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politics | by Randy Paul | 05 Jun, 2004 at 12:33 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
Boy, I always mention good news from Colombia with my breath held, but this is potentially significant:...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 04 Jun, 2004 at 03:39 PM | comments (2) | trackback (0)
Not sure if things are spiralling out of control for Mesa or not. He's stood on the edge of the abyss for a while now. The question is whether he knows how to turn around & walk back, build a bridge — or will he just fall....
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 02 Jun, 2004 at 12:30 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
Three dead in Beni after clashes w/ military & police. Jose Galindo, Minister of the Presidency, worries there's an effort to overthrow Mesa brewing. Meanwhile, MAS leader Evo Morales threatened a responsibility trial for the Beni clash....
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 01 Jun, 2004 at 03:15 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
Striking school teachers take a hostage; BONOSOL payments start today; internal splits w/in MAS continue; voter registration beats CNE expectations....
politics | by Randy Paul | 31 May, 2004 at 09:00 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
The backlash within the Miami exile community to President Bush's "new" policy toward Cuba continues, according to today's Miami Herald:...
politics | by Randy Paul | 31 May, 2004 at 07:14 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
Following on the heels of Carlos Castaño's murder disappearance, another former AUC leader has been assassinated:...
politics | by Randy Paul | 28 May, 2004 at 08:33 PM | comments (3) | trackback (0)
Or another fine Chilean wine. You know I warned him. I warned him here and here, but now he's gotten into it:...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 26 May, 2004 at 12:27 PM | comments (1) | trackback (0)
Decision reached by the Assamblea de la Cruceñidad; National Electoral Court upset at Mesa; yet another hydrocarbons minister resigns....
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 20 May, 2004 at 04:13 PM | comments (2) | trackback (0)
President Mesa finally announced the questions for the gas referendum. And although there are five of them, they seem rather vague & almost destined to win a "yes" vote by their very wording (which, I'm sure, was the point). But. Despite that, the questions are unclear as to what they...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 19 May, 2004 at 05:32 PM | comments (1) | trackback (0)
Watched some TV news today at tia Lilia's house before lunch. The autopista (the route to the airport in El Alto) was blocked this morning. It was a protest by rural teachers. The residents of El Alto seemed uninterested, so the protesters began throwing rocks at house windows, cars, even...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 19 May, 2004 at 08:52 AM | comments (8) | trackback (0)
A radio bulletin last night told that Felipe Quispe denounced his parliamentary immunity to take up armed struggle against the government. Quispe's the radical leader of his political party, MIP (Movimiento Indigena Pachacuti) as well as the CSUTCB (Confederación Sindical Unica de Trabajadores Campesinos Bolivianos). He announced that armed road...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 16 May, 2004 at 03:43 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
The highways out of La Paz are blocked again. Although the markets are still stocked, and prices have only barely inched up, you can't travel by land out of La Paz. This better lift soon, since I need to go to Cochabamba for a few days....
The military & justice?
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 11 May, 2004 at 02:19 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
Bolivia's recent political crisis, sparked by the military's objection to a court ruling that four officers be tried by civil courts, is a serious challenge to Mesa's ability to govern. And. Like most political crises, this one's not as simple as might look. While it's important to hold the military...
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Bolivia's anti-protest protest
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 11 May, 2004 at 02:16 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
In a country where protesting is considered a national pastime, an anti-protest protest isn't ironic....
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Bolivia news roundup
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 05 May, 2004 at 11:48 AM | comments (0) | trackback (1)
Tensions easing in some quarters after May Day strike fails; campesinos willing to dialogue w/ government; gremialistas still on warpath; "media luna" proposes gas referendum rules; anti-march march set for Sunday; politicians not popular....
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How is the Democracy in Latin America?
politics | by Claudio Shikida | 03 May, 2004 at 04:51 AM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
The PNUD did a good job allowing us to download this inform about democracy and other socio-economic variables. If you are a researcher or if you are just worried about democracy in our continent (at least in the "latino" portion), this could be an excellent source of information....
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bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 21 Apr, 2004 at 03:17 PM | comments (34) | trackback (2)
For the first time in years, rumors of a possible military coup have captured the nation's imagination. It's gone from whispers in certain neighborhoods, to occupying the front page of newspapers three days in a row. And while I think it's unlikely, the attention is troublesome....
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 16 Apr, 2004 at 01:33 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
Even though Mesa handed the new Ley de Hidrocarburos (which includes many of the changes the COB demanded) to Congress — and published in full text in every newspaper yesterday — the COB (Central Obrera Boliviana) marched. And although Solares pointed out that their numbers were lower than in the...
