It started last summer, when it seemed that Mexican President Felipe Calderón had understandably reached the end of his rope. After 52 innocent people were massacred in August by drug gangsters who set fire to a Monterrey casino …
Latin America
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 …
Chavez’s Cancer Mystery: What if Venezuela’s President Doesn’t Run for Re-Election?
Lent, the pre-Easter season that started last week, is traditionally a time when Christians ponder their mortality – and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez had a lot of it to contemplate before he left Caracas for Havana to …
Must-Reads from Around the World: February 27, 2012
Syrian Support – After Sunday’s draft constitution vote in Syria, President Bashar Assad’s international allies seem emboldened. On Monday, the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times said in an editorial: “What the West …
Haiti Without a Prime Minister Again: Is This Reconstruction or ‘Deconstruction’?
This article was written by Tim Padgett in Miami with Susana Ferreira in Port-au-Prince
Speaking to his nation Friday night, Feb. 24, Haitian President Michel Martelly sported several pink bracelets that read Tet Kale, or “Bald Head” in Creole, a political slogan referring to Martelly’s own shaved pate. Unfortunately, it’s the …
Must-Reads from Around the World: February 24, 2012
Fighting Failure – Foreign Policy‘s Douglas Wissing posts a damning indictment of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan amid continuing violence over the burning of copies of the Koran. “This wave of protest is just the latest example of …
Hugo Chávez Battles Cancer Again – But His Vulgar Vitriol May Hurt His Political Health
Unless you’re one of the whackos who puts politics before people, you’ll wish Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez the best as he readies to undergo a second round of cancer surgery. On Tuesday, Feb. 21, Chávez conceded that …
Deadly Train Crash in Argentina
At least 49 people are dead in one of the country’s worst rail accidents
Must-Reads from Around the World: February 16, 2012
Jobless Woes—Unemployment in the U.K. rose by 48,000 to 2.67 million in the three months to December, official figures show. The BBC reports that while this is the smallest increase in over a year, the country’s unemployment …
Honduras’ Horrific Prison Fire: Will Central America’s Elites Assume Their Responsibility?
Updated Feb. 16
A year ago this month, William Brownfield, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics & Law Enforcement, toured a police training site in Honduras and heard assurances from officials …
Must-Reads from Around the World: February 15, 2012
Nuclear Achievements – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirmed additions to the country’s nuclear program Wednesday. The Daily Telegraph reports Iran’s state television unveiled faster carbon fiber centrifuges and fuel …
Must-Reads from Around the World: February 13, 2012
Primary Victory – Henrique Capriles Radonski is one step closer to potentially ending Hugo Chavez’s 13 year rule in Venezuela. In a landmark primary, Capriles beat out six other opposition candidates for the spot opposite Chavez …
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 …