The oil giant is trying to get the massive fine for polluting Ecuadorean villagers’ land rescinded based on the new testimony
Ecuador
Snowden’s Worst-Case Scenario: What if No Countries Take Him?
Edward Snowden, the U.S. leaker who’s been holed up so long inside the transit zone of a Moscow airport that reporters and pundits are drawing comparisons to The Terminal, the 2004 comedy-drama starring Tom Hanks, wants …
Edward Snowden, NSA Whistle-Blower, Wins Unusual Sympathizers in Latin America
Ecuador is no human-rights darling. Left-wing President Rafael Correa has built a decidedly authoritarian reputation that includes a yen for prosecuting journalists who irk him. This week he won passage of a media bill that …
Hugo Chávez’s Re-election Bid: Is the Latin American Left Stumbling?
Venezuela’s firebrand socialist president is no longer a shoo-in to win re-election on Oct. 7—for reasons that are also haunting other leaders on the Latin American left.
Ecuador Erases Its Troubling Asylum Double Standard
Global outrage ensued when it was revealed that the country was considering the extradition of a Belarus dissident even as it was providing asylum for Julian Assange. Now, that contradiction is history.
The Allegations Against Assange: Views from Sweden
Most Swedes want the Wikileaks founder to respond to their country’s legal inquiries but a vocal few feel Sweden’s definitions of rape have gotten too stringent
Why Is Ecuador Julian Assange’s Choice for Asylum?
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has appealed for asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. It’s a curious choice: under President Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s free speech record has been dismal.
Correa’s Clemency: Why Critics Say Ecuador’s President Is Still a Threat to Press Freedom
This article was written by Tim Padgett in Miami with Stephan Küffner in Quito
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa wanted the world to think he was being the magnanimous statesman. Standing before a hall at the Carondelet …
Ecuador’s Correa Wins Another Libel Case: Are the Latin American Media Being Bullied?
This article was written by Tim Padgett in Miami with Stephan Küffner in Quito
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa sued the wrong guys. In their 2010 book, El Gran Hermano (The Big Brother), Ecuadorean journalists Juan Carlos …
Ahmadinejad Goes on Tour: What’s Iran’s Agenda in Latin America?
In 2006, the same year Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez called then U.S. President George W. Bush “the devil” at the U.N., Chávez and his oil-rich, anti-U.S. revolution were looking for new ways to kick Washington in the …
Latin America’s CELAC Summit: A Definitive Rejection of the U.S.?
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez brands himself the standard bearer of all things revolutionary in Latin America – including the Community of Latin American & Caribbean States (CELAC), the new hemispheric organization that …
How John Galliano’s Criminal Conviction Sets a Poor Example for the Developing World
Few would disagree that disgraced British fashion designer John Galliano was acting like a drug- and alcohol-addled jerk. On two separate occasions at the same Paris bar last October and February, he unleashed anti-Semitic insults and was caught on video saying he loved Hitler. But if Galliano’s tirades were socially disturbing, a …
Out of Ecuador: Another U.S. Ambassador Bites the WikiDust
Updated: April 7, 2011
Another U.S. Ambassador in Latin America bit the WikiDust this week. This time it was a leftist rather than a conservative government pushing the yanqui envoy out, but the reason was similar – and similarly lame. WikiLeaks recently released a confidential U.S. diplomatic cable from 2009 – which the Spanish …