Posts Tagged ‘Latin America’
Chavez Says Obama Smells like Bush
2:00 pm By Maegan La Mala · Politics| Venezuela · 2 Comments
18 Jan 2009
Hugo Chavez isn’t quite ready to make peace with the United States, even with a new president ushering in an era of “change”.
“I hope I am wrong, but I believe Obama brings the same stench, to not say another word,” Chavez said at a political rally on a historic Venezuelan battlefield.
“If Obama as president of the United States does not obey the orders of the empire, they will kill him, like they killed Kennedy, like they killed Martin Luther King, or Lincoln, who freed the blacks and paid with his life.”
If you remember, Chavez said in a speech at the UN in 2006 that Bush smelled like sulfur.
More Latin Americans Logging onto the Internet
11:52 am By Maegan La Mala · Latin America| Tech · Comments Off
13 Jan 2009
Access to the internet in parts of Latin America is growing. According to a survey conducted by Pyramid Research for Google, the reasons include more affordable computers and an expanding broadband network.
In 2007, for example, Colombia added 5.4 million Internet users, or about 12% of its population of 45 million — an 80% increase in the number of Colombia’s Internet users that year.
Brazil added 7.4 million Internet users in 2007 (17% growth), Mexico more than 2.2 million (an 11% increase) and Venezuela 1.58 million (38% growth).
Ingrid Betancourt on FARC, Running for President, and Obama
10:47 am By Maegan La Mala · Colombia| Politics| Venezuela · Comments Off
21 Dec 2008
On Al Punto with Jorge Ramos this morning on Univision, there was an interview with former FARC hostage and one time Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. Five months after her release, Betancourt said the FARC was struggling to survive in Colombia and that there have been orders to recapture her, which is why she lives in Paris, France, where she is also a citizen.
More Latin American/ Latino Problems for Obama Attorney General Pick Holder
1:11 pm By Maegan La Mala · Latin America| Politics · Comments Off
18 Dec 2008
Last month, I wrote about how while Obama’s pick for Attorney General, Eric Holder, was historic because he would be the first African-American Attorney General, he had some issues with Latin America, specifically his defense of Chiquita.
Now the Republicans, who are going to try and block Holder however they can, are bringing up his involvement in another high profile Latin American incident, Elian Gonzalez and his role in Clinton pardoning Puerto Rican nationalists.
What a Colombian Indigenous Group Wants from Obama
8:00 am By Maegan La Mala · Colombia| Politics| US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off
10 Nov 2008
One of areas of concern with the Obama presidency (and any presidency really) is policy towards Latin America. During a pre-election debate, Barack Obama made a clear point about one of the reasons he did not support the Colombian Free Trade agreement, the violence against workers. The Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, were appreciative of Obama’s position, but wanted to shed light on their specific struggle and the struggles of other Native peoples in Colombia. So they, like so many others are doing, sent a letter to the President-Elect. From the letter released yesterday:
First, please accept our sincerest congratulations. We congratulate you for having won because of the noblest aspirations of your people. We believe your election expresses the deep desire for change felt by the majority of the American people: change in the economy and society, change in international relations, and from there, we hope, a change in the relation between the United States of America and the indigenous peoples of the world.
During your historic campaign, you publicly noted some of what Colombians currently face: you acknowledged the murders of trade unionists by the regime and stated your reservations about a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia, which our people have decided against through a democratic referendum, about which we have written before. We thank you for this, and now want you to know about the specific situation facing Colombia’s indigenous peoples.
In the past six years we have lost 1,200 people to assassinations by armed groups, both legal and illegal: right-wing paramilitaries, guerrillas, police, and members of the Armed Forces. These murders have created insecurity, and this insecurity has been used to strip us of our rights with what we call the ‘Laws of Disposession’, legislation and other institutional norms that legalize the loss of our lands, our fundamental freedoms, and our rights. These ‘Laws of Disposession’ dispose of Colombia’s mines, hydrocarbons, water resources, intellectual property, and national parks – all of these are brought under the ultimate rule of the Free Trade Agreement with the US. The FTA will mean that if Colombia tries to change the laws to allow its people to share in its resources, or take any independent action, then we will be obliged to compensate investors. We will have to submit our laws to international arbitration outside our own legal jurisdiction.
Read the entire letter after the jump. Hopefully Obama and his team will read it as well.
View from Abroad: Latin America’s Eyes on Election Results
4:53 am By Maegan La Mala · Argentina| Latin America| Peru| US Presidential Race 2008| World| mexico · 1 Comment
4 Nov 2008
Continued from a previous post.
