Latin American leaders usually have few qualms about lecturing the U.S. on what they regard as the folly of its Cuba policy, especially of late. Reintegrating Cuba has become a priority issue for many if not most of the region's governments, who see it as a way to break with the Cold War politics and U.S. hegemony that burdened the region in the 20th century.
The economic downturn has stalled big construction projects across the globe, but here in Panama, smoke-belching steam shovels and dredges work around the clock on what people here call simply la ampliación, or the expansion.
Rodrigo Rosenberg, a handsome and successful corporate attorney, had just set off on a Sunday morning bike ride in an upscale neighborhood of the capital when a car swerved into his path, knocking him to the ground. A man stepped from the car and fired three bullets into Rosenberg's face.
There's probably no president in the world as loquacious as Hugo Chávez, the self-styled revolutionary leader who frequently commandeers the Venezuelan airwaves to deliver monologues that can last hours. Now, he is threatening to break his own record with a special four-day episode of "Aló Presidente," or "Hello President," to commemorate the 10th anniversary of a program that is part talk show, part bully pulpit and all Chávez.
Since February, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has moved against a wide range of domestic critics, and his efforts in recent weeks to strengthen his grip on the armed forces have led to high-profile arrests and a wave of reassignments.
Brazil’s national oil company, Petrobras, has come under scrutiny in an investigation that threatens to complicate government efforts to wring more revenue from the deepwater oil fields that are expected to transform the country into a global energy power.
Meet the Forrest Gump of Cuban communism, Óscar Espinosa Chepe. Like the character played by Tom Hanks in the 1994 film, Chepe has spent the past half-century having the good (as well as the bad) fortune of being wherever the action is.
Beneath the tropical jungles of northeastern Ecuador lies a vast pool of oil, representing one-fifth of the small Andean country's petroleum reserves and potentially billions of dollars in revenue. Directly above that pool, the Yasuni National Park is home to a diversity of wildlife that is among the richest on the planet, Ecuadoran and U.S. biologists say.
The anarchic city of Caracas, its love affair with the car notwithstanding, would collapse if not for the thousands of daring motorbike couriers who make life here treacherous and viable at the same time.
They call her the Iron Lady, the woman political analysts credit with helping rescue Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s second term as president of Brazil. Dilma Rousseff, Mr. da Silva’s chief of staff, is also his chosen successor, expected to carry the banner of the hugely popular president into next year’s election.
Rodrigo Rosenberg's homemade video may have been low in production values, but it definitely has legs as a riveting political drama. The 18-minute tape, containing Rosenberg's startling allegations of murder against Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom, has rocked the political world here since its release May 11-- the day after he was slain by unidentified gunmen while bicycling. In the video, Rosenberg, a Guatemala City attorney, said that if he was killed, Colom and close associates would be to blame.
Much has been made about the claim issued in November by the U.S. Joint Forces Command that Mexico, along with Pakistan, is at risk of becoming a failed state. Yet in a ranking of the Western Hemisphere's most at-risk countries, Mexico might not even make the top 10. Central America and parts of South America are in far worse shape.
The Mexican senator at the center of an ugly drug scandal temporarily stepped down Wednesday, saying he welcomed an investigation he expects will clear his name.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva officially inaugurated Memories Revealed (Memorias Reveladas), a web site that for the first time makes available to the public secret files from the military dictatorship
The McClatchy bureau in Washington has posted online the first of f 10 stories, seven videos and many photos on Mexico that were reported, written and shot there by journalism students at Penn State University as part of a new class in international journalism.
It has been more than a month since torrential downpours overflowed the banks of the lakes that surround 40 percent of the town and the river that runs around it, forcing 11,000 out of 18,400 residents from their homes. As emergency supplies trickle in, residents can only wait patiently for the floodwaters to recede.
Rodolfo Lopez Ibarra was one of 13 people arrested in Monterrey by the Mexican army, the government said Tuesday, calling him the latest of several heirs and second-tier traffickers appointed to take charge of significant segments of the narcotics business.
As in past years, the main issue for U.S. policy toward Cuba in the 111th Congress is how best to support political and economic change in Cuba.
El Salvador’s president-elect, Mauricio Funes of the left-wing Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación (FMLN), will assume office in June amid a host of challenges to his party’s ability to govern smoothly.
Across Latin America, workers are out of jobs because of tougher U.S. Immigration enforcement and a downturn in the American economy, according to experts. That means a dwindling of remittances sent back home, a development that holds deep implications for a region dependent on money from illegal workers.
RSS|
My Yahoo|
Newsletters|
Widgets|
Mobile|
Alerts|
Twitter
Terms of Service| Privacy Policy| About our ads| Copyright| About The Miami Herald| About the McClatchy Company| Corrections| Contact Us| Advertise
Partners: El Nuevo Herald| Newspaper in Education| WLRN | Miami Herald News| CBS4 WFOR-TV| More
Copyright 2009 Miami Herald Media Co. All rights reserved
Previous
