“There is no question that it is racism, and it’s absolutely deplorable,” declared Democratic strategist Maria Cardona on NPR’s “Tell Me More,” referring to a Dominican Constitutional Court’s ruling, on Sept. 23, 2013, that denaturalized four generations of Dominican citizens, virtually all of them of Haitian descent. “And I do think that the United States […]
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’ ill health is widely known, but what may be less recognized in my neck of the woods is how the president’s ailments have become front-page news across the Caribbean. This is due to PetroCaribe, the regional oil cooperative Venezuela created in 2005 to provide fuel for neighboring countries. PetroCaribe supplies 18 […]
After more than a year of planning, much diplomatic hype, and thousands of attendees, last month’s UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro produced what one activist called a “failure of epic proportions.” The few agreements—including yet another “universal intergovernmental high level political forum” to talk some more—seemed to fall well short of the challenge […]
Human rights activists acclaimed a Dominican Republic (DR) court’s historic conviction and 15-year prison sentencing of two Haitian child traffickers charged with smuggling, trafficking, and exploiting Haitian children’s labor. “It is the first time Haitian traffickers have been jailed in the Dominican Republic for trafficking children,” declared the International Organization for Migration (IOM) through a […]
This past Sunday’s presidential election in the Dominican Republic culminated a campaign full of color, passion, and energy. The campaign contrasted with American races in that it focused on personal differences between the two men vying for office; policy differences were minute and less relevant. I visited the DR in September last year on business, […]
Today leaders met in Bariloche, Argentina, for a session of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). Atop the agenda was discussion of the military agreement between Colombia and the United States, signed to maintain efforts against drug-trafficking and terrorism in the region. See this BBC Mundo article for a preview of the meeting. As […]