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World Cup: Latin America Continues to Impress
June 25, 2010
by Eric FarnsworthWhen the knock-out round of the World Cup begins Saturday morning, the Western Hemisphere will have almost half of the final 16 teams in contention, and at least two teams (the winners of Argentina vs. Mexico on Sunday and also Brazil vs. Chile) guaranteed in the final eight. Even more compelling: both 2006 finalists, Italy and France, will be watching the games from the sidelines, the first time that’s ever happened. Other European teams that were early on picked to outperform have struggled; so far Holland appears to be the strongest European team although Slovakia has certainly surprised and Spain has finally recovered from an early setback to Switzerland. Latin America and also the United States have acquitted themselves well so far.
In soccer terms the Western Hemisphere has appeared to equal its former colonials overseers. The United States tied England 1-1; Brazil tied its “second team,” Portugal, 0-0. For good measure, even Mexico defeated its one-time colonial aspirant, France, 2-0. Mexicans should consider adding June 17 to their holiday calendar, to compliment Cinco de Mayo which celebrates the defeat of the French at the Battle of Juarez. Only Spain was able to prevail against its former colonies, defeating hapless Honduras, 2-0, and Chile by 2-1. (Honduras did eke out a tie in its last game.)
Tags: APEC, EU, Latin America, Mercosur, NAFTA, United States, Western Hemisphere, World Cup
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Weekly Roundup from Across the Americas
November 18, 2009
by AS-COA OnlineFrom the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. AS/COA Online's news brief examines the major—as well as some of the overlooked—events and stories occurring across the Americas. Check back every Wednesday for the weekly roundup.
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Tags: APEC, Argentina, Banana Wars, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela
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Peruvian Government Accuses Chile of Espionage
November 16, 2009
by AQ OnlinePeruvian President Alan Garcia cut short his trip to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Singapore, returning to Lima this morning to deal with a brewing spying case. Mr. Garcia abruptly announced his return—which comes a day earlier than had been scheduled—in order to publicly address an alleged incident of Chilean espionage involving an officer from the Peruvian Air Force. This newest diplomatic spat between the two countries had already provoked the cancellation of a meeting yesterday between President Garcia and his Chilean counterpart, Michelle Bachelet.
The spying accusations follow the arrest on October 30 of Peruvian Air Force official Victor Ariza Mendoza, who is accused of passing secret documents detailing Peru’s projected future military acquisitions to Chilean intelligence officers in exchange for money. Peru has brought charges of treason against Mr. Ariza and indicated that it plans to bring charges against two Chilean officials as well.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has responded to Peru’s allegations by denying any accusation of espionage and warning Peru’s government from jumping to conclusions. According to a Chilean presidential spokeswoman, “When there are accusations of this type, governments must exercise caution…We want to be clear: Chile does not spy.”
Tags: Alan García, APEC, Chile, Espionage, Michelle Bachelet, Peru
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