The problem with plebiscites
The unanticipated and widely debated results in Colombia and Great Britain – indeed, the very decision to use the mechanism of popular consultation to identify the citizenry’s will – obliges… Read more »
Category: Latin America/Caribbean
Venezuela in a ‘peculiar predicament’
Venezuela is no longer a country split between roughly two antagonistic halves: a pro-government left and an opposition-minded right, notes Francisco Toro, the editor of CaracasChronicles. A broad and diverse… Read more »
Regime ramps up repression as Russia ponders return to Cuba
The Russian military is considering the possibility of regaining its Soviet-era bases on Cuba and in Vietnam, the Defense Ministry said Friday, a statement that comes amid growing U.S.-Russia tensions… Read more »
Five lessons for Venezuela’s post-crisis transition
Today’s crisis in Venezuela is one of the most serious cases of a slow-motion collapse of a nation-state in the history of the Americas, according to Michael Matera, a senior… Read more »
‘Disciplined democracy’ – Myanmar’s lessons for Cuba
In many ways, Cuba today resembles the Burma (Myanmar) of 10 years ago, argues Casey Cagley, Program Officer of the Latin America and Caribbean Division of the International Republican Institute…. Read more »
Why Colombia voted ‘No’ on peace referendum
A Colombian peace deal that the president and the country’s largest rebel group had signed just days before was defeated in a referendum on Sunday, leaving the fate of a… Read more »
A new Cuba – or Market-Leninism?
The independent Center for Legal Information Cubalex warned Thursday that the attack launched by the regime against it last Friday is not over and that its members could be subject… Read more »
Venezuela crisis: U.S. to send diplomat
President Nicolas Maduro says a top U.S. State Department official will soon visit Venezuela in a bid to ease tensions between the two nations, AP reports: Maduro’s announcement Tuesday… Read more »
U.S. nominates Cuba envoy, regime ramps up repression
Cuba’s press, emboldened by President Raúl Castro’s call for reforms in 2010, are finding more space for critical comment, but harassment and intimidation from authorities, a legal limbo caused by… Read more »
Venezuela opposition calls Oct 12 protest for Maduro recall
Venezuela‘s opposition called on Monday for mass rallies nationwide on Oct. 12 to push for a referendum to recall President Nicolas Maduro this year as they seek to oust his… Read more »