Latin America
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Although it seemed unlikely just a few weeks ago, Senator Ivan Cepeda has managed to bring about a parliamentary inquiry into the alleged ties between politicians and illegal paramilitary groups in Colombia. Former President and current Senator Alvaro Uribe is the highest-profile figure to be linked to such groups, which are thought to be responsible for thousands of killings…
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In December of this year, construction is slated to begin on a five-year, $40 billion project to create a shipping lane linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through Lake Nicaragua, also known as Lake Colcibolca. Concrete details about the initiative, which is reportedly being managed by an enigmatic Chinese businessman named Wang Jing, have been few and vague since its unveiling in July.…
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On August 22, in the first of ten drug policy forums to be held around the country, Colombian Justice Minister Yesid Reyes expressed his belief that the nation must find “more efficient” policies than prohibition and imprisonment to deal with drug use. “The evaluation that should be made is how much has imprisonment affected the control…
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In December 1994, the UN declared the years from 1995 to 2004 the “International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.” The designation was renewed for the years from 2005 to 2014 and rebranded as a “Decade for Action and Dignity.” While some progress has been made toward protecting the rights and dignity of indigenous peoples…
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The multi-billion dollar US-backed “Plan Colombia” initiative that began in the late 1990s and continued in various forms throughout the 2000s has been cited by a number of officials and commentators recently as an example of a counter-insurgency/anti-narcotics operation that has achieved significant progress in dismantling criminal and paramilitary groups operating within that country. Dan Restrepo,…
Mike LaSusa 