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5 June 2009

Smearing Sotomayor

On Saturday, May 30, a 48-year-old man in New York City called the city's emergency services and said he intended to "blow up" Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. Police arrested the man and sent him to Bellevue Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, where he remained as of this writing.

While this threat has not been previously reported, it would not seem unusual to prominent Latinos or Latino organizations, both frequent targets of what has become an extremely ugly and very public kind of racism.
29 May 2009

A Third Choice for U.S. Cuba Policy

At the Summit of the Americas in April, President Obama made it clear he believes U.S.-Cuba relations can move "in a new direction." The United States and the rest of the Western Hemisphere, he argued, must leave behind the "false choice" between complete isolation through a 47-year-old embargo or open engagement, which would coddle a dictator.

The countries need a third option, and Obama's vision provides a welcome alternative to the current situation: divided opinions in the hemisphere and no change on the island.
22 May 2009

A Premortem Call to Action in Guatemala

It's hard not to be struck by the weight and explosiveness of the accusation made by Rodrigo Rosenberg, a Guatemalan lawyer, in a video recorded before his death on May 10: "If you are at this moment hearing or watching this message, it is because I have been murdered by President Alvaro Colom." After all, the dead aren't supposed to lie.
15 May 2009

Time for Governments to Embrace Migrant Dollars

If there is a group in the United States accustomed to economic privation, it is the immigrant community. After all, it is immigrants who leave regions of devastating poverty for richer lands, taking jobs few others would perform, relocating as necessary, working more than one job and sacrificing personal comforts to cut costs.
8 May 2009

U.S. Changing Mood on Trade, to a Point

In the midst of the swine flu outbreak, President Obama heeded the advice of his health officials and did not close the U.S. border with Mexico. "From their perspective, it would be akin to closing the barn door after the horses are out," he said in a press conference commemorating his 100th day in office.
24 April 2009

End of Ideology in the Americas?

The Fifth Summit of the Americas demonstrated something unimaginable just a few years ago -- the leaders of the hemisphere can actually like a U.S. president. President Obama was again the star of an international gathering and each leader in the Americas took a moment to celebrate his presence and welcome his message of a new era of mutual respect.
17 April 2009

Change that's Needed for Latin America

The signal has been sent: The U.S. hard line is over. The Obama administration's decision to allow Cuban-Americans unlimited travel and remittances to Cuba just four days before the Summit of the Americas is no sea change but a symbolic act that will warm up the crowd and, with all hope, enable leaders meeting in Trinidad and Tobago to focus on the even more urgent issue at hand -- the financial crisis cum global economic crisis and its effects on the poor.
10 April 2009

Longing for Rock Star Obama in the Americas

Forget substance. This week I am totally into form, into first impressions, into letting theatrics rule the day.

I embraced this state of mind after watching President Obama's first appearance on the world stage. Or more to the point, after realizing that the Americas stood no chance of competing with the substance of his eight-day, three-summit tour of Europe that covered issues as diverse as the creation of a new worldwide financial order, control of nuclear weapons, elimination of the threat of al-Qaida and rebuilding U.S. relations with the Muslim world.
2 April 2009

Mother Nature vs. Man-Made Disasters

I am not from Fargo. Far from it. But through the years I've come to know the North Dakota city of about 100,000 people along the Red River through my husband, who grew up there. I've been to weddings, baptisms, class reunions and those other important events that make up the life of a family. Most recently Fargo has been on our minds as we nervously followed news of a historic flood.
27 March 2009

Why Obama Can't End the Raids

Ever since Barack Obama won the presidential election with substantial Latino support, Hispanic organizations around the country have been demanding an immediate moratorium on immigration raids that have torn families apart.
20 March 2009

A New Front in the Fight Against Mexican Organized Crime

There hasn't been this much fuss over Mexico since President George W. Bush welcomed Mexican President Vicente Fox in 2001 with fireworks over the White House.
13 March 2009

A Pragmatic Obama Policy Toward Latin America

The highly respected former Republican Secretary of State James Baker and former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton, co-chairs of the 2006 Iraq Study Group, recently praised President Barack Obama's realistic and pragmatic approach to international relations. In an interview with Jim Lehrer on public television, they said Obama listens, understands what you say and then asks: "How do I get it done?"
6 March 2009

The Newfound Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The middle class is in vogue. In the midst of a global economic recession, the charm of the bourgeoisie is far from discreet.

The Obama administration has put the middle class at the core of its recovery strategy. With tax breaks, reduced health care costs and increased assistance to pay for higher education, the administration is betting that "a strong middle class equals a strong America."
27 February 2009

Is the War in Colombia Over?

The 45-year-old Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the oldest insurgency in Latin America, is crumbling. Several top leaders have died within the past year -- one killed by Colombian forces, another assassinated by his subordinates and its legendary commander claimed by old age. Its disarray became embarrassingly clear in July when one of its divisions was duped into releasing some of the FARC's most precious hostages, including a former Colombian presidential candidate and three U.S. military contractors.
20 February 2009

Clearing the Political Clouds Over the 2010 Census

Republican Sen. Judd Gregg called differences over next year's decennial census "only a slight catalyzing issue" in his decision to withdraw as nominee for secretary of commerce. But the political wrangling over the 2010 population count, which will determine the number of House seats per state, the redrawing of political districts within states and the allocation of billions of dollars in federal funds, has been anything but slight.
13 February 2009

A 'Reset Button' for Venezuela Too

Relations with Venezuela could use a reset button. Those of us who follow U.S. Latin America policy and read Vice President Joseph Biden's speech offering to "press the reset button" on relations with Moscow can't be blamed for hoping that the administration would offer the same to Caracas.
6 February 2009

Uniting the Americas Through Energy Policy

President Obama's call for an Energy Partnership for the Americas is, on the face of it, an idea with tremendous potential. And although we still know next to nothing about its components, its spirit is already a departure in hemispheric relations.
30 January 2009

Investing in the U.S. Latino Future

You would have to be perhaps in another planet to ignore the fact that the face of the United States is changing. The stereotype of Americans as blond and blue-eyed is on the way out. And by 2042, whites will become a minority and by 2050 Hispanics will be more than one-fourth of the population.
23 January 2009

The Era of Responsibility: A Case Study

THE ERA OF RESPONSIBILITY: A CASE STUDY

Gustavo Huapalla entered the new era of responsibility even before it was the central theme in President Obama's inaugural speech.

The Argentina-born owner of two small, Latin restaurants in Washington had little choice. Last year proved to be particularly challenging as rising prices combined with diminishing sales -- more than 50 percent in one of his restaurants last month.
16 January 2009

The Wisdom of Putting an End to the 'Drug War'

In his meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon this week, President-elect Barack Obama "underscored his interest in finding ways to work together to reduce drug-related violence" in Mexico, which last year caused 5,600 deaths, more than those sustained by the United States in nearly six years of war in Iraq.