The New paradise of drug trafficking

Interesting article declares that " The businness is so sucessful that it is already compared with the power that it had in the 80s on the Andean zone"
For more info go here.

The End of Mercasur

The end of Mercasur may be a bad idea. According to an article in "Tiempos del Mundo" it is better to reframe objectives from its foundation.

Can you even imagine?

I cannot even begin to think about what it would be like to grow up in a country where the history of your country is taught in a censored fashion. Even though various countries have bad parts of their past, I found it interesting that Uruguay censored this past to make the children believe certain things. Rather interesting....

Migrant Money Sent Home

After discussing in class briefly, I found this article on MSNBC about the flow of money from migrant workers in the US back home to their families in Mexico. With the flow of money, which exceeded $20 billion dollars last year, increasing each year, more people are being impacted by this trend. To read personal accounts of Mexican families or to find out more, please click here.

Tulane Involvement

Hey guys. There's a tulane Graduate/medical student named Catherin Jones who started a project to provide healthcare for Latin American immagrants in New Orleans. She and other graduates who speak Spanish are working as a mobile group throughout New Orleans. I thought it was pretty cool.

Enrique Krauze Profiles Mexico's Lopez Obrador

Mexican historian Enrique Krauze has an intriguing profile of Mexico's left-of-center Presidential aspirant, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Krauze's piece is more of a cautionary tale than a laudatory tribute. Krauze seems to be worried that Lopez Obrador has a bit of the messianic authoritarian in him that bodes an ill-wind for Mexican democracy. Personally, I think that a bit of populist demagoguery in a political campaign (and even in post-election governing) is a rather normal characteristic of Latin American politics and society, even in the "most" democratic among them. I'm not so worried about the possibility of a Lopez Obrador victory as Krauze seems to be for two reasons: First, Lopez Obrador, for all his populist authoritarian inclinations, is a pragmatist. He would not be the Mayor of Mexico City if he weren't inclined to some patterns of pragmatic accommodation. Secondly, and more importantly in my eyes, he represents a breakaway, "democracy-oriented" movement from the entrenched authoritarianism of the PRI. By running as the PRD candidate, he cannot escape from the movement's appeal to liberal democracy. Krauze notes that even some PRDistas (prominent among them is Cuauhtehmoc Cardenas) are nervous about Lopez Obrador, but I think that if Lopez Obrador really breaks the trust of the PRD's platform of democratic reform with any effort to seek to perpetuate himself in power, he'll become as much of a lame duck as Fox is now. And, frankly, should he be elected, Lopez Obrador, in my estimation, is not likely to break that trust.

NY Times article about Mexico's presidential race

Click here.

World Cup news

Yesterday Kaka clinched Brazil's advance to the next round in the World Cup. Their win extends their win streak in the tournament to 7 games (continuing from last time when they won the entire tournament). Their chances are likely again this year that they could go all the way.
I'll be watching and rooting

Latin American Seat on Security Council

The expiration of Argentina's term on the UN security council has led to debate over which Latin American country should occupy the non-permanent seat for the next two years. Venezuela and Guatemala are the current contenders for this position and President Chavez's wishes to see Venezuela win the seat are being deterred by American efforts as well as debates by Jamaican Opposition Leader Bruce Golding. To read more about the ongoing debate, visit here.

Ford in Mexico

This was an interesting article. It is interesting that American car companies are further developing their car plants in Mexico. At the same time, it brings up the point of whether these large scale American businesses are helping out Mexico by being there or just lowering the cost of manufacturing.

Venezuela to Get Russian Aircraft

Chavez turned to Russia for aircrafts after the U.S. banned the sale of arms to Venezuela. Chavez is building up his military in case of a U.S. invasion. This article is really interesting.

Urban Living

This article is very interesting - tying in with what we've been talking about in class about the urban lifestyle in Latin America and how it's growing at a substantial rate. The UN is saying that at a point in the year 2007 over half of the world will be living in urban areas, and one third of those people will be in slums.

World Cup

Two of the games on the 15th featured Latin American nations...
Sweden beat Paraguay 1-0 with a goal in the 89th minute while Ecuador beat Costa Rica 3-0 ending Costa Rica's chance to move on to the second round.

Interesting Interview with Jorge Castaneda

The Washington Post has a very cool interview with former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castaneda. In the interview he discusses the Mexican presidential race and notes the fact that the PRI, who dominated Mexico for over 50 years, are not in the race anymore. The two big horses left in it are Lopez Obrador of the PRD and Calderon (who leads) of the PAN.

Nacho Libre

A movie about a Mexican monk turned wrestler or "luchador" premiers tomorrow. It's called Nacho Libre and stars Jack Black (pictured left). Does the movie seem funny? Sure it does. But it also seems like it portrays hispanics in a goofy way. I haven't seen the film, but with the recent immigration debate taking on a racist tone, I'm wondering if a comedy of this nature will have a negative impact on Americans' views of Mexicans and hispanics in general. Please let me know what you think in the comments section.

Cuba Book Banned

It seems the Miami exile community is at it again with the usual anti-Castro obsession. Under pressure from the Cuban community, the school board in Miami-Dade county has banned a book on Cuban geography because it supposedly portrays an "idealized" view of life in Cuba. Does the book really portray an unrealistic view of Cuba, and if so should it be banned just because of one group's political agenda?

Communism in Cuba

Fidel Castro's brother, Raul Castro, assures Cuba that Communism will remain even if there is a leadership change. Raul is designated to take Fidel's place if he were to die or fall ill. Rumors that politics would change greatly in Cuba if Fidel Castro died are said to be false. Here is the CNN report.

Wikipedia is God

For those of you who did not know, Wikipedia is the most amazing website online right now. After studying The Storyteller by Mario Vargas Llosa, I decided to see what Wikipedia had to say about the author. I found a great article on Vargas Llosa that discusses his political involvement in Peru. The man ran for president! Check it out.

In Mexico, Migration Issue Gets No Traction

Check out this article in the Washington Post regarding the upcoming Mexican presidential elections. The controversial US-Mexico immigration disputes seem to be of lessened attention as the election comes close. It seems that domestic issues are much more pressing than foreign policy affairs, not allowing the candidates to add much weight depending on their immigration views.

Mas Venezuela...

Here's just more on our last Venezuela discussion in class. In this week's report Andres Oppenheimer speaks of December's presidential elections in Venezuela. Though still early to make any calls, this article shows the "openness" (or lack, thereof) of the government towards opposition.