Blog entries

The European Union yesterday called on the Cuban Government to immediately release all political prisoners and urged EU institutions to give their “unconditional support to the launching of a peaceful process of political transition to multi-party democracy in Cuba.” The statement comes after the death last month of Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo, due to … Read more

Mientras la campaña presidencial estaba congelada por cuenta del trámite de un referendo reeleccionista para saber si el presidente Álvaro Uribe sería candidato por tercera vez, proyecto que se cayó en la Corte Constitucional—a paso lento y en medio de algunos escándalos—avanzaban las campañas al Congreso de la República que por fin llegan a su … Read more

A new study by the Organization of American States and the United Nations on alcohol, tobacco and drug consumption among high school students revealed that Chilean students consume more marijuana and tobacco than their regional counterparts. The study looked at more than 170 thousand students from Perú, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Uruguay. Chile’s consumption … Read more

Colombia’s Partido Social de la Unidad, a coalition of parties that support President Álvaro Uribe, officially presented former Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos as its candidate for the May 2010 presidential elections on Monday.  The next day, Santos chose Colombian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Angelino Garzón as his vice president and said … Read more

Colombians have a wide and strange array of options as they go to the polls this Sunday. 2,559 candidates are running for seats in the Senate, the Chamber of Representatives and the Andean Parliament; there seems to be a candidate for every taste. Some popular, if nontraditional candidates include the Partido de Integración Nacional’s (PIN) … Read more

Colombia and Paraguay signed a declaration on Tuesday pledging to enhance bilateral cooperation primarily on security matters, but also in commerce, investment and tourism. The agreement follows the resolution of a recent diplomatic dispute between the two countries that occurred prior to February’s Río Group Summit in Mexico. At the summit, Paraguayan Minister of Defense … Read more

Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has accepted an invitation to head Petrocaribe’s newly formed political council, Venezuelan foreign minister Nicolás Maduro announced on Saturday. Minister Maduro said that in his new post, Zelaya would “oversee strengthening of political independence and the defense of ‘popular democracy‘ in Latin America and the Caribbean.” Petrocaribe, a Venezuelan state … Read more

A 8.247 kilómetros de Santiago de Chile, en una pequeña sala de la Escuela de Asuntos Públicos e Internacionales (SIPA) de la Universidad de Columbia, en Nueva York, un grupo de estudiantes monitorea atentamente la situación en Chile, luego del terremoto que el pasado 27 febrero sacudió el centro y sur del país. A través … Read more

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and his allies were already taking candidate-like precautions before the country’s Constitutional Court ruled in a 7-2 decision that his run for a third term would be unconstitutional. Juan Manuel Santos, one of Uribe’s closest disciples and a former defense minister, refused to launch his campaign as long as the possibility … Read more

The United States this week announced its intention to prohibit—effective April 20—the import of wild shrimp from Mexico after determining that the country has failed to adequately protect sea turtles. U.S. law (Section 609 of Public Law 101-162) prohibits imports of shrimp unless the harvesting nation has sea turtle protection programs comparable to those in … Read more

This piece was co-authored with Mitchell Seligson of Vanderbilt University. According to the UN Commission on Trade and Development over 60 percent of the population south of the Rio Grande is under 35 years old.  Latin America’s young people will have an impact on political stability and the economy not just in their home countries … Read more

Cuenta la periodista Leila Guerriero (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1967) que a algunas personas, cuando se sienten conmovidas por una historia real, se les da por comentar “sería una gran novela” . Pero Guerriero no quiere escribir una novela. Y no porque no le guste la ficción —al contrario, se alimenta de ella vorazmente. Lo que … Read more

The city of Bogotá today entered into its fourth day of an ongoing transportation strike that is generating huge economic losses and sporadic civil unrest. The strike was called by an association of small-scale transportation providers, who oppose the city’s plan to continue implementing the Transmilenio project—a long term effort to revamp the city-wide transit … 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. Leaders from Across Americas Reach out to Chile In the days since … Read more

Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, and Ecuador are showing a display of solidarity with Chile in the aftermath of the February 27 earthquake.  On Tuesday, Bolivian President Evo Morales said he would donate half of his salary to aid Chile, and called for a five-day campaign in Bolivia to raise funds for earthquake relief in Haiti as … Read more