Texas Relaxes Standards for Immigration Shelters
Due to the high volume of unaccompanied minors coming from Central America, the Texas state government announced yesterday that it would relax the rules governing the required conditions in its shelters. The regulatory changes reduced the number of square feet required for each child, increased the number of children assigned to a single toilet, sink … Read more
Paraguay and Indonesia: New Possibilities for Closer Cooperation
On November 29, 2014, Paraguay will celebrate the 33rd anniversary of its establishment of diplomatic relations with the Republic of Indonesia, the world’s fourth-largest nation with over 250 million people. Indonesia is one of the Next Eleven (N-11) Economies, and together with Paraguay, is also a member of the Group of Eleven (G11), whose efforts … Read more
Honduras Homicide Rate Drops in 2014
There were 600 fewer homicides in Honduras as compared to the same period last year, President Juan Orlando Hernández announced on Monday. In the first semester of 2014, there were 2,893 murders in the small Central American country, which is home to 8.2 million inhabitants. Honduras averaged about 19 murders a day in 2013, but President … Read more
Brazil’s INOVAR: Building an Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
Lately, Brazil has been in the business of building things from the ground up. From stadiums that hold millions of people to entire market ecosystems, this is challenging work for a government. In anticipation of the World Cup, Brazil received heavy criticism for its infrastructure development. However, Brazil’s efforts at developing an entrepreneurship ecosystem have … Read more
Mexico’s Energy Reform: Lessons from Colombia and Brazil
In the early 2000s, Colombia’s oil industry was weakening. There had been a decrease in new discoveries, followed by a decline in production from a peak of 800,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 1999 to nearly 550,000 b/d in 2004. Exploration and production had moved to increasingly remote areas with higher security risks and risky … Read more
Monday Memo: USAID and Cuba – Mexican Energy – U.S. Immigration – Argentine peso – Bridge in Colombia
This week’s top stories: USAID is accused of running a secret program in Cuba; Mexican energy reform passes in the lower house; U.S. Republicans pass immigration bills before recess; the value of the Argentine peso drops over debt woes; a bridge in Montería, Colombia collapses. USAID and Cuba: In a statement this morning, the United … Read more
Stocks Plummet as Argentina Defaults
Argentina’s stock market fell 8.4 percent on Thursday after the country slid into what Standard & Poor is calling a selective default. Despite emergency negotiations Wednesday night, holdout bondholders and Argentina’s Finance Minister Axel Kicillof were unable to reach a compromise. The default crisis was sparked by lawsuits led by Paul Singer for $1.5 billion … Read more
Abandoned Houses Prove Golden Opportunity in Mexico
Miriam Rodríguez, 43, lives in Cañadas del Florido, a low-income neighborhood in Tijuana, Baja California, the northernmost state of Mexico. Three years ago, on any given day, Miriam and her three children would watch criminals, drug addicts, and vagrants frequent the empty house next door. Their streets were littered with garbage and dead animals. This … Read more
The United States Restricts Travel for Top Venezuelan Officials
The U.S. has issued a travel ban for a list of unnamed Venezuelan officials who are accused of involvement in human rights abuses after the Venezuelan military and police cracked down on anti-government protests earlier this year. The ban affects 24 high-ranking officials from Venezuela, ranging from cabinet members and senior judiciary members to members … Read more
Brazil’s Marina Silva Calls For a New Vision of Development
From the age of 10, Marina Silva would wake up before dawn to prepare food for her father, so that he could set off through the dense jungle before the heat of the tropical sun made it impossible for him to keep working. In Silva’s community of rubber tappers in Brazil’s northwestern state of Acre, … Read more
Abuses Against Afro-Colombian Communities in Tumaco
Human Rights Watch released a report today that documents killings, disappearances and sexual violence against Afro-Colombian communities in Tumaco, a city in southwestern Nariño department. The abuses were reportedly committed by the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–FARC). José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, said that “the FARC … Read more
President Bachelet Cancels Venezuela Trip
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet unexpectedly canceled her trip to Venezuela for today’s Mercosur Summit yesterday afternoon. Alvaro Elizalde, a spokesman for the Bachelet administration, confirmed that Heraldo Muñoz, Minister of Foreign Affairs, will represent the Chilean delegation at the summit in Caracas. In addition to the Mercosur meetings, Muñoz will also meet with Venezuela’s President … Read more
Monday Memo: Mercosur Summit – General Hugo Carvajal – Gov. Jerry Brown – Mexican Energy Reform – Argentine Debt
This week’s likely top stories: Mercosur leaders meet in Caracas; former General Hugo Carvajal returns to Venezuela; California Governor Jerry Brown visits Mexico; Mexican Congress discusses energy reform; Argentina nears its debt deadline. Mercosur leaders to address Israel at Mercosur summit: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is expected to lead Mercosur leaders in condemning Israel’s military … Read more
Former Chávez Aid Detained in Aruba
Caracas announced yesterday its opposition to the “illegal and arbitrary” arrest of former Venezuelan general, Hugo Carvajal in the Dutch-administered Caribbean island Aruba. While Carvajal–ex-director of military intelligence in Venezuela and personal advisor of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez–awaited his approval as consul in Aruba, he was detained on Wednesday night at the request of the U.S. government for his … Read more
Solving the Migration Crisis Requires a Shift in Foreign Policy
This Friday, presidents of the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras will meet with President Barack Obama in Washington DC to deal with the crisis of unaccompanied minors arriving in the U.S. from Central America. Migration between these countries is not new, and has been high on the multilateral agenda for … Read more
