Great Expectations as Bachelet Assumes Presidency Again
On Tuesday, March 11, in her first act as senate president, Senator Isabel Allende will place a red, white and blue sash over the shoulder of Michelle Bachelet, officially making her the first re-elected president of Chile’s modern era. It will be a moment loaded with symbolism of the country’s struggle to break the shackles … Read more
Russia’s Military Power in Latin America
As tensions between the United States and Russia over the future of the Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula continue to rise, Moscow officials may look to beef up their country’s stronghold in Latin America. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced on February 26 that his country is planning to expand its long-standing military presence in Cuba, Venezuela … Read more
Biden Cancels DR Meeting, Opts to Meet Ukrainian PM
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will be cancelling the second leg of his Latin American trip that was announced last month in order to meet with Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and President Obama in Washington this week. The Vice President, who is currently in Chile for Michelle Bachelet’s inauguration, will no longer meet … Read more
Monday Memo: Salvadoran Elections – Colombian Elections – Bachelet – UNASUR Meeting – Manaus Stadium Inaugurated
Likely top stories this week: Salvadoran presidential candidates are running neck-in-neck; former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe wins a Senate seat; Chilean President-elect Michelle Bachelet meets regional leaders before her inauguration; UNASUR countries gather in Chile to discuss Venezuela; Brazil inaugurates its ninth World Cup stadium, with three more to go. Salvadoran Elections Remain “Too Close … Read more
Uribe Senador: la gran novedad de las elecciones en Colombia
Las campañas electorales en Colombia parecen calcadas una de la otra: los partidos políticos quedan expuestos en la picota pública por avalar a personajes sospechosos; los grandes barones electorales o sus herederos vuelven al curul; las regiones escasamente proponen caras nuevas; y aquellas colectividades que por no alcanzar el umbral requerido de votos en los … Read more
Last Chance to Vote for AQ as ASME’s Best Cover!
This week, AQ entered our Fall 2013 Media in the Americas: Threats to Free Speech cover in the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) Readers’ Choice Award contest on Facebook. We are currently in first place in the “Brainiest” magazine category—which includes publications like The Atlantic, Wired, and Business Week, among others—and we need your help to win it! Please click here and “Like” on … Read more
The Best University Student in Mexico is an Inmate?
The penal system does not work; criminals that do jail time do not reform. We’ve heard these arguments in Mexico before—and for the most part, they seem to be true. Stories abound of drug lords continuing to run their operations from within their cells by using unauthorized mobile phones, and of youth that are imprisoned … Read more
Clash between Indigenous Group, Military Police Leave Seven Injured
At least seven military police were injured in a confrontation with Indigenous Mapuche in the Araucania region of Chile on Wednesday. The clash began on Monday when 30 hooded individuals, presumed to be Mapuches took over the privately-owned El Canelo farm in an act to reclaim land they believed to be theirs by ancestral rights. After the perpetrators set fire to the … Read more
Diplomacy Isn’t a Tug of War
Diplomacy during the Cold War, wrote Sam Tanenhaus in last Sunday’s New York Times, may have been more of a high wire act than a chess match—but diplomacy, neither then nor now, is a tug of war. Unfortunately, that’s the way it’s being conducted in the U.S.’ delinked Cuba-Venezuela policies—hostages to age-old vendettas, anachronistic policies … Read more
U.S. Court Sides with Chevron in Ecuador Case
A U.S. federal judge ruled in favor of Chevron Corp. yesterday, dealing a blow to the 30,000 Amazonian villagers who successfully sued the California-based oil company for $9.5 billion over environmental damage in 2011. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan wrote that U.S. courts could not be used to collect the $9.5 … Read more
The West and the Ukraine Test
The Sochi Games are over and Russian President Vladimir Putin is back to business as usual. The decision to use Russian troops following the Ukraine’s establishment of a new government is reminiscent of Cold War politics and Putin’s disregard for international law. In reaction, the Canadian government has already chosen to recall its ambassador to … Read more
My Panic Room in Caracas
This article is part of “Connecting the Americas,” a collaborative project of Americas Quarterly and Zócalo Public Square. What’s the best way to protect a seven-month-old girl from the effects of tear gas? Is it dangerous for her to breathe the smoke from a pile of burning garbage in front of this building? Can a … Read more
U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Hear Local Immigration Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court signaled that it would leave contentious immigration issues to the jurisdiction of the legislative branch on Monday when it decided against hearing appeals from Farmers Branch, Texas and Hazleton, Pennsylvania. The two towns had sought to overturn decisions by appeals courts that struck down ordinances that criminalized the occupation of property by … Read more
Monday Memo: Nicaraguan Elections – Venezuelan protests – Colombian Peace Talks – Mapuche Leader – Chilean Visas
Support AQ! “Like” our Fall 2013 issue cover here: http://on.fb.me/1kNso1z Likely top stories this week: Nicaraguans vote in local elections; protests continue in Venezuela; the FARC says it will continue peace talks during elections; a Mapuche leader is sentenced to prison; Chileans no longer need visas to enter the United States. Nicaraguan Elections: Nicaraguans overwhelmingly … Read more
La Captura del Chapo Guzmán
El pasado sábado 22 de febrero de 2014, en el estado mexicano de Sinaloa, fue capturado en el puerto de Mazatlán Joaquín “el Chapo” Guzmán, el narcotraficante más buscado del mundo. Nadie en su sano juicio podría estar en contra de su captura. Como líder del cartel de Sinaloa, se le achacan infinidad de muertes … Read more
