Regarding the article “Venezuela ready to talk, but it’s not that simple” (Jan. 7): President-elect Barack Obama would be well advised to reassess America’s current relations with Hugo Chávez, even if the result is little more than a limited relationship between two sparring partners. As the article suggests, an Obama presidency provides U.S. policy makers with a potential platform to improve relations among the U.S. and several of its foes. Chávez is seen by...
SIR – Your evaluation of the Honduran government’s attempt to join the “anti-American” Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas attributed the decision to a presidential whim (“Zelaya plays the Chávez card”, November 1st). This misses a vital point. Trade co-operation between Central America and its primary economic partner, the United States, has, for the most part, led to increased economic insecurity and inequality in the impoverished region. Trade agreements have focused on opening Central American...
Maria Inez Zamudio’s article, “Salinas area’s former braceros skeptical of deal,” reports how the long-awaited resolution for braceros who came to work as farm and railroad workers during World War II fell short of expectations. The settlement resulting from the class-action lawsuit signifies for many a step toward a hard-fought victory, but it is a mockery for the thousands of workers requesting and being denied what is rightfully theirs. To begin with, Mexico’s agreement...
Me dio gusto leer la noticia publicada en Prensa Libre “Programa reúne a personas separadas por conflicto armado”, donde familiares separados se han reencontrado. El país fue severamente afectado por el conflicto armado que duró 36 años y cambió la vida de millones de guatemaltecos. Artículos como estos, demuestran el mejoramiento del país después del horror sufrido, ayudan a las víctimas a divisar un panorama de esperanza y que el daño hecho por la...
Argentina was fortunate in that its rebound from economic desperation six years ago occurred under the blessings of rising global commodity prices, a flexible blue-collar worker pool, and above all the undervaluation of its national currency, which made tax increases on exports tolerable (“Clouds gather again over the Pampas”, August 23rd). Yet after growth peaked around 2005-2006, it was not wise for the government to engineer the inflation figure under new assumptions about consumers’...
