Latin View

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

US unlikely to condemn Argentina’s ‘outlaw behaviour’ — yet

A US congressional proposal aimed at expelling Argentina’s populist-leftist government from the G-20 group of the world’s leading economies faces an uncertain future, not the least because it lacks significant support from unexpected quarters — conservative Cuban-American Republican lawmakers.

Enrique Peña Nieto
Enrique Peña Nieto

Mexico’s boring election won’t be a bore

MEXICO CITY — Polls show that centre-left opposition leader Enrique Peña Nieto is likely to easily win the July 1 presidential elections and put an end to 12 years of centre-right governments, but after several days in this country I haven’t found anybody who is really excited about his widely expected victory.

Region’s one laptop per child plan has a future

Four years after Latin America made headlines by becoming a world leader in giving out free laptops to millions of schoolchildren — an idea that has since been embraced by more than 20 African, Asian and Eastern European countries — the first results are in, and they give some reasons for hope.

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

Argentina hurts itself in Falklands/Malvinas

On the 30th anniversary of Argentina’s ill-fated invasion of the Falklands/Malvinas islands, one thing seems clear: Argentina’s government is pursuing the worst possible course to recover the British-controlled South Atlantic islands.

U.S. should treat Brazil like India

When President Barack Obama welcomes Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff at the White House on April 9, both leaders will say that their countries’ bilateral ties are better than ever, and growing steadily.

President Otto Perez Molina

Central America is no Somalia, but close

When I asked Guatemala’s new President Otto Perez Molina whether Central America is rapidly becoming a lawless place run by armed bands, much like Somalia, he shook his head and responded that any comparison with the African country is “exaggerated.”

President Rafael Correa of Ecuador

Not a smart move

Bogota, Colombia— The US State Department wasn’t terribly smart when it rejected a demand by Latin American populist leaders that Cuba be invited to an April 14 summit of President Barack Obama with 33 hemispheric leaders in Colombia.

Jorge Castaneda

Obama shouldn’t ignore the war next door

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Barack Obama talked about the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, but didn’t say a word about a war that is taking place next door, and that is killing more people than the others: the drug-related war in Mexico and Central America.

Enrique Pena Nieto

2012 will be anything but boring in the Americas

Every year brings about changes, but 2012 is likely to be an especially eventful one in the Americas: there will be elections in the United States, Mexico and Venezuela, as well as other news events that could change the political map in the region.

Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno

New Latin American group will have no teeth

Contrary to what most headlines suggested, and to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s claim that it’s the most important thing to have happened in Latin America in the past 100 years, the new group of 33 Latin American and Caribbean states created at a Dec 3 summit in Venezuela will hardly make it into history books.

Alicia Bárcena

Latin America is beating poverty – sort of

In sharp contrast to the gloom surrounding US and European economic news, a new United Nations report has good news for Latin America; it says that poverty levels in the region have dropped to their lowest levels in 20 years, and will continue falling in 2012.

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