Monday Memo: Chilean Elections – Isla Conejo – Venezuela – Pablo Neruda – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Likely top stories this week: Chilean voters go to the polls; El Salvador and Honduras face off over Isla Conejo; the Venezuelan government seizes the electronic chain Daka; Chilean forensic experts conclude that Pablo Neruda was not poisoned; the Argentine president is cleared to start working. Chilean Presidential Elections: Chilean voters will go to the … Read more
Political Integration Agreement Reached in Colombian Peace Talks
The Colombian government and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—FARC) reached a key point in peace negotiations this Wednesday, as the two parties agreed upon a framework for the creation of new political parties to represent disarmed rebel groups. The issue of political integration was previously highlighted by Colombian President … Read more
Peronism Divided: Argentina’s 2013 Midterm Elections
Voters in Argentina’s October 27 midterm elections delivered a clear message to the country’s politicians on Sunday: they are ready for change. The incumbent, Peronist-affiliated Frente Para La Victoria (Front for Victory—FPV), led by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, suffered key losses as the country voted on available seats in one-third of the Senate and … Read more
Argentine Court Rules against Clarín Group
Clarín Group, Argentina’s largest media conglomerate, will have to sell off part of its holdings due to a Supreme Court ruling handed down on Tuesday. The high court declared constitutional the four articles of the Ley de Medios (Media Law), Argentina’s anti-monopoly broadcast law that congress passed four years ago but has stalled in the … Read more
Rudy Giuliani: Recipe for Montreal
On Friday, October 25, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani spoke at Montreal’s Board of Trade on the eve of the Montreal mayoral election. The Board of Trade, anticipating the fervor of the final stretch of the campaign for a new mayor, chose to invite Giuliani for his take on how to revive Canada’s … Read more
Honduras’ Castro de Zelaya Could be the Country’s First Female, Openly Socialist President
Honduras will hold its presidential elections on November 24, and voters—for the first time in this Central American country’s history—might elect a female and openly socialist president, signaling the nation’s growing frustration with its male-dominated conservative leadership. Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, representing the Partido Libertad y Refundación (Liberty and Refoundation Party—LIBRE), was slated as the … Read more
Monday Memo: Argentine Midterms – UN Anti-Spying Measure – U.S. Immigration – Paraguay and Mercosur – FARC Releases Captive
Likely top stories this week: Argentine opposition gains influence in midterms; Brazil and Germany lead a UN anti-spying initiative; lobbyists push for U.S. immigration reform; Paraguay to represent Mercosur in negotiations with EU; hostage Kevin Scott Sutay is released by the FARC. Argentines Vote in Midterm Elections: With 72 percent of the votes counted in … Read more
Monday Memo: Protesters & Police Clash in Brazil – Train Crashes in Buenos Aires – Hurricane Raymond Nears Mexico – Bachelet Leads Polls in Chile – U.S. Surveillance in Mexico
Likely top stories this week: Protesters clash with Brazilian police forces in Rio de Janeiro; A commuter train crash injures 30 in Buenos Aires; Hurricane Raymond builds strength near Mexico’s Pacific coast; Michele Bachelet leads the polls in next month’s presidential elections in Chile; Newly leaked documents reveal that the U.S. spied on former Mexican … Read more
Is Brazil the New Regional Champion of Democracy?
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly in September 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama appealed to rising democracies around the world to help spread the democratic message, declaring that “we need your voices to speak out,” and reminding them that “part of the price of our own freedom is standing up for the freedom of others.”1 … Read more
Missed Opportunity?
For the past five years, Argentina’s current government and the Clarín Group, the country’s principal media conglomerate, have been on a collision course. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has denounced the group on national TV for having once been “partners” with the military dictatorship and accused its executives of plotting against her. Meanwhile, Clarín, the … Read more
Canadian Prime Minister Harper’s Second Wind
While thousands of federal workers in the U.S. went back to work today after grappling with the government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis, Canada’s Parliament has just now reopened for business, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s second Throne Speech since his party won a majority government mandate in May 2011. Coming at mid-term, the speech … Read more
Dispatches from the Field: El Alto, Bolivia
Bolivia’s most politically influential city remains restless. (slideshow available)
Argentina’s 2013 Elections: Signs of Change or More of the Same?
With national legislative elections coming up on October 27, Argentina is abuzz with political activity. In addition to the high economic stakes—the country suffers from increasing inflation and faces the threat of a deep recession—many view this year’s elections as a harbinger of who will become Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s successor two years … Read more
Poll Projects Tight Presidential Race in Honduras
A new CID Gallup poll on the Honduran presidential election in November released on Tuesday shows Xiomara Castro—the wife of former President Manuel Zelaya—has a slight lead. The poll estimates that Castro, representing the leftist Partido Libertad y Refundacion (Liberty and Refoundation Party—LIBRE) would receive 29 percent of votes, followed closely by conservative candidate Juan … Read more
El Partido de la Red araña la democracia en Argentina
¿Cómo se teje la democracia en red? Construyendo un puente entre el clic y el voto. Así de simple y ambiciosa es la propuesta de un grupo de jóvenes argentinos expertos en tecnología, que busca alcanzar una curul en la legislatura de Buenos Aires en las elecciones del próximo 27 de octubre, para representar la … Read more
