Twitter: latamthought- Correa to attend Santos investidura, but legal issues in Ecuador to continue http://bit.ly/9G46Jt
- Who is Joran van der Sloot? http://bit.ly/bs9Iy1
- This claim is based on "internal polls" carried out in the days leading up to the election. Interview here: http://bit.ly/bXqqvu
- Interview w/Colombian pollsters says they knew the gap b/w Santos-Mockus would be very large, but weren't allowed to publish the results
- New Post: Business as Ideology http://bit.ly/ahUmki HT @bloggingsbyboz
Tag Archives: drug war
From Partner by Default to Partner of Choice: Shifting US Policy in Latin America
On March 26, US Ambassador to Colombia William Brownfield said the US is close to signing bi-lateral military accords with two unspecified countries in Latin America.
In October 2009, following a failed attempt to keep the details secret, the US and Colombia hastily announced a deal allowing US troops and advisors to use seven military bases [...]
Posted in Brazil, Panama, United States Also tagged Brazil, Diplomacy, U.S.-Latin America relations, United States 1 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 Also tagged border issues, Cartels, ciudad juarez, 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 Also tagged border issues, corruption, democracy, Diplomacy, security, United States, war on drugs Leave a comment
Beyond Playa del Carmen: Tourism and Diplomacy in Ecuador and Colombia
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 [...]
Posted in Colombia, Ecuador Also tagged Alvaro Uribe, border issues, Diplomacy, Nation Branding, Rafael Correa, Tourism Leave a comment
Anti-drug bases in Panama and the Drug War in 2010
One of the biggest stories emerging from the Americas in 2009 was Colombia’s decision to let the United States access military installations throughout Colombia in efforts to combat narcotrafficking. The move exacerbated already tenuous relations between Colombia and Venezuela, with the latter claiming that US presence in Colombia was a direct threat to sovereignty, another [...]
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 [...]
The Dangers of Prison Transfers
The (dare I say, even sarcastically) classic 1997 movie Con Air is based on the premise of a prison transfer gone awry. In the movie, a group of criminals hijack the airplane on which they are being transported from one prison to another. The movie highlights the dangerous nature of violent criminals and their ability [...]
The End of the Drug War?
U.S. policy on drugs is as close to center stage as it has been probably since ten years ago, when Plan Colombia was first debated in Congress. This is mostly due to the rising levels of violence in Mexico, with over 6,000 people murdered last year in drug-related killings, and the crossing of [...]
Colombian Trafficker Arrested in Rio