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 Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:37:08 EDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's PubSys miamifeedback@miamiherald.com 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/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/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/news/politics/story/1132180.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1132180.html Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:50 EDT Sarah Palin's decision to step down as Alaska governor was driven in part by her wish to help Republican candidates across the country, associates say. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1129826.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1129826.html Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:45 EDT Actor Kal Penn, who last year portrayed a captive in an orange jumpsuit escaping from Guantánamo, started a new job Monday as a liaison between the White House and Asian communities. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1125230.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1125230.html Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:45 EDT The top Republican on the Senate committee that will consider Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination says a Puerto Rican civil rights group's papers could shed light on her judicial approach, particularly her view of racial preferences in hiring. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1125281.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1125281.html Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:40 EDT President Barack Obama said Thursday he is uneasy about his own proposal to indefinitely imprison some of the most dangerous terror suspects being held now at Guantánamo Bay. He called it ``one of the biggest challenges of my administration.'' http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1124550.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1124550.html Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:07 EDT Gov. Mark Sanford's "feet are in concrete" in resisting calls for him to leave office, say close friends who've been in regular contact with him in recent days. When told his political support has evaporated, Sanford responded to one confidant, "Well, I’ll be here until they throw me out." Republicans close to Sanford think his determination only increases as the pressure mounts. 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/1121241.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1121241.html Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:32 EDT President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that "Iraq's future is in the hands of its own people," warning of more violence in the days ahead but signaling optimism that Iraq will prevail as a stable, sovereign nation. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1120090.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1120090.html Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:29 EDT First lady Michelle Obama visited a community health center Monday to announce the release of $850 million in stimulus grants to help such clinics across the country provide care. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1120489.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1120489.html Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:28 EDT President Barack Obama's face brightened as he looked up and saw his 8-year-old daughter Sasha on the White House's Truman Balcony. He gave an exaggerated wave, she waved back and photographers captured a rare, unscripted moment. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1119567.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1119567.html Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:28 EDT President Barack Obama on Monday declared that the United States still considers Manuel Zelaya to be the president of Honduras and assailed the coup that forced him into exile as "not legal," widening the chasm between the Central American nation and much of the rest of the world. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1117968.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1117968.html Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:22 EDT U.S. diplomats are working to ensure the safety of deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and his family as they press for restoration of constitutional law and his presidency. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1117852.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1117852.html Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:22 EDT The Obama White House left open the possibility Sunday that the president would break a campaign promise and raise taxes on people earning less than $250,000 to support his health care overhaul agenda. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1118120.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1118120.html Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:20 EDT A senior White House adviser said Sunday the economic stimulus has not yet "broken the back of the recession" but set aside calls for a second massive spending bill. Republicans, meanwhile, called spending under way a failure. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1115444.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1115444.html Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:20 EDT President Barack Obama is describing his German counterpart as "smart," and he adds that he can trust what she says. 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/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/legislature/story/1083694.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1083694.html Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:25 EDT The fourth African-American to ever sit on the Florida Supreme Court formally took his seat Friday in a ceremony that helped cement Gov. Charlie Crist's reputation as a centrist. 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/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/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/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/florida/story/1116405.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1116405.html Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:16 EDT Alex Sink, the leading Democratic contender for governor in 2010, landed a predictable but potentially weighty endorsement Friday from a national fundraising group for Democratic women who support abortion rights. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135659.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135659.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:35 EDT The Burmese python can grow longer than 20 feet, produce several dozen offspring in a litter and devour small children and pets. In North Carolina, it has a new natural enemy: the lawmaker. The legislature is likely to give final approval next week to a bill that would restrict the ownership and prevent the escape of venomous and large constrictor snakes, as well other dangerous reptiles. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135641.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135641.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:05 EDT In his effort to fill the state's massive $26.3 billion budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is targeting social service programs he says are rife with fraud and abuse. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135635.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135635.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:00 EDT Levi Johnston, the former fiance of Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, on Thursday joined the crowd offering up potential reasons for Palin's decision to step down. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135632.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135632.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:50 EDT President Barack Obama wrapped up a three-day summit of world leaders Friday and was headed to the Vatican to meet with Pope Benedict XVI in what aides said would be a meeting different than those with secular heads of state. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135611.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135611.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:20 EDT President Barack Obama is wrapping up finitely detailed talks with his G-8 partners on economic and environmental challenges and turning to more photogenic events: meeting the pope and becoming the first black American president to visit a mostly black African country. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135555.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135555.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:20 EDT Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has endured weeks of insults, obnoxious questions and unwelcome drilling into her work as a judge and a lawyer - and it was all on purpose, essentially a dress rehearsal for her confirmation hearings. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135540.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135540.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:00 EDT Roland Burris gambled that he could accept a U.S. Senate appointment from a political pariah and still be seen as an honest, hardworking public servant. He lost. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135534.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135534.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:55 EDT Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is telling lawmakers the U.S. economy stumbled last year in part because the power and risks of an explosive derivatives market blindsided the government. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135510.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135510.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:20 EDT Global problems, Africa and the pope all figure in President Barack Obama's day. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135476.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135476.html Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:00 EDT The head of U.S. Central Command in Afghanistan warned that months of fighting lie ahead in what will likely be the biggest military operation there since the American-led invasion of 2001. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135239.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135239.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:55 EDT State-by-state look at cities, counties and communities where stimulus money will be distributed to combat homelessness and the dollars for each location, according to the Housing and Urban Development Department: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135137.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1135137.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:15 EDT People in the United States could get lower-cost drugs from Canada over the Internet under a plan that has passed the Senate. 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.