Cabinet shake-up
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 14 Apr, 2004 at 01:55 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
Mesa re-arranged his cabinet last night w/ four changes, including giving MAS control of the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs. The government's also now taking a hard line against protests, arguing that it's tried to negotiate, but now they're going to govern. Other announcements include a date for the gas referendum...
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We don't need nuclear inspections because we are not so smart and we are innocent, believe me!
brazil | by Claudio Shikida | 07 Apr, 2004 at 08:16 PM | comments (2) | trackback (0)
Ok, I agree that nobody is guilty until you show me the evidences. But this is not the same as "the law doesn't apply to you until we have evidences". Am I right? I think so. That's why we have legal mechanisms to minimize the chance of a dangerous situation...
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bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 07 Apr, 2004 at 12:46 PM | comments (1) | trackback (1)
Mesa's being hit from all sides. Current protests include: cocaleros & handicapped. Threatening to protest are: public universities, cobistas, teachers, and public transportation. The embassy pressures on coca erradication, MIR is upset because two miristas were removed from their appointments....
Bolivia news roundup
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 06 Apr, 2004 at 12:15 PM | comments (31) | trackback (0)
MAS is back in Mesa's corner; pacto social blocked by COB; business hospital starts operations; Bolivian artisans set to "conquer" foreign markets; FUN goes to the polls; Tarija business sector secedes; Mesa asks former media colleagues to support him; sometimes a strike is doomed to failure....
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bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 06 Apr, 2004 at 12:13 PM | comments (5) | trackback (0)
La Razón conducted a survey of six civic organizations: COB (Central Obrera Boliviana), COR (Central Obrera Regional de El Alto), CSUTCB (Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia), Comité Cívico de Santa Cruz, Comité Cívico de Tarija, and CAINCO (the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce & Industry). It highlighted...
Decentralization via regional autonomies
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 03 Apr, 2004 at 02:28 PM | comments (23) | trackback (0)
As a participant in the Mallasilla conference on decentralization, I was a member of the grupo de taller that developed a model based on municipal governments. Conference participants were organized into three groups: a cultural-ethnic framework, a federalization framework, and a modest one based on the already-existing municipal governments. In...
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bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 31 Mar, 2004 at 01:13 PM | comments (7) | trackback (0)
Here are the next-day details on the explosion in parliament after ex-miner Eustaquio Picachui blew himself up, taking two police officers w/ him & wounding ten others (previous details here, including the names of the dead/injured). The 47-year-old former employee of COMIBOL, the state-owned mining company, had threatened to blow...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 30 Mar, 2004 at 04:12 PM | comments (2) | trackback (0)
Shortly after 3pm today, ex-miner Eustaquio Picachuri (changed from Picachuy in latest report) blew himself up inside an annex to the parliament building. Only minutes after President Mesa had left the Palacio de Gobierno. Along w/ Picachuri Picachuy, died Colonel Márvel Flores, in charge of parliament security. Picachuri Picachuy had...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 30 Mar, 2004 at 03:40 PM | comments (1) | trackback (0)
That's what you'd call a commission that plans to have a referendum election w/o any pre-electoral propaganda (for "yes" or for "no"). Welcome to Bolivia. Parliament's hoping to pass a referendum law — a law that allows for & outlines the gas referendum — that explicitly prohibits any political propaganda....
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 28 Mar, 2004 at 02:12 PM | comments (2) | trackback (0)
La Razón just published their latest poll (conducted along w/ Nuevo Día & ATB) of Bolivian political attitudes. The survey has a representative sample of 819 residents from the cities of La Paz, El Alto, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz — no other areas were covered in the survey (though these cities...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 26 Mar, 2004 at 12:14 PM | comments (1) | trackback (0)
The COB (Central Obrera Boliviana) marched last night, as they said the would. This time, the police showed up to secure peace & order — unlike Wednesday where their total absence led to violence between protesters & pedestrians after the few cobistas assaulted anyone who jeered them....
Tri-Border: Why there?
politics | by Claudio Shikida | 20 Mar, 2004 at 05:29 AM | comments (9) | trackback (0)
Would you go to the tri-border if you could? Maybe not. You just go there because of money laundering, smuggling and, following some reports, by terror (if you are a terrorist, of course) or to know more about Guaranis (the native indians). Ok, the last one is interesting. But just...
