MEXICO CITY, Nov 26 - IPS - Sunday’s elections in Honduras will mark the start of 12 changes of government in as many months, in Latin America and the Caribbean. Analysts believe, however, that the balance of forces in the region in relation to the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and other controversial issues will remain unchanged.
Opinion polls measuring voting intentions in countries where electoral campaigns are in full swing appear to contradict predictions by (...)
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Latin America and the Caribbean
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LATIN AMERICA - Will Year of Elections Shift Region Further to the Left? (Diego Cevallos, IPS)
30 November 2005, posted by Manuela Garza Ascencio
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GUATEMALA - Violence Against Women Unchecked and Unpunished (Manuel Bermúdez, IPS)
30 November 2005, posted by Manuela Garza Ascencio
SAN JOSÉ, Nov 25 -(IPS) - Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Guatemala City Friday to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, painting X’s on judicial buildings and security agencies to protest the failure to protect women and bring the perpetrators to justice.
"An average of 14 or 15 murders a day are committed in Guatemala," human rights prosecutor Sergio Morales told IPS, noting that so far this year, 560 women have been slain, and not (...) -
LATIN AMERICA - An historical perspective on the politics of the Catholic Church in Latin America (Michael Hogan, ZNET)
23 November 2005, posted by Dial
November 21, 2005 - ZNET - When the conservative Catholic cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI, many observers saw this as the beginning of a reactionary period for the Catholic Church with the Cardinal’s well-known opposition to female clergy, gay unions, cloning, freedom of choice, ecumenical movements, use of contraceptives to prevent AIDS, liberation theology, community organization of lay Catholics, and social activism. To those who have followed the politics of the (...)
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BRAZIL - Lula’s Popularity Down, Finance Minister on the Ropes (Mario Osava, IPS)
23 November 2005, posted by Dial
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s popularity has dropped to its lowest level ever, according to an opinion poll released Tuesday.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 22 (IPS) - Meanwhile his government is weighing its current economic policy against changes in favour of growth, and speculation is rife that Finance Minister Antonio Palocci will resign.
The government’s approval rating fell from 35.8 percent in September to 31.1 percent in the survey carried out last week by the Sensus (...) -
CUBA - 182 Nations Condemn Cuba Embargo in the U.N. General Assembly (Martin Schuijt, IPS)
16 November 2005, posted by Dial
For the 14th year in a row, the U.N. General Assembly has passed a resolution calling on the United States to immediately end its economic embargo against Cuba, imposed over four decades ago.
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 9 (IPS) - Tuesday’s vote was 182 countries in favour, one abstention and four against — Israel, the Marshall Islands, Palau and the United States.
The Assembly expressed its concern that, since its earliest resolution on the issue in 1992, further measures had been taken by the (...) -
BRAZIL - The Emptying of Brazilian metropolises (Mario Osava, Tierramérica)
16 November 2005, posted by Dial
Brazilian metropolises like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo are seeing their population density — and their quality of life — decline.
RIO DE JANEIRO - Tierramérica - It is difficult to believe that Brazilian mega-cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, with millions of inhabitants and traffic-clogged streets, are seeing their population densities decrease, which aggravates the cities’ problems and makes solutions even more difficult to find.
But this is what urban planners are saying, (...) -
AMERICAS - Leaders Agree to Disagree on FTAA at the fourth Summit of the Americas (Marcela Valente, IPS)
9 November 2005, posted by Dial
After a debate that stretched hours past the scheduled closing time, the fourth Summit of the Americas ended Saturday in the Argentine resort of Mar del Plata with a final declaration that clearly reflects the divergent views among governments in the region with respect to the future of the FTAA.
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina, Nov 5 (IPS) - The heads of state and government who continued to take part in the summit on Saturday, after a number of leaders had left, failed to reach a consensus on (...) -
HAITI - Presidential candidates also campaign overseas (Amy Bracken, IPS)
9 November 2005, posted by Dial
Blasting from giant speakers in Brooklyn’s Crystal Manor ballroom one recent evening was a new song in Haitian Creole: "Vote! Vote Bazin for change!"
NEW YORK, Nov 7 (IPS) - But most of those gathered at this political rally will not vote for Marc Bazin or any of the other candidates running for president of Haiti this winter. U.S. citizens face a ban on dual nationality in Haiti’s Constitution, and those U.S. residents unable or unwilling to return to Haiti to vote in person have no (...) -
HAITI - USAID boasts “success” with pacification program (Kevin Skerrett, ZNET)
2 November 2005, posted by Dial
October 10, 2005 - ZNET - In the alternative press, the role of many US government agencies and NGOs in the destabilization and overthrow of various governments around the world is widely recognized. The CIA, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the International Republican Institute (IRI), and other US government and government-funded groups have been widely exposed for their involvement in advancing a very neoliberal, anti-communist, pro-US policy agenda in countries throughout (...)
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BOLIVIA - Electoral Uncertainties (Boris Rios, ZNET)
2 November 2005, posted by Dial
October 27, 2005 - ZNET - According to Bolivian electoral law, interim president Eduardo Rodriguez must hold national elections within a timeframe of no more than 180 days from the start of his presidency last June. The realization of these elections, however, remains up in the air due to a recent ruling by Bolivia’s constitutional court. Conflicts surrounding the distribution of congressional seats are now putting elections, scheduled for December 4th, at risk and bringing the country to (...)