Author Archives: Michael Bustamante

Bolivia: The Santa Cruz Autonomy Referendum

By Michael Bustamante | Published: May 5, 2008
Yesterday, thousands of citizens in the eastern Bolivian departamento of Santa Cruz went to the polls, not to elect new leaders but to vote on a referendum demanding greater autonomy from their country’s central government, led by indigenous Aymara descendant and pillar of the Latin American new Left, Evo Morales.This controversial vote was the latest [...]
Posted in Bolivia | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Developments in Cuba

By Michael Bustamante | Published: February 25, 2008
This sure has been one hell of a week for Cuba news. A good friend of mine, Jamie Weinstein, interviewed me about the latest developments for his blog. Be sure to check it out. I’m pasting the post below. - – - – - – - - From blog.jamieweinstein.com   JW: Fidel Castro is stepping aside. What does [...]
Posted in Cuba | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Cuban Students Speak Out?

By Michael Bustamante | Published: February 14, 2008
by Michael Bustamante and Elizabeth Jordan     Since assuming the interim presidency of Cuba in July 2006, Raul Castro has drawn much attention for encouraging Cuban citizens to voice their opinions and even criticize government officials. In a critical speech on July 26, 2007 – a national holiday commemorating the launching of the Cuban Revolution [...]
Posted in Cuba | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Forgotten Continent?

By Michael Bustamante | Published: February 11, 2008
I agree with Current History magazine’s assessment of Michael Reid’s new book, Forgotten Continent: The Battle of Latin America’s Soul (see William Finan’s review). The sensationalist title borders on ridiculous. Forgotten continent? Hardly. Africa, or even Antarctica, clearly claim that title. “Remembered in the wrong way” would be more accurate. With the immigration debate [...]
Posted in Latin America | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Barack, Hillary, and the Latino Vote

By Michael Bustamante | Published: February 6, 2008
A bit of a depature from the obstensible subject matter of this blog, but of interest I imagine to potential readers as well. I’ve just turned off tonight’s primary coverage. If I have to hear Wolf Blitzer’s awkward rambling or trite references to “The Best Election Team on Television” one more time, I may turn off [...]
Posted in United States | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Reclaiming Cambio for Cuba

By Michael Bustamante | Published: January 23, 2008
Lance Armstrong probably never anticipated that his Livestrong campaign would inspire so many imitators, let alone in Cuba. But on October 29th, 70 young Cuban citizens wearing rubber bracelets imprinted with the word cambio (change) were arrested while protesting recent elections for Cuba’s National Assembly. In the following months, and as recently as January 21, [...]
Posted in Cuba | Tagged , | Leave a comment