Monday Memo: Valparaíso Fires – Fabius in Cuba – Las Bambas Mine – Venezuela – Drummond Shipwreck
This week’s likely top stories: a deadly fire ravages Valparaíso, Chile; French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius visits Cuba; Glencore sells Las Bambas mine to Chinese consortium; Venezuela investigates abuses during protests; a shipwreck spills fuel off the coast of Colombia. Fire in Valparaiso, Chile: At least 12 people have died in a disastrous fire in … Read more
Colombia’s Economic Success Story
Upcoming presidential elections and ongoing peace negotiations demonstrate Colombia’s consolidation of rule and law and democracy. President Juan Manuel Santos is seeking re-election, and free and fair elections have been a mainstay in the country since 1957—one of the longest stretches in Latin America. Moreover, the peace process, underway since October 2012, is a notable … Read more
Colombian Oil: Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel
With production rates continuing at their current level Colombia will run out of oil within 6.9 years unless new, major oil fields are found. As of 2013, the country had 2.3 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, ranking fifth after Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, and Argentina in total reserves in South America. Most of these reserves … Read more
El viacrucis de Bogotá
Con Rafael Pardo como alcalde interino, el ex-alcalde Gustavo Petro destituido y en campaña por una Asamblea Constituyente, y unas elecciones atípicas en ciernes pero sin fecha definida, Bogotá—la ciudad más importante de Colombia—padece un viacrucis como consecuencia de una serie de malas decisiones administrativas, políticas y de abuso de poder nunca antes vistas. El … Read more
Gasping for a Solution to Bogotá’s Air Pollution Problem
In December 2013, Bogotá’s Secretaría Distrital de Movilidad (District Mobility Secretariat) reported that there were 1,447,335 private vehicles registered in the city, representing a 76 percent increase in vehicles in only seven years. Yet the number of vehicles operating in the public service is predicted to decline from 18,482 in 2007 to just 12,333 in … Read more
Monday Memo: Chilean Protests – Rio Violence – Guantánamo – Venezuela Protests – Buenaventura, Colombia
Likely top stories this week: Chileans protest in Santiago; Brazil sends the military into Rio’s favelas; Uruguay will receive five Guantánamo prisoners; Venezuela will investigate abuses during protests; Colombia sends troops to Buenaventura. Chilean Protests: Newly-elected Chilean President Michelle Bachelet faced the first major protest of her new administration on Saturday, which was organized to … Read more
FARC Says Petro’s Removal Will Affect Peace Process
The Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—FARC) condemned the removal of leftist Mayor of Bogotá Gustavo Petro from office Thursday, saying it will have a negative impact on the peace negotiations. Last December, Petro, a former member of the demobilized guerrilla group Movimiento 19 de Abril (19th of April Movement—M-19), was … 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
Colombia: 5 fenómenos de las elecciones de 2014
Las elecciones del domingo pasado no sólo generaron un nuevo equilibrio de fuerzas en el Congreso sino que también reflejaron varias tendencias políticas. El senador Uribe y 18 más El resultado más destacado de la jornada electoral del 9 de marzo fue la irrupción del Centro Democrático como segunda fuerza política en el Senado. El … Read more
El Congreso que debatirá la paz
Finalmente las sospechas se cumplieron: el expresidente Álvaro Uribe llegó al Senado de la República de Colombia convirtiéndose en el mayor elector de la jornada, y logró que 19 candidatos de su nuevo movimiento, Centro Democrático, ocuparan sillas en el congreso. Aunque los más optimistas dentro de sus filas pronosticaban hasta 35 sillas, lo cierto … Read more
Uribe Senador: la gran novedad de las elecciones en Colombia
Las campañas electorales en Colombia parecen calcadas una de la otra: los partidos políticos quedan expuestos en la picota pública por avalar a personajes sospechosos; los grandes barones electorales o sus herederos vuelven al curul; las regiones escasamente proponen caras nuevas; y aquellas colectividades que por no alcanzar el umbral requerido de votos en los … 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
Colombia: Las ‘Chuzadas’ de la era Santos
Que en Colombia hay enemigos del proceso de paz que adelanta el Gobierno con las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) en la Habana no es nuevo ni sorprende. Hay fuerzas partidarias que le apuestan a las conversaciones de paz, tanto como aquellas que nunca estuvieron de acuerdo con que se comenzaran, el uribismo en … Read more
Colombia Military Spies on the Peace Process with the FARC
Two top Colombian intelligence officers were dismissed on Tuesday after allegations that the Colombian military was spying on government peace negotiators. General Mauricio Zúñiga, chief of army intelligence, and General Jorge Andres Zuluaga, director of the army’s national intelligence center, were dismissed from their positions after an investigation by the Colombian newsmagazine Semana found an … Read more
A Tale of Two Cities: Bogotá
Read a sidebar on affordable housing. View a slideshow of Bogotá below. From his modest home in Ciudad Bolívar, high in the hills of Bogotá’s poor southwestern edge, Alexdy Torres, 41, can see the city of 7.5 million people spread out before him. Far to the north, he can make out the wealthy districts of … Read more
