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Latin America
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The Perfect World >> Global Policy >> Latin America

Latin America

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Nicholas Kronos -- Saturday, September 02, 2006 -- 01:28:55 PM

Se habla español (y un poco portugués).

This thread is tagged: politics, latinamerica
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Nicholas Kronos -- Saturday, September 02, 2006 -- 01:32:18 PM -- 1 of 98
In the darkness of barbarism men knew the truth without the facts. In the twilight of half-civilization, they saw the truth illuminating the facts. In the full blaze and radiance of complete civilization they found all the facts and lost the truth forever

Is Mexico headed for anarchy?

Their election has been limping along like Bush v. Gore, but things are poised to fall outside the rule of law:

The standoff came six days before the top electoral court must declare a president-elect or annul the July 2 vote and order a new election. So far, rulings have favored Calderon, of Fox's National Action Party, who was ahead by about 240,000 votes in the official count.
Lopez Obrador has already said he won't recognize the electoral court's decision and he plans to create a parallel government and rule from the streets. The former Mexico City mayor has accused Fox used fraud and backroom deals to keep him from the presidency. Fox denies that.
Zermeno, also a member of the ruling party, said Friday's confrontation called into question plans for the Dec. 1 inauguration of Fox's successor. He called for an end to weeks of angry rhetoric and protests by leftists.
"The country can't advance when there are threats, ultimatums and blockades," he said.
Fearing violent protests, authorities had surrounded Congress earlier Friday with multiple layers of steel barriers, attack dogs in cages, water cannons and riot police in full protective gear. Entire neighborhoods were sealed off, preventing some of the city's sprawling markets from opening, and nearby subway stations were shut down.
Many had feared the deepening political turmoil over the election to replace Fox could explode into violence, but Lopez Obrador called on his supporters to remain peacefully gathered in Mexico City's Zocalo plaza - instead of marching on Congress as they had previously planned.
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Ronski -- Saturday, September 02, 2006 -- 03:02:28 PM -- 2 of 98
"What can happen to an Old Fashioned?" -- Jim Backus

Not anarchy. Chaos.

And I think Mexico has often had a bit of that in one part of the country or another, without it getting too widespread.

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General Pershing -- Sunday, September 03, 2006 -- 02:10:21 AM -- 3 of 98

I've also been following the news. I'm in agreement with Ronski. I think it's just more of the same with Mexico. Our southern neighbor has always been something of a semi-failed state -- parts of it can be very prosperous; other parts of it always seem to teeter on the edge of rebellion. Sometimes these parts change a little bit.

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GregD -- Sunday, September 03, 2006 -- 04:21:30 AM -- 4 of 98
After the power to choose a man wants the power to erase. --Stephen Dunn

Which only makes it more the pity to me. After the PRI era, Mexican government would've benefited greatly from a peaceful transition of power.

If I were Solomon though, Obrador's eagerness to split the baby would be all the sign I need to hand it to Calderon.

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General Pershing -- Tuesday, September 05, 2006 -- 12:50:19 PM -- 5 of 98

Mexico: Democracy Under Threat

To get a sense of the danger hovering over Mexican democracy, consider these numbers: In the 681 years between the founding of the Aztec empire in 1325 and the present day, Mexico has lived for 196 years under an indigenous theocracy, 289 years under the absolute monarchy of Spain, 106 years under personal or party dictatorships, 68 years embroiled in civil wars or revolutions, and only 22 years in democracy.
This modest democratic 3 percent of Mexico's history is divided over three periods, far separated in time: 11 years in the second half of the 19th century, 11 months at the beginning of the 20th century, and the past 10 years. In the first two instances, the constitutional order was overturned by military coups....
In articles and interviews published in the international press (written in a misleading tone of civility, far from that of his incendiary speeches), López Obrador has seriously damaged Mexico's young democracy by trying to sustain the unsustainable: that Mexico today is the same as Mexico in the days of PRI rule. He fails to mention that:
· He spent more on television advertising than any other candidate.
· In the same election he calls "a filthy mess" his leftist coalition managed to become the second-most-powerful force in the legislature, considerably increasing its presence in both chambers, while the coalition's candidate for mayor of Mexico City won with 47 percent of the vote.
· The polling places where the Federal Electoral Tribunal ordered a recount (9 percent of the total) weren't a random sampling, which would have been more than sufficient to determine whether there was generalized fraud. They were instead a selection weighted in López Obrador's favor because he chose the polling places where he hoped to show that there had been fraud -- unsuccessfully, since the resulting difference has been minimal, according to the tribunal's ruling.
· He has said that even if there were a recount in 100 percent of the polling places, he wouldn't accept the results if they were not in his favor.
Today, many citizens who voted for López Obrador are not only disappointed but fearful. According to recent polls, the majority of the country disapproves of his actions and supports the Federal Electoral Tribunal's performance. If the presidential elections were held today, Felipe Calderón of the National Action Party would win with 54 percent to López Obrador's 30 percent.
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Nicholas Kronos -- Tuesday, September 05, 2006 -- 06:55:12 PM -- 6 of 98
In the darkness of barbarism men knew the truth without the facts. In the twilight of half-civilization, they saw the truth illuminating the facts. In the full blaze and radiance of complete civilization they found all the facts and lost the truth forever

