JORGE G. CASTAÑEDA.- The first round in Brazil’s upcoming presidential elections, scheduled for Oct. 3, may turn out to be the only round.
Etiqueta: economic
Elections can’t solve all ills
ABRAHAM F. LOWENTHAL.-This year has seen many national elections in Latin America: in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and Uruguay. And elections are scheduled in Colombia and Brazil, among other countries, in 2010.
Latin America’s Left Turn
A TALE OF TWO LEFTS
Just over a decade ago, Latin America seemed poised to begin a virtuous cycle of economic progress and improved democratic governance, overseen by a growing number of centrist technocratic governments. In Mexico, President Carlos Salin
The Plot Against The Castros
For years, two tidbits of conventional wisdom have dominated debates among Cubanologists (a tropical subspecies of former Kremlinologists). First, that Deputy Prime Minister and economic czar Carlos Lage has been in charge of running the island economy si
Why Chávez May Outlast Us All
Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez finally emerged from his electoral slump. After mediocre results in municipal and state governors’ elections late last year, and a scathing defeat in a constitutional referendum in December 2007, in February he convincingly won a v
The Forgotten Relationship
Free from the strategic and ideological rigidities of the Cold War, Latin America in the mid-1990s looked forward to a more realistic and constructive relationship with the United States. The first Summit of the Americas in 1994, which launched negotiatio
Felipe Calderon’s daunting to-do list for Mexico
MEXICO’S SEEMINGLY endless electoral ordeal has finally concluded: Felipe Calderon took office as president on Friday, albeit under hardly auspicious circumstances. Constitutional order has prevailed — though just barely — despite the onslaught of a strid
Ending The Cuban Exception
The resignation of Fidel Castro from two of his three jobs in Cuba, together with the appointment of his brother as his successor, marks the end of an era—sort of. Raúl Castro replaced the elder Castro as president of the Councils of Ministers and of Stat
Chávez Lives Castro’s Dream
Fidel Castro used his reappearance on TV late last month to show that his health has finally improved. But he also carefully staged the event to send a serious message to the world. He could have had himself filmed alongside his family or his brother and
A Blessedly Boring Year
In the last year or so, 11 Latin American countries held presidential elections. Citizens in Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Haiti, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela all went to the polls. The confluence of so many elections was