http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/index.html http://media.miamiherald.com/images/logos/rss_sitelogo.gif http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/index.html 140 25 News, sports and entertainment from MiamiHerald.com en-us Copyright 2009 MiamiHerald.com Political Currents 60 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:12:11 EDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's PubSys miamifeedback@miamiherald.com http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1140804.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1140804.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:08 EDT Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has defended her ruling against white firefighters who accused the New Haven, Conn., government of engaging in reverse discrimination against them. http://www.miamiherald.com/1348/story/740547.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1348/story/740547.html Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:36 EDT Obama hosts town hall meeting in Ft. Myers, FL http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1136894.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1136894.html Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT State legislators can't take even a bottle of water from lobbyists, but the ban on gifts won't stop enterprising lawmakers from fishing elsewhere for lobbyists' money. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1136290.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1136290.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:03 EDT Attorney Stephen Bough's client owes Medicare several thousand dollars and is anxious to pay, if only Bough knew how much. Medicare won't say, despite repeated pleas over the past year for an answer. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1136071.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1136071.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:02 EDT Skillful piloting may have prevented a disaster for President Barack Obama and his campaign last summer, a former federal safety official said Friday. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1136192.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1136192.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:33 EDT One of the country's main monitors of hate groups asked Congress Friday to investigate possible racial extremism in the military, after finding U.S. service members participating on a social networking site advertised as being for white people only. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1135208.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1135208.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT The search for a new chancellor got a front-runner Thursday when former education commissioner and lieutenant governor Frank Brogan applied to lead Florida's state university system. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1135198.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1135198.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT The Florida economy may be in the dumps, but Charlie Crist's campaign fundraising machine is humming along. Crist announced Thursday that in just 50 days he raised an eye-popping $4.3 million for his U.S. Senate campaign. That not only dwarfs the previous Florida U.S. Senate fundraising record set by Republican Mel Martinez -- $1.7-million in his first fundraising period in 2004 -- but it highlights the huge hurdles for Crist's Republican Senate rival Marco Rubio, who raised just $340,000 in the... http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1134945.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1134945.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:56 EDT Sen. Roland Burris, whose deep ties to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich seemed to doom his Senate tenure from the start, will not run for a full Senate term in 2010. The move increases Democrats' chances of holding on to the former Senate seat of President Barack Obama. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1134760.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1134760.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:45 EDT The national motto, "In God We Trust," will be engraved in the Capitol Visitor Center, responding to critics who said Congress spent $621 million on the new facility without paying due respect to the nation's religious heritage. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1134022.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1134022.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:46 EDT Two recent polls reflect the public unhappiness with South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. In one poll, 60 percent of the state's residents that were surveyed thought Sanford should resign. However, signs say he's likely to stay on as governor. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1134171.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1134171.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:46 EDT High court nominee Sonia Sotomayor typically handed out tougher prison sentences than her colleagues in the federal courthouse in Manhattan, especially to white-collar criminals, a new study says. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1133242.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1133242.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:27 EDT Conservative Democrats in the House rebelled against their party leaders Thursday, raising concerns about the cost of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and seeking to put the brakes on legislation. The fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition planned to present a letter to House Democratic leaders asking for more time, members of the group told The Associated Press. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1131511.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1131511.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:29 EDT The nation's hospitals will give up $155 billion in future Medicare and Medicaid payments to help defray the cost of President Barack Obama's health care plan, a concession the White House hopes will boost an overhaul effort that's hit a roadblock in Congress. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1136330.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1136330.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:03 EDT After a half-year of extending patient feelers to Iran, President Barack Obama has set a timeline - warning Tehran it must show willingness to negotiate an end to its nuclear program by September or face consequences. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1132230.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1132230.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:49 EDT Rallying rich and surging nations alike, President Barack Obama wants the world's top polluters to keep driving toward a deal to halt global warming. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1132255.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1132255.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:48 EDT The White House says it's not quite time for industrialized nations to pull the plug on economic stimulus efforts. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1132285.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1132285.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:48 EDT President Barack Obama is praising historic American ties with Italy, saying the two countries are cooperating in a number of areas, including Afghanistan. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1094378.