Nicaraguan legislators reentered the National Assembly after government supporters blocked the entrance. They protested opposition lawmakers' attempts to overturn a decree that would enable President Daniel Ortega's reelection.
The region appears to be turning the page on the economic crisis and welcoming financial recovery, with the World Bank and IMF releasing reports showing positive signs of growth across much of Latin America.
A new Chinese financing plan provides $20 billion in loans for Venezuela. The series of accords signed includes plans for a joint venture for exploration in the oil-rich Orinoco belt and secures Venezuelan oil for energy-hungry China.
The Obama administration sought to bolster security ties this week when U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates traveled to Peru, Colombia, and Barbados. While in Bogota, Gates also pushed for passage of the long-stalled U.S.-Colombia trade pact.
Brasilia plays host this week to its fellow BRIC members, highlighting Moscow and Beijing’s hemispheric ties. China’s President Hu Jintao will also visit Venezuela and Chile while Russia's Dmitry Medvedev heads to Argentina.
"As sovereign nations, Russia and Venezuela have every right to engage in bilateral diplomatic and commercial exchange," writes COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth, discussing Caracas' recent billion-dollar arms deal with Moscow. "But we should not be unaware or naïve; U.S. interests are being affected to the extent our regional friends and allies are negatively impacted."
Brazil's Defense Minister Nelson Jobim traveled to Washington to sign a bilateral military agreement with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on April 12. The accord marks the frst military pact between the two countries since 1977. Gates travels this week to Peru, Colombia, and Barbados.
"[T]here's been a troubling sense of anachronism in this administration's rhetoric toward Latin America," writes AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini in The Hufffington Post. He recommends a set of initiatives to renew U.S. policy in the region, from changing the nature of Brazil relations to engaging the business community.
After his first trip to Caracas, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin revealed that Venezuela plans to spend over $5 billion on Russian arms. The news triggered U.S. concerns about an Andean weapons buildup and arms transfers.
"Immigration determines the capacity of countries themselves to survive in the global economy," writes AS/COA Senior Director of Policy Christopher Sabatini in El Diario/La Prensa. "The problem is that the pull for jobs and the policy to facilitate immigration and integration do not always match." (en español)
A March 31 UN donor conference sparked pledges of nearly $10 billion to help Haiti rebuild. A recovery commission involving the UN, donor countries, and the Haitian government will oversee rebuilding projects, but concerns about implementation continue.
"Energy should be one area that brings hemispheric leaders together," writes COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth in Poder. "Nonetheless, two significant obstacles exist in making the Western Hemisphere a model region for energy cooperation: politics and investment climate issues."
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva this week announced a major infrastucture investment plan valued at roughly $880 billion. News of the plan could provide a boost to the political campaign of his chosen successor, Dilma Rousseff, ahead of the October 2010 election.
"Immigration determines the capacity of countries themselves to survive in the global economy," writes AS/COA Senior Director of Policy Christopher Sabatini. "The problem is that the pull for jobs and the policy to facilitate immigration and integration do not always match."
With the recent death of a Cuban hunger striker and harassment of the Ladies in White dissident group in Havana, U.S. President Barack Obama criticized human rights conditions on the island. His March 24 statement came ahead of a large Miami-based rally supporting dissidents.
Data reconfirms the worrisome trend that more must be done to facilitate Hispanics’ access to financial services, writes Adrián Franco, executive director of Qualitas of Life.
A Pfizer vice president looks at how multinational companies can best mobilize resources to assist recovery efforts in countries such as Haiti and Chile.
The Colombian elections are off at a gallop, with former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos the current frontrunner. But Noemí Sanín clinched the Conservative Party nomination on March 19 and could serve as a strong contender at the first round of polls on March 30. They face a number of other candidates.
In the wake of the murder of three people with U.S. consular links in Ciudad Juarez, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed up a cabinet-level delegation to Mexico on March 23. The bilateral summit built on the Merida Initiative with an eye to improved security, but also strengthened communities and institutions.
"Governments, including the United States, should value the OAS as it was intended: a venue for working toward a shared hemispheric agenda. Achieving that worthy objective requires reform of the institution itself," write Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in The Miami Herald.
