Domestic Politics Archive

MEXICO CITY — Federal officials used the word “historic” to describe the May 26 arrests of 28 local officials, including 10 mayors, in the western state of Michoacán. Those detained were allegedly linked to La Familia, a drug cartel known for running extortion rackets, producing methamphetamines and corrupting municipal governments. Opposition politicians and some political observers, meanwhile, expressed disquiet with the arrests and questioned their timing. The sting operation — which netted mayors from the three main parties, including a pair from President Felipe Calderón’s National Action Party (PAN) — came barely five weeks before the July 5 midterm legislative […]

LONDON — Gordon Brown has come a long way from those heady days in April when he basked in the praise of U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders attending the G-20 summit in London. He had, after all, just saved the world. Happy days. That was then. Today, Gordon Brown looks drained and desolate, his political career in shreds, his leadership comprehensively trashed. The local government elections last week and European elections over the weekend could not have come at a worse time for Brown. Already fighting for his political life, the beleaguered British prime minister was left, […]

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Following a landmark election on Sunday, the U.S.-backed “March 14” coalition held on to its slim majority in the Lebanese parliament, defeating the opposition alliance of Hezbollah, Amal, and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), an officially secular but mostly Christian party headed by General Michel Aoun. Analysts are scrutinizing the returns in an effort to explain how March 14 managed to pull off a decisive win, given that extensive polling over a period of months had suggested a much closer race with a greater likelihood of an opposition victory. Coming as it did on the heels of […]

GRAZ, Austria — Austria’s far right, riding high on its recent national election success, is conducting one of the most hate-filled election campaigns in recent memory in a bid for EU Parliament seats. Jews, Muslims and non-European foreigners have all been maligned, while far-right supporters have expressed their loyalty to the cause by using the outlawed Nazi salute. The Freedom Party (FP) and the splinter Alliance for the Future (AF) party unexpectedly won almost a third of votes in last September’s national election. Two weeks later, the outpouring of sympathy that followed the death of Jorg Haider — the leader […]

Harvard professor and Kenya native, Calestous Juma spoke at U.S. Africa headquarters. “I would like to argue, and I have publicly argued that in fact the militaries in African countries need to play a much bigger role in providing the foundation for economic transformation. A lot of it has to do primarily with the first part, which is infrastructure development. Secondly, the ability to safeguard trade routes; and thirdly I think that really there is a very important part to play in the area of technology transformation,” Juma said.

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A polarized Lebanese electorate goes to the polls this Sunday in a hotly contested general election that will determine Lebanon’s cabinet and government for the next four years. It is a high-stakes race, with more than 15 political parties and over 700 candidates jockeying for power. As always in this country of roughly four million citizens, the internal faultlines have become a proxy to geopolitical interests and regional turf battles. The multitude of parties could easily be misconstrued as the genuine sign of democracy and freedom of speech, often lacking in the Middle East. But to a […]

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The outcome of this Sunday’s legislative elections in Lebanon is both a certainty and a mystery. On the one hand, the main Sunni, Shiite and Druze parties are sure to win big in their regional strongholds. But the Christian vote is very much in play. With the Sunnis and Druze firmly in the pro-Western “March 14” camp led by Sunni leader Saad Hariri, and the Shiites solidly behind the Syrian-backed “March 8” opposition bloc, the balance between them will be tilted by Maronite voters in their strongholds around Beirut and Mount Lebanon. These will be split between […]

PEREIRA, Colombia — For the past three years, Felipe Ruiz has made his living as a landscape gardener in Connecticut. Recently, though, he was laid off, prompting his return to his hometown of Pereira, in the heart of Colombia’s coffee-growing region. “I didn’t expect to return home so soon,” said the 32-year-old Ruiz. “It was the last resort. My savings had dried up.” Every month, Ruiz had typically sent home $400 from his wages. Over the years, the money had been a key source of income for the family of five, who relied on the remittances to make ends meet […]