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The Other Side of Cuba’s Prisoner Release

The announcement by Havana that it would release five political prisoners “who would travel to Spain with their families,” and another 47 during the next three or four months, has been credited to efforts by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos and Cuba’s archbishop, Cardinal Jaime Ortega. But neither Cardinal Ortega, nor Minister Moratinos would … Read more

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Danger in Guatemala

The battle to regain control of Guatemala’s institutions from deeply entrenched criminal interests has reached an alarming new juncture.  Two weeks ago, the head of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), a UN-led commission to investigate and prosecute high-profile organized crime and corruption, resigned in frustration. Since January 2008, the CICIG has made … Read more

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The Path Ahead for Colombia’s President-Elect

Even before he starts his presidential term in August, Colombia’s president-elect, Juan Manuel Santos, has already broken records. A scion of Colombia’s establishment, Santos pulled in just over 9 million votes, winning 69 percent of the vote against the 27 percent secured by his rival, Antanus Mockus. Santos’ victory is the highest percentage of votes … Read more

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Hillary Clinton’s Quito Address: Now Comes the Hard Part

Hillary Clinton responded to the drumbeat of demands for a major administration policy speech on Latin America this week during her stopover in Quito, Ecuador. The U.S. secretary of state was working her way back home—due to also visit Colombia and Barbados—after attending the annual Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly in Lima, Peru. … Read more

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Escaping Juarez: A Photographic Essay

Once the crown jewel of the maquila miracle that was going to be the cornerstone of Mexico’s development, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua is being abandoned these days by those who were lured there with promises of decent, well-paid jobs. The city’s fate is now in the hands of rival drug gangs who operate with absolute impunity … Read more

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Lobo Reverses Stance on Honduran Coup

Last week, Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa publicly acknowledged that the expulsion of President Manuel Zelaya from the country on June 28, 2009, constituted a coup. This was a startling admission from a man who won last year’s presidential election in a climate rife with fear, repression and censorship. Lobo’s belated recognition of the coup … Read more

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Superfluous Workers in Cuba’s Workers’ Paradise?

Last Saturday, on May 1, General Raúl Castro reviewed the International Labor Day parade at Plaza de la Revolución in Havana.  In his speech, the general-president-and-brother of Fidel, said that the big turnout demonstrated the workers support for the regime and the vitality of Cuban labor unions.  These are the same labor unions that for … Read more

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Bolivia’s Regional Elections: A Setback for Evo Morales

Evo Morales suffered a significant setback. That’s the simplest way to interpret the results from Bolivia’s regional and municipal elections on April 4. Nonetheless, he was quick to emphasize that his party had achieved significant gains. But this came on the heels of a press conference by Juan Del Granado, the outgoing mayor of La … Read more

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Recovering in Haiti: A Photographic Testimonial

Most of Port-au-Prince is destroyed but the spirit of its residents is not. This is what award-winning photojournalist Roberto Guerra finds upon traveling to Haiti after the initial media frenzy subsided. Prior to January’s 7.0-magnitude earthquake, most Haitians were used to struggling to survive. Now they are brushing the dust off and getting to work … Read more

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Latin American Gays: The Post-Left Leftists

When most straight people are forced to think about gay people, they usually think of one thing first, sex. A political scientist might focus instead on a different question:  how do gays perform in politics?  Judged from their political achievements this past decade, the answer is, at least for Latin American gays:  they’re pretty good. … Read more

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The Challenge of Sustainable Business Development in Argentina

The year 2010 marks Argentina’s bicentennial. The moment provides an opportunity to reflect on certain aspects of our history as well as our future challenges. One of the most important is the role of entrepreneurship, or more specifically, new entrepreneurship and young entrepreneurs. Social and economic factors in Argentina, such as territory, climate diversity, natural … Read more

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Why Banco del Sur Is a Bad Idea

Regional or multilateral banks help developing nations through different means. They are instrumental in redistributing funds from richer to poorer nations.  They provide liquidity in periods of stress in world capital markets.  And they provide financing for long-term projects that require financing at maturities that exceed what the country may obtain in the markets at … Read more

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Mauricio Funes: His Way

The March 2009 election of Mauricio Funes and the broad coalition of social and political forces that supported his candidacy inspired the Salvadoran people and heralded a new era in the history of the smallest country in Latin America. The election of Funes, a Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) party candidate, for … Read more

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Costa Ricans Choose Chinchilla and Continuity

Laura Chinchilla was elected Costa Rica’s first female president in a colorful election on February 7 that delivered a high vote of confidence to outgoing President Óscar Arias. The 50-year-old moderate Chinchilla, who resigned as Arias’ vice president last year to campaign for the country’s top office, won with more than 46 percent of the … Read more

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The Renovators

Two political cultures coexist in Argentina. On the one hand, there is the culture based on confrontation, exclusion and antiquated ideology that has reigned for decades. This culture has led to a history of conflict and upheaval that has led to our country’s decline. On the other is a new political culture, conscious of the … Read more