ALBA bloc leaders chip away at democracy Today, something different. Instead of starting with the facts and ending with my opinion as we usually do, I'm going to rant from the start. The reason: It's hard to keep cool while watching the dismantling of democracy in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Honduras.
By the end of this year, Chile is likely to become the first South American country to join the exclusive club of the world's 30 richest countries. Yet, amazingly, you don't see Chileans jumping for joy, nor presenting themselves to their neighbors as a model nation.
B razil, Latin America's biggest country, has received well-deserved praise in recent years for its responsible economic policies. But, increasingly, it is coming under fire for its shameless support for dictatorships around the world.
The swine flu outbreak that has wrecked Mexico's economy may become a case study in reckless journalism. It now turns out that it's not entirely clear whether the H1N1 pandemic originated in Mexico, as first reported, or in the United States.
The House of Representatives approved a proposal last week to dramatically increase the number of U.S. college students studying in Latin America and other parts of the developing world.
Here's the most immediate threat to democracy in the Americas: a concerted move by authoritarian leaders to silence independent media throughout the region.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's largely unnoticed trip to Central America last week underscored an interesting phenomenon: Brazil is making big inroads into a region that was traditionally seen as Mexico's backyard.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's largely unnoticed trip to Central America last week underscored an interesting phenomenon: Brazil is making big inroads into a region that was traditionally seen as Mexico's backyard.
The 34-country Organization of American States' historic decision to lift its 1962 suspension of Cuba was the easy part. Now comes the real challenge: getting the OAS to demand that Cuba's dictatorship abide by the group's democracy clauses before the island can rejoin the organization.
The nearly 30 percent rise in the price of oil and other raw materials over the past month raises a big question: Will commodity-dependent populist governments in Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador get a second wind? They are certainly hoping for that to happen.
A new United Nations report predicts a 40 percent drop in foreign investments in Latin America this year. I hope I'm wrong about this, but the fall in foreign funds may be even steeper.
Key U.S. senators and most Cuban exile leaders are up in arms over the Organization of American States' move to lift Cuba's decades-old suspension from the group, and possibly readmit it. But perhaps they should welcome the debate, and turn it against Cuba's military dictatorship.
When I interviewed Colombian President Alvaro Uribe last year and he refused to answer five questions on whether he would seek to change the constitution and run for a third consecutive term, I thought he was just playing games.
BUENOS AIRES -- Seven weeks before Argentina's much-awaited June 28 legislative elections, there is a growing consensus that populist President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will lose her majority in Congress, and that there will be major political changes in this country.
BUENOS AIRES -- Seven weeks before Argentina's much-awaited June 28 legislative elections, there is a growing consensus that populist President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will lose her majority in Congress, and that there will be major political changes in this country.
Now that we are getting some details of what was said in the closed-door sessions at the recent 34-country Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, it's becoming clear that Costa Rican President and Nobel Laureate Oscar Arias gave the most impressive speech at the meeting.
Unless it is contained shortly, the Mexican swine flu outbreak that is sounding alarm bells across the world is likely to have long-term economic, law enforcement and political consequences on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border.
W ASHINGTON -- The conventional wisdom in most developing countries is that the world will be less capitalist, and less Washington-centered, once the economic crisis is over. In reality, only one part of this wisdom may hold.
Fidel Castro's latest comments about last weekend's 34-country Summit of the Americas seem to support a growing theory among U.S. and Latin American leaders -- that there is a split between Cuban leader Raúl Castro and his nominally retired brother Fidel.
P ORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- President Barack Obama scored high marks in his first meeting with Latin American and Caribbean leaders, but the 34-country Summit of the Americas was largely inconsequential, and its final resolution a joke.
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