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AP / Kent Gilbert

Honduras Casts Shadow Over OAS Meeting

It’s been almost a year since the coup that ousted leftist leader Manuel Zelaya in Honduras, but disagreement over the legitimacy of the new government there continues as leaders of the Organization of American States gather in Peru.

Posted on Jun 6, 2010 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS



Flickr / World Economic Forum

Colombians Head to the Polls

It’s an exciting day in Colombia as citizens head to the polls to vote for a new president. The two front-runners are former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos and former Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus of the Green Party.

Posted on May 30, 2010 READ MORE  |  31 COMMENTS



Al Jazeera English

Honduran Judges Fight Back

Remember that coup in Honduras last year? Well, a group of judges who were fired after making legal decisions against the widely-accepted-as-illegal coup have launched a hunger strike against their dismissal.

Posted on May 22, 2010 READ MORE  |  4 COMMENTS



Wikimedia Commons

Former Chavez Amigo Jailed

A onetime comrade, and current critic, of Venezuelan jefe Hugo Chavez has been sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of abuse of power, misappropriation of funds and violation of the military code while an officer in the army.

Posted on May 9, 2010 READ MORE  |  18 COMMENTS


Inching Toward a Ban on Land Mines

Here’s some good news: The White House is currently in a “vigorous debate” over whether or not to sign the Ottawa Treaty, an international agreement to ban land mines, as pressure from Capitol Hill and NGOs pushes the administration to reconsider the country’s decade-old refusal to sign.

Posted on May 8, 2010 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT


In Arizona, Accent on the Ridiculous

As if Arizona isn’t already up to its ears in anti-immigrant controversy, the state is now removing teachers who are believed to have too heavy an accent from classes for students still learning English.

Posted on Apr 30, 2010 READ MORE  |  11 COMMENTS



Al Jazeera English

Mexico’s ‘Other’ Crisis

While most U.S. media coverage of events in Mexico these days focuses on that country’s ongoing drug conflict, other news, such as the fact that Mexico has become America’s leading provider of sex slaves—some as young as 6—gets overlooked.

Posted on Apr 18, 2010 READ MORE  |  4 COMMENTS



AP / Victor Calzada

Arizona Bears Down on Illegal Immigrants

Arizona is known for its anti-immigration climate, with vigilante sheriffs seemingly ruling the day. Now, that anti-immigration sentiment may be about to be implemented by the state’s political system, as the Legislature votes on a bill that would significantly toughen laws against undocumented immigrants.

Posted on Apr 2, 2010 READ MORE  |  11 COMMENTS



Flickr / Luis Iturra

Waiting for Aid in Chile

Chile may be way better off economically than Haiti, but many survivors of the Feb. 27 earthquake in the South American country are still awaiting government help a full week after the fifth-strongest temblor ever recorded.

Posted on Mar 6, 2010 READ MORE  |  3 COMMENTS


Chile Standing Up [A Cartoon From Mexico]

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Posted on Mar 2, 2010 READ MORE



Television Nacional de Chile via The BBC

Chile Earthquake Kills More Than 140

An earthquake in central Chile has killed more than 140, authorities say, and triggered both a tsunami and a declaration of a “state of catastrophe.” Chilean President Michelle Bachelet warned that there would probably be more deaths and more aftershocks.

Posted on Feb 27, 2010 READ MORE  |  3 COMMENTS


Morales
AP / Juan Karita

An OAS Without Empire

In a press conference before a meeting of Latin and Caribbean countries in Cancun, Mexico, Evo Morales proposed a new Organization of American States “without empire” that would remove Canada and the U.S. from the organization’s roster.

Posted on Feb 20, 2010 READ MORE  |  14 COMMENTS



AP / Arnulfo Franco

From Coup-Lite to Truth-Lite: 10 Ways the U.S. Fought Democracy in Honduras

Andrés Thomas Conteris, reporting from within the besieged embassy where ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has taken shelter, outlines 10 ways the United States has supported the coup and undermined democracy in Honduras.

Posted on Jan 13, 2010 READ MORE  |  28 COMMENTS


Legalize LA
Flickr.com

Big Payoff Seen in Immigration Reform

Despite the American penchant for xenophobia, a report from two policy institutes concludes that legalizing the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. would boost wages, consumption, jobs and tax revenue.

