Monthly Archives: February 2009

DAS Scandal Looms over Colombian Visit

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associates Guy Hursthouse, Tomás Ayuso and Lilly Briger
February 26, 2009

Hat in hand, senior Colombian representatives arrived in Washington on February 24 to begin a lobbying blitz, yet were reluctant to acknowledge that their country is currently embroiled in a pervasive corruption scandal which discredits even the usually teflon-coated Uribe administration. Taking part in a 3-day trip to Washington, Jaime Bermúdez, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Juan Manuel Santos, Minister of National Defense, met with representatives of the Obama administration and the Senate, where...

Read more »

Bolivia’s Morales Struts His Stuff as Strategist and Adept Politician

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Adam Kott
February 26, 2009

- Recent referendum triumph affords Morales government more scope and additional clout - The president works to find a balance between satisfying the resource-rich eastern provinces and fulfilling his socialist economic mission - Morales differs greatly in terms of leadership style from close friend and political ally Hugo Chávez. This difference could help him to survive, and even thrive A Successful Leader As U.S. policy makers see it, Bolivian president Evo Morales faces two...

Read more »

An Uncertain Presidential Hand: Whatever Happened to the Fernández-Kirchner Political Touch?

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate David Rosenblum Felson
February 25, 2009

- President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner declares an agricultural state of emergency which ends up providing inadequate relief for struggling Argentine farmers - Farm owners continue demonstrations in opposition to the Fernández administration’s failure to respond appropriately to rising commodity prices - There could be further repercussions to the national food supply chain if rain doesn’t soon fall on the Argentine Pampas - Fernández, upon Kirchner’s advice, prepares to commit hari-kiri The Farmers Receive...

Read more »

Awá Massacre Highlights Desperate Need for Fresh Approach to Drugs in Colombia

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Fellow Mary Tharin
February 25, 2009

Early this month, a brutal massacre of Awá indigenous people left 27 dead in Colombia’s southern Pacific region of Nariño. According to various media sources, 17 were killed in an armed attack on February 4, during which 120 community members were captured and held against their will. Ten more were killed two days later. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group claimed responsibility for eight of the killings in an online statement....

Read more »

Surely Globalization Doesn’t Rhyme with the Environment? Conservation and Market Based Instruments in the Amazon Rainforest

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Fellow Rachel Godfrey Wood
February 24, 2009

Ever since its opening to the double edged sword known as “development,” debates over the Amazon rainforest repeatedly have degraded into an international tragi-comedy of hypocrisy and shirked responsibilities. Development’s fate, in reality, has been shaped by two contradictory trends: on the one hand, shrill opposition to ecological destruction from large swathes of the developed conservation-minded world, and on the other, runaway deforestation. This duality has intensified in recent years, with ever greater awareness...

Read more »