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bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 18 Mar, 2004 at 12:04 PM | comments (235) | trackback (0)
It started this afternoon. Despite announcing a 10-day "truce" w/ Mesa's government, the COB decided to march through the Prado. About 3:30pm I heard the sound of rockets going off, and (perhaps foolishly) went out to take a look. A few hundred members of the COB & others were marching...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 15 Mar, 2004 at 07:35 AM | comments (3) | trackback (0)
Mesa's speech last night was a stern talking to aimed at the legislature, the syndicalists, and the cruceño business class. And while the missive included a desire to engage in political dialogue w/ each of these sectors — and a call to put personal interests behind & think of Bolivia...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 12 Mar, 2004 at 12:39 PM | comments (3) | trackback (0)
The Achilles' heel of presidentialism is the system of checks of balances. Why? Because in presidential democracies, political parties (especially the opposition) have invested interest in sabotaging the executive's agenda. They can cast blame on the executive (and/or his party), winning electoral support for themselves. Prior to October, Bolivia's political...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 09 Mar, 2004 at 12:32 PM | comments (27) | trackback (0)
For the first time in twenty years of democratic history, Bolivia's facing the harsh realities of presidential politics. For the past two decades, Bolivia resembled a parliamentary system, where every president was supported by a solid legislative majority. Bolivia overcame the governability problem inherent in presidential democracy (read Juan Linz...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 08 Mar, 2004 at 01:24 PM | comments (175) | trackback (0)
Here's a map of Bolivia divided by municipalities. Bolivia's a centralist, "unitary republic" — the prefects (governors) of the country's 9 departments aren't elected, but appointed by the president. This map (published in La Razón, click to enlarge) shows the country as divided into 9 department (the basic colors) and...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 08 Mar, 2004 at 01:00 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
President Mesa's tax proposals are under fire in Bolivia's parliament. MAS & NFR now oppose the proposal to impose taxes on Bolivians w/ more than $50,000....
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 06 Mar, 2004 at 12:34 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
The following is a round up of recent Bolivian news....
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 03 Mar, 2004 at 12:35 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
Tentatively scheduled for 28 March, the gas referendum may be postponed because parliament's not yet ratified the necessary law. President Mesa only sent the law to parliament on Friday. The National Electoral Court (CNE) warned that it needs at least 90 days from the date of the law's approval to...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 28 Feb, 2004 at 11:49 AM | comments (23) | trackback (0)
As Bolivia's gas referendum approaches, many are hailing the birth of referendum democracy. I'm not convinced that referendum democracy is desireable or even a solution to the country's problems. For all its strengths, referendum democracy — in practice — has important drawbacks. It increases the power of bureaucracies. It reduces...
brazil | by Claudio Shikida | 21 Feb, 2004 at 03:54 AM | comments (1) | trackback (0)
Illegal payments to public officials are not good for the image of a country. So, what an economist would do with this? He would advise you to enforce the law, increasing the probability of being punished. Or, he could also say: "Let people buy and sell the good or service...
brazil | by Claudio Shikida | 20 Feb, 2004 at 10:54 AM | comments (1) | trackback (1)
José Genoíno, an important representant of Brazilian's government seems to be more realistic than his fellows. According to him, the affair involving one of the most important leaders of his party, José Dirceu, will be forgotten due to our great party: carnival. That's probably true (I wouldn't say he is...
politics | by Miguel Octavio | 12 Feb, 2004 at 08:53 PM | comments (5) | trackback (0)
The saga of the recall petition against President Hugo Chavez continued this week as tensions rose in Venezuela. In theory, the Consjeo Nacional Electoral (CNE) had until tomorrow to decide whether the opposition had or not gathered the required signatures. Instead, the CNE announced late Wednesday that it was sending...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 12 Feb, 2004 at 12:34 PM | comments (10) | trackback (0)
Today was the second day of the 48 hour transit strike against the de-freezing of gasoline prices (though prices haven't yet increased). The measure was labeled a failure by most papers. El Alto residents not only didn't march (as they were called on to do), but they jeered the road...
mexico | by Mike Derham | 10 Feb, 2004 at 01:53 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
In addition to his wife's public travails, Mexico's Vincente Fox recently was recently caught out in an akward position: the braceros raised the stakes to get further attention to their cause....
mexico | by Mike Derham | 09 Feb, 2004 at 03:16 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
The First Couple of Mexico has been in the news lately, both in ways that I'm sure they rather not be. I'll talk about Marta Sahagún de Fox, the First Lady, because -after all- etiquette requires ladies first:...
