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Content about Latin America

August 1, 2011
Armed Conflict Breeding Modern Day Slavery

 

Government representatives and delegates representing worker and employer organizations attending a United Nations conference recently called for more rights for domestic workers: clear information on terms and conditions of employment, reasonable hours of work and rest, and freedom of association, according to a UN News Centre report.

The value of the UN International Labor Organization’s resolution to the millions of men and women forcibly trafficked and coerced into servitude will likely be very little. This has been seen in the steady increase of modern slavery despite the number of global mandates in the past on the subject. The crisis has been heightened by the increase of displaced people --those most vulnerable to human trafficking-- in direct proportion to the increase of armed conflict around the world.

Last month on World Refugee Day, Mans Nyberg of the United Nations' Refugee Agency (UNHCR) told Voice of America (VOA) the thousands of people uprooted by the uprising and conflict across the Arab World make this year especially poignant. "It's basically the last desperate move you make when you don't have any other option," said Mr Nyberg.

 

Nyberg’s statement is critical as, out of sheer desperation, these same refugees are often enticed into a better life across borders, one free from war and poverty, only to be sold into modern day slavery.

June 10, 2010
Brazilian President Lula da Silva Honored by the United Nations, Assumes the Mantle of Diplomat

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva was officially recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Food Program (WFP), both commissions of the United Nations, as a ‘Champion’ for his aggressive leadership role in the effort to end hunger and improve nutrition in Brazil, and the developing world, and for re-emphasizing hunger as a critical global concern and U.N. priority. 

June 10, 2010
Land Grabbing on the Rise in Latin America

In parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, particularly Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru, peasants and indigenous farmers are losing tens of millions of hectares of their fertile farmland to foreign states and private sector investors. These invaders, representing large banks and agribusiness corporations are grabbing the land from their rightful owners and using it to produce food and fuel, primarily for export, not with a concern for reducing worldwide poverty, but moreso to gain profit.

In parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, particularly Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru, peasants and indigenous farmers are losing tens of millions of hectares of their fertile farmland to foreign states and private sector investors. These invaders, representing large banks and agribusiness corporations are grabbing the land from their rightful owners and using it to produce food and fuel, primarily for export, not with a concern for reducing worldwide poverty, but moreso to gain profit.

June 10, 2010
Land Grabbing on the Rise in Latin America

In parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, particularly Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru, peasants and indigenous farmers are losing tens of millions of hectares of their fertile farmland to foreign states and private sector investors. These invaders, representing large banks and agribusiness corporations are grabbing the land from their rightful owners and using it to produce food and fuel, primarily for export, not with a concern for reducing worldwide poverty, but moreso to gain profit.

In parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, particularly Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru, peasants and indigenous farmers are losing tens of millions of hectares of their fertile farmland to foreign states and private sector investors. These invaders, representing large banks and agribusiness corporations are grabbing the land from their rightful owners and using it to produce food and fuel, primarily for export, not with a concern for reducing worldwide poverty, but moreso to gain profit.

June 6, 2010
International Women’s Day Celebrates Progress

Women all across Latin America and the Caribbean joined the recent global celebration of International Women’s Day in March for a day of reflection and commemoration, highlighting the huge strides made in the region towards ending gender discrimination and inequality. Nearly every country in Latin America has currently signed onto international or regional treaties whose focus is equality and non-discrimination. And all the countries have established institutions promoting equality of the sexes.

May 15, 2010
Vital, Clean, Endangered, Scarce: World Water Day 2010

Water, the life-giving combination of oxygen and hydrogen that comprises 80 per cent of the human body, was celebrated and discussed, inspiring action around the world during World Water Day (WWD), officially designated as March 22 by the United Nations Environmental Program for the group UN-Water. The observances were held in conjunction with a host of other international organizations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations International Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF), the UN sponsored World Health Organization (WHO), The International Water Association, and The World Water Council. 

March 19, 2010
Latin American Nations Hold ‘Rio Group’Summit, Exclude U.S.,Canada

The common concerns and priorities of the Latin American and Caribbean nations have once again culminated in coalition.  The ‘Rio Group’convened in Cancun, Mexico recently.

The common concerns and priorities of the Latin American and Caribbean nations have once again culminated in coalition.  The ‘Rio Group’convened in Cancun, Mexico recently.  The yearly summit has been another venue through which the attending member nations have been able to formulate a unified vehicle to use to represent the specific interests, problems, and concerns of all its 32 members - a collective bargaining agent for use in dialogue in the global forum.  Speaking as to the nature of the peculiarities of the Latino-Caribe regions, Mexican President

March 19, 2010
Secretary of State Tours Latin and South America

U.S.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was greeted by a standing honor guard of Uruguay upon landing there on the first stop of her diplomatic tour of Latin America. Ms. Clinton attended the inauguration of Uruguayan President-elect Jose’ Mujica, who served as a senator before his election. Mrs. Clinton’s tour then preceeded to earthquake striken Chile’, where she met with outgoing President Michelle Bachelet, and also with the President-elect Sebastian Pinera.

