Central America & Caribbean Archives - Page 40 of 49

Honduran Presidential Victory Without Mandate, Majority or Money

We still don’t know the final tally of Sunday’s general election in Honduras, but if 68 percent of provisional results are valid, Juan Orlando Hernández will soon be the next president of Central America’s second-most populous country—with repercussions for the region and for the Obama administration’s Latin American policy hanging in the balance. With a … Read more

Monday Memo: Honduran Elections – Haitian Immigrants – Venezuela – U.S. Immigration – Santos and Correa

Likely top stories this week: Honduras’ election results are still pending; the Dominican Republic deports Haitian immigrants after violence in a border town; Henrique Capriles urges the Venezuelan opposition to vote on December 8; a new report says that most Americans favor a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants; Juan Manuel Santos and Rafael Correa … Read more

Honduras’ Captivating Race to the Polls

Elections in small Central American countries rarely garner the kind of international attention that Honduras is receiving ahead of its November 24 presidential vote. Then again, this is no ordinary election. One of the frontrunners, Xiomara Castro, is the wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in Latin America’s last coup in 2009. … Read more

Deportations: Guatemala’s Main Policy Concern, With No End in Sight

Guatemala has captured the attention of media and policymakers across the globe with historic proceedings against former leaders, discussions on drug decriminalization, its U.N. Security Council and OAS involvement, organized crime, and other hot topics. Despite progress on important fronts like security and an improved image abroad, the pressing issue of deportation from the U.S. … Read more

Misconceptions in Nicaragua’s Presidential Term Limit Debate

The National Assembly of Nicaragua met last Wednesday to discuss a proposal from the ruling Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional party (Sandinista National Liberation Front—FSLN), which seeks to remove a constitutional article banning consecutive presidential terms. The proposed amendment was submitted to the National Assembly on November 1 and will be voted on by the … Read more

Ríos Montt Trial Resumption Delayed Until 2015

Last week, Guatemala’s Court of High Risk “B” (Tribunal de Mayor Riesgo “B”) announced that the genocide trial of Guatemala’s former president, General Efraín Ríos Montt, will not resume until January 2015. The trial was pushed back from an earlier date of April 2014, and by the time proceedings continue, Ríos Montt will be 88 … Read more

Monday Memo: Chilean Elections – Isla Conejo – Venezuela – Pablo Neruda – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

Likely top stories this week: Chilean voters go to the polls; El Salvador and Honduras face off over Isla Conejo; the Venezuelan government seizes the electronic chain Daka; Chilean forensic experts conclude that Pablo Neruda was not poisoned; the Argentine president is cleared to start working. Chilean Presidential Elections: Chilean voters will go to the … Read more

Monday Memo: Brazil’s Economy – Argentine Debt – Tropical Storm Sonia – Honduran Police Abuses – Uruguayan Marijuana

Likely top stories this week: Brazil will reduce lending by 20 percent next year; Argentina wins a stay on its $1.33 billion payment; Tropical Storm Sonia Hits Mexico; Honduras’ police chief denies abuses; Brazilian delegation opposes Uruguayan marijuana legalization. Brazil to Reduce Lending Due to Budget Deficit: Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Friday that … Read more

Arrests Made in San José Nacahuil Massacre, But Doubts Remain

When masked men burst into the tiny hamlet of San José Nacahuil on a peaceful Sunday evening last month, what followed was all too familiar to Guatemalans. Eleven people were killed and numerous injured as armed assailants moved from house to house. Children safe in their beds were awoken by shots fired into their bedrooms. … Read more

Mujica Orders Uruguayan Peacekeeping Troops to Withdraw from Haiti

Uruguayan President José Mujica announced at the Council of Ministers on Monday his decision to withdraw Uruguayan troops from the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). The Mission was installed by the UN Security Council in 2004 following the coup d’état against former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and was reinforced in early 2010 when … Read more

Honduras’ Castro de Zelaya Could be the Country’s First Female, Openly Socialist President

Honduras will hold its presidential elections on November 24, and voters—for the first time in this Central American country’s history—might elect a female and openly socialist president, signaling the nation’s growing frustration with its male-dominated conservative leadership. Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, representing the Partido Libertad y Refundación (Liberty and Refoundation Party—LIBRE), was slated as the … Read more

Cuba Announces End of Dual Currency System

Cuba approved a plan to gradually unify its dual monetary system, a statement carried by official newspaper Granma revealed yesterday. The measure is part of a set of reforms adopted by the Communist Party in 2011 aimed at introducing market mechanisms and decentralizing the Cuban economy. “(Unification) is imperative to guarantee the reestablishment of the … Read more

Civic Innovator: Antonio Rodiles, Cuba

When Cuban physicist turned-political-activist Antonio Rodiles, 41, returned home in 2010 after spending 12 years studying in Mexico and the United States, he was immediately frustrated by the enduring limits on free speech. After a half-century of socialism, modernizing reforms known as “Lineamientos”(Guidelines ) had scaled back the public sector’s role in Cuba’s economy and … Read more