Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas
 

Zone of Peace Announced at CELAC Summit

The thirty-three countries that make up the Latin America and Caribbean Economic Community (CELAC), wrapped up their second summit by declaring the region a “zone of peace,” on Wednesday. Heads of state including Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, and recently elected Michelle Bachelet of Chile signed … Read more

 

Ecuador, tras la equivocada huella de Venezuela en la OEA

Pese a que la Cancillería ecuatoriana reportó de manera optimista la semana pasada que los países del continente “avanzan para una decisión de consenso sobre el cambio de sede de la CIDH,” otra parece ser la realidad frente a lo que opinan sus pares sobre esta materia. La declaración ecuatoriana se produjo tras la terminación … Read more

 

ICJ Redraws Peru-Chile Maritime Border

In a landmark case, judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) redrew the maritime border between Peru and Chile yesterday, granting Peru parts of the Pacific Ocean that had formerly been considered Chilean territory. However, the United Nations’ highest court’s ruling on the maritime dispute left the rich, coastal fishing grounds in Chile’s possession. … Read more

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AQ Video: An Interview with Santiago Canton

Under attack from the Ecuadorian government—among others—and facing the delicate challenge of balancing private-sector media pluralism with avoiding state intervention, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ (IACHR) Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression faces a crucial moment in its short existence.   Created in 1998, the IACHR’s Special Rapporteur has written the hemispheric Principles of Freedom … Read more

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Breves narrativas diplomáticas by Celso Amorim

Brazil featured early in the international crisis that erupted from Edward Snowden’s disclosures of U.S. access to telephone conversations of more than 30 foreign leaders over the past decade, when Rio de Janeiro-based journalist Glenn Greenwald provided information about U.S. spying in Brazil to O Globo’s television program, Fantástico. In response, President Dilma Rousseff took … Read more

 

From the Think Tanks

SEDEREC Mexico City has seen a surge of external and internal migration since the late 1990s. In the report, Ley y reglamento de interculturalidad, atención a migrantes y movilidad humana en el Distrito Federal: Reflexiones, SEDEREC sums up the proposals made by the public and private sectors to the Mexican government over the past 15 … Read more

 

Lima Must Deliver on Inclusive Climate Decision-Making

A year from now, Lima, Peru will host the 20th Conference of the Parties (COP20) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).  For Latin American Indigenous peoples—who make up a large proportion of the populations of Peru and neighboring Bolivia and Ecuador—COP20 is a pivotal chance to coordinate and leverage their influence … Read more

 

Cuba Suspends Consular Services in the U.S.

The Cuban Mission to the United States halted nearly all consular services on Tuesday after its primary bank severed its client relationship with the political institution. According to the Cuban Interest Section in Washington, consular services including passport and visa processes will be shut down in the U.S. until the Cuban Mission can find a … Read more

 

An Historic Moment for LGBTI Rights in the Americas

In a groundbreaking announcement this week, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) declared that it will create a Rapporteurship on the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex (LGBTI) Persons. The news garnered little media attention, but its significance to millions of LGBTI people across the Americas and to the broader struggle for … Read more

 

Deportations to Haiti Increase After Killings

Approximately 100 people were deported from the Dominican Republic to Haiti this week following a fatal attack against an elderly Dominican couple near the Haitian border. Activists say the figure brings the total number of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent deported from the Dominican Republic since September to 354. Josue Michel, spokesman for the … Read more

 

Is the Iran Nuclear Deal a Positive Step?

It has been said that if Iran develops a nuclear bomb, the world will become more dangerous than at any time since the height of the Cold War. The interim accord between Iran, the five members of the UN Security Council and Germany is meant to address this fear. The accord sets specific and significant … Read more

 

U.S. Secretary of State Declares, “The Monroe Doctrine is Dead”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced this Monday that the Monroe Doctrine—a policy that has defined U.S.-Latin American relations for nearly two centuries—has come to an end. During his speech at the Organization of American States (OAS), Kerry emphasized that the era of U.S. interventionism in the region was a matter of the past, … Read more

 

Who Doesn’t Spy?

“Nations be spyin’, yo!” That’s how Jon Stewart of The Daily Show recently summed up the ongoing-and-ever-expanding allegations that the U.S. National Security Agency spied on Brazil and other nations, a story to which Wikipedia now devotes more than 33,000 words and nearly 600 source references. “All nations act in their own self-interest,” Stewart said on … Read more

 

Snubbing the U.S., Brazil Turns its Foreign Policy to the Global South

Brazil’s postponement of its White House state dinner–seen as a long-awaited wedding ceremony for the two countries after a very drawn out courtship–may signal more than just President Rousseff’s anger with revelations that the U.S. National Security Agency  (NSA) had been spying on her personal life and Petrobrás, the state oil company. Since the postponement … Read more

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