U.S.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was greeted by a standing honor guard of Uruguay upon landing there on the first stop of her diplomatic tour of Latin America. Ms. Clinton attended the inauguration of Uruguayan President-elect Jose’ Mujica, who served as a senator before his election. Mrs.

February 21, 2010
President-Elect Laura Chinchilla, Choice of the Costa Rican Voters

Costa Ricans have elected their first woman president as the ruling party candidate won in a landslide after campaigning to continue free market policies in Central America’s most stable nation.  The 50-year-old protege of the current president, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias, promised to pursue the same economic policies that recently brought the country into a trade pact with the U.S. and opened commerce with China.

Costa Ricans have elected their first woman president as the ruling party candidate won in a landslide after campaigning to continue free market policies in Central America’s most stable nation.  The 50-year-old protege of the current president, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias, promised to pursue the same economic policies that recently brought the country into a trade pact with the U.S. and opened commerce with China.

February 21, 2010
Russia Displaces the US as Top Arms Supplier to Latin America

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a British research institute focusing on international security, revealed that Russia in 2009 became the main exporter of weapons to Latin America thanks to the purchases made by Venezuela, but also to Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Colombia. However, two of the countries with the largest defence budgets, Colombia and Mexico, remain faithful to US military arms, while other countries have “diversified suppliers.”

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a British research institute focusing on international security, revealed that Russia in 2009 became the main exporter of weapons to Latin America thanks to the purchases made by Venezuela, but also to Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Colombia. However, two of the countries with the largest defence budgets, Colombia and Mexico, remain faithful to US military arms, while other countries have “diversified suppliers.”

February 21, 2010
Russia Displaces the US as Top Arms Supplier to Latin America

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a British research institute focusing on international security, revealed that Russia in 2009 became the main exporter of weapons to Latin America thanks to the purchases made by Venezuela, but also to Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Colombia. However, two of the countries with the largest defence budgets, Colombia and Mexico, remain faithful to US military arms, while other countries have “diversified suppliers.”

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a British research institute focusing on international security, revealed that Russia in 2009 became the main exporter of weapons to Latin America thanks to the purchases made by Venezuela, but also to Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Colombia. However, two of the countries with the largest defence budgets, Colombia and Mexico, remain faithful to US military arms, while other countries have “diversified suppliers.”

February 21, 2010
Russia Displaces the US as Top Arms Supplier to Latin America

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a British research institute focusing on international security, revealed that Russia in 2009 became the main exporter of weapons to Latin America thanks to the purchases made by Venezuela, but also to Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Colombia. However, two of the countries with the largest defence budgets, Colombia and Mexico, remain faithful to US military arms, while other countries have “diversified suppliers.”

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a British research institute focusing on international security, revealed that Russia in 2009 became the main exporter of weapons to Latin America thanks to the purchases made by Venezuela, but also to Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Colombia. However, two of the countries with the largest defence budgets, Colombia and Mexico, remain faithful to US military arms, while other countries have “diversified suppliers.”

February 12, 2010
Islam is Alive and Well in Chile

Chile is a country where Catholicism is the majority faith; it was the belief system of the Spanish and Portuguese invaders who at one time or another dominated the lands of the indigenous peoples of South America. It is recorded historically that In the 1800’s two Muslims from an unidentified part of the Ottoman Empire settled in Chile. By the turn of the century, the number of Muslims had risen to nearly 1500, living mainly in the northern part of Chile.

Chile is a country where Catholicism is the majority faith; it was the belief system of the Spanish and Portuguese invaders who at one time or another dominated the lands of the indigenous peoples of South America. It is recorded historically that In the 1800’s two Muslims from an unidentified part of the Ottoman Empire settled in Chile. By the turn of the century, the number of Muslims had risen to nearly 1500, living mainly in the northern part of Chile.

December 1, 2009
Immigration Reform: A Country Divided, Or a Richer Society?

On November 13, Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Secretary, gave a speech outlining a possible immigration reform. And as Arian Campo-Flores writes in a post for Newsweek, pro-immigrant groups are ready to seize the moment. Better organized than they have ever been, immigration reformers have new allies (the National Association of Evangelicals, and Liberty University’s Matthew Staver, to cite two unlikely examples) and they continue to refined their message.

Health care and the economy have crowded out most other issues in DC in recent months, but immigration reform advocates are finally getting some breathing room. On November 13, Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Secretary, gave a speech outlining a possible immigration reform. And as Arian Campo-Flores writes in a post for Newsweek, pro-immigrant groups are ready to seize the moment.