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1094378.html Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:02 EDT Congressional negotiators have agreed to drop an amendment to a defense approrpiations bill that would have prevented the Obama administration from releasing any freed Guantánamo detainees into the United States or transferring them to U.S. prisons for trial. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1088111.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1088111.html Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:54 EDT Lebanon's pro-Western political parties turned their focus Monday toward crafting a stable coalition government hours after voters soundly rebuffed efforts by Iran-backed Hezbollah politicians to secure more political power in Beirut. Analysts said Obama's call last week in Cairo for a "new beginning" for U.S.-Middle East relations helped tilt the balance toward America's allies. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1088112.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1088112.html Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:52 EDT Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has given the new U.S. commander in Afghanistan 60 days to conduct another review of the American strategy there, the fifth since President Barack Obama took office less than five months ago. The review comes even as the Pentagon said benchmarks promised on March 27 still are being drafted. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1081476.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1081476.html Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:14 EDT One of the Cairo cafe questions debated in the days leading up to the speech was: Would Obama say "salaam" to the Arabic-speaking world? The answer: Yes, sometimes mistakenly. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1032313.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1032313.html Wed, 06 May 2009 11:57 EDT In her first 100 days in the White House, Michelle Obama has stylistically transformed what it means to be a first lady, with a cultivated, accessible look, from basic J.Crew tees to designer Jason Wu's dreamy inauguration ball gown. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/999823.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/999823.html Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:55 EDT President Barack Obama told Americans Tuesday to brace for "more job loss, more foreclosures, and more pain" in 2009, saying the recession isn't over yet despite some early promise from the government's massive spending on bailouts and economic stimulus. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/968522.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/968522.html Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:08 EDT With both of Texas' U.S. Senate seats held by Republicans, the White House on Wednesday said it has asked the 12 Democratic members of the Texas delegation in the House of Representatives to interview potential nominees to Justice Department and judicial branch appointments. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/956771.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/956771.html Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:06 EDT The Senate on Wednesday easily confirmed former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk as the U.S. trade representative, making him the ambassador for a new, more limited Obama administration approach to free trade. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1141533.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1141533.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:39 EDT Seeking to cut costs in hard times, the Legislature banned most out-of-state travel by state employees. But the travel restriction doesn't apply to lawmakers themselves, dozens of whom are headed to national conferences this week and next at public expense. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1135202.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1135202.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT Florida will soon start sending some of the state's worst drivers back to school. A new state law will require any motorist convicted of three crash-related moving violations over a three-year period to take a behind-the-wheel education course and pass a driving test, just like a teenager. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1120415.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1120415.html Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT Top Florida officials misused state resources to travel between the capital and their homes, costing taxpayers at least $51,000 and raising potential IRS violations, according to state investigators' findings that were removed from a final auditor's report. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1116756.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1116756.html Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:11 EDT The special investigator hired by the Florida House of Representatives to investigate Rep. Ray Sansom's dealings with a Panhandle college has concluded that there is probable cause that the former speaker of the House violated House rules and could be sanctioned. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1116406.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1116406.html Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink has ordered her office to ''conduct a thorough and immediate review'' of her use of the state plane after questions were raised about whether the plane was being used strictly for official duties. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1116403.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1116403.html Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT State Rep. Ray Sansom, already indicted by a grand jury, now faces disciplinary action from his colleagues after an investigator Friday found probable cause that he damaged ''faith and confidence'' in the Florida House. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1112825.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1112825.html Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT Florida's Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who is running for governor on a platform of fiscal discipline, has logged hundreds of flights on state planes, often including side trips for her and family members to their home near Tampa. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1107991.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1107991.html Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT A crucial document in the criminal case against former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom is one spare page: three typed lines, a handwritten note in the margin and the number 1, circled. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1105949.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1105949.html Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT The FBI has begun investigating a web of political and personal connections that have already resulted in state indictments of former House Speaker Ray Sansom and two associates, sources told the Herald/Times Bureau. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1095081.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1095081.html Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT State Sen. Steve Oelrich believes he may have been the first casualty in the crossfire from Florida's Republican primary for U.S. Senate, after Gov. Charlie Crist's veto of a non-controversial bill Oelrich sponsored. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1093337.