No one feels the effects of what happens in the U.S. as much as Mexico. It’s as if the fault line we share were a conductor of not just seismic energy but also shared grief. And when things get bad in the U.S., they get worse in Mexico. Issues such as border control, the economy — which affects jobs done by Mexicans and subsequently remesas sent back home (one of Mexico’s top economic drivers) — and trade have Mexican analysts, politicians and journalists waiting with baited breath. The cover of today’s El Universal (Mexico City) newspaper could easily be mistaken for a U.S. newspaper. Under the masthead, prime page space is 100% occupied by poll information, predictions, photographs of the candidates.
And the ripple effect of the continues even further south. Buenos Aires’ Clarin proclaims, jubilantly, “Obama- McCain: an election that puts an end to the Bush era.” In the ranking of most popular news stories according to readers, a story about the death of Barack Obama’s grandmother is second only to news about soccer legend Diego Maradona.
And the same story in papers throughout the region and the world. Expectations are high in Latin America, perhaps as high as they are in the U.S., and the disappointment of 4 more years of failed Bush policy will be the same should McCain surprise us all with a victory tonight.
If you know a shaman, give him a call.
Latin American Scholars Want to Keep Obama Honest
2:55 pm By Maegan La Mala · Education| Latin America| US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off
17 Oct 2008
While I may have been impressed by Barack Obama’s mention of Latin American issues in the final presidential debate, some Latin American scholars are bringing a more “academic” approach to Obama’s possible policy decisions on the region if he were to become the next U.S. president.
Here’s an excerpt of the letter from some members of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA):
There are many other challenges, too. Colombia, the main focus of the
Bush Administration’s policy, is currently the scene of the second
largest humanitarian crisis in the world, with four million internally
displaced people. Its government, which criminalizes even peaceful
protest, seeks an extension of the free trade policies that much of the
hemisphere is already reacting against. Cuba has begun a process of
transition that should be supported in positive ways, such as through
the dialogue you advocate. Mexicans and Central Americans migrate by
the tens of thousands to seek work in the United States, where their
labor power is much needed but their presence is denigrated by a public
that has, since the development of opinion polling in the 1930s, always
opposed immigration from anywhere. The way to manage immigration is not
by building a giant wall, but rather, the United States should support
more equitable economic development in Mexico and Central America and,
indeed, throughout the region. In addition, the U.S. must reconsider
drug control policies that have simply not worked and have been part of
the problem of political violence, especially in Mexico, Colombia and
Peru. And the U.S. must renew its active support for human rights
throughout the region. Unfortunately, in the eyes of many Latin
Americans, the United States has come to stand for the support of
inequitable regimes.
Read the entire letter and it’s signatories after the jump.
Latin American Movie Makers Contemplate Bigger Picture
12:20 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Latin America| Movies · 1 Comment
3 Oct 2008
Felipe Calderon is taking a break from fighting corruption to focus on movie making. He met with big gun movie makers/actors Antonio Banderas and Manoel de Oliveira (amongst others) to talk about how Latin America and Spain/Portugal could start competing in a legitimate way against Hollywood.
In spite of the repressive government attendance, it still sounds like there were some interesting ideas being passed around at the event:
Latin American Leaders at UN Summit and Palin Will Only Speak to One
1:07 pm By Maegan La Mala · Colombia| Latin America| New York City| Politics| US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off
24 Sep 2008
The UN General Assembly is bringing Latin American leaders and has them speaking on a diverse range of topics of interest to their country people and the world at large. Evo Morales of Bolivia criticized the United States and it’s hypocritical stance on terrorism. Others, like Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez de Kircher, took the opportunity to strengthen their colonial claims.
GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is also at the UN General Assembly and yet she’s only meeting one Latin American leader. Can you guess which one?
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- Pedro Julio Serrano on the Murder of Lopez Mercado
- Bay Area Community Members to Hold Vigil and Release Statement about Murders in Maryland and Puerto Rico
- Transgender Day of Remembrance and Latin@s
- Dear Troll(s):
- Puerto Rican, Latino Clergy, Theology Professors, Community Members To Condemn Brutal Hate Killing of Gay Puerto Rican Man
- Vigils for Justice y en Memoria de Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado
- Russell Athletic rehires fired union organizers
- When Things Go Wrong…Terribly Wrong.
- Official VivirLatino Statement on Lou Dobbs Leaving CNN
- Sexual Violence Against Women in Immigrant Detention
