Eliot Brockner

Ecuador's June 28 extradition to Colombia of Fabio Ramirez Artunduaga, the leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia's 48th Bloc, marks a significant step in the restoration of ties between the two countries. Acting on months of intelligence work by Colombian and Ecuadorean officials, Ecuadorean police arrested Ramirez during a sting in Quito. One year ago, such seamless cooperation would have been impossible. more

Colombian authorities have decided to extradite Venezuelan national Walid Makled to Venezuela to face murder and drug-trafficking charges in his native country, rather than in the U.S., where he is also wanted on drug-trafficking charges. Though the decision appears to be final, the political implications of his extradition from Colombia have just begun to ripple around the region and in Washington. more

Last week's nationwide protests by Bolivian bus drivers were the latest in a series of demonstrations that have become a political headache for Bolivian President Evo Morales. Bolivians have developed a growing list of grievances and are taking them to the streets across the country. Although many of these tensions have long been present, the scale and scope of the protests so far this year have been surprising. more

As Argentines enjoy the final summer before electing a new leader later this year, uncertainty surrounds the direction of the country's domestic and international policies. High levels of inflation, social unrest, growing insecurity, a dissatisfied and powerful agricultural sector, and accusations of being a haven for laundering drug money are but a few of the challenges the next Argentine leader will face. more

In spite of massive international attention and multilateral efforts in the days and months that followed Honduras' 2009 coup, reconciliation -- both domestically and internationally -- remains elusive. President Porfirio Lobo has achieved progress in stabilizing the country's finances and, arguably, its political situation. But a persistent crisis in public security continues to threaten the country's slow and bumpy return to normality. more

An edgy calm has settled over Nicaragua in the aftermath of political violence that erupted in Managua late last month. The immediate cause of the violence was Decree 03-2010, issued by President Daniel Ortega in January 2010, which allows for a number of public functionaries to remain in power beyond their term limits. But the decree is just one of many highly divisive issues reflecting the country's broader institutional crisis.
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As China and the United States coped with fatal mining disasters over the past few weeks, two nations in Latin America faced mining tragedies of their own. Those tragedies, however, had little to do with the dangerous work involved in mining itself. Instead, they shed light on the region's informal mining sector, where politics and crime can be as life-threatening as the actual job. more

In announcing on March 8 that Venezuela is interested in restoring diplomatic ties with Colombia, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro noted that any improvement will not take place while current Colombian President Álvaro Uribe remains in office. The jab was just one of many traded over the past eight years, but the conciliatory rhetoric suggests that the two countries may be turning a corner in bilateral relations. more

Drilling got underway this week off the still-disputed Falkland Islands, as an oil platform belonging to a British company began operations on Feb. 22. The drilling marks the culmination of weeks of intense sparring between Argentina and Britain over oil rights and shipping lanes in the South Atlantic, and reignited historic tensions over the islands. more

Many Hondurans as well as outside observers of the country's political crisis breathed a sigh of relief when Profirio Lobo Sosa was sworn in as president on Jan. 27. The new Honduran government is now delicately engaging regional governments, while forging a new path that it hopes will lead the nation away from the debacle that characterized the nation's politics in the latter half of 2009. more

Brazil has had a lot to celebrate recently. The nation has taken on an increasingly important role in matters of regional diplomacy and has emerged as the de facto political and economic leader of Latin America. And earlier this month, the International Olympic Committee awarded Rio de Janeiro the 2016 Olympic Games. But ever since Oct. 17, the spotlight has been on Brazil for all the wrong reasons.

Last week, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited China, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, on a tour intended to strengthen Brazil's diplomatic and economic ties with those three nations. Brazil has been slowly asserting itself as the economic and diplomatic leader in Latin America. Lula's visits demonstrate Brazil's commitment to expanding its influence on the world stage. more

A year after Colombia's cross-border strike on a FARC camp in Ecuadorian territory, the political fallout between the two countries has still not been resolved. The two sides' inability to make progress on reconciliation makes for a volatile border rife with drug smuggling, U.S.-funded coca eradication efforts, and thousands of troops from rival armies whose nations do not have official diplomatic ties. more

Most of the early analysis of President George W. Bush's Latin American legacy concentrates on his failure to engage the region despite early promises to "look south." But the emphasis on the outgoing administration's general neglect of Latin America has diverted attention from the strong alliance that has developed between the United States and Colombia. more