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1093337.html Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT All bets are off. The Seminole Tribe is not likely to approve a gambling deal under terms set by the Florida Legislature, the tribe's attorney said Thursday, citing provisions that could increase costs and competition. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1086743.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1086743.html Sun, 07 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT Florida, famous for shipping orange juice all over the country, may yet be known for a very different kind of export: criminals. With the inmate population hovering around 100,000 and the state lacking money to build new prisons, the Legislature has given the corrections department the authority to ship inmates to other states for the first time. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1141533.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1141533.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:39 EDT Seeking to cut costs in hard times, the Legislature banned most out-of-state travel by state employees. But the travel restriction doesn't apply to lawmakers themselves, dozens of whom are headed to national conferences this week and next at public expense. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1135202.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1135202.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT Florida will soon start sending some of the state's worst drivers back to school. A new state law will require any motorist convicted of three crash-related moving violations over a three-year period to take a behind-the-wheel education course and pass a driving test, just like a teenager. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1133649.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1133649.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT State Sen. Dave Aronberg's campaign for Florida's top law-enforcement job is getting fundraising help from an ex-convict whose latest arrest came as recently as last year. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1133628.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1133628.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT From Chinese mitten crabs in Chesapeake Bay to the Coqui tree frog in Hawaii, exotic creatures have overrun America from sea to shining sea. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1127755.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1127755.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:37 EDT Miami City Commission Chairman Joe Sanchez drives by the vast, vacant lot and envisions a state-of-the-art Florida Marlins baseball stadium nestled among lively restaurants and shops. He predicts that the skyline, now dotted with struggling high-rises, will one day be teeming with residents. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1131868.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1131868.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:35 EDT Long-time political mover and shaker Joe Garcia -- who has been the voice of a powerful Cuban exile group, chairman of the agency that regulates the state's utilities and an unsuccessful congressional candidate -- has been nominated for a post in the Obama administration. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1131867.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1131867.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:34 EDT The discussion among members of the Miami-Dade School Board on Tuesday was all about money -- where it's coming from and how to spend it. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1131876.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1131876.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT He's winning glowing praise from conservatives casting him as the future of the GOP, but Marco Rubio's early fundraising raises doubts about his viability in a Senate match-up against Gov. Charlie Crist. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1130239.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1130239.html Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT Gov. Charlie Crist's personal bottom line barely budged in 2008, a year in which he remarried and maintained his status as the least-affluent statewide officeholder in Florida. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1130232.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1130232.html Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:01 EDT Child-welfare doctors and case managers routinely failed to complete legally required treatment plans, share information or properly document the prescribing of powerful psychiatric drugs for children, according to a new state study of 6- and 7-year-olds medicated in state care. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1120415.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1120415.html Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:01 EDT Top Florida officials misused state resources to travel between the capital and their homes, costing taxpayers at least $51,000 and raising potential IRS violations, according to state investigators' findings that were removed from a final auditor's report. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1116410.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1116410.html Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:16 EDT Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has carried a part-time workload for the past two months, according to his schedule posted on his website. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141867.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141867.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:59 EDT Airline passengers could be stranded on tarmacs no longer than three hours under legislation introduced Tuesday in the Senate. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141814.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141814.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:59 EDT President Barack Obama's nominee for surgeon general is a Catholic best known for founding an Alabama clinic that treats the poor, but her lesser-known support for abortion rights puts her at odds with her church and some of the groups that have praised her work. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141799.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141799.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:53 EDT Regina Benjamin, Obama's nominee for surgeon general, sits on the board of the Catholic Hospital Association, which says life begins at conception, and Catholic officials say they hope she supports the church's position on abortion. But the White House says she agrees with the president's abortion rights position. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141790.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141790.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:39 EDT Details on the health care overhaul bill introduced Tuesday by Democrats in the House: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141767.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141767.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:21 EDT Sen. John McCain of Arizona, in an uncommon alliance with the Obama administration, is squaring off against fellow Republican and Senate Armed Services Committee colleague Saxby Chambliss of Georgia in a fight against adding $1.75 billion in funding to expand the F-22 Raptor jet fighter production line. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141763.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141763.