THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
The murder of the acting chief of Mexico's federal police amid an unprecedented wave of drug gang attacks on security officials will soon become a major issue in the U.S. presidential candidates' escalating war for Hispanic votes.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
The 84 percent victory of pro-autonomy forces in Sunday's referendum called by Bolivia's wealthy eastern province of Santa Cruz in open defiance of that country's central government has triggered fears of a chain reaction of separatist movements throughout Latin America.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
When I interviewed likely Republican candidate Sen. John McCain last week, I was left with the distinct impression that he is moving steadily backward from his once progressive stand on immigration.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
The way Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales puts it, South America's poorest country is threatened by a U.S.-backed oligarchic movement in the eastern province of Santa Cruz that wants to secede from the rest of the nation through an ''autonomy referendum'' on Sunday.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
BOGOTA, Colombia -- During an extended interview with President Alvaro Uribe last week, I asked him five times whether he will seek to change the constitution and reelect himself for a third term.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
Political satirist P.J. O'Rourke wrote a few years ago that Paraguay is a country in the middle of ''nowhere and famous for nothing.'' So why should we care about Paraguay?, I asked one of the leading U.S. experts on Paraguay shortly after Sunday's historic opposition victory that ended 60 years of one-party rule.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
Pope Benedict XVI's calls for humane treatment of undocumented immigrants during his trip to the United States got anti-immigration zealots more riled up than usual. Good! I'm beginning to like this pope.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
Latin America's biggest problem may not be Venezuela's narcissist-Leninist leader Hugo Chávez nor other populists who are grabbing the headlines, but the region's stagnation in the global race for greater Internet connectivity and knowledge-based economic growth.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
While the world is watching the Obama vs. Clinton race for the Democratic nomination, other well-known Democrats are unofficially campaigning for secretary of state -- and offering big plans for Latin America.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
Despite what most of the media describe as a late-breaking Democratic move to kill the U.S.-Colombia free trade deal, and most Washington analysts' forecasts that the bill is doomed, I'm not that pessimistic.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
One of the things that surprised me the most during a rare interview with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Latin American affairs was his response to my question on what the region should do to become a world-class technological innovation center, and play in the big leagues of the global economy.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
Santiago, Chile -- Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who seem to be competing over who is the fiercest critic of the U.S. free trade deals with Mexico and other Latin American countries, should pay a visit to this South American capital. It would only take them a few minutes to realize how wrong they are.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
Republican candidate Sen. John McCain will launch his effort to win the crucial Hispanic vote with his first Spanish-language ads this week. But given his party's rabid anti-immigration stand, it will be an uphill battle.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
The big question is not what will happen this weekend when the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) meets in Caracas, amid Venezuelan government plans to hold a counter-meeting ''against media terrorism,'' but what will happen afterwards.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Ecuador President Rafael Correa and Colombia's FARC guerrillas issued frantic statements last week rejecting the authenticity of explosive computer files seized by Colombia in its March 1 raid of a rebel camp in Ecuador. They may have good reasons to be worried.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
If you think that Latin America is getting a short shrift in the U.S. media, you are right: a new study shows that the percentage of news from the region in mainstream U.S. media is pathetic.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
Peruvian President Alan García nods with a knowing smile when asked about Colombia's recent seizure of computer files that seem to show Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's active support for Colombia's FARC guerrillas. Something similar may be happening right here in Peru, he says.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
Here's my advice to President Bush following the release of explosive documents showing Venezuela's active support for Colombia's FARC guerrillas: You have the most powerful weapon you ever had against Venezuela's radical leftist President Hugo Chávez. Don't use it!
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
The seven-day war of words between Colombia and the Venezuela-Ecuador alliance ended in embraces, but both sides have emerged with fresh ammunition that could spark a new conflict at anytime -- and probably will.
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT
When the dust settles and the escalating Colombian conflict with Venezuela and Ecuador comes to a diplomatically brokered pause, Latin America will have to grapple with a more lasting problem: For the first time in recent history, some countries in the region are openly supporting a guerrilla group that is trying to topple a democratically elected government.