Court confirms Calderon's win

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GregD -- Tuesday, September 05, 2006 -- 08:19:40 PM -- 7 of 98
After the power to choose a man wants the power to erase. --Stephen Dunn

One thing that gets me is that Fox and now Calderon have been geniuses to let Obrador have at it instead of attempting to quell their protests and shut his street operations down.

Obrador, slowly, is showing himself for the furious socialist autocrat he is. The light at the end of the tunnel that I see is that by allowing him a free hand they're letting him marginalize himself instead of giving him the victim status he needs.

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Amaxen -- Thursday, October 19, 2006 -- 09:59:37 PM -- 8 of 98
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.

As I predicted earlier, Hugo's in trouble.

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Amaxen -- Thursday, November 09, 2006 -- 07:28:14 AM -- 9 of 98
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.

How Danny Ortega's been spending his time in the political wilderness

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Nicholas Kronos -- Tuesday, May 01, 2007 -- 03:03:04 PM -- 10 of 98
In the darkness of barbarism men knew the truth without the facts. In the twilight of half-civilization, they saw the truth illuminating the facts. In the full blaze and radiance of complete civilization they found all the facts and lost the truth forever

A Confederacy of Dunces

Ten years ago, Colombian writer Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, Cuban writer Carlos Alberto Montaner, and I wrote Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot, a book criticizing opinion and political leaders who clung to ill-conceived political myths despite evidence to the contrary. The “Idiot” species, we suggested, bore responsibility for Latin America’s underdevelopment. Its beliefs—revolution, economic nationalism, hatred of the United States, faith in the government as an agent of social justice, a passion for strongman rule over the rule of law—derived, in our opinion, from an inferiority complex. In the late 1990s, it seemed as if the Idiot were finally retreating. But the retreat was short lived. Today, the species is back in force in the form of populist heads of state who are reenacting the failed policies of the past, opinion leaders from around the world who are lending new credence to them, and supporters who are giving new life to ideas that seemed extinct.
Because of the inexorable passing of time, today’s young Latin American Idiots prefer Shakira’s pop ballads to Pérez Prado’s mambos and no longer sing leftist anthems like “The Internationale” or “Until Always Comandante.” But they are still descendants of rural migrants, middle class, and deeply resentful of the frivolous lives of the wealthy displayed in the glossy magazines they discreetly leaf through on street corners. State-run universities provide them with a class-based view of society that argues that wealth is something that needs to be retaken from those who have stolen it. For these young Idiots, Latin America’s condition is the result of Spanish and Portuguese colonialism, followed by U.S. imperialism. These basic beliefs provide a safety valve for their grievances against a society that offers scant opportunity for social mobility. Freud might say they have deficient egos that are unable to mediate between their instincts and their idea of morality. Instead, they suppress the notion that predation and vindictiveness are wrong and rationalize their aggressiveness with elementary notions of Marxism.
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Nicholas Kronos -- Monday, July 02, 2007 -- 02:25:36 PM -- 11 of 98
In the darkness of barbarism men knew the truth without the facts. In the twilight of half-civilization, they saw the truth illuminating the facts. In the full blaze and radiance of complete civilization they found all the facts and lost the truth forever

No Medicine for Hernandez Gonzalez

[quoted]

Hernandez Gonzalez was arrested on March 18, 2003, during a crackdown that netted 75 journalists and other alleged dissidents. After brief trials, most of which reportedly lasted less than a day, they were sentenced to prison terms of as long as 25 years. According to human-rights organizations monitoring the situation, 59 of the 75 remain in prison.

