Paraguay has long been one of the poorest, least developed and most isolated countries in Latin America, dating back from when the country gained independence from Spain in 1811. The landlocked nation is expected to grow by 10 percent this year – due in large part to soy and beef exports – but nearly a […]
The new president will be puppeteered out of office quicker than he was put in The election played out as many opposition supporters of Henrique Capriles supporters feared. Government candidate Nicolas Maduro won by a close margin — closer than expected actually. Capriles denounced the results, pointed out cases of fraud and intimidation and […]
A Surge in Energy – and Poll Points – for the Capriles’ Campaign. When the presidential campaign of opposition candidate Henrique Capriles began two weeks ago there were legitimate doubts about stamina, both his and that of his staff. They must be tired. One factor, however, may sway the vote when Capriles faces Acting President […]
Despite the fact that it’s only the 9th of November, election day is far behind us. There’s no option of a lame duck for any officials. The glaringly obvious and ever-pressing question is, of course, what now? Or, to put it another way, where? Some of the “whats” have snuck their way into kitchen table […]
At this point, the plight of Venezuelan prisons is internationally known. Jails are severely overcrowded, conditions are horrendous and members of armed gangs kill each other with such frequency that the government actually created a new Prison Ministry to oversee the rights of prisoners. But the most perplexing aspect of the penitentiary system is […]
Countries within the Southern Hemisphere are on the move. This past weekend member states of UNASUR and the African Union met on Margarita Island, Venezuela, in order to strengthen ties between their countries and continents. One of the ideas proposed by President Hugo Chávez, as well as Moammar Gadhafi, of Libya, is an alliance among […]
Will the IAEA some day have to shift its attention to northern South America? In a move bound to attract US attention, Venezuelan officials have declared that they are conducting further exploration for uranium deposits. This, combined with President Hugo Chávez’s close ties with Iran and Russia, leads to concerns about transfer of the material […]
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 […]
In an editorial within today’s Washington Post, Edward Schumacher-Matos presents a nice summary of what might be considered a waning in the power of Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez. As Schumacher-Matos describes, on a number of fronts other South American nations have been acting counter to Chávez’s wishes. Ecuador, though considered an ally, has reached out […]