Jan 31 2007 - Seattle Times
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina ? South America's leaders are increasingly naming women as their defense ministers, putting them in charge of keeping the peace in nations still grappling with legacies of military dictatorships.
The wave of female defense heads ? one–third of the posts in South America are filled by women ? is especially surprising in a hemisphere known for its machismo.
Sep 16 2008 - San Francisco Chronicle
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) ––South American presidents agreed Monday to work urgently to prevent a political collapse in Bolivia, where the government said it would charge a rebellious governor with genocide for allegedly ordering the machine–gunning of peasants.
Jul 20 2008 - Americas Program
by Matthew Flynn
In a region where there are virtually no terrorist groups seeking to attack the United States, or deployment or even development of nuclear arsenals, it is time for a civilian and not a military approach to define and lead U.S. foreign relations in Latin America. The announcement of the IV Fleet setting sail does not represent any major change in U.S. military activity, but it does reveal how the U.S. government's approach to Latin America can be an element of division in the hemisphere.
Jul 05 2008 - Americas Program
by Ariela Ruiz Caro
It's probable that the political and economic integration of South America will still be a distant dream after 11 presidents and one vice president representing the nations of South America signed the Constituent Treaty of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) on May 23rd in Brasilia. The potential of the organization lies in its 400 million inhabitants, in its being one of the largest freshwater reserves on the planet, in having the Amazon which regulates global ecological equilibrium, and in its oil and gas reserves for the next 100 years, not to mention its enormous biodiversity.
Sep 10 2007 - Americas Program
by An Interview with Julio Cusurichi
Zachary Hurwitz
The Initiative for the Regional Integration of Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA) is the latest in a series of disastrous international bank–financed schemes to bring "development" to the Amazon basin. Launched in 2000 by the governments of the region and taking advantage of a confluence of regional financing from major international finance institutions, IIRSA contains 350 projects that include ecologically damaging highway, dam, pipeline, and port projects. Many of these will open up new areas to large–scale, export–oriented agricultural production and energy extraction in the Amazon basin. The following is an interview with 2007 Goldman Environmental Prize winner Julio Cusurichi, representative of the Federaci?n Nativa de Madre de Dios (FENAMAD).
Jul 30 2007 - Americas Program
by Eduardo Gudynas
It's possible to postulate that these days the integration of the countries of South America finds itself at a crossroads. Different strategies have converged to the point where the large trade blocs find themselves at a standstill and turn into political forums. The new attempts are centered on energy, and from there new proposals arise. Brazil has sought to lead by consensus but has not been willing to pay the economic and political price of this position, while Venezuela is exploring another avenue by sharing energy projects and resources with other countries.
Mar 05 2007 - Americas Program
The South American Integrated Regional Infrastructure (IIRSA) project is an ambitious plan to integrate the continent through new transportation, energy, and communications infrastructure. When completed, IIRSA will directly connect South America's natural resource zones to metropolitan areas and foreign markets.
Nov 07 2006 - Americas Program
by Ra?l Zibechi
In late September and early October, some major moves on the regional chess board shook up the political situation in Paraguay, Bolivia, and Uruguay. The moves confirmed that Washington is not the only player in South America, and must accept multilateralism as an established reality in the region.
Jul 04 2006 - Washington Times
BUENOS AIRES –– Venezuela today becomes a full voting member of South America's dominant trading bloc, amid worries that President Hugo Chavez will seek to sway Mercosur from its democratic and free–market leanings.
The continent's regional oil power and third largest economy will be admitted to the organization in a ceremony in the Venezuelan capital after a decision in December by Mercosur's four full members: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Jun 24 2006 - Americas Program
by Ra?l Zibechi
The project for Integration of South American Regional Infrastructure (IIRSA, by its initials in Spanish), is swiftly but silently moving forward. IIRSA is the most ambitious and encompassing plan to integrate the region for international trade. If completed in full, the project would connect zones containing natural resources (natural gas, water, oil, biodiversity) with metropolitan areas, and both of these with the world's largest markets.
