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 »

In Florida, relations with Cuba are serious business.  Ask Miami Marlin’s manager Ozzie Guillen, publicly shamed and forced to apologize to save his job for talking about Fidel Castro’s longevity. Or worse, ask Airline Brokers Company, a Coral Gables-based travel provider that recently helped fly 340 pilgrims to Cuba for… read more »

Sam Quinones, LA Times- Under cloudless skies and a radiant sun, a couple of hundred Salvadorans dressed in white gathered early Saturday to name an intersection near downtown Los Angeles in honor of Msgr. Oscar A. Romero, a Catholic archbishop who was slain in 1980 during El Salvador’s civil war… read more »

Last Sunday, the Sixth Summit of the Americas ended without a formal declaration but with the United States chastised and isolated by its regional allies. Nearly everything has been said about the Summit – setting aside for a moment the Secret Service scandal – and nearly everyone has said it. … read more »

As President Obama makes his way to Colombia for the Summit of the Americas — “to tout his trade record and convince millions of Hispanic voters back home he cares about the region,” as Reuters tartly reported — I found myself thinking back three years when he last attended this meeting…. read more »

As President Obama makes his way to Colombia for the Summit of the Americas – “to tout his trade record and convince millions of Hispanic voters back home he cares about the region,” as Reuters tartly reported – we found ourselves thinking back three years when he last attended this… read more »

By Dr. Dan Hellinger Note: As this edition is posted, President Chávez has returned to Cuba amid additional doubts and speculations about his health.  Some of the speculation has been fueled by Chávez’s own public comments.  Caracas Connect will monitor the situation and post updates in the event of significant… read more »

The political debate over U.S. policy toward Cuba has never been for the faint-hearted.  It’s always raucous, highly emotional, sometimes violent, often absurd, and now increasingly irrelevant. The U.S. is castigated in the region and globally for the policy, and we’re increasingly marginalized – politically and economically – as allies… read more »

Over the last decades, the Catholic Church has moved from the margins in Cuba’s national life to a more influential role. This progress has been mostly defined by decisions taken in Cuba.  But it has also been propelled forward by Pope John Paul II’s trip in 1998 and now by… read more »

El tumultuoso proceso electoral de medio período de la Asamblea Nacional y las municipalidades de El Salvador concluyó de forma ordenada el 11 de marzo con pocos problemas serios. En el transcurso de los días siguientes, se retiró la propaganda de las campañas, los salvadoreños se prepararon para disfrutar de unas largas vacaciones de Semana Santa en la playa y la clase política se sumió en un análisis postelectoral de victorias y derrotas. En el seno de la Asamblea Legislativa, surgieron de inmediato las negociaciones, a medida que los dos partidos mayoritarios (ARENA y el FMLN) —ninguno obtuvo una mayoría— se lanzaban a buscar votos entre las agrupaciones políticas más pequeñas para garantizarse el éxito en torno a diversos asuntos críticos que les esperan. Ahora que ya finalizaron las elecciones del 2012, empezó de inmediato la contienda presidencial del 2104, en tanto los esperanzados candidatos compiten inmediatamente por quedar bien situados.

The tumultuous mid-term electoral process for El Salvador’s National Assembly and municipalities concluded in an orderly fashion on March 11th with few serious problems. In the following days, campaign propaganda came down, Salvadorans prepared for long Semana Santa vacations at the beach and the political class was immersed in post-election analysis of victories and defeats. In the National Assembly, negotiations were immediately underway as the two major parties (ARENA and the FMLN), neither with a majority, hunted for votes among smaller parties to guarantee success on critical issues ahead. With 2012 elections over, the campaign for the 2014 presidential contest began straightaway as hopeful candidates jockeyed for position.