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:14 EDT Democrats in the House of Representatives unveiled a 1,000-page-plus health care-overhaul bill Tuesday that would levy a surtax on the wealthy in a bid to pay for the program without adding to the national debt. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141762.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141762.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:13 EDT Arizona Sen. John McCain, in an uncommon alliance with the Obama administration, is squaring off against fellow Republican and Senate Armed Services Committee colleague Saxby Chambliss of Georgia in a fight against adding $1.75 billion in funding to expand the F-22 Raptor jet fighter production line. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141736.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141736.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:09 EDT Sonia Sotomayor kept her cool Tuesday, even when she was being portrayed at her Supreme Court confirmation hearing as just the opposite - a hotheaded judge who is sometimes mean to lawyers who appear before her. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141733.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141733.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:09 EDT Democrats in the House of Representatives unveiled a 1,000-page-plus health care-overhaul bill Tuesday that would levy a surtax on the wealthy in a bid to pay for the program without adding to the national debt. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141724.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141724.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:59 EDT Baseball legend Willie Mays says he was so proud the night Barack Obama was elected president that he "cried for most of the night." http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141696.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141696.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:39 EDT The Obama administration has begun a review that could spell the end of the color-coded terrorism advisories, long derided by late night TV comics and portrayed by some Democrats as a tool for Bush administration political manipulation. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141672.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1141672.html Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:19 EDT Timeline of the changes in the color-coded alert system since it was created on March 12, 2002, with the threat level at yellow, or elevated: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1133440.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1133440.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:23 EDT Talks to resolve the leadership crisis in Honduras got on track Thursday, with both sides holding closed-door meetings with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to discuss a coup that has re-awoken fears of political instability in the region. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1131889.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1131889.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:47 EDT The dueling Honduran governments agreed Tuesday to allow Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to mediate their political dispute, paving the way for a possible resolution to a crisis that has stretched for nearly two weeks and polarized the country. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1131892.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1131892.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:47 EDT Amid the lush beauty and black, sandy beaches of the cash-strapped island of Dominica, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is providing free cooking gas to the poor, financing a coffee treatment plant and constructing an oil-storage facility. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1130266.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1130266.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:46 EDT In the nine days since he was booted from the Honduran presidency by force, Manuel Zelaya as been to six cities in five countries. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1130269.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1130269.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:46 EDT Once the dust settles from the military coup in Honduras, there's likely to be negotiations between the interim government and regional leaders, leading to early elections where ousted President Manuel Zelaya would be allowed back but barred from running for office. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1129152.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1129152.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:45 EDT Mexico's long-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party promised Monday it has learned from the past and changed its ways, a day after midterm elections made it the largest force in Congress again. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1128726.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1128726.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:45 EDT Thousands of people swarmed Tegucigalpa's airport Sunday in a raucous and sometimes violent cry to demand the return of toppled President Manuel Zelaya, whose homecoming was postponed when authorities here refused to let his plane land. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1129064.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1129064.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:45 EDT Bayonet-wielding soldiers are not the biggest threat to democracy in Latin America, where more than a dozen presidents have been removed prematurely since 1990. In recent years, a crop of elected, authoritarian-minded leaders has packed courts with supporters, held dubious elections and curtailed press freedoms. Legislatures have also pushed the boundaries of democratic order, giving legal cover to "civilian coups" in which protest groups have forced the ouster of presidents. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1128727.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1128727.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:44 EDT Caribbean leaders ended a four-day summit here a day early, pledging to launch a lobbying effort among international financial institutions to acquire desperately needed cash to help keep their economies afloat amid the spreading global economic crisis. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1127908.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1127908.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:44 EDT Reviled as a creaky remnant of Mexico's authoritarian past, the old Institutional Revolutionary Party made a big comeback in midterm congressional elections in defiance of those who had written off what is still the country's biggest and most representative party. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1127879.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1127879.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:43 EDT WASHINGTON - The Organization of American States voted late Saturday to suspend Honduras from the group over the militarized ouster of president Manuel Zelaya, who vowed minutes later to return to the polarized country Sunday despite warnings it would be too dangerous. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1127699.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1127699.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:42 EDT Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya vowed to return to the polarized Central American country Sunday amid warnings it would be too dangerous, as the country in political unrest inched closer to isolation.