Others were concerned that Brazil would derive the bulk of the benefits from the road at the expense of Bolivia.
Bolivian President Morales Bows to Pressure and Cancels Amazon Highway
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Latin America & Caribbean
Guatemalan President Perez Blows up the War on Drugs
The war on drugs is America’s forgotten war.
Cuba: Ever the Scapegoat Closest to Hand
In an election year, presidential candidates spend a great deal of time bowing before the altar of the creaky Cuban embargo
The Costa Rica Consensus
When I was a child, Costa Rica endured a war of its own, though it did not receive any attention in the pages housed in this building. When the war ended in 1948, Costa Rica made a voluntary decision that no other country had ever undertaken: to abolish its army and declare peace to the world. By doing this, my country promised me, and all its children, that we would never see tanks or troops in our streets. My country promised me, and all its children, that it would invest, not in the weapons of our past, but in the tools of our future; not in barracks, but in schools, hospitals, and national parks; not in soldiers, but in teachers, doctors, and park guards. My country promised to dismantle the institutions of violence, and invest in the progress that makes violence unnecessary. Quite simply, my country invested in its people.
A World Bank President Who’s Not a Crony or a War Criminal?
For the first time, there’s been a concerted — and effective — effort to intervene in the nominating process and prevent a crony coronation.
Central American Presidents Scrutinize U.S. “War on Drugs”
The U.S. idea of a drug war in Latin America has ranged from eliminating the only source of income for small coca farmers to asking military to play a law enforcement role.
Honduras: When Engagement Becomes Complicity
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Honduras on March 6 with a double mission: to quell talk of drug legalization and reinforce the U.S.-sponsored drug war in Central America, and to bolster the presidency of Porfirio Lobo.
The Honduran government issued a statement that during the one-hour closed-door conversation between Biden and Lobo, the vice president “reiterated the U.S. commitment to intensify aid to the government and people of Honduras, and exalted the efforts undertaken and implemented over the past two years by President Lobo.”
Carbon Blood Money in Honduras
With its muddy roads, humble huts, and constant military patrols, Bajo Aguán, Honduras feels a long way away from the slick polish of the recurring UN climate negotiations in the world’s capital cities. Yet the bloody struggle going on there strikes at the heart of global climate politics, illustrating how market schemes designed to “offset” carbon emissions play out when they encounter the complicated reality on the ground.
The Bitter Taste of Brazil’s World Cup
“The people believe that they will prosper with the arrival of the World Cup, but the truth is that they will be brutally repressed,” warns Roberto Morales, advisor to Socialist Liberty Party Representative Marcelo Freixo. The agreements between the Brazilian government and the Federate International Football Association (FIFA) restrict merchandise sales around the stadiums and ban vendors from coming within two kilometers of the events.
Review: Cuba Since the Revolution of 1959
Widely hailed as the most consequential revolution in 20th century Latin America, the Cuban revolution has permeated all aspects of Cuban life. Though countless analyses evaluate just how thoroughly the revolution has transformed Cuba over the past 50 years, few rival Samuel Farber’s work Cuba Since the Revolution of 1959: A Critical Assessment. Simultaneously informative and critical, Farber’s book offers a comprehensive, if self-admittedly biased, evaluation of the changes in Cuba’s society, economy, and government. Farber assesses the past and current Cuban political and economic systems while also proposing possible improvements.