In the June 23rd meeting to discuss Venezuela’s violation of the Democratic Charter, the OAS Permanent Council basically left it to the informal group of former presidents organized under UNASUR. They haven’t done their job. It’s time for the OAS and others to step up and start imposing costs.
Through manipulation and fraud, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has practically guaranteed his re-election this November 6th. What can the United States and Nicaragua’s neighbors do? Not much.
Populism, a resilient phenomenon in Latin America, has enabled and relied on the inclusion of politically alienated masses to legitimize the weakening of institutions. How is court empowerment and independence possible in the face of such a powerful anti-institutional force? This research argues that the answer may be found in the same mechanisms that enable populism: popularity and legitimacy.
Since 1993, OAS election observation missions around the region have grown in leaps and bounds. Despite the expanding scope of those missions, though, the quality of monitoring and elections generally has decreased.
Congresistas del PT solicitaron medidas cautelares a la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), para que suspenda el impeachment contra Rousseff. Irónicamente, la mandataria había cancelado los aportes a la OEA luego de que la CIDH emitiera medidas cautelares contra una hidroeléctrica.
El régimen de Maduro sistemáticamente viola todos los estándares democráticos y ahora intenta obstruir el referendo revocatorio, jugando su última carta para sobrevivir políticamente. Sin referendo el chavismo apuesta por el autoritarismo. ¿Logrará perpetuarse en el poder?
As an analyst for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) I had the opportunity to watch both conventions up close. One of my takeaways: the two parties present two distinct visions of the future, with one more aligned with Canadians the other a more-than-a-little frightening to many Canadians.
Yes, I get the comparison in terms of their rhetorical styles. But the caricature of Chávez as just an uncouth blowhard is downright insulting to Venezuelans who now live with his toxic legacy.
In Venezuela, Honduras, Egypt, and—most recently—Turkey, the armed forces have pointed to violations of the constitution by sitting, elected presidents as the justification for a coup. But are coups ever constitutional?
Richard Millet, Jennifer Holmes and Orlando Perez, eds. Latin American Democracy: Emerging Reality or Endangered Species? 2nd edition. New York: Routledge, 2015. This volume provides an in depth