At the time of his arrest, Hernandez Gonzalez was the head of the Camaguey College of Independent Journalists. ``It was a group established by Normando,'' says his mother, who now lives in Miami. ``The headquarters was at my house, in Camaguey. They are all in jail now.''

The group's 10 writers, of whom Hernandez Gonzalez was the youngest, were charged with violating Article 91 of the Cuban Criminal Code for writing stories that tracked government abuses and mismanagement by social-service agencies, according to a report by the PEN American Center, a watchdog group that publicizes human-rights violations against writers around the world.

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Nicholas Kronos -- Thursday, August 02, 2007 -- 08:47:14 PM -- 12 of 98
In the darkness of barbarism men knew the truth without the facts. In the twilight of half-civilization, they saw the truth illuminating the facts. In the full blaze and radiance of complete civilization they found all the facts and lost the truth forever

Federal agents gunned down in Mexico

[Quoted]

Two federal agents who took part in a raid that discovered $205 million in cash in a Mexico City mansion were found beaten and shot to death in southern Mexico, authorities said Wednesday.

The bodies of Josue Hernandez, 32, and Anibal Sanchez, 30, both agents with Mexico's Federal Agency of Investigation, were found Tuesday in Guerrero state, where they were gathering intelligence on drug traffickers, the Public Safety Department said in a news release.

Both officers took part in the seizure of more than 19 tons of a chemical intended for methamphetamine cartels in Mexico. They were also in the team of agents who raided Ye Gon's mansion where authorities in March found more than $205 million in cash hidden in closets, the news release said.

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Frank Black -- Wednesday, August 15, 2007 -- 09:48:09 PM -- 13 of 98

Surprise, surprise: Chavez to propose constitutional reforms

President Hugo Chavez was presenting his blueprint Wednesday for sweeping constitutional changes expected to allow him to be re-elected indefinitely, a move his critics call a threat to democracy.

Chavez, who is seeking to transform Venezuelan society along socialist lines, announced late Tuesday that he would unveil his proposal before crowds of supporters at the National Assembly. He predicted it would bring renewed political upheaval to Venezuela.

Ya think?

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GregD -- Saturday, August 18, 2007 -- 12:52:23 AM -- 14 of 98
After the power to choose a man wants the power to erase. --Stephen Dunn

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Ronski -- Saturday, March 08, 2008 -- 02:13:30 AM -- 15 of 98
"What can happen to an Old Fashioned?" -- Jim Backus

Foreign Affairs: Chavez Rhetoric and Reality

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j. ross -- Saturday, March 08, 2008 -- 08:51:19 PM -- 16 of 98

No wonder he is so eager to have a war!

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Amaxen -- Wednesday, March 12, 2008 -- 10:09:14 PM -- 17 of 98
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.

Speaking of bananas...

Chiquita Sued By U.S. Families for Support of the FARC

Seems a tough decision for the guy on the ground, but bottom line paying protection money isn't a good idea.

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Amaxen -- Tuesday, March 25, 2008 -- 05:06:00 PM -- 18 of 98
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.

Pokemones in Chile

"Chile's disaffected 'Pokemones' don't care much about politics. They're too busy having sex."

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Mostone -- Thursday, April 24, 2008 -- 01:34:47 PM -- 19 of 98

(Message has been moved from General Political Discussion)

As she clips flowers in a vast greenhouse, Ms. Reynosa knows that her future depends on access to the American market. She agrees that Colombia has human-rights problems, but she argues passionately that the free-trade agreement is the way to register continued improvements. More trade will mean more jobs and more security and human rights, she argues.

Better Roses Than Cocaine

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Hector -- Thursday, April 24, 2008 -- 02:49:31 PM -- 20 of 98
Of course, we didn't get fucked up first and taunt the large, charismatic carnivores.

(Message has been moved from General Political Discussion)

They're KILLING trade unionists in Columbia, Mostone. Does this fall under your 'gotta break an egg to make an omelet" paradigm?

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The Perfect World >> Global Policy >> Latin America
Folders: A Sense of Place ·­ Blogosphere ·­ Chat ·­ Competitive Sports ·­ Current Events ·­ Domestic Sphere ·­ Family ·­ Finance, Careers, & Education ·­ Games & Goofiness ·­ Geek Subjects ·­ Global Policy ·­ Health & Fitness ·­ Literature & The Arts ·­ Marketplace ·­ Meta-Forum ·­ Mostly Christmas ·­ Movies ·­ Politics ·­ Social Policy ·­ TPW Archives ·­ TV Talk ·­ Values & Beliefs