dogs lie, while their opponents fear that the Commission will fail to deliver an honest account … Read more

You know it is election season in Peru when the number of public works projects (obras) increases so much that traffic comes to a virtual standstill. That’s how Lima is today ahead of the municipal and regional elections that will be held in October 2010. Much is at stake as the outcomes are a telltale … Read more

Brazil may be at odds with Washington when it comes to sanctions against Iran, but Brazil and the U.S. are in agreement when it comes to China’s currency. Henrique Meirelles, head of the Brazilian central bank, said this week that a stronger Chinese yuan was “absolutely critical for the equilibrium of the world economy” while … Read more

Just over a year ago President Barack Obama first met many of his regional counterparts at the Summit of the Americas. The Summit was largely a diplomatic exercise but one idea—Obama’s proposed regional energy and climate partnership—may finally be gaining some traction.  A slew of initiatives were on display last week as representatives from 32 … Read more

(Ruxandra Guidi is blogging from Bolivia’s climate change conference.) On Tuesday, the first day of the climate change conference in Bolivia, participants argued for one hour about the definition of a forest. And that was just the start of Bolivia’s World Peoples’ Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth (CMPCC)—a three-day event … Read more

Supporters of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega continued through Wednesday night to block opposition lawmakers’ access to the parliament building in protests that have grown increasingly tense in recent days in Managua. Reports indicate that masked throngs of government supporters have burned the tires and cars of opposition politicians, thrown firecrackers and other small explosive devices … Read more

Government officials in El Salvador and Guatemala speculate that there are approximately 15,000 gang members in each country. Meanwhile police officials attribute the majority of homicides, extortions and kidnappings to these groups, which are mainly comprised of young males between 13 and 26 years of age. This means that mara (a regional term for gangs) … 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. 2010 Energy and Climate Ministerial Convenes in Washington Energy ministers from the … Read more

Mexico’s lower-chamber of Congress, la Camara de Diputados, yesterday approved legislation to create a space agency that will be charged with crafting a space program for the country. The formation of the new agency, Agencias Espaciales de Mexico (AEXA), was approved with overwhelming support from lawmakers including 280 votes in favor and only two votes … Read more

When we left Bolivia in August 2008, an ongoing fight was heating up between the people in the highlands and the lowlands, between President Evo Morales’ supporters and the opposition, and between the rich and the poor. On the street, people would often ask me in passing not whether, but when, the civil war was … Read more

Thousands of environmental activists from 130 countries, including the world’s poorest, arrived in Cochabamba, Bolivia, on Tuesday for the People’s World Conference on Climate Change and Mother Earth Rights. Their arrival coincided with the conclusion of the Sixth Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate in Washington DC, which included leaders from 17 developed countries.  … Read more

In the immediate aftermath of January’s earthquake in Haiti a number of American government officials and Haitian leaders began deliberating a proposed “Marshall Plan for Haiti.” Writing in The Wall Street Journal on January 30, Haitian Ambassador to the United States Raymond A. Joseph punctuated his appeal: “ ‘poor Haiti’ has contributed greatly to the … Read more

Colombian presidential candidate, Antanas Mockus, declared in a televised debate this weekend that he would never pursue guerrilla groups into the sovereign territory of a neighboring country, even if there was evidence such groups were operating there. However, Mockus also reiterated his view that insurgent groups like the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) must … Read more

A law that prohibits the use of animals in circuses will take effect this summer in Bolivia—a measure that frees the animals from captivity, but puts them in limbo as no clear plans have been made to facilitate their release. Bolivia will become the first country to ban the use of both domestic and wild … Read more

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño reported today that he received a “very positive responses” from the governments of Chile and Uruguay following Ecuador’s request to speed up ratification of the treaty that will legally form the Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (UNASUR). Patiño is currently on a three-day tour of the Southern Cone, which will conclude … Read more