Blog entries

The Honduran Congress passed a new law on Tuesday, after an unusual late-night legislative session. The measure, called the Ley Especial que Regula el Referéndum y el Plebiscito, establishes specific restrictions on the power of the executive to call for national referendums by prohibiting plebiscites and referendums 180 days before or after a national election. … Read more

En su último número, la revista CA$H publicó una lista de las 100 personas más influyentes de Bolivia. Se trata de una lista sesgada, pues la empresa que la lleva a cabo sólo consulta a 200 “líderes de opinión” en el eje troncal del país (La Paz, Santa Cruz y Cochabamba). Es, digamos, un pantallaza … Read more

Peru’s 2011 presidential election seems far off, but polling has already begun and Keiko Fujimori sits atop the leader board. Former President Alberto Fujimori’s daughter, a congresswoman in the Alliance for the Future Party, is the favorite likely candidate with the support of 22 percent of Peruvian voters. The poll was released yesterday by Ipsos … Read more

Commerce Minister Eduardo Samán announced on Saturday that “patents have become a barrier to production” and stymie access to medicine, placing the interests of multinational pharmaceutical companies ahead of the welfare and needs of the Venezuelan people. With President Hugo Chávez calling patents a “trap,” the government will now revise its patent system, annulling certain … Read more

Stolen elections and ballot-box stuffing became such the norm in Mexico under the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) that observers used to say that even the dead rise and vote on election day. In the mid-term legislative elections on July 5, this time it may be the once-thought moribund PRI that rises from the dead. A … Read more

United Nation’s peacekeeping forces have been accused of shooting and killing an unidentified man at protests stemming from the funeral of Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste Wednesday in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Jean-Juste, 62, a close ally of exiled former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and head of the Miami-based Center for Haitian Refugees died earlier this month in Miami from … Read more

What if Brazil held a key to saving the world from destroying itself through an inexorable process of man-made global climate change?  Far-fetched?  Perhaps.  Then again, perhaps not.  Having just returned from exploring energy issues in Brazil with experts from the policy, government and the private sectors, I’ve come back with some hard truths that … Read more

Eight months later, the consequences of last November’s municipal elections continue to reverberate throughout Nicaragua. Now the latest victim is not the legitimacy of the democratic process but Nicaraguan citizens. And the government of Nicaragua is to blame. Last week, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)—a U.S. government entity established in 2004 that ties aid to … Read more

On a visit to Colombia yesterday, Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said that Bolivia would seek to re-establish formal diplomatic ties with Peru as soon as possible.  In a statement, Mr. Choquehuanca attributed the change of stance to popular demand saying, “Our peoples want harmonious relations…government officials must obey our peoples’ wishes.” A deterioriation in … 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. Peru’s PM to Resign, Push for End of Decrees that Sparked Amazon … Read more

Yehude Simon announced yesterday on a local radio program that he would leave office once the conflict with the country’s indigenous population in the Amazon is resolved. The prime minister has been under pressure by the opposition after the June 5th protest left at least 30 civilians and 22 policemen dead. He has vowed to … Read more

China’s chief trade negotiator entered into a third round of negotiations with his Costa Rican counterpart on Monday to establish a bilateral free-trade agreement.  This latest round occurs only 7 months after Chinese President Hu Jintao announced the start of free-trade talks on a visit to San José in November 2008.  Both countries say they … Read more

Last night, 21 people were injured when a home-made bomb exploded at Largo do Arouche, a plaza in central São Paulo, Brazil.  No serious injuries were reported, but it was one of several hate crimes reported during the annual Gay Pride parade—the world’s largest with an estimated 3 to 3.5 million people in attendance. Activists … Read more

Debo confesar que, a pesar de haber seguido con muchísimo entusiasmo los procesos electorales de Chile en las últimas dos décadas, las elecciones presidenciales de este año me producían un enorme aburrimiento. Eso cambió cuando Marco Enríquez-Ominami apareció en escena. Paso a explicar. La candidatura del millonario Sebastian Piñera por la Alianza opositora perdió la … Read more

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe answered questions before Canada’s House of Commons trade committee on Thursday, appealing to legislators to approve the pending Canada-Colombia free-trade agreement (FTA). The agreement was signed on November 21, 2008, and on March 26, 2009, the Canadian government introduced legislation to implement it. The session was at times contentious, with Uribe … Read more