Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, like his predecessors, is eager to lessen his nation’s security, economic and trade dependence on the United States. Mexico has set its sights on expanding its global reach, both in the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America. Nevertheless, proximity, NAFTA and a web of investment, military cooperation, economic assistance and migration will continue to anchor Mexico's relations with its northern neighbor. more
In an email interview, John M. Kirk, a professor at Canada’s Dalhousie University, explained the history of Cuba’s medical diplomacy and its importance to Cuba’s slowly reforming economy. more
Last week, Efrain Rios Montt, the former Guatemalan dictator who ruled the country during the most violent years of its civil war, was found guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide and sentenced to 80 years in prison. more
Over the past decade in South America, sound policymaking and deepening concern with social disparities have resulted in dramatic reductions in the levels of poverty. However, no matter how well designed and intentioned social programs might be, they are most likely to be sustainable if carried out within a context of effective democratic institutions. In this regard, political and institutional factors are central in accounting for the relative success of social policy experiments throughout the region. more
President Barack Obama’s trip to Mexico to meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was an effort to recast the perceived priorities of the bilateral agenda from security to economic issues. The two leaders announced a cabinet-level economic dialogue, education exchanges and a few other related activities. These initiatives are certainly worthy, but the leaders missed an opportunity to think bigger. more
Since the narrow victory of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski in elections held last month, tensions have escalated in the country, most recently with rival marches in the streets. more
When U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto met in Mexico City yesterday, among the wide range of issues they discussed was the status of the Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement. Despite the economic and energy security benefits it promises to both sides, the agreement has been stalled in the U.S. for more than a year. Further delay on the agreement makes little sense. more
In an email interview, Matthew Levitt, director of the Stein program on counterterrorism and intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, explained the broad range of Hezbollah’s illicit activities and the growing savvy of its criminal network. more
The possibility of peace in Colombia comes after a decade-long military buildup and a series of offensives left both the FARC and the smaller ELN weakened, but not defeated. Colombia, a distant third in population among Latin American countries, now has the region’s second-largest armed forces and its largest army. This buildup turned the tide in the conflict. But it has also altered the Colombian military’s relationship with its civilian leaders. more
On Sunday, Colorado Party candidate Horacio Cartes was elected as the new president of Paraguay, promising “a new direction” for the country. But an expert who spoke with Trend Lines predicted that the vote would have the opposite impact. more
The U.N. may soon be launching a new wave of peace operations, beginning with a mission in Mali in July. Yet the U.N. still has a huge amount of unfinished business to complete in countries where peacekeepers are already deployed. As U.N. officials look for the resources for these new missions, they will face pressure to downsize existing ones, even if that means leaving some fragile states’ problems unresolved. more
The real test of Cuba’s reform process under President Raul Castro will come in the state sector, which still employs most of the labor force and produces more than 80 percent of GDP. The goal is to modernize the sector to make it more efficient. But the government’s political will to follow through on reforms, and the social and political consequences they may have, remain open questions. more
Since becoming president, Cuba’s Raul Castro has been on a crusade to bring the country’s economy into the 21st century, and he has not hesitated to blame its failures on Cuba's policies, rather than the U.S. embargo. Having already built political capital with popular measures to reduce excessive regulation, the government is now carrying out a much more profound reorganization of the Cuban economy. more
Few people expected Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles to defeat Nicolas Maduro, the late Hugo Chavez’s chosen heir. But the close election results still managed to stun. The opposition is demanding a recount, and Maduro has emerged surprisingly weakened despite his victory. It is a risky turning point for the country, a challenge to Maduro’s untested skills and a perilous time for Chavismo. more
A lot has changed since the Zapatista movement emerged in the mid-1990s in southern Mexico to become a symbol of the fight for global justice. As outdated as the imagery of the Zapatistas might look to our retrained eyes, it was one of the first global manifestations of the tectonic shift caused by new communication technologies. The transformations unleashed then are still shaping the way protest movements arise, aided by evolutions in the networks through which they are diffused. more
In an election held Sunday to choose a replacement for former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died last month, Chavez’s anointed successor, Nicolas Maduro, narrowly beat rival Henrique Capriles for the presidency. more
Colombians under 65 cannot remember living in a country at peace. Internal armed conflict has raged almost continuously in the South American nation since 1948. With talks ongoing between the government and the larger of the country’s two leftist guerrilla groups, the FARC, Colombians may soon find out what peace is like. But they may find it only a bit more peaceful or secure than what came before. more
In December, if only briefly, there appeared to be prospects for a brighter future for Venezuela-U.S. ties. Hugo Chavez’s vice president and anointed successor, Nicolas Maduro, announced that Caracas would engage in a dialogue with Washington to possibly improve bilateral relations. Five months later, as Venezuela’s presidential election heats up, U.S.-Venezuela ties have not become a serious topic for debate. more
Whoever succeeds Hugo Chavez as Venezuela's president will inherit a country deeply marked by the late leader's populist politics. At home, Chavez leaves behind a powerful political movement but many weakened government institutions. Regionally, the durability of the alliances he built on a foundation of cheap energy is uncertain. Meanwhile, the U.S. should seek opportunities to reframe its Venezuela policy for the post-Chavez era.
Over the weekend, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who is on a tour of Asia that ends tomorrow, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of an effort to improve the Mexico-China bilateral relationship. more
It’s election season again in Venezuela. And while the future of the country’s international oil agreements will be far from most voters’ minds on April 14, this is not so for the 17 Caribbean and Central American nations that make up Petrocaribe, an arrangement by which they import Venezuelan oil on extremely favorable terms. These nations’ energy security may well rest on the outcome of the presidential race. more
