Maduro Begins South American Tour amid Venezuela Election Audit
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro embarked today on a three-day tour of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, all members of Mercosur (The Common Market of the South). Following Paraguay’s suspension from the free-trade group, Venezuela joined Mercosur last year and will assume the bloc’s temporary presidency for the first time on June 28 during a summit in … Read more
Consulta Previa Controversy in Peru: A Community Protests and a Vice Minister Resigns
The contentious relationship between Indigenous communities, mining companies and the state came to a head last week in Peru. Mines and Energy Minister Jorge Merino persuaded Peruvian President Ollanta Humala to exclude Quechua-speaking communities from a law that gives Indigenous groups the right to be consulted about major mining and infrastructure projects that would directly … Read more
Obama’s Visit to Costa Rica: Lessons for an Improved Partnership
President Obama’s recent visit to Costa Rica focused on enhancing competitiveness and deepening economic ties with the Central American Integration System (SICA) through a U.S.-SICA partnership based on human and economic development. The visit also served as a pressing reminder of the need to improve integration efforts within the region. For this partnership to succeed, … Read more
Is Canada’s International Role in Decline?
It’s been said that Canada has usually “punched above its weight” on the international stage. Whether we refer to the world wars of the twentieth century, the creation of the United Nations, the bipolar era of the Cold War, the conflict in Korea, or the reaction to Afghanistan after 9-11, Canada’s contribution in blood, sweat … Read more
Apuestas Estratégicas para el 2014 en El Salvador
En el año 2000 la mayoría de los salvadoreños teníamos una idea, al menos vaga, sobre cual debería de ser la apuesta estratégica del país. El entonces presidente Francisco Flores y su gabinete nos hablaban sobre la viabilidad de convertir a El Salvador en un centro financiero y en un centro logístico de calidad mundial. … Read more
Monday Memo: Immigration Reform – Maduro and Uribe – Ríos Montt Trial – Timothy Tracy – Guantánamo
Top stories this week are likely to include: Senate Judiciary Committee begins mark-up of the U.S. immigration reform bill; Álvaro Uribe reacts to Nicolás Maduro; Ríos Montt genocide trial is briefly suspended; Barack Obama criticizes the imprisonment of an American filmmaker in Venezuela; and 100 prisoners participate in the Guantánamo hunger strike. Immigration Reform in … Read more
In Costa Rica, the United States is Eclipsed by its own Shadow
Today, U.S. President Barack Obama arrives in Costa Rica as part of a trip to promote trade and business ties, discuss the implications of U.S. immigration reform for the region, and address security issues in Central America and Mexico. Compared with past visits of U.S. presidents to the country, which were major events, Obama’s trip … Read more
Pomp and Circumstance, Mexican Style
Mexico City residents rarely pay attention to visiting heads of state. Except for foreign flags on light posts along Reforma Avenue and inside Chapultepec Castle, no one really knows, cares or feels the presence of any visiting leader—except when the president of the United States visits. On his third visit to Mexico, President Obama was … Read more
Obama Discusses Trade and Economic Cooperation with Enrique Peña Nieto
U.S. President Barack Obama met with his Mexican counterpart, President Enrique Peña Nieto, in Mexico’s Palacio Nacional on Thursday to discuss trade and economic partnership between the two countries. This was Obama’s fourth trip to Mexico but his first under Peña Nieto’s tenure. Both heads of state agreed to form a high-level working group to … Read more
Con Chávez, ¿cayó el muro de contención en Venezuela?
En octubre de 2006, cuando el invierno comenzaba a despuntar en Alaska, los habitantes de Anchorage—ubicada a 8.600 kilómetros de Caracas—se debatían entre aceptar o no el combustible gratuito que el presidente de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, había ofrecido para mitigar el impacto económico del cambio de estación en la localidad. Unos querían recibir el combustible … Read more
New AQ Looks at Latin America’s Global Presence as Obama Heads to Mexico, Costa Rica
Today, as U.S. President Barack Obama kicks off his sixth visit to Latin America, Americas Quarterly releases its Spring issue, Latin America Goes Global, in which, among other articles on the region’s increasing role in global affairs, Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Roberta Jacobson reveals 10 generally unknown initiatives that are advancing … Read more
The Spies Nobody Knows: Is Havana Harmless?
A few weeks ago, a member of the House of Representatives wrote to President Obama to urge him to delete Cuba from the list of countries supporting international terrorism. In her appeal, Congresswoman Kathy Castor (D-FL) included text from a discredited report prepared by Ana Belén Montes, a confessed spy for Havana who was arrested … Read more
FIFA Honorary President Resigns over Corruption
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s (International Federation of Association Football—FIFA) Honorary President João Havelange resignation was made public Tuesday following the publication of an internal ethics committee repot that implicated him in a $155.4 million bribery scandal. The 96 year-old Brazilian national served as FIFA president from 1974 to 1988. Havelange and his son-in-law, … Read more
Ríos Montt Trial Still on Hold
The impasse in the genocide trial of Guatemalan General Efraín Ríos Montt should be cleared this week, following a succession of rulings by Guatemala’s Constitutional Court. On Monday afternoon, the court turned the case back over to presiding Judge Yassmín Barrios, who looked to resume the trial on Tuesday morning. However, the 8:30 am proceedings … Read more
President Obama Offers Wide-Ranging Interview Prior to Latin America Trip
In anticipation of his May 2-4 trip to Mexico and Costa Rica, U.S. President Barack Obama laid out his perspectives on how regional cooperation can help to advance growth and prosperity in the Americas. In an exclusive interview for Americas Quarterly, Obama said that his sixth trip to the region will be an opportunity to … Read more
