Blog entries

An election call in the province of Québec is making federalists in Ottawa very jumpy. The most powerful pro-independence party in Québec, le Parti Québécois (PQ), is vowing to make a comeback. And that spells trouble for Stephen Harper, Canada’s prime minister. Voters go to the polls on September 4, 2012. Although short on details, … Read more

Mexico came from behind to defeat Japan three to one in the Olympic men’s soccer semifinal on Tuesday and book the team’s ticket to its first-ever gold medal game at 3 p.m. GMT on Saturday. Yuki Otsu gave Japan the lead after only 11 minutes, but Marco Fabian, Oribe Peralta and substitute Javier Cortes each … Read more

Today and tomorrow, Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will host the foreign ministers of Chile and Venezuela, Alfredo Moreno Charme and Nicolas Maduro, and Cuban Foreign Affairs Vice Minister, Rogelio Sierra. The meeting marks the first official dialogue between representatives of the 33-member Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (Community of Latin American and … Read more

Top stories this week are likely to include: India-CELAC dialogue; Jamaica marks its independence; impact of the Antamina spill; Repsol to meet with Venezuela on YPF; and responses to Petrobras’ poor quarterly release. India-CELAC Dialogue: Tomorrow, Indian Foreign Minister S. M. Krishna will host a troika of high-level diplomats from the Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos … Read more

Democracy in Mexico has failed to dismantle the gigantic inheritors of crony capitalism that were born during seven decades of authoritarian rule. One or two big companies dominate almost every market in the country—from the paint industry to broadcasting and mobile telecommunications. Where privatization and market regulation does not benefit a well-connected entrepreneur, the state … Read more

Honduras’ Congress has approved a law that prohibits the public possession and transportation of guns in the province of Colón, located on Honduras’ Caribbean coast. Colón has been one of the most affected departments in a country with the world’s highest murder rate—86 homicides per 100,000 residents. The region of Colón has seen dramatic levels … Read more

Ambassador Daniel Benjamin, the State Department’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism, released the Country Reports on Terrorism 2011 this week and cited Venezuela as “not cooperating fully with U.S. antiterrorism efforts” for the sixth consecutive year.  The report is the U.S.’s annual evaluation of terrorism activities in countries around the world. This year’s report highlighted Iran’s increasing … Read more

A bill to legalize abortion in Uruguay, having passed the Senate in December 2011, remains stalled in the Chamber of Deputies. Earlier this year, the Frente Amplio (Broad Front—FA) coalition, which controls congress and the presidency, was one vote away from agreeing to the Senate bill that would decriminalize abortion within the first 12 weeks … Read more

With charges formally laid against the presumed murderer at the movie theatre in Aurora, and with the families of victims quietly grieving in their homes and in their hearts, it may be appropriate that we once again reflect on what’s next, as opposed to what happened.  Many in Canada, as elsewhere, were shocked and saddened … Read more

San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro was chosen yesterday to deliver the keynote address at the forty-sixth Democratic National Convention (DNC), to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, from September 4-6. Castro, 37, is the youngest mayor of a major U.S. city and will be the first Latino to give keynote remarks at the DNC. Other … Read more

The presidents of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay will meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in Brasilia today to formalize Venezuela’s full admission into Mercosur, the largest trade bloc in South America. Venezuela’s entry was approved in 2006 and recognized in subsequent years by the parliaments of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, but failed to materialize due to … Read more

Top stories this week are likely to include: Chávez travels to Brazil for Venezuela’s formal incorporation into Mercosur; Foreign mining to continue in Peru, as Humala marks one year in office and reaffirms commitment to social spending; Cuba set to further open its economy; Argentina tightens control over energy industry; and Colombia’s economy slows. Chávez … Read more

For the first time in history, every country competing in the London 2012 Olympics will have at least one female athlete, with many – notably in Latin America – achieving  gender parity among their delegations. As a symbol of women’s increasing presence in Latin America, half of the athletes carrying Latin American flags in tonight’s … Read more

Though females constitute the majority of college graduates in many countries, three of every five workers in the region are male, and males earn about 30 percent more income than females with the same age, level of education, type of employment, and average hours worked per week, according to an article released today in Americas … Read more

Please find the original text below, submitted in Portuguese. The 19th African Union Summit took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, earlier this month, on July 15 and 16. The meeting discussed the need for economic development of the continent by means of intra-African trade and partnership with new global emerging players. I was invited by … Read more