Latin America & Caribbean Archives - Page 85 of 191

Hurricane Milton

by Walden Bello, John Feffer | Nov 28, 2006

While economists laud the recently deceased Milton Friedman for being Âa champion of freedom whose work transformed economics and changed the world,Â as a full-page advertisement in the New York Times put it, people in the South will remember the University of Chicago professor as the eye of a human hurricane that cut a swath of destruction through their economies. For them, Friedman will long be associated with two things: free-market reform in Chile and Âstructural adjustmentÂ in the developing world.

Walls, Amnesty, and False Choices

by Sameer Dossani, Emily Schwartz Greco | Nov 21, 2006

The national immigration debate largely is split between two camps.

Garca’s First 100 Days

by John Feffer, Ronald Bruce St John | Nov 21, 2006

Inaugurated last July, Peruvian President Alan García Perez completed the first 100 days of his second administration in early November. Winning a run-off in the June elections with 52% of the vote, García inherited a country torn by divisive socioeconomic and political issues. His first three months in office have been marked by a combination of policy innovation and continuity as he seeks to find workable solutions to difficult problems.

Dude, Where Are My Rights?

by John Feffer, Col. Daniel Smith (Ret.) | Nov 19, 2006

Guantanamo, CIA secret prisons, and Abu Ghraib represent the first round of the Bush administration’s assault on constitutional guarantees. Now they’ve introduced Round Two with an attack on habeas corpus: the right to Âpresent one’s bodyÂ before an impartial interlocutor to contest the basis for unexplained, secret, or wrongful incarceration. Habeas corpus is the oldest civil right in the western world and the foundation of constitutional democracy.

Dealing with Ortega

by Nadia Martinez | Nov 15, 2006

For the Bush administration, it wasn’t just the U.S. elections that brought bad news last week. Citizens of Nicaragua voted Nov. 5 to return former leftist President Daniel Ortega to power.

Bush’s Dysfunctional Cuba Policy

by Emily Schwartz Greco, Wayne S. Smith | Nov 6, 2006

The Bush administration’s Cuba policy has reached a dead end, with no hope of success. Its objective is nothing less than to bring down the Castro regime. Or, as then-Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega put it on October 2, 2003: "The President is determined to see the end of the Castro regime and the dismantling of the apparatus that has kept him in office for so long."

Cleaving a False Divide in Latin America

by Juan Antonio Montecino, Emily Schwartz Greco | Sep 26, 2006

As Latin America shifts further left on the political spectrum, U.S. pundits are frantically struggling to artificially partition the continent’s leftist leaders between so-called populist demagogues and sound pragmatists.

Cuba, Misunderestimated

by Saul Landau | Aug 24, 2006

For more than 47 years, Washington and the mainstream media have misread Cuban reality. This fallacious view of events on the nearby island continued on July 31 when Fidel Castro (almost 80) entered the hospital and ceded power, temporarily, to his brother Raul, 75. He also named other top Communist Party officials to head major government departments.

Mexico: Allow More Time for Democracy

by Mark Engler | Jul 14, 2006

When a hotly contested electoral race comes to a close, almost everyone prefers to wake up the next morning knowing who the winner is. But sometimes, such as in the July 2 presidential election in Mexico , the race proves so tight that certifying the outcome requires careful, transparent, and, yes, often slow deliberation. In such cases, taking time can be the best option for democracy.

Mexican Election Could Lead to Immigration Shift

by Chuck Collins, Nadia Martinez | Jul 13, 2006

Mexico’s presidential and congressional elections Sunday will have significant implications in the United States.