Center for Democracy in the Americas

In the U.S., Mother’s Day is a hallmark of our spring calendar, so we wanted to wish a happy holiday to every mother who reads and enjoys the weekly blast. As you will read below, the organization called Save the Children has released its annual Mothers Index Rating and has… read more »

Senior Members of the U.S. Congress have written Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding the now controversial editorial published by Carlos García-Pérez, the director of Radio/TV Marti, in which he attacked Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega and called him a “lackey” of Cuba’s government. Representatives Jim McGovern, James Moran, Sam Farr,… read more »

William Booth of the Washington Post broke an exceptionally important story this weekend about an editorial published on the website of Radio and TV Marti – the anti-Castro, taxpayer -funded government broadcasters –which called Cuba’s Cardinal Jaime Ortega a “lackey” and asserted the Cardinal espoused views that were “contrary to the… read more »

Last week, we reported on Governor Rick Scott’s decision to sign legislation to stop Florida’s municipalities and state agencies from doing business with companies that have dealings with Syria and – the intended target – Cuba.  At the time, we called him “cynical” for signing legislation that is probably unconstitutional and bad… read more »

Si bien la Cumbre de las Américas estuvo colmada de frustraciones para el Presidente Obama, en el caso del jefe de Estado de El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, este acontecimiento de dos días resultó ser todo un éxito. En su discurso ante los participantes de la Cumbre, el Presidente Funes pudo anunciar por primera vez durante los casi tres años de su administración que el sábado 14 de abril hubo “cero homicidios” en este país. Esto obedece a un frágil acuerdo de cese al fuego entre las dos pandillas más grandes del país, la MS y Barrio 18.

Although the Summit of the Americas was fraught with frustrations for President Obama, for El Salvador’s head of state, Mauricio Funes, the two-day event was a success. In his address to Summit participants, President Funes was able to announce “zero homicides” in El Salvador on Saturday, April 14th, for the first time in the nearly three years of his administration, a consequence of the fragile cease-fire agreement between the country’s two largest gangs, MS and Barrio 18. Not only was President Funes seated at the right hand of the U.S. president during official meetings, when the two leaders met privately, Funes received assurances of continued U.S. support on economic and security issues. Just three days later, El Salvador accepted the “voluntary transfer” of two Guantanamo prisoners as refugees.

Luisita Lopez Torregrosa, The New York Times- Quietly and against the odds, women are stepping up the political ladder in Latin America, moving ahead of the United States when it comes to political empowerment and closely matching much of Western Europe. The Latin America-Caribbean region, once a caldron of machismo… read more »

Luisita Lopez Torregrosa, International Herald Tribune- Cuba may just be the most feminist country in Latin America. It ranks No. 3 in the world when it comes to the political participation of women in Parliament, according to a United Nations survey on women in politics. And it’s the only nation in… read more »