Category: Latin America/Caribbean

Morales defeat lifts hopes for Latin American democracy

     

The blocking of Evo Morales’ desire to run for a fourth consecutive presidential term in Bolivia didn’t only put a stop to his creeping authoritarianism. It is also an encouraging… Read more »

As Cuba’s dissident crackdown peaks, Obama trip ‘could be a subversive moment’

     

  Even some supporters of President Barack Obama’s moves to strengthen relations with Cuba are questioning the timing of his planned visit to the Communist island next month, after arrests… Read more »

Venezuela: is a peaceful political transition possible?

     

Venezuela’s recently-elected assembly has approved a pardon for political prisoners. The move is the latest in the country’s “transition from authoritarianism to democracy,” said opposition MUD coalition leader Jesus Torrealba…. Read more »

Colombia’s post-conflict transition: five challenges

     

The Colombian case breaks all previous patterns and will surely become a model for overcoming non-international armed conflicts, argues Jean Carlo Mejía, a university professor and independent advisor and consultant… Read more »

‘Great Surge’ marks end of the Third World

     

  The assertion that democracy is better than autocracy at facilitating the move into prosperity butts up against the theory that authoritarianism is more conducive to rapid economic growth (as… Read more »

Autocrats’ bag of tricks for staying in power

     

Excluding hereditary monarchies, there are close to 40 countries around the world in which the national leader has been in power for 10 or more years, writes Freedom House analyst… Read more »

Cuba preparing for ‘probable presidential transition’ in 2018

     

U.S. intelligence services believe Cuba is preparing for a “probable presidential transition in 2018,” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Tuesday. “Cuban leaders will remain focused on preserving political… Read more »

Obama visit must not boost Cuba’s neo-Castroism

     

Communist-governed Cuba imports more than two-thirds of its food, despite having rich farmland and hundreds of urban farms sprouting up in old parking lots, rooftops, or other small plots of… Read more »