Twitter: latamthought- The other drone story today RT @REDInteligencia: #Chile vigilará sus fronteras con aviones no tripulados. http://t.co/fJtoAw8U
- From July, on Iran's information network http://t.co/vV84HX2K
- Argentine government increases media monitoring capacity http://t.co/8NGQsqhC
- New oil discovery reignites dispute over #Falkland Islands, reins in U.S. http://t.co/jHis0frT
Category Archives: Colombia
Different Means, Same Ends
Oil production in Colombia is a popular topic these days. Domestic production levels are at an all time high, and Colombian state-owned oil behemoth Ecopetrol is considering selling 10 percent of its stake in the firm to the public. Dow Jones reports the deal will likely go down in 2012. Silla Vacia has an excellent [...]
Ideas, not money, will make Central America safer
Boz has a great point about the fresh funding headed to Central America:
I think a lesson is that there is no amount of money that the US could put on the table and no amount of attention the US could give that would guarantee Central America’s success in fighting organized crime.
The US is not [...]
Also posted in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Latin America, Panama, nicaragua Tagged border issues, Diplomacy, drug war, Juan Manuel Santos, United States Leave a comment
Central America, crime, and what the Americas are doing about it
On 3 March 2009, The Wall Street Journal published an Op-Ed titled “In Praise of Mexico’s War on Drugs”. Although it was written nearly two years ago, it is still a highly relevant and recommended read.
A day later, LatAmThought wrote the following in response to the article
Bret Stephens’ commentary “In Priase of Mexico’s War on [...]
Also posted in Belize, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Latin America, Panama, nicaragua Tagged Cartels, democracy, drug war, Organized crime Leave a comment
In Colombia, Growth in Construction of New Hotel Rooms
Europa Press recently reported on the expected construction of 16,000 new hotel rooms in Colombia in 2011. The number is a 9 percent increase in the number of hotel rooms built in 2010.
The number represents a 4,011 percent increase in the number of new hotel rooms built in 2004. The tourist boom has officially arrived.
It [...]
Colombia Elections – Alliances in Numbers
A recent poll in Colombia released on June 3 says Juan Manuel Santos would win 61.6 percent of a vote, whereas Antanas Mockus would win just 29. 8 percent.
The results of the first round of elections on May 30 proved that polls are often unreliable. Precise numbers aside, the June 3 poll suggests that Santos [...]
Colombia Post-Election Analysis – From the Top
I was extremely lucky to be in Bogota last week, meeting with bunch of different people and talking about what have been some of the most unique and exciting elections in Latin America.
I could feel the excitement from my desk in Washington. The intensity was exponentially multiplied on the steps of Plaza Bolivar. Debates, campaign [...]
Posted in Colombia Tagged Alvaro Uribe, Antanas Mockus, elections, German Vargas Lleras, Juan Manuel Santos, Partido de la U, Partido Verde, Polls Leave a comment
Business as Ideology
Boz has a very good post about the apparent “lack of ideology” when analysts describe drug trafficking organizations.
Occasionally some analyst will say that the drug cartels have no political ideology. However, maybe a better way to look at it is that their ideology is their business…Just because they’re not Marxists or anarchists or [...]
Colombian Trafficker Arrested in Rio
On 16 April, a joint task force of Brazilian and US agencies (including the Drug Enforcement Administration) arrested Nestor Caro Chapparo, aka Felipe, as he was leaving his luxury apartment in Rio’s upscale Copacabana neighborhood.
This is the second consecutive month Caro Chapparo has made headlines. Last month, a video was leaked showing a number of [...]
On Extraditions and Colombian-Panamanian Ties