Commentators were buzzing over the weekend following the publication of the PT’s ‘radical’ campaign manifesto on Dilma Rousseff’s polished official website. Listing the party’s platform and campaign commitments, the original manifesto included commitments to judge the takeover of lands on a per case basis; socialize information and the private media; and tax the country’s big […]
“The course of history depends largely on the daring of those who act in terms of historically viable goals… These will depend, not on academic predictions, but on collective action guided by political wills that make work what is structurally barely possible.” Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s 1971 book Dependency and Development in Latin America (co-written with Enzo Faletto), […]
Gang violence threatened voter turnout in last weekend’s state elections. A leading candidate in the state of Tamaulipas and a well-known musician were assassinated in the week before, campaign offices were bombed, and bodies were even hung from bridges on the morning of the election. But Mexico’s democracy endured: voter turnout was relatively high, “an […]
With the backing of Brazil’s most popular president in history and support from the state’s publicity machine, Dilma Rousseff’s ongoing tie in opinion polls forces a shift in strategy. Presidential opinion polls released this week continued to show the PT’s Dilma Rousseff and the PSDB’s José Serra in a ‘technical tie’, with Jose Serra at […]
… A mouthful of a bill (also known as H.R. 4645) that we’ve discussed before. The bill was introduced in February of this year by the House Agriculture Committee Chairman, Rep. Collin Peterson (Democrat-MN), and it includes a provision to open up travel to Cuba for all Americans. So four months later, what’s new? On Friday, […]
Nazario Moreno, leader of La Familia, is known as El Mas Loco. He insists his followers do not use the meth they traffic through Mexico and the United States. For spiritual guidance, Moreno has authored a bible, Pensamientos, to guide the syndicate’s members, and he insists on prayer meetings before operations are launched. El Mas […]
The July/August issue of Foreign Policy includes a piece by George B.N. Ayittey that lists what he designates are the world’s worst dictators. The media is jumping all over his unapologetic account. Kim Jong Il places at number one in these “top 23,” and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Iran) is at number eight, but Raúl Castro is given a spot […]
I have not seen that before. In Mexico City on Sunday, Christian Hernandez, decked out in traditionally garish attire of gold and pink (!), didn’t like what he saw when the giant bull made its appearance. Sizing up the half ton of muscle trailing 13 inches behind the tip of two horns must have had […]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released on Monday, on behalf of the State Department, the “Trafficking in Persons Report 2010.” It is billed as the most comprehensive worldwide report of government efforts to combat trafficking in persons, and covers 177 countries. And Clinton was quick to note that the United States ranked itself as well, […]
Scenario: you have a business partner with whom you do not get along. You don’t like the way he treats his customers, and you’ve told everyone in the office and declined any opportunities that involve working with him. He thinks you’re a hypocrite and are trying to isolate him in the office and usurp his […]
On June 7, a 15-year-old Mexican high school student was shot dead by US Border Patrol agents. He and his friends were reported to be throwing rocks at the US agents from the Mexican side of the El Paso-Juárez border crossing. In the aftermath of the incident Mexican forces apparently drew their arms against the […]
According to two of Human Rights Watch’s top Latin America experts, the way forward in the largely stalemated US-Cuba relationship is for the Obama administration to drop pursuit of the regime change clauses of Helms-Burton in favor of a one-issue focus on human rights, then team with international partners to push for one simple goal […]
And the winner is: “Report: China, Cuba more peaceful than US.” The Associated Press ran the story of the release of the 2010 Global Peace Index this way with a true journalist’s flair: the headline itself would pique the interest of a broad base of browsers—irritated conservatives and eager self-validating liberals alike, the in-betweens and […]
Mexico and South Africa played to 1-1 tie in the opening day of the 2010 World Cup. What would’ve been a ho-hum performance is anything but for the kickoff game against the hosting team, affectionately called Bafana Bafana. South Africa drew first blood at the 55-minute mark, when Siphewe Tshabalala scored. Mexico drew even off […]