Twitter: latamthought- MT @FrancMex: Mexico's competition watchdog has upheld a fine of almost $1 billion against Telcel, Carlos Slim's mobile phone company.
- Relatively detailed account of money laundering from Guatemala to Panama http://t.co/Whkxu19p
- Via @RioGringa: Symbolism really does matter http://t.co/JI0xxewE
- Blog: Mexico dodges a bullet http://t.co/mbgZOYcA
Author Archives: Sebastian Chaskel
The FARC’s announcement to halt kidnapping: why?
The FARC’s announcement last Sunday that the organization will no longer kidnap civilians was a surprise to most observes and experts of the region. The mainstream media has reported on the event, but has been unsuccessful at explaining why the FARC would do this. In the past 48 hours, online media and blogs have [...]
Posted in Colombia Tagged border issues, Chavez, drug war, FARC, Hugo Chavez, Juan Manuel Santos, security, war on drugs Leave a comment
How Will Colombians Vote This Sunday?
In the Americas Quarterly blog I explain that most Colombians won’t vote this Sunday.
Of those who will vote, about a tenth of them will mistakenly submit invalid ballots.
And many of those presenting valid ballots will will unknowingly support candidates other than their own.
You can read the entire post at the Americas Quarterly blog.
How To Vote in Colombia
Voting in Colombia can be confusing, so I have created a 5-minute video that explains in Spanish in simple terms how to vote this March. Please share with Colombians you may know.
Why Not Being Disliked is as Powerful as Being Liked
I recently wrote an article for the Americas Quarterly blog in which I argued that in Colombia’s second round of elections for the presidency not being disliked may be even more of a deciding factor than being liked by voters.
Campaign Season in Colombia
Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and his allies were already taking candidate-like precautions before [...]
Disheartening Aspects of Colombia’s Congressional Elections
Some things may be comical when you see them in movies, yet somewhat worrying when they are part of the democracy you count on.
Such is the case with María Fernanda Valencia, Candidate for the Partido de la U, who made it to the front cover of the Colombian magazine Soho (a classier version of the [...]
Election Season in Colombia
The Constitutional Court’s ruling last night blocking the possibility of President Uribe’s reelection lifted a weight off the country’s shoulders. Even Uribe, who found out about the Court’s decision through his Blackberry at a a press conference about health reform in Barranquilla, reacted with a nervous smile.
Many Colombians, who heard the news over television and radio waves [...]
Investigative Journalism in Colombia
Many of our readers are likely already aware of last week’s announcement of the end of Cambio, perhaps Colombia’s most important source for investigative journalism. While the Casa Editorial El Tiempo, which owns Cambio, claims that the decision to turn this weekly investigative magazine into a monthly magazine on tourism and travel reflects market trends, the magazine’s [...]
Honduras should open our eyes to discontent with democracy in the region
Within 48 hours of the coup in Honduras, much has been written about what this means for Latin America, with the best analysis acknowledging that the coup breaks with the democratic constitutional order, but also that Honduran President Manuel Zelaya threatened democracy in his campaign to perpetuate himself in power. Chris Sabatini from the Council [...]
Posted in Honduras Tagged democracy, elections, Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, Political Unrest, Roberto Micheletti Leave a comment
LASA: Reflections on Blogging on Latin America
I very much enjoyed Eliot’s last blog entry on news sources and how they’re suffering from, or at least needing to adapt to, the massive flow of news and analysis that now occurs online. As I read it I could not help but think of the role that blogs like this one and others are [...]
Posted in Latin America Leave a comment
Colombia on the International Stage