Latin American Countries Lobby for Reform of Global Drug Policy
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) opened its 58th session on the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) on Monday in Vienna, Austria, with several Latin American countries—Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay and Bolivia—lobbying for a reform of global counternarcotic strategy. The CND special opening session will meet until March 13 to prepare for the … Read more
U.S. Police Shootings of Mexican Nationals Spark Outrage in U.S., Mexico
Nearly 100 protesters rallied at a city council meeting in Grapevine, Texas on Tuesday night to demand justice for Rubén García Villalpando, a 31-year-old Mexican national who was killed by a police officer in Euless, Texas on February 20. Police officer Robert Clark shot García Villalpando after a brief car chase that started at a business where police were investigating a burglar alarm. Police contend that García … Read more
Monday Memo: U.S.-Cuba Talks — Colombia Peace Talks — Latin American Currencies — New Uruguayan President — Peruvian Ecotourism
This week’s likely top stories:U.S.-Cuba talks promising; New delegation for FARC peace talks; Dollar strengthens against Latin American currencies; Tabaré Vázquez takes office; Peruvian businesses to learn from Costa Rican ecotourism. U.S.-Cuba Normalization Talks Promising: After two rounds of talks—one in Havana last month and the second in Washington DC on Friday—the U.S. and Cuba … Read more
Terrorism: Fear is Not a Policy
Last week’s international summit on terrorism at the White House showed how much the issue has become a central concern around the world. Evidently, the fear of a homegrown attack has understandably pushed many nations to enact more stringent laws and preventive measures. The recent spread of terrorist attacks in Western Europe and Canada has … Read more
U.S. Appeals Ruling Against Obama’s Executive Action
Department of Justice lawyers filed a notice of appeal and a motion for a stay on Monday with Texas Judge Andrew S. Hanen in an attempt to postpone a hold on President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration. U.S. District Judge Hanen filed a preliminary injunction on February 16 against a plan that Obama announced … Read more
Monday Memo: Peru-Chile Relations—Panama Hydroelectric Dam—Guatemala-Honduras Customs—São Paulo Drought—Venezuela Conspiracy Charges
Allegations of Espionage Threaten Peru-Chile Relations: Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Heraldo Muñoz announced on Sunday that Chilean Ambassador Roberto Ibarra would not return to his post in Peru in light of the country’s espionage complaints against Chile. On Friday, Peruvian Ambassador Francisco Rojas Samanez was recalled to Lima after Peruvian prosecutors claimed that several Peruvian … Read more
Pemex Suspends Deep Water Projects
Emilio Lozoya, the CEO of Petróleos Mexicanos (Mexican Petroleums—Pemex), announced Wednesday that some of the company’s deep water exploration projects would be put on hold due to the declining prices of crude oil. In addition to scaling back on research projects, Lozoya said that job cuts would also be part of a spending cut of … Read more
U.S. and Cuba Schedule Second Round of Diplomatic Talks
The U.S. and Cuba will hold the second round of negotiations to restore diplomatic ties on February 27 in Washington D.C., State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki announced on Tuesday. The initial round of talks occurred in Havana on January 21-22, with Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson leading the U.S. delegation, and Josefina Vidal, General Director for the U.S. within … Read more
Foreign Policy Made in North America?
When U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hosted his counterparts from Mexico and Canada for a North American Ministerial at Boston’s Faneuil Hall last month, the discussions focused on many of the trilateral issues that affect this deeply integrated economic space—citizen security, trade and investment, and energy and climate change. Of interest to foreign-policy wonks, … Read more
Federal Judge Temporarily Halts Administrative Relief
U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen issued an injunction yesterday against programs announced by President Obama last November that would shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation. Led by Texas, twenty-six states are suing the federal government over the programs, arguing that President Obama had acted beyond the boundaries of his legal authority and that … Read more
Canada’s Balanced Approach and the 2015 Election
To many outside our country, Canada has been characterized as a stable, durable democracy with a consistently enlightened approach to matters of public policy. The political parties that have governed the country since its inception in 1867 have usually struck a balance between ideological pursuits and the general values Canadian hold dear. Canada’s Supreme Court, … Read more
Monday Memo: Iguala Students—Cuban Internet—Nicaragua Canal—Strike in Haiti—Unasur facilitates U.S.-Venezuela dialogue
Likely top stories this week: Independent forensic team deems Mexico’s 43 missing students case inconclusive; Cuban authorities to expand Internet centers in 2015; archaeological relics uncovered along Nicaragua Canal route; a general strike in Haiti on eve of Carnival; Unasur seeks to facilitate U.S.-Venezuela dialogue. Independent Forensic Team Deems Mexico’s 43 Missing Students Case Inconclusive: … Read more
Mexico’s Foreign Policy Agenda in Central America
In the past decade, Mexico has made strengthening ties with Latin America a top priority, reorienting its gaze from north to south. This is the product of two factors: criticism that Mexico was ignoring its southern neighbors, and strategic concern over Brazil’s assertion of leadership in the region. Starting in the 1990s with the implementation … Read more
Fighting Corruption: Easy to Promise, Hard to Achieve
The disappearance and apparent murder of 43 students in Iguala, Mexico, last September is a stark reminder of how organized crime and corruption are intertwined. The students were arrested by police officers allegedly sent by the mayor of Iguala, José Luis Abarca, to intercept their buses on their way to a demonstration. Reportedly, the students … Read more
Civic Innovator: Carlos Cruz
Carlos Cruz knows how dangerous it is to investigate crime and violence in Mexico. Since joining the mass of organizations and individuals demanding answers for the September 2014 disappearance of 43 Mexican students in the state of Guerrero, Cruz and his organization, Cauce Ciudadano (Citizens’ Way)—a nonprofit that addresses youth violence—have been warned not to … Read more
