International Relations

Three laptops supposedly belonging to the Colombian FRC guerillas are the gift that keeps on giving. In May, Colombian prosecutor-general Mario Iguarán announced that he was formally