The Venezuelan government has received severe domestic and international criticism for blocking cable television channel Radio Caracas Television International (RCTV) from broadcasting its programming. While the natural immediate reaction for most outside observers is to condemn the action as a vi[...]
Archive for the ‘Venezuela’ Category
China Eyes Venezuelan and Brazilian Oil
• The burgeoning Chinese/Brazilian relationship • Why is China going after Latin America’s distant commodities? • Should the U.S. be alarmed by China’s poaching in its own “backyard”? As China’s economy soared during the 1980’s, its consumption of foreign oil rose as [...]
The Yanomami: Malaria, Genocide and Policy Prospects
• A Black Mark for Brazil • The situation couldn’t be more urgent The Yanomami of the Brazilian Amazon have been decimated in the last 20 years by an incursion of prospect-miners (garimpeiros) who brought diseases (especially malaria) and other maladies to their hitherto relatively isolated co[...]
Hugo Chávez: This Year’s Challenges and Opportunities
All 167 seats of the Venezuelan National Assembly will be in play this coming September, and the current 141-seat controlling stake of ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) appears to be at risk. Amid growing internal economic upheaval and violent street protests, Hugo Chávez, Venezu[...]
FARQaeda* (FARC + Al Qaeda): A Real Threat or a Matter of Circumstantial Evidence?
Over the past several months, a number of reports have circulated that address the subject of drug trafficking ties between South American narcotics trafficking interests and terrorist organizations, principally Al Qaeda and its smaller affiliates now known to be based in Northern Africa. These ass[...]
¿Cambio? The Obama Administration in Latin America: A Disappointing Year in Retrospective
In a memorandum written as Barack Obama assumed office in January 2009, COHA’s Research Fellows Guy Hursthouse and Tomás Ayuso considered the widespread Latin American expectations of a dramatic shift in approach from Washington under the new president, and outlined an agenda for change. This[...]
Inflation and Corruption on the Horizon as an Endangered Chávez Gambles to Retain Popularity
On January 8th, Venezuelan President Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías announced the devaluation of the Bolivarian Republic’s currency, the bolivar. In his address, Chávez distinguished between two classes of products, establishing separate exchange rates for “essential” and “non-essential” good[...]
Chávez Must Look Homeward To Nurse His Ailing Revolution and Reinforce His Constituency
- Economic hard times eroding his constituency - Venezuelan leader would do well to more carefully choose his shots In 1998, Venezuelans broke with political tradition by electing a well-known and controversial populist colonel named Hugo Chávez Frias as president. They ignored precedent because [...]
Ahmadinejad – No Great Bargain for a Struggling Chávez
Since the initial election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005, Iran has become one of Venezuela’s most durable allies. But as this self-described “Axis of Unity” has developed, a predictable group of detractors has emerged. In a widely noted September op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, long[...]
COHA In The News: América Latina, la materia pendiente para Barack Obama
Published by Panorama November 28, 2009 Brasil, México y Colombia seguirán siendo las prioridades de Washington en una Latinoamérica de poca importancia para la Casa Blanca. Texto: Juan Pablo Crespo Una nueva cara, de orígen hispanoparlante, no se traduce necesariamente en un cambio profundo e[...]
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