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: Mexico
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 [...]
Reclaiming Brand Mexico
Roberto Newell Garcia of the Woodrow Wilson Center has published a great report titled “Restoring Mexico’s Reputation.”
The basic premise of Newell’s argument is that Mexico is facing a number of problems, but that the one that gets far and away the most coverage – organized crime/drug-related violence – is not necessarily the most important. Citing [...]
Far-Reaching Demonstrations Against AZ Law
How divisive is Senate Bill 1070?
There was a universal rejection of the law by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), as well as protests on both sides of the border:
But the protests have spread to countries where a large diaspora stands to be impacted by the law. On 14 May, hundreds of Ecuadorians in [...]
Also posted in Bolivia, Ecuador, Latin America, United States Tagged border issues, Calle 13, SB 1070 Leave a comment
Selective Impunity
El Chiguire Bipolar has a good take on the concept of selective impunity.
In the Onion-like fashion for which the blog is known, it tells the story of Maria Angelica Guerrero, a two-time victim of lightning kidnappings and exasperation at the police’s ineffectiveness. Thinking creatively, she attempts to get her kidnapper to speak negatively about Hugo [...]
Posted in Mexico Tagged border issues, Cartels, ciudad juarez, drug war, security, United States Leave a comment
Merida 2.0: A New Phase in U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation
Responding to a growing sense that an exclusive focus on a military-led fight against drug trafficking organizations is failing to curb violence on the other side of our southern border, the United States and Mexico formally announced a shift in their counternarcotics strategy that had been in the works since the fall of 2009. The “new stage” in bilateral cooperation will aim to strengthen civilian law enforcement institutions and rebuild communities crippled by poverty and crime.
Posted in Mexico Tagged border issues, corruption, democracy, Diplomacy, drug war, security, United States, war on drugs Leave a comment
The International Reach of Organized Crime
Earlier this year, LatAmThought wrote a commentary about the international reach or criminal organizations in the Americas. Last week, we published an article on the International Relations and Security Network about the indirect presence of Mexican Cartels in the Andes.
The amount of drug seizures in Bolivia have increased in 2009. Additionally, raids on drug-processing labs [...]
Creative thinking on the drug war?
The taboo that kept some from outright admitting that current antinarcotics policies have failed has all but disappeared. A recent report by former Brazilian President Crdoso, former Colombian President Gaviria, and former Mexican President Zedillo made precisely this point and an op-ed by the three this week in the WSJ with the headline “The War [...]
Latin America as a Role Model for Drug Policy
“Cardoso, Gaviria, Zedillo Urge Obama to Decriminalize Marijuana” read the Bloomberg News headline today on a new report released by The Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, a group led by former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, and former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, on the future of counternarcotics strategies. [...]
Overstating Cartels’ Relevance to the American Electorate