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Mexico
The English-language forum for all things Latin American, covering business, politics, and culture.
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*Workers at the world’s largest copper mine (image) in
*An ex-policeman was sentenced to 25 years in jail for human rights abuses during the Argentine dictatorship between 1976 and 1983.
international politics, human rights, finance, Argentina, United States, Chile, Venezuela
*Dissident Cuban activist Oswaldo Paya advocates that any changes in
*There seems to be a difference of opinion among the Cuban community in the
*Several leaders of Cuban exile groups have called on President Bush to ease travel restrictions to
*The media is running rampant speculating over the state of the Cuban economy; was it doing well under Fidel, will it do better under Raul’s rule, or will it be the “future land of opportunity” in a post-Castro era?
*The U.S. government is looking into adding more broadcasts into TV and Radio Martí, though one official acknowledged that “the emphasis (is) on ‘let's get the message there the best way,’ not say ‘it has got to be this mechanism or that one.’”
*Is it any surprise that the Bush administration’s point man on
Annan arrived in the
(Image depicts campesino supposedly killed by paramilitaries in the 1980s).
Alvaro Uribe, Colombia, armed conflict, human rights, international politics
in spite of fierce opposition by landowners.
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*The latest poll shows President Evo Morales’ approval rating steady at 75%.
*Brazilian energy company Petrobras announced that it would reduce its dependence on oil from
Juanita Castro claims that her brother Fidel is “very sick, but not dead”, thus echoing statements made by Cuban officials over the past 24 hours. Juanita, who has been exiled in the
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*Hugo Chavez is in
*Felipe Calderon’s campaign coordinator for international affairs sounds off on last month’s Mexican presidential elections.
*VivirLatino posts on a New York Times article that looks at a small group of Latino Goths that live in the
*The RBD bandwagon continues (for better or for worse).
*The appeal of the Hip Hop Hoodios cannot be underestimated as their eclectic style has been highly praised by the Jewish, Hispanic, and hip-hop communities. (Link via Hispanic Tips).
*MTV Latin America will hold its next awards show in
(Image from Os Mutantes’ concert a few weeks ago in
-The Christian Science Monitor wonders if Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (image) has gone too far in having supporters set up protest camps along one of
-Sixteen people were killed in an ambush and a separate car bomb in
-Finally, two brief follow-ups on stories we’ve covered. The Telesur news network (which we discussed on in this post) has plans to expand into the
-1808: Slaves from
-1902: The
-2004: Over 400 people die when fire rages through a supermarket in
However, the Times’ editorial falls into the same trap that a Reuters article did about a month ago- it assumes that the political left is monolithic and represented by the populist rhetoric of Chavez. Any moderate leftist leader is labeled as “moderate social democrats” that have “more in common with the center-right” than Chavez. It sounds like a statement that could delegitimize moderate leftist leaders like Lula or Michelle Bachelet?
Contrast the Times’ editorial with the following quote from a different article:
"One must differentiate and classify these new governments, rather than use
a broad brush when describing
The quote comes from an article looking at the impact of the left on the Jewish minority residing in
So ultimately is the political left dead in
The more operative question is “can moderate leaders on the left and the Latin American right-wing co-exist”? The Times’ editorial seems to allude to this notion, and the lack of an extreme right throughout the region lends credence to such a view. On the other hand, possible presidential victories later this year by populist politicians in
-Murdered
-Colombian government to pay $1.4 million compensation to families of mid-90’s massacre victims.
-More than 25,000 Chileans were fooled in a scam to buy a supposedly rejuvenating “magic cheese”.
-British American Tobacco posts high profits due to sales in
-Iranian prez gives medal of honor to Hugo Chavez and calls him his “brother and trench mate.” (Right image).
-Wal-Mart to focus more on
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