Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas
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The Limits of Legacy: The Post-Chávez Challenge and Electoral Legitimacy

In April 14, Venezuelans turned out en masse for a special presidential election. More than 79 percent of the electorate voted to fill the 2013–2019 term left vacant by Hugo Chávez’ March 5 death from cancer. The photo-finish surprised and captivated the country, with interim President Nicolás Maduro defeating opposition Governor Henrique Capriles by a … Read more

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Politics Innovator: Ruben Kihuen, The United States

Ruben Kihuen, 33, is used to winning. As a rising Mexican-American politician in Nevada—where Latinos have played a major role in deciding the last two U.S. presidential elections—Kihuen has attracted attention far outside his home state. And with good reason: both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama courted him during their 2008 presidential campaigns, and Kihuen’s … Read more

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Fresh Look Reviews

Fresh, unique perspectives on recent books from across the hemisphere originally published in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

 

Monday Memo: Chilean Presidential Candidates – Pope in Brazil – Ambush in Colombia – U.S. Immigration – Venezuela-U.S. Relations

Likely top stories this week: Evelyn Matthei will be the UDI’s new candidate in Chile’s presidential election; Pope Francis I arrives in Brazil; Colombian government sends troops to Arauca; U.S. lawmakers debate the KIDS Act; Venezuela ends its attempt to normalize relations with the U.S. Chile’s New Presidential Candidate: The Unión Demócrata Independiente (Independent Democratic … Read more

 

Candidate Reshuffle in Chile’s Presidential Election

Former Economy Minister Pablo Longueira of the Independent Democratic Union (Unión Demócrata Independiente—UDI) withdrew from the Chilean presidential campaign on Wednesday just weeks after winning the June 30 primary of the incumbent Alliance for Chile (Alianza por Chile) coalition. His son, Juan Pablo Longueira, informed the press that his father had been suffering from severe depression and could no longer be a part of the race.  The election will be held on November 17, 2013. The Alianza coalition must now overcome … Read more

 

La prisión preventiva desvirtuada

Cuando se considera a una persona como posible responsable de un delito en un procedimiento judicial, el fiscal puede solicitar su detención provisional, esto es, que vaya a prisión hasta que se le juzgue y decida que es culpable—o que no lo es. Ni el señalamiento que haga la policía, ni siquiera la acusación que … Read more

 

Rousseff Again Calls for a Plebiscite on Political Reforms

On Wednesday, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff reiterated her proposal for a plebiscite on reforms to address citizen discontent over corruption and public spending that have fueled massive protests since June. Rousseff first proposed a plebiscite on June 24.  According to her plan, voters would select from a menu of options to overhaul the nation’s political … Read more

 

Monday Memo: Mercosur and Europe – Mexican Reforms – Guantánamo – Peruvian Legislator Arrested – Guatemala Police Station Massacre

Likely top stories this week: Mercosur leaders pledge to withdraw envoys from Europe; Mexican opposition demands electoral reforms; some Guantánamo prisoners break their hunger strike; Peruvian legislator Nancy Obregón to be investigated for Shining Path ties; four are arrested after Guatemalan police station massacre. Mercosur Countries to Withdraw European Ambassadors: At the Mercosur summit in … Read more

 

Mexico’s New Undead Rapist Mayor-Elect

Yes, you read that title correctly. The small municipality of San Agustín Amatengo in the Mexican state of Oaxaca has recently attracted national attention due to what is likely the strangest story in electoral politics in the country. On July 7, Lenin Carballido, the candidate from a Partido Acción Nacional (National Action Party—PAN)-Partido de la … Read more

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The PRI’s Losses are Peña Nieto’s Gains

MEXICO CITY —Mexico’s July 7 local elections, held in half of the country’s states, were the first since President Enrique Peña Nieto took office. As such, they served as a quasi-referendum on the president’s Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party—PRI), and provide the political backdrop against which Peña Nieto will push his agenda to remake … Read more

 

Participatory Budgeting Advances in Lima, But Stalls Elsewhere in Peru

A novel political endeavor took place earlier last month in Lima, as just over 17,000 citizens participated in the city’s first consulta ciudadana virtual (virtual citizen consultation) as part of the municipality’s participatory budgeting (PB) process. Across the city, residents used a new online system to vote in the consulta. Although those who participated represent … Read more

 

Guatemala Considers Abandoning Petrocaribe

On Wednesday, Guatemalan Vice President Roxanna Baldetti submitted a petition to Petrocaribe, an oil trading alliance among Caribbean nations and Venezuela, threatening that her country will leave the block unless the Venezuelan government agrees to maintain originally established interest rates. Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez created Petrocaribe in 2005 to sell crude oil to neighboring … Read more

 

Criminal Violence Becomes Political Ahead of Mexico’s July 7 Elections

Not since Mexico’s transition to democracy in the late 1980s has the country witnessed the high levels of political violence that have characterized the build-up to the July 7 local elections. Local politicians across the country have been the target of death threats, arson attacks and shootings. Although organized crime and drug-related violence in Mexico … Read more

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