Tag Archives: border issues

misLEDEing

By Eliot Brockner | Published: March 18, 2012
Hopefully  The Daily Show or Colbert Report will pick up on this one. I took a picture of this headline during Sunday afternoon cable news network programming: The price of gas is a major story here in the US, and drug related violence is a major story in Mexico, particularly among US media. My skepticism about [...]
Posted in Mexico, United States | Tagged | Leave a comment

The FARC’s announcement to halt kidnapping: why?

By Sebastian Chaskel | Published: February 27, 2012
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 [...]
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On Extraditions and Colombian-Panamanian Ties

By Eliot Brockner | Published: January 4, 2012
Much has been made about Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos’ success at mending relations with his neighbors to the east and south. Rightly so. Given the difficult situation he inherited from his predecessor, this is no small feat. But Santos’ newest diplomatic test may now come from the north. On Jan. 3, Panamanian Foreign Minister Roberto Henriquez [...]
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Brazil in Latin America: Emerging political risks?

By Eliot Brockner | Published: November 6, 2011
Simon Romero has written a solid article on the front page of yesterday’s NYT about how Brazil’s rise and activity in Latin America is creating diplomatic problems with some its regional neighbors. The article itself is worth reading in its entirety, as it points to an interesting trend in regional politics, but for brevity’s sake, [...]
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In Ciudad Mier, deploying troops is not enough

By Eliot Brockner | Published: September 5, 2011
Back in November 2010, a small town on the US-Mexico border, Ciudad Mier, made headlines when most of the town’s residents left because of intense fighting between the Zetas and Gulf cartels. Both groups wanted the plaza, which is a strategic smuggling corridor for weapons, cash, and money between the United States and Mexico, and [...]
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Ideas, not money, will make Central America safer

By Eliot Brockner | Published: June 24, 2011
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 [...]
Posted in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Latin America, Panama, nicaragua | Also tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Far-Reaching Demonstrations Against AZ Law

By Eliot Brockner | Published: May 14, 2010
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 [...]
Posted in Bolivia, Ecuador, Latin America, Mexico, United States | Also tagged , | Leave a comment

Selective Impunity

By Eliot Brockner | Published: March 29, 2010
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 [...]
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Merida 2.0: A New Phase in U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation

By Dora Beszterczey | Published: March 26, 2010
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.
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Beyond Playa del Carmen: Tourism and Diplomacy in Ecuador and Colombia

By Eliot Brockner | Published: March 2, 2010
Last week’s Rio Summit between high ranking dignitaries of the Americas – The United States and Canada conspicuously excluded – produced a number of notable events: The announcement of the creation of a Brazil-led regional bloc to convene in July 2011 Universal [...]
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