Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas
From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online’s news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup. Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email. Counting Numbers in Record-breaking Coverage of the Chilean Miner Rescue More than … Read more
Fast Cash: Recovering Stolen Assets
When Haiti’s President-for-Life JeanClaude Duvalier fled to France in 1986, he left a nation plagued by poverty and dependent on aid. Like many dictators, Duvalier had illicitly amassed vast personal wealth—conservatively estimated at $300 million—during his time in power.1 Amid reports that suitcases of gold and currency traveled with him on the C-171 cargo plane … Read more
Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas
Chávez Lashes out at Reporter after Election Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez issued a stinging critique of Andreína Flores, a Radio France reporter who questioned how vote tallies correspond to seats won in the National Assembly. Although opposition candidates picked up half the votes, recent redistricting means they captured only a third of the seats in … Read more
Piñera Urges U.S. to Deepen Economic Ties with Chile
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera cautioned Wednesday that if the United States did not move to strengthen its economic ties to Chile and other Latin American countries soon, others would fill the void shortly. In a speech delivered at Americas Society and Council of the Americas, President Piñera urged the United States to pass long-pending free-trade … Read more
Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas
From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online’s news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup. Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email. WEF Competitiveness Report: Chile Leads LatAm, Panama Makes Gains The World Economic … Read more
White House Adds Central American Countries to Drug List
The White House has named Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras for the first time to its list of 20 “major illicit drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries.” The list is effective for fiscal year 2011. The addition of these countries has further pushed the theory that drug runners are relocating their transit and … Read more
Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas
From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online’s news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup. Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email. Cuba’s Ideological About-face Former Cuban President Fidel Castro sparked controversy last week … Read more
Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas
From the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online’s news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup. Sign up to receive the Weekly Roundup via email. Chile’s Miners Found, Long Rescue Mission Awaits Via a note that read … Read more
Ask the Experts: Health Care
Kathleen Sebelius answers: For too long, Americans have been at the mercy of insurance companies who, using faulty assumptions and loopholes, have gamed the system at the expense of middle class families—hiking up premiums to unfair and unsustainable levels and dropping health care coverage when people are most in need. But with the passage of … Read more
Marketing Documentaries
Educational TV can be a powerful tool for raising awareness of social issues. The problem: production costs place it beyond reach for most activists and educators in Latin America. Enter Fundación Albatros Media, a Panama-based nonprofit that produces and distributes documentaries on quality of life and environmental and social issues free of charge to television … Read more
Black Medicine
When you’re sick, taking the right medicine is almost as important as finding a good doctor. But what if the medicine is fake? A black market in counterfeit or low-quality drugs is fast becoming the world’s newest health hazard. Although the extent of drug counterfeiting is very difficult to assess, in 2005 Peter Pitts of … Read more
The Arctic: The New El Dorado
Just 50 years ago, the Arctic was one of the world’s most remote and inhospitable regions, largely populated by indigenous peoples who hunted musk-ox and caribou and supported themselves with fishing, much as their ancestors had done for thousands of years. But climate change has transformed this timeless landscape of snow and ice into the … Read more
Health Care
Articles: Health Care: Expanding Coverage in the Americas Available online soon. Filling the Gap by Donika Dimovska The private sector is expanding access to the poor—and making a profit. Full text available. Lessons from the Mexican Reform by Dr. Julio Frenk Seguro Popular‘s far-reaching impact. Full text available. Finally Reaching the Poor by Amanda Glassman … Read more
Santos Aims to Rebuild Relationship with Venezuela
Re-establishing relations with neighboring Venezuela will be a “priority” of the Santos government, says Maria Ángela Holguín, Colombia’s incoming foreign minister. Following a meeting with Foreign Minister Jaime Bermúdez, Holguín stated that the President-elect had maintained an interest in re-establishing relations with Venezuela throughout his campaign. “For that to happen,” she stated, “there is a … Read more
Martinelli Hosts Dignitaries for Canal Ceremony
Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Spanish Deputy Premier Manuel Chaves held a ceremony yesterday in Panama City celebrating the expansion of the Panama Canal—a massive infrastructure project to be completed in 2014. Also joined by the presidents of Guatemala, Colombia and Honduras, the ceremony marked the beginning of the construction … Read more
