Long-term policy goals by America’s neighbors have made them some of the best performing economies worldwide. Unfortunately, America’s backyard has received little attention from the Obama Administration and even less attention during the Bush years. During the recent electoral debates there have been some mention of Canada and Mexico, but …
This week’s election in Venezuela was important for reasons outside of Venezuela itself. The victory of Hugo Chavez with over 80% of the electorate voting and a sizable minority voting against the current President showed that Hugo Chavez does have a great deal of support as well as a …
Early October will see an election in one of the most politically influential states in Latin America, Venezuela. Since Hugo Chavez was elected he has become the face of leftists in Latin America and populists worldwide. This upcoming election against rival Capriles is likely to be the closest race in …
President Obama over the last four years has had as successful a record on Latin America as the last two presidents before him. It can be argued he has had some added success in the region considering luck and policy with Colombia gaining a handle on its own …
Student protests this year in the streets of Montreal over a relatively small tuition hike took the Quebec government by storm. In reality, it is likely more than just tuition that fuelled this year’s protests with the Liberal Party of Quebec facing allegations of corruption after nine long years in …
Today most OAS members will officially make a statement of support for Ecuador and its diplomatic rights under international law. Most Latin American nations support the concept of a country being able to maintain a secure embassy in the U.K. without British officials entering or taking actions …
Marcela Valente of the ipsnews.net published a very interesting article this week discussing why Mercosur has decided to pass up a recent offer of a free trade agreement with China. Mercosur fell off the radar screen in the discussions on international trade after the FTAA …
There is much debate in the United States on the dominance of China in the current global economy. These discussions are quite valid as Latin America weathered much of the 2008 economic crisis based upon natural resource exports to China to bolster their booming economy. Canada was also able to …
The Washington Post published a very informative article this week about Mexican immigration to the United States and the logical and progressive nature of immigration and investment coming from mostly illegal immigration to the U.S. Currently, the immigration rate from Mexico to the United States is balanced …
This past week the Council on Hemispheric Affairs published an article on the Obama Administration’s actions to depressurize the relationship between Argentina and the “vulture funds” that made profit off Argentina’s default from their 2001 economic collapse. With so many formerly healthy economies in …
The end of the Arab Spring has likely come about in two different ways. The official election of President Morsi in Egypt can be seen as the end of protests against the military government and the beginning of the first democratically elected leader in Egypt’s history, or it can become …
After years of writing on the FPA immigration blog on topics usually concerned with Latino immigration in the United States, I sincerely believe that there are no current policies or legal frameworks that can handle the issue of illegal immigration in the US. With no real spokesperson …
This week The Economist has created a very interesting and innovative forum to discuss the pros and cons of the PRI party regaining power in Mexico after losing the presidency to the PAN in 2000. This forum takes two campaign leaders from both parties and places them in an open …
Writing for both the Latin America blog and the Europe blog often has its advantages, and with so little attention being paid to Latin America at this past weekend’s G8 Summit at Camp David I am given some space to discuss how the global economy affects Latin …
In a recent discussion on Argentina’s expropriation of YPF there was much commentary on how the Falklands issue was still one of great importance. Seeing Argentina as independent and able to move ahead, despite having poor relations with the Europeans, created a healthy debate on the issue. …