Posted on Jan 9, 2010 READ MORE  |  26 COMMENTS



AP / Martin Mejia

Fujimori’s Sentence Upheld

Peru’s Supreme Court has confirmed a verdict finding Alberto Fujimori guilty of ordering the kidnapping and murder of 25 dissidents during his presidency from 1990 to 2000. His 25-year sentence marks the first time a democratically elected Latin American ruler was found guilty of human rights abuses in his own country.

Posted on Jan 3, 2010 READ MORE  |  6 COMMENTS



Flickr / Esparta

Mexico City Brings Gay Marriage South of the Border

Mexico City, one of the largest metropolises in the world, is set to become the first city in Latin America to legalize gay marriage. The mega-city and its surrounding suburbs are home to roughly 20 million people, just under one-fifth of Mexico’s population.

Posted on Dec 21, 2009 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS


Venezuelan helicopter
AP / Reinaldo D' Santiago

Tensions High Between Colombia and Venezuela

Tensions are running high, and relations running low, between Colombia and Venezuela. The latter’s president, Hugo Chavez, told his generals to prepare for war, while the Colombian government announced a new base on the countries’ border and activated six air battalions.

Posted on Dec 20, 2009 READ MORE  |  11 COMMENTS



Wikimedia Commons

Colombian Guerrillas Unite

Despite profound ideological differences and a long history of fighting between the groups, the two largest Colombian guerrilla armies, the ELN and the FARC, have forged a pact to fight the country’s security forces.

Posted on Dec 17, 2009 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT



flickr.com / Marisol Turres

Billionaire Expected to Lead Chilean Vote

Sebastian Piñera, considered the clear front-runner in Chile’s presidential race, is a billionaire who owns a media outlet, a stake in an airline and even part of the esteemed Colo-Colo soccer club. If he’s elected, he will end nearly 20 years of leftist rule in the South American nation, but he will need more than 50 percent of Sunday’s vote to avoid a runoff.

Posted on Dec 13, 2009 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS


Morales
AP / Juan Karita

Morales Closes In on 2nd Term

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, opinion polls running heavily in his favor, appeared headed for a second five-year stint as president as voting wrapped up Sunday. The “peasant president” commands wide support among the country’s poor indigenous people—65 percent of the population.

Posted on Dec 6, 2009 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT


Caballo y Jara
Wikimedia Commons

A Chilean Icon Is Reburied

Victor Jara, acclaimed Chilean singer, was tortured and killed in 1973 during the U.S.-directed coup that brought Augusto Pinochet to power. He was to be reburied in Santiago Friday after hundreds of people paid their final respects. The body had been exhumed in June to clarify how he died. He had been shot more than 30 times.

Posted on Dec 4, 2009 READ MORE  |  12 COMMENTS



seplan.am.gov.br

Halt! Who Grows There?

Citing the fact that industrialized countries cause much more environmental destruction than loggers and farmers in the Amazon, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called on Western countries—“gringos”—to help halt deforestation.

Posted on Nov 28, 2009 READ MORE  |  4 COMMENTS


Manuel Zelaya
ABR / Ricardo Stuckert

Honduras Agreement Falls Apart

Honduras’ government is on the ropes again. Roberto Micheletti, the interim president, moved to form a new government after a deal to form a “unity” cabinet collapsed. Manuel Zelaya (pictured), the elected president ousted in a coup in June, is now urging a boycott of the election scheduled later this month.

Posted on Nov 6, 2009 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS


Praying
blogspot.com

Denouement to a Coup D’etat?

A resolution to the Honduran coup d’etat may be near after the country’s interim government agreed to a deal that could lead to the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya. International pressure has been immense against the coup leaders, with most countries supporting Zelaya’s return.

Posted on Oct 30, 2009 READ MORE  |  3 COMMENTS


Afghan Poppy Trade Blurs All the Lines

The opium poppy was introduced to Afghanistan more than 2,300 years ago by the armies of Alexander the Great. His forces were eventually driven out, like those of every would-be conqueror since. The poppy has proved more tenacious.

Posted on Oct 29, 2009 READ MORE  |  46 COMMENTS



wordpress.com

CNN, Dobbs Under Fire

CNN is in some agua caliente with pro-immigration groups after airing a four-hour “Latino in America” documentary—an attempt to woo a Latino audience—while at the same time employing Lou Dobbs, the commentator notorious for his anti-immigration views.

