Blog entries

What exactly does Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, a leader of a secular government whose people are largely Catholic, have in common with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a leader of a nonsecular government where 90 percent of the population belongs to the Shi’a branch of Islam? The connection of one of the most divergent governments in … Read more

Venezuelan authorities recovered yesterday the body of Jose Luis Arenas, 21, who was abducted and murdered over the weekend in the Venezuelan state of Táchira, near the town of El Pinal.  Mr. Arenas is the last of 12 amateur soccer players  kidnapped on October 11 by unidentified perpetrators and held for several days before being … Read more

Dicen que no existe el momento ideal para traer hijos al mundo, pero cuando la cronista peruana Gabriela Wiener estaba embarazada, todo parecía jugar en su contra: acababa de perder su trabajo en una revista, su situación legal en España se balanceaba en la cuerda floja, le detectaron un cáncer a su padre, se enteró … 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. Mujica to Face “Pink” Alliance During the first round of Uruguay’s presidential … Read more

Released this week, an Ipsos-Reid poll reports that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative party now commands approximately 40 percent of the Canadian public’s support, with the Liberal party’s popularity dropping 4 percentage points since the beginning of the month. Liberal support is now at 25 percent. This means that if elections were held today the … Read more

President Tabaré Vázquez signed a bill earlier this month permitting couples in any legal union, including same-sex couples in civil unions, to adopt children, but the law continues to cause confusion according to local reports. Lawyers and judges have criticized the law for lacking specifics and granting the Uruguayan Institute for the Children and Adolescents … Read more

Senator José Mujica of the Broad Front coalition received 47.5 percent of the vote and ex-President Luis Alberto Lacalle finished with 28.5 percent of ballots in Uruguay’s presidential election on Sunday. The top two candidates, with neither securing at least 50 percent support, will face off in the second round of voting on November 29. … Read more

Last month, around a thousand peasants marched and blockaded the streets of Cuenca, Ecuador, and many more came out in protests throughout the Ecuadorian Amazon, calling for the cancellation of a new water law.  If passed, the law would privatize water services, limit community and neighborhood water management, relax current measures on water contamination, and … Read more

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega moved a step closer to running for another term this week when six justices of the constitutional branch of the Supreme Court deemed “unenforceable” a term-limit provision contained in Nicaragua’s constitution. According to opposition leaders and legal experts, a 1995 amendment to the Nicaraguan constitution allows a maximum of two non-consecutive … Read more

Desde Buenos Aires estamos viviendo con mucha intensidad los procesos electorales de nuestros vecinos. Hace un tiempo, escribí sobre algo de lo que está pasando en Chile. Ahora es el turno de Uruguay, aunque debo confesar que no me produce el mismo grado de entusiasmo. A diferencia de lo que ocurre en Chile, donde los … Read more

CNN premiered its much-hyped “Latino in America” special with Soledad O’Brien last night without allowing an anti-Lou Dobbs ad to air, as protests took place outside the network’s offices around the country.  The four-hour “Latino in America” documentary discusses migration, but does not mention the network’s Lou Dobbs Show—a nightly program that frequently takes a … 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. Honduran Talks Stall over Decision on Zelaya’s Future Negotiations aimed at resolving … Read more

The city of Puebla in Central Mexico launched a pilot program yesterday that includes a fleet of 35 taxis designed for women who want to avoid harassment by male taxi drivers. The pink-colored Chevrolet taxis come equipped with beauty kits, GPS systems, and alarm systems in the event of an emergency. The drivers are exclusively … Read more

This isn’t another confirm Tom Shannon as Ambassador to Brazil or confirm Arturo Valenzuela as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs essay—though I support both of those positions, and understand that things may be moving. This is an expression of wonder at the inability of the U.S. government to walk and chew gum … Read more

Last week, Honduras’s World Cup qualification left the country glowing with optimism.  Now, irrepressible hope and joy have again given way to a grimmer reality: political negotiations have hit a wall.  After finding agreement on the first seven of eight points on the agenda, the Guaymuras Dialogue negotiators have reached a predictable impasse on the … Read more