Word has it that China will surpass the U.S. as the world’s largest economy by the end of this year, according to a recent World Bank report. This is an event of dramatic, albeit symbolic, importance for the way the world will conduct its affairs. With this in mind, what can be expected from international […]
In an upcoming meeting in Washington, the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) will consider a proposal that would greatly diminish the ability of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to address human rights violations in the region. At the Forty-Second General Assembly meeting in Cochabamba, Bolivia, a bloc of states […]
This weekend’s Summit of the Americas may not include representation from Cuba, but Cuba is by no means absent from the Summit. In fact, general policy toward the island appeared to be the most significant issue dividing the Hemisphere in advance of this weekend’s meetings: Latin American nations saw Cuba’s continued exclusion from the Summit as […]
In Venezuela, the date April 19th is known as the “Signing of the Act of Independence”, a major move towards separation from Spain. The full declaration of independence came the next year, on July 5, 1811. This was followed by a decade of bloody battles in which Simón Bolívar rose to fame, finally defeating the […]
Overview This past year was another interesting one for Venezuela, and it is a country where one never knows what will happen next. Overall, Chávez continued to advance his “Bolivarian revolution”. This effort included a number of laws passed by the National Assembly, a body that typically rubber stamps initiatives proposed by the Venezuelan president. […]