Posted on Oct 24, 2009 READ MORE  |  60 COMMENTS



Library of Congress / Currier and Ives

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day

Read historian Howard Zinn’s account of that genocidal, gold-crazed maniac Christopher Columbus, and it’s impossible to think this man deserves a holiday. Upon meeting the Indians, for example, his first thought was “They would make fine servants. ... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”

Posted on Oct 11, 2009 READ MORE  |  55 COMMENTS


Peru
journalperu.com

Fujimori Is Found Guilty, Again

While serving time in a Peruvian clink, Ex-President Alberto Fujimori found time in his schedule to be convicted of corruption. The sentence handed down in his fourth and final trial on charges of illegal activity in office calls for extending his jail stay by six years.

Posted on Oct 1, 2009 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT


Radio Globo
primerolonuestro-radio.com

2 Honduran Media Outlets Silenced

As if the Honduran coup leaders couldn’t get any more nostalgic for the 1980s, they have closed down two domestic media organizations critical of the interim government, a move that shadows pretty much every Latin American coup in the past half-century.

Posted on Sep 28, 2009 READ MORE  |  10 COMMENTS


Zelaya
www.abc.com.py

Coup Leaders Set a Deadline in Honduras

With no real strategy or international support, Honduras’ takeover government is putting a 10-day deadline on Brazil to decide what to do with ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who is shacked up in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa after returning to his country last week.

Posted on Sep 27, 2009 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS


DRUG SHARKS
guardian.co.uk

Is the ‘War on Drugs’ Ending?

Mexico and Argentina’s recent decisions to decriminalize the personal use of drugs mark a growing trend across Latin America to reject the now-40-year-old, U.S.-led, Nixon-founded “war on drugs” as both harmful and ineffective.

Posted on Sep 6, 2009 READ MORE  |  11 COMMENTS


Chavez

Stone Goes ‘South of the Border’

A new documentary by Oliver Stone called “South of the Border” follows his earlier trajectory of “Salvador” (1984), “Comandante” (2003), and “Looking for Fidel” (2004) as he talks to several Latin American leaders to understand what is happening on the continent and how U.S. perceptions of our own backyard are skewed.

Posted on Sep 3, 2009 READ MORE  |  12 COMMENTS


ICE Raids
ocregister.com

ICE Cools It on the Quotas

A controversial program that had set quotas for the arrest of undocumented immigrants is finally over. While U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will continue to bust into homes and workplaces, arresting and deporting illegal immigrants—some without deportation orders or criminal records—agents will no longer have a hard number that has to be met.

Posted on Aug 19, 2009 READ MORE



USAF / Tech Sgt. Jerry Morrison

Latin Leaders Unhappy With U.S. Move Into Colombia

The U.S. plans to move its anti-drug operations from Ecuador to Colombia, which is just a little too close for Hugo Chavez, who said “the winds of war were beginning to blow.” Luis Inacio Lula da Silva added, “As president of Brazil, this climate of unease disturbs me.”

Posted on Aug 10, 2009 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS


A Coup for Lobbyists at the White House

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, ousted in the middle of the night just over a month ago, enjoys global support for his return, with the exception of the Obama White House.

Posted on Aug 4, 2009 READ MORE  |  30 COMMENTS


Zelaya
blogia.com

Day-1 Honduras Talks Fail

Talks between Honduras’ President Manuel Zelaya and not-president/coup-leader Roberto Micheletti expectedly failed Thursday. Now, negotiations will fall to the staff members of each politician, as the two leaders have refused, and will refuse, to meet face to face.

Posted on Jul 10, 2009 READ MORE  |  7 COMMENTS


Praying
blogspot.com

Honduran Coup Leaders Stand Defiant

The Honduran coup leaders are showing their bravado. Said hombres have defied an international deadline to return democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya to power within 72 hours, doubling down on their swagger with a quip that “only a foreign invasion could reinstate him.”

Posted on Jul 1, 2009 READ MORE  |  9 COMMENTS



AP photo / Kent Gilbert

Honduran President Shall Return

A day after he was forcibly removed from office, Manuel Zelaya said he will return to Honduras on Thursday to reclaim his presidency. Zelaya enjoys the support of many of his fellow Latin American leaders as well as the president of the United States. However, he still has to deal with his military and political rivals.

Posted on Jun 29, 2009 READ MORE  |  10 COMMENTS



AP photo / Kent Gilbert

Honduras’ Leftist President Gets the Boot

President Manuel Zelaya won a free trip to Costa Rica on Sunday, courtesy of his nation’s military. The Honduran president was ousted after attempting to hold an unofficial referendum on extending presidential term limits, over the objections of the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress.

