Foreign Relations Archives - Page 22 of 23

Ecuador, Brazil React to Colombia’s Discussions with NATO

Ecuadorian Minister of Defense María Fernanda Espinosa and her Brazilian counterpart, Celso Amorim, expressed their “concern” over Colombia’s ongoing discussions with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) during a press conference yesterday in Quito, Ecuador. The defense ministers’ reaction came in response to a series of statements by the Colombian government over the past week … Read more

Monday Memo: OAS General Assembly—Xi Jinping in Mexico—U.S. Immigration Reform—Julian Assange—Protests in Mato Grosso

Top stories this week are likely to include: the OAS meets for the 43rd General Assembly in Antigua, Guatemala; Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Mexico and the United States; the U.S. Senate will soon debate immigration reform; the UK and Ecuador foreign ministers may meet to discuss Julian Assange; Indigenous settlers protest in Mato Grosso, … Read more

Chilean President Makes First Official U.S. Visit

Today, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera begins a week-long trip through through the hemisphere, making his first official visit to the United States since he took office in 2010. He will also travel to Canada, El Salvador and Panama. Piñera’s visit comes as the Obama administration has displayed a more visible interest in boosting ties with … Read more

A New Day for U.S.–Caribbean Relations

Vice President Joe Biden spent just under 24 hours in Trinidad and Tobago, where he sought to renew America’s bonds with the Caribbean through a small summit-like meeting with leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic. In that short period of time, it became apparent that the traditional dynamic that has characterized … Read more

The Significance of Trinidad and Tobago to the U.S.

Trinidad and Tobago, known more for Carnival and sandy beaches, is not often discussed in terms of its strategic importance to the United States. Yet there are several reasons that this small two-island nation appears on U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s itinerary for his trip to Latin America next week. After traveling to Brazil and … Read more

Interview with James Cavallaro, Candidate to the IACHR

Three new members will be elected to serve on the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) during the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) that will be held this June in Antigua, Guatemala. AQ interviewed James Cavallaro, professor of law and founder and director of Stanford Law School’s International Human Rights and … Read more

Brazil’s Regional Realpolitik

It’s not hard to imagine what was behind Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota’s announcement yesterday that Brazil will hire 6,000 Cuban doctors to work in rural parts of Brazil. As the situation in Venezuela continues to teeter in uncertainty, the Brazilian government has thrown the Cuban government another lifeline. Doing so provides a cushion for … 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

Despite its pretentions, the alliance was held together primarily by oil largess that can’t last.

ALBA was created by the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in 2004 to serve as a grand and high-profile rejection of the United States–proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and, more generally, of international capitalism. Instead of basing trade on supply and demand, ALBA countries would use social consciousness and human rights as … Read more

Why Cuba Remains a State Sponsor of Terrorism

For more than a decade, Cuba’s Castro brothers (Fidel and Raúl) and their U.S. advocates have lobbied Congress to lift U.S. trade sanctions. Finally recognizing that Congress isn’t likely to do so, the focus of the Castro lobby has now shifted to getting Cuba removed from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism. … Read more

The popular tendencies that led to ALBA remain as relevant today as they were at its creation.

The death of President Hugo Chávez is a great loss for the Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America—ALBA). But it is unwise to conclude from this that ALBA will disappear altogether. Chávez achieved influence for his presidency and for ALBA by expressing and representing new … Read more

Latin America Goes Global

Articles: Latin America Goes Global by Jorge Heine A newfound sense of solidarity and purpose drives the region’s multilateral trade strategies. Available online soon. published article?1 Latin America Goes Global by Jorge Heine A newfound sense of solidarity and purpose drives the region’s multilateral trade strategies. Ten Things You Didn’t Know About U.S.-Latin America Relations … Read more

El balance político de la reforma al sistema de derechos humanos de la OEA

“Pese a casi dos años de reflexión y discusión, los países de la región llegaron sin un acuerdo a la Asamblea General de la OEA convocada para definir el futuro de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH)”. Así encabezaron distintos medios de comunicación su cubrimiento de la maratónica reunión de cancilleres realizada el 22 … Read more

Saying “No” to Bush on Iraq: A Defining Moment for Canada

With March 20, 2013 representing the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, historians and journalists in both Canada and the United States have been assessing the wisdom of this historic decision. The Iraq War, due to its enormous costs in human, financial and material terms, has long fallen out of favor with the … Read more