caribbean | by Mike Derham | 09 Feb, 2004 at 10:25 AM | comments (1) | trackback (0)
One of the limitations to my view (and I think the view of lots of others) of Latin America is that I only look at the region through the prisms of English, Portuguese, and Spanish. So I haven't been paying attention to the situation in Haiti. But this Reuters article...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 08 Feb, 2004 at 12:15 PM | comments (4) | trackback (0)
There's a recent meme circulating about Bolivia becoming the "Afghanistan of the Andes." While this is in the realm of possibilities, I don't think it's in the realm of probability. Yes, Bolivia's suffering a crisis of governability. It's also true that Bolivia's involvement in international cocaine production makes exercising government...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 05 Feb, 2004 at 01:42 PM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
Several weeks ago, Bolivian business mogul Samuel Doria Medina left MIR (Movement of the Revolutionary Left) & launched his own political party, FUN (Frente de Unidad Nacional). Last week, Doria Medina joined some alteño dirigentes in a march through El Alto. This past week, the party's militantes have been out...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 03 Feb, 2004 at 01:16 PM | comments (2) | trackback (0)
Mesa presented his austerity plan (of sorts) Sunday night. There's no gasolinazo nor garrafazo in store — at least not yet. The entire plan includes 23 executive decrees & 3 bills presented for parliament's approval. It also involved six "focus areas": austerity; production, exports & job creation; solidarity; highway infrastructure;...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 02 Feb, 2004 at 01:48 PM | comments (5) | trackback (0)
There's been some attention paid to the role of El Alto (the sprawling slum twin city of La Paz) in national politics. After all, October's guerra del gas was primarily an alteño affair. It wasn't until after the city of La Paz had been besieged & cut off from the...
brazil | by Mike Derham | 02 Feb, 2004 at 10:08 AM | comments (0) | trackback (0)
Jeffrey Sachs, the global development guru had an op-ed piece in Friday's Miami Herald praising both Lula and Fernando Henrique Cardoso in providing the leadership necessary to help Brazil weather the economic crises of 1999 and 2002:...
bolivia | by Miguel Centellas | 01 Feb, 2004 at 05:07 PM | comments (22) | trackback (0)
The city's abuzz, anticipating Mesa's big speech tonight at 9pm. He's going to unveil his administration's economic austerity plan. The government has to somehow bridge the gap between income & expenses (it spends about twice as much as it brings in). How'll Mesa do it? What's the big plan?...
Electoral authority at the center of controversy
politics | by Miguel Octavio | 25 Jan, 2004 at 09:41 PM | comments (25) | trackback (0)
As Venezuelans look for a solution to their political crisis via elections, the referee in the process is being questioned by all sides and even from within. After a week in which pro-Government and opposition groups continued questioning the Electoral Board known as the CNE (Comision Nacioanl Electoral), the two...
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Doubts About Bush Immigration Plan
politics | by Mike Derham | 12 Jan, 2004 at 01:26 PM | comments (50) | trackback (0)
A quick follow-up to the previous post on the Bush administration's announced proposal to allow illegal immigrants in the US to register as temporary workers shows that the proposal has been received with some skepticism....
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politics | by Mike Derham | 07 Jan, 2004 at 10:53 AM | comments (75) | trackback (0)
The New York Times and the Washington Post both have front page articles unveiling Bush's new temporary worker plan to document illegal immigrants. If you listen quietly, you can hear Vincente Fox dancing with joy....
brazil | by Stephen George | 24 Nov, 2003 at 06:00 AM | comments (20) | trackback (0)
If not for a copy left behind by a visiting friend, I would have missed this little tidbit from the front page of the November 12th Independent (UK) (and evidently the NY Times), archived on the Truthout website, about the UK's reduction in its International Development budget, redirecting the funds...
brazil | by Stephen George | 11 Nov, 2003 at 06:19 AM | comments (22) | trackback (0)
There is clear delight in Brazil this morning after the WTO decision that US tariffs on steel imports are contrary to the rules of the agreement, and the economy pages of the papers are dominated by the news. Brazil's ambassador to the WTO is quoted in O Globo this morning...
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" Good News in Colombia? | Randy Paul
" The current situation | Miguel Centellas " Mesa's Sorata? | Miguel Centellas " Bolivia news roundup | Miguel Centellas " More Negative Exile Community Reaction to Bush's New Cuba Policy | Randy Paul " Another AUC Figure Assassinated | Randy Paul " I Think I'm Going to Open Up a Bottle of Concha Y Toro | Randy Paul " Referendum news | Miguel Centellas " Five questions | Miguel Centellas " A note of caution | Miguel Centellas
" Good News in Colombia? | Randy Paul
" The current situation | Miguel Centellas " Mesa's Sorata? | Miguel Centellas " Bolivia news roundup | Miguel Centellas " More Negative Exile Community Reaction to Bush's New Cuba Policy | Randy Paul " more from living in latin america...
"President Mesa finally announced the questions for the gas referendum. And although there are five of them, they seem rather vague & almost destined to win a "yes" vote by their very wording (which, I'm sure, was the point). But. Despite that, the questions are unclear as to what they..."
" continue reading Five questions...
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