The leftist Andean block–comprised of Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador–is solidifying its commitment to internal trade and resistance to U.S. “imperialism.” As the 7th Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas concludes today in Cochabamba, Morales, Chavez, and Correa–along with the leaders of Cuba and Nicaragua and the ousted leader of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya–all look to be on the same page. This alliance isn’t falling apart any time soon.
-NF
Hat tip: Latin American Herald Tribune
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Tagged: ALBA, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela
Brasil will have the honor of hosting South America´s first Olympics in 2016. It´s about time. Now we just need to have one in Africa . . . .
-NF
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On Tuesday afternoon, I had the great pleasure of participating in a seminar on U.S. civil law at Cochabamba´s San Simon University. Estimated attendance was 150-180 students, and there were also a handful of professors. I spoke for about an hour (struggling mightily at times with my limitations in Spanish), and then responded to a number of very astute questions. The topics covered included important features of the U.S. civil justice system (the nature of our adversarial system, federalism, discovery, the right to a jury, differences between state and federal courts, etc.), as well as the basic procedural path taken by a civil case (i.e., filing of complaint through appeal). Special thanks to Professor Neyer Zapata and Mauricio Sanchez Patzy for organizing this event.
-NF
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Tagged: Bolivia, Cochabamba, San Simon University, Seminar, Teaching Law in a Global Economy
. . . you should read this. Not exactly reflective of a government that believes it’s in the right.
-NF
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Tagged: coup, Honduras, Zelaya
Fresh off of partial nationalization, General Motors announced Wednesday that it plans to invest $1 billion in Brazil. The company’s Brazilian subsidiary is its largest in South America and third largest outside of the U.S. Lula praised the move, which is being aided in no small measure by financial support from Brazil’s national development bank, BNDES.
-N. Fromherz
Hat tip: Latin American Herald Tribune
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Tagged: Brazil, General Motors
It is to me, but reader Joe isn’t the only one to question that conclusion.
-NF
Hat Tip: The Right Coast
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Tagged: coup, Honduras, Zelaya
Unfortunately it comes at a high cost–the coup in Honduras. I commend this article in The New York Times to any readers who may still have doubts about the legitimacy of toppling the Zelaya administration by military force. In democracies, policy differences are resolved through elections. And if a leader breaks the law, well, there are legal channels for handling that. The fact that this coup had the apparent approval of court and congress makes little difference in the final analysis. Those institutions aren’t above the law either.
-NF
UPDATE: Make that global unity? The UN has also sided with Zelaya.
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Tagged: coup, Honduras, Zelaya
The Times has the report here. It looks like a prelude to a likely defeat for President Kristina Fernandez de Kirchner in 2011.
-NF
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Tagged: Argentina, Kirchner, Peronists
The big news out of Latin America today is the coup in Honduras. Soldiers stormed into the house of President Mel Zelaya in the early morning hours and rousted him from his bed at gunpoint. Zelaya was forced to leave the country; he’s now in Costa Rica.
Coups were relatively common in Latin America over the first eight decades of the 20th Century, but there were many signs that the region had turned a corner. Peaceful transitions of power, through the ballot box and legal channels, became the rule rather than the exception. Let’s hope this latest event is just an isolated incident–one step back but not symbolic of a regressive trend. We condemn this coup in no uncertain terms.
-NF
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Tagged: coup, Honduras, Mel Zelaya
The indigenous communities of Latin America have shown once again that they cannot be ignored. Violence has marred the otherwise laudable movement by Peruvian Indians to resist President Alan Garcia’s decision to open large areas of the Amazon region to logging, dam building, and oil drilling. (Of course, just who was responsible for the violence–the protesting Indians, the military, or a combination of both–remains shrouded in mystery.) But make no mistake: these Indians are a political force. Yesterday, Peru’s Congress voted to overturn Mr. Garcia’s decrees authorizing industrial activity in the region. In return, at least some indigenous leaders said they would call off demonstrations and road blockades.
This victory builds on the recent successes won by indigenous communities in Bolivia (electing Evo Morales and achieving a new constitution); the move by the Miskito people to declare independence from Nicaragua; and the growing political strength of the Indian communities in Ecuador.
-NF
Hat tip: The New York Times
→ 2 CommentsCategories: Bolivia · Ecuador · Peru · South American Environment
Tagged: Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Evo Morales, indigenous movements, Indians, Alan Garcia, Nicaragua, Miskito
 | joe on Congratulations, Rio! |
 | Carlos Parra on Thoughts on the U.S.-Peru Trad… |
 | Kathya on Is It Really a Coup? |
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| joe on Is It Really a Coup? |
