Blog entries

After almost two years of parsing first candidate then President elect and now President Barack Obama’s words for his ideas on Latin America, the world will finally get a view in April 17, 18 and 19 in Trinidad and Tobago at the Summit of the Americas. Certainly President Obama’s recent interview with Univision caused some … Read more

Washington is abuzz this week. Yes, Beyonce will be sharing the stage with Garth Brooks at Sunday’s Lincoln Memorial concert, but a new tune also may be developing in regard to U.S. immigration policies. Both the incoming administration and congressional leaders have signaled that the chorus for ’09 may yet be a new, practical approach … Read more

Isolation and high prices have held back new talented writers in Latin America. It is difficult for someone in Colombia to hear about a rising Venezuelan author. A work by a Peruvian author, well-known in Spain, may be hard to come across in a Costa Rican bookstore. Where books are available, they are often too … Read more

On January 1, 2009, the Cuban government celebrated the 50th anniversary of Fidel Castro and Ché Guevara’s triumphant march into Havana that marked the end of the reign of Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship and the beginning of the Cuban revolution. The occasion was quite frankly sad, not just for what it said about a revolution that … Read more

In Colombia, everyone seems to know someone who has been affected by the recent collapse of bogus pyramid investment schemes. An estimated 4 million Colombians, from the political elite, members of the armed forces, to small businessmen and the poor invested in pyramid scams. Some have lost their life savings. The biggest pyramid company, DMG … Read more

With the scope of the recession looming larger with the release of each new gloomy statistic, talk of the New Deal-style package (and it’s potential scope) grows with it. But today in the digital age there’s a significant new component to stimulating the economy (including state investment in infrastructure that recalls the historic images of … Read more

Security is one of Mexicans’ top concerns. Since taking office, the government of President Felipe Calderón has responded. Troops and federal police are one answer, but the government now has a new weapon: a law that creates a national cell-phone registry. Cell phones are not AK-47s but they are used by criminals for kidnappings, organized … Read more

Jamaica reported 1,500 homicides last year. In such environments of high insecurity, citizens’ rights often take a back seat to in the demand for government action and security. Carolyn Gomes, the executive director and co-founder of Jamaicans for Justice, has emerged as an outspoken leader for defendant’s rights, dedicating specific attention to exposing and lowering … Read more

It was difficult for any Latin Americanist (not to mention Latin American) not to feel a swell of surprise and pride when New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson broke into Spanish at the end of his speech announcing his appointment to Commerce Secretary last week. The announcement further filled out President-elect Barack Obama’s economic team. Governor … Read more

Congress will meet one more time next week before likely packing up and heading home for the holidays. That may be good news for automakers seeking relief but lawmakers will be leaving behind much unfinished business for our Americas policy. For one, the Colombia and Panama free-trade agreements (FTAs) have yet to be considered. Passage … Read more

The whole idea of a massive shift to the left in Latin America was overblown by the media from the beginning. It became a convenient story for journalists and way to bash the Bush administration, but the truth is that the electoral results that swept the Western Hemisphere in 2005 and 2006 were neither left … Read more

The Cubans are behind. Given the shortage of equipment, skills training from outside the island and lack of public space, it is no wonder that Cuban skaters are not keeping up with their counterparts abroad. The Havana skate community is estimated to hover around 400 to 500. There is one skate park on the entire … Read more

Presione aquí  para la versión en español To get a copy of Roberto Bolaño’s 2666, I had two options: order it from Amazon.com for $50.00 plus shipping and handling or have someone from abroad bring it to me on their next trip. All this effort for an author who was just featured in Americas Quarterly, The … Read more

The election campaign has ended, but Commerce Secretary Gutierrez is still on the campaign trail for the Colombia free-trade agreement (FTA). This week, he was on the hustings at the Small Business Administration trade symposium.  The message: we must pass the Colombia free-trade agreement “with the same sense of urgency that we passed a stimulus … Read more

This week brought another tragic murder of a journalist in Mexico.  Armando Rodriguez was a well-known crime editor for El Diario in the violence-ridden, Mexican border-town of Ciudad Juarez. The hit (conducted while he was waiting to take his daughter to school, by gunmen who sped off) prompted strong condemnations by international NGOs and the … Read more