As old saying goes, where you stand depends on where you sit.  As the New York Times reported this week, Cuba’s Cardinal Ortega, the priests, the faithful, the protestors in Cuba, the diaspora in Miami, official Washington, and many others have assigned great expectations to the visit of Pope Benedict… read more »

The Hill – In 1979, the U.S. State Department began designating countries that “have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism” as State Sponsors of Terrorism. Today, four countries are on the list: Iran, Syria, Sudan and … Cuba. Seriously, Cuba? Countries not on the State Sponsors of Terrorism… read more »

The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Cuba is ten days away. But it is already easy to discern disquiet among the hardest of the hardliners that history could repeat itself. They’re busy creating expectations for the visit to fail. Why are they so grim? What makes them nervous is… read more »

Not only have the Vatican and the U.S. and Cuban bishops’ conferences set up websites to track the upcoming March 26-28, 2012 visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Cuba for the 400th anniversary of La Virgen de Caridad de Cobre, but the government of Cuba has done so as well. Created by Cuba’s Foreign Ministry, the website is a reflection of the degree to which relations between the Catholic Church and the Cuban government have evolved since the early 1960s when conflict and tension ran high. Beginning in the late 1960s, the Catholic Church, weakened by the departure of the bulk of priests and religious, has sought to move from the margins of Cuban society into the mainstream and it appears to be succeeding.

A new report by El Faro suggests that, confronted with a surge in homicide rates, the government of El Salvador may have struck a deal with the country’s two largest street gangs – Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 – in order to reduce violence.

Seven US senators signed a letter to Secretary Clinton asking that the State Department update them on investigations into human rights abuses in Honduras. Twenty percent of the US assistance is to be held up if the State Department does not certify that progress is being made. Separately, and receiving wider attention, 94 members of Congress signed a letter calling for a full cutoff of all aid to Honduras’s police and military. The Congressional letter also asks for updates on specific cases of human rights violations and for information about how the US embassy is working to comply with the Leahy provisions that prohibit the US military from working with or assisting military units that commit human rights abuses.

Salvadoran voters shift to the right: ARENA, the conservative party that held power until 2009, is once again the primary political force in El Salvador following a defeat for the left in National Assembly and municipal elections that reflects voter apathy, disillusion with promises of “change,” and profound concern about the inability of the government to control the critical public security crisis.

Venezuela’s presidential election campaign, as well as the future of the Bolivarian Revolution itself, was thrown into new uncertainty by new health setback for President Chávez: he had a new lesion. He flew to Cuba for surgery, and the surgery revealed the lesion to be the recurrence of cancer. Washington continued to ponder the extent of Iran’s presence and role in the region. Finally, the issue of violent crime was dramatized when two supporters of Henrique Capriles Radonski, the opposition’s presidential candidate, were injured during a clash between supporters of Capriles and members of Chávez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) in a poor part of Caracas.

The U.S. rarely has a kind word for Cuba or its government.  So, it was noteworthy this week when our State Department released its 2011 annual reports on drug trafficking and money laundering and Cuba received good marks for its counter-narcotic efforts. The brief section on Cuba in the report,… read more »

If you needed another reminder about the double standards of U.S. diplomacy relating to all issues Cuba, this week provided another powerful example. After weeks of conflict with Egypt, and tormenting days of impasse for the families of 16 Americans held in that country as part of a crackdown on… read more »

A solo pocos días de las elecciones de diputados y alcaldes, los funcionarios se están preparando para un proceso electoral bastante complicado. Si bien se considera que las reformas que ordenó la Sala de lo Constitucional en el 2010 representan avances democráticos positivos, las mismas necesitan una masiva campaña de información, a fin de educar al electorado sobre dónde votar, al igual que cómo marcar las nuevas papeletas, las cuales anteriormente sólo necesitaban una simple “X” en la bandera del partido correspondiente. Se espera que al menos 1,200 observadores internacionales lleguen al país para las votaciones del 11 de marzo. Lo que está en juego es muy alto en estas elecciones de medio período, tanto para el Presidente Funes como para los propios partidos políticos.

With legislative and mayoral elections less than a week away, officials are preparing for a very complicated electoral process. Reforms ordered by the Constitutional Court in 2010 are seen as positive democratic advances, they but require a massive information campaign to educate the electorate about where to vote and how to mark the new ballots — ballots that in the past required only a simple “X” over a party flag. To witness this process, at least 1,200 international observers are expected for the March 11th vote. The stakes are high for President Funes and for the political parties in this mid-term election.