Posted on Jun 28, 2009 READ MORE  |  36 COMMENTS


Dream Center
flickr.com

Privatizing Health Care in the Third World

For only $5 a month, you too can undermine a developing country’s health infrastructure. Since 1990, foreign funding for “development assistance” has quadrupled, offering medical resources to the poor but also luring local health care workers away from government hospitals and toward more lucrative private companies.

Posted on Jun 19, 2009 READ MORE  |  3 COMMENTS


Peru Indigenous
amazonaws.com

A Victory for Peru’s Amazon Natives

After at least 54 people were killed in a bloody roadblock protest earlier this month, native groups in Peru have won a commitment from the government to revoke laws that opened the Amazon to foreign oil and gas companies to exploit indigenous land for resources.

Posted on Jun 17, 2009 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS



White House / Pete Souza

When Slapped, Slap Back

(Editor’s note: Eugene Robinson is the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner for commentary.) It’s hard to argue with the results thus far from President Obama’s “no drama” approach to governing, but I think he should learn to chew a little scenery when the occasion demands.

Posted on Apr 20, 2009 READ MORE  |  42 COMMENTS


Crimmigration?
pewhispanic.org

The Age of ‘Crimmigration’

A new study by the Pew Hispanic Center reports that Latinos now constitute the largest single ethnic group in the U.S. federal prison system. The rising arrest and detention levels are driven largely by changes in immigration law that criminalize undocumented immigration, with nearly half of all Latino offenders jailed on immigration-related “crimes.”

Posted on Feb 25, 2009 READ MORE  |  3 COMMENTS



Flickr / Johannes Roith

Bolivia’s Indigenous Majority Catches a Break

Bolivian President Evo Morales, himself an Aymara Indian, has won a referendum on a new constitution granting special privileges to Bolivia’s indigenous people. The electorate split along racial lines, with the country’s elite white and mixed-race minorities largely opposing the measure.

Posted on Jan 25, 2009 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS


Cubama
wsj.com

Cubans Hoping for a Thaw

The 50-year U.S. relationship with revolutionary Cuba may warm up this winter, with some on the island seeing an Obama presidency as an indicator of potential change in the two countries’ diplomatic and trade status. A Havana barber is quoted as holding hope for reconciliation despite the fact that Obama “is a capitalist and likely an imperialist.”

Posted on Jan 7, 2009 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS


book cover
amazon.com

Chesa Boudin on Colombia’s Civil War

A new book casts an illuminating spotlight on Colombia’s guerrilla war, fueled by cocaine profits and U.S. military aid.

Posted on Dec 26, 2008 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS


Latino Leaders
AP photo / Andre Penner

Latin Leaders Rebuke U.S.

In a summit that celebrated the absence of the U.S. on its guest list, Latin American leaders met in Brazil to discuss a post-U.S. hegemonic world. The talks, which centered on the “demise” of the capitalist model, also snubbed former colonizing nations Portugal and Spain in a further demonstration of the increasing political autonomy of the region.

Posted on Dec 17, 2008 READ MORE  |  34 COMMENTS



Wikimedia Commons

Brazilian Indians Win Land Battle

The native people of the state of Roraima have won an important legal victory before Brazil’s Supreme Court. With 100 similar cases hanging in the balance, the court decided to keep an Indian reservation intact, to the chagrin of farmers, loggers and even some military leaders.

Posted on Dec 10, 2008 READ MORE  |  6 COMMENTS


Mexico Security
nytimes.com / Adriana Zehbrauskas

Mexican Drug Wars Claim 5,000 Lives in 2008

It’s been a creeping tragedy that has escaped serious attention by many major media outlets, but the recurring waves of drug violence in Mexico have taken the lives of about 5,000 people in 2008. In response, the Mexican government has deployed more than 40,000 troops, though corruption within the state’s security forces remains a grave problem.

Posted on Dec 5, 2008 READ MORE  |  10 COMMENTS



Flickr / openDemocracy

Chavez Celebrates Sweeping Victory

Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez has survived an electoral challenge with flying colors. His party swept 17 of 22 state elections, although the opposition was victorious in several key skirmishes, including the capital state, the mayoralty of Caracas and even Venezuela’s biggest slum, traditionally a Chavez stronghold.

Posted on Nov 24, 2008 READ MORE  |  9 COMMENTS


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