Jun 24 2006 - Americas Program
by Martin Khor
The Ministers of Health of ten South American countries have issued a joint declaration on intellectual property committing themselves to avoid ?TRIPS plus? provisions?clauses that are stricter than the ?Trade–Related Intellectual Property? measures stipulated by the World Trade Organization (WTO)?in bilateral and regional trade agreements. They also agreed to facilitate the use of compulsory licensing and parallel importing and to avoid broadening the scope of patentability and the extension of patentable areas.
Jun 02 2006 - Americas Program
by Ariela Ruiz Caro
The announcement of Venezuela's withdrawal from the Andean Community of Nations puts an end to the conflicted relationships that dominated among member countries since the beginning of free trade agreement negotiations in May 2004. In July of that year, at the XV Andean Presidential Summit in Quito, President Ch?vez warned his Andean neighbors that signing free trade agreements with the United States could put regional integration in jeopardy.
May 28 2006 - Washington Times
BUENOS AIRES –– Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is spending billions of dollars to build a socialist bulwark in the Western Hemisphere, turning windfall oil profits into energy deals and political clout for his "Bolivarian revolution."
But an intense 2006 election season has become a test of Latin America's willingness to march to his populist beat.
May 07 2006 - Americas Program
by Ra?l Zibechi
After scoring resounding victories, the indigenous movements of South America are encountering new challenges, both on an institutional and state level, that they have not been able to answer. Expanding on the wide range of experiences and deepening the exchange between organizations appear to be some of the possible routes that lie ahead.
May 07 2006 - Foreign Affairs
by Jorge G. Casta?eda
Summary: With all the talk of Latin America's turn to the left, few have noticed that there are really two lefts in the region. One has radical roots but is now open–minded and modern; the other is close–minded and stridently populist. Rather than fretting over the left's rise in general, the rest of the world should focus on fostering the former rather than the latter –– because it is exactly what Latin America needs.
Apr 24 2006 - Town Hall
by Michael Barone
In this country, we tend to see events in Latin America as single trends. In the 1970s, there were military and authoritarian governments. In the 1980s, populist governments produced hyperinflation and economic stagnation. In the 1990s, there was the Washington Consensus: electoral democracy, strong currencies, freer trade, privatization of state–owned firms. Now, we tend to see a trend toward leftist populism personified by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.
Apr 21 2006 - American Enterprise Institute
by Roger F. Noriega
Venezuelan President Hugo Ch?vez's long–winded diatribes meant to promote his ''Bolivarian alternative'' and provoke the United States do little more than embarrass his government. Unfortunately, he has become a caricature of the state of democracy in Latin America––as demonstrated by the recent elections in Bolivia and Peru.
Jan 13 2006 - Town Hall
by Oliver North
WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Official Washington has the attention span of a fruit fly. A "crisis d'jour" momentarily captures the attention of the so–called mainstream media, politicians and government bureaucrats. For a few days –– occasionally for a few weeks –– the potentates on the Potomac will focus on "the problem," hold hearings, introduce some legislation, devise a way to spend more of our tax dollars, initiate an "investigation" –– and move on when they are "shocked," "stunned," and/or "surprised" by the next catastrophe or scandal. Like a pan of soup on a hot stove, no one seems witting, willing or able to turn down the heat until the pot boils over.
Jan 04 2006 - Seattle Times
CARACAS, Venezuela ? President Hugo Ch?vez offered Bolivia's president–elect an energy and trade program Tuesday as the two leftists cemented ties, reasserting their opposition to U.S. policy in Latin American.
Nov 29 2005 - The Independent Institute
The recent Summit of the Americas, held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, has left a schism between two great blocs within our continent. On one side are the 29 countries that are trying to inject new life into the FTAA, the broad free–trade agreement that would extend from Alaska to Patagonia. On the other side are the four Mercosur (South American Common Market) countries and Venezuela that oppose the plan.
