Central America & Caribbean Archives - Page 37 of 49

Alianzas peligrosas en El Salvador

Recuerdo que, hace algunas décadas, las palabras más temidas por alumnos de secundaria eran: “preparen papel y lápiz para una prueba sorpresa.” Confieso que en alguna ocasión, en silencio elevé una plegaria para pedir una intervención divina que no dejara al profesor enunciar esas palabras. Jamás me pasó por la mente que existiese la posibilidad … Read more

Portillo Admits Guilt, Awaits Sentence

On Tuesday former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo plead guilty to a money-laundering case in New York City federal court and will be sentenced to four to six years in federal prison on June 23. In exchange, prosecutor Preet Bharara has agreed to drop additional charges against Portillo that could result in a life-long sentence behind … Read more

El Salvador’s (Close) Presidential Election: What’s Next?

El Salvador’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced a winner of the March 9 presidential runoff a week after the election, leaving half of the country overjoyed and the other half in despair. Salvador Sánchez Cerén, of the governing Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (Farabundo Marti Liberation Front—FMLN), won by a mere 0.22 percent of … Read more

Monday Memo: El Salvador’s Next President – Venezuela – Peace in Colombia – Protesters Cross U.S.-Mexico Border – Bogotá and Petro

Likely top stories this week: election results are sustained in El Salvador; Venezuelan protests continue; Santos is optimistic about peace with FARC; young immigrant protesters cross back into the U.S.; Gustavo Petro’s future as mayor is uncertain in Bogotá. Cerén Declared Next President of El Salvador: El Salvador’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal officially rejected presidential candidate … Read more

Guatemala Tries Ex-Guerrilla For Massacre

A trial against former guerrilla leader Fermín Felipe Solano Barrillas of the Organización del Pueblo en Armas (Revolutionary Organization of Armed People—ORPA) began on Thursday for the massacre of 22 farmers in the town of El Aguacate, Chimaltenango, in 1998. Captured in May of 2013, Solano is charged with homicide and crimes against humanity. This … Read more

Salvadoran Presidential Candidate Demands Recount

Salvadoran presidential candidate Norman Quijano demanded a recount of individual votes on Wednesday after preliminary results from Sunday’s elections showed that Quijano lost to former rebel and current Vice President Salvador Sánchez Cerén by fewer than 7,000 votes. “We are not going to permit fraud of the chavista or Maduro type in Venezuela. This is … Read more

Russia’s Military Power in Latin America

As tensions between the United States and Russia over the future of the Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula continue to rise, Moscow officials may look to beef up their country’s stronghold in Latin America. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced on February 26 that his country is planning to expand its long-standing military presence in Cuba, Venezuela … Read more

Diplomacy Isn’t a Tug of War

Diplomacy during the Cold War, wrote Sam Tanenhaus in last Sunday’s New York Times, may have been more of a high wire act than a chess match—but diplomacy, neither then nor now, is a tug of war. Unfortunately, that’s the way it’s being conducted in the U.S.’ delinked Cuba-Venezuela policies—hostages to age-old vendettas, anachronistic policies … Read more

Monday Memo: Nicaraguan Elections – Venezuelan protests – Colombian Peace Talks – Mapuche Leader – Chilean Visas

Support AQ! “Like” our Fall 2013 issue cover here: http://on.fb.me/1kNso1z Likely top stories this week: Nicaraguans vote in local elections; protests continue in Venezuela; the FARC says it will continue peace talks during elections; a Mapuche leader is sentenced to prison; Chileans no longer need visas to enter the United States. Nicaraguan Elections: Nicaraguans overwhelmingly … Read more

Second Member of the “Cuban Five” Freed

The United States released the second member of a group of five Cuban prisoners—known as the “Cuban Five”—from an Arizona prison on Thursday. Fernando González, 54, was convicted in 2001 of spying on military bases and Cuban exiles in South Florida, and is expected to be deported back to Cuba within days. René González, a … Read more

Changing U.S. Policy Toward Cuba: Another View

In a recent interview with The Washington Post, Florida sugar magnate Alfonso Fanjul said he is ready to do business with Cuba “under the right circumstances.” The questions are: “what are the right circumstances?” and “who benefits when American companies ‘do business’ with communist Cuba?” The Fanjul family left Cuba in 1959 when Fidel Castro … Read more

Two to Rumba: The European Union Decides to Negotiate With Cuba

On February 10, the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) approved a mandate to start negotiating an overall agreement with Cuba. This decision had been under preparation since 2008, when the EU renewed its political dialogue with Havana. Between 2003 and 2008, relations had been at a low point following a series of strong measures … Read more

Cuba: Wait, Wait, Let Me Guess What Comes Next

I’m not a betting man, but if I were, this is what I’d bet. With a series of statements by leading Cuban-Americans, stories of change inside the island, and growing public pressure and attention to liberalize the U.S. embargo toward Cuba, I’d wager that soon the Cuban government will do something to halt the process. … Read more

Guatemala’s Attorney General Faces Legal Fight to Stay in Office

Last week’s decision by Guatemala’s Corte de Constitucionalidad (Constitutional Court—CC) to reduce Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz’s term in office has been met by a wave of criticism and legal challenges. The internationally-recognized Paz y Paz, who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2013, is credited with improving the investigative work of … Read more