Latin America
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Cross-posted with Public Diplomacy Musings For more than two years, the Colombian rebel group known as the FARC has been engaged in negotiations aimed at securing a peace deal with the government. In December 2014, the FARC announced a unilateral ceasefire that it said “should be transformed into an armistice.” The Colombian government appeared to agree. In January, President Juan Manuel…
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Cross-posted with Public Diplomacy Musings According to a recent article by Tico Times journalist Larry Luxner, “Opponents of Nicaragua’s dubious plans to build a $50 billion interoceanic canal are trying to rally U.S. help in fighting the controversial project. But it’s not clear if official Washington is listening.” While the U.S. government has expressed some concern over a lack of publicly available information…
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Cross-posted with Public Diplomacy Musings In a 2013 interview with leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos addressed the comments of late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, who had called Colombia “the Israel of Latin America.” “If somebody called my country the Israel of Latin America, I would be very proud. I admire the Israelis, and I would…
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Cross-posted with Public Diplomacy Musings On the night of September 26, 2014, in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, a group of students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School were attacked, allegedly by local and federal security forces. Three of the students were killed and 43 were disappeared. The Mexican government claims that the security forces handed the 43 to…
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Last night, Angelika Albaladejo and I launched a new podcast called “Periphery.” We’ll be producing periodic episodes that cover human rights, social justice, politics and culture in the Americas, focusing on people and groups on the periphery of society. For our first episode, we interviewed our former co-worker at the Center for International Policy, Sarah Kinosian,…
Mike LaSusa 