In terms of U.S. national interests, the more important of President Obama’s stopovers on his March trip won’t be Cuba, it will be Argentina. Here’s why.
With few concrete human rights improvements since he announced his embargo changes over a year ago, President Obama’s decision to travel to Cuba could be a surrender of U.S. principles or a master stroke of democratic diplomacy. It all depends how he plays it.
Whether MACCIH will have a real impact remains to be seen. But its installation in Honduras offers at least a glimmer of hope that positive changes can begin to take place. Continued pressure and monitoring from civil society, journalists, and international donors will be necessary to ensure that MACCIH reaches its full potential rather than frustrating good-faith efforts in the fight against corruption.
The problem isn’t that domestic investors are treated any differently in Venezuela than foreign investors. All investors are subjected to the same arbitrary set of rules and regulations. Restoring the country’s productivity requires re-establishing predictability and respect for private property.
For the first time a judicial official has affirmed what many suspected: Alberto Nisman was murdered.
Whatever you may think of Evo Morales and his time in power, Bolivian voters’ narrow rejection of a constitutional amendment to allow him to run again is a good thing for the country’s politics and even Morales’ legacy.
After 11 years in power and the prospect of another four, what will come after Evo Morales and how his MAS will adapt to changing electoral patterns remains democracy’s biggest question in Bolivia.
Según Consejal Jesus Armas, “Ya no es una lucha entre gobierno y oposición, sino que, se ha convertido en una lucha entre el pueblo y un gobierno que nos ha empobrecido.”
The peace deal with the FARC is not an automatic remedy for the consequences and collateral damage of Colombia’s violent past, but failure to approve it in the popular referendum would be disastrous to the country.
Personal contacts and questionable contracts between the government and the Chinese company CAMC Engineering reveal both the problems with public procurement in Bolivia and how far Chinese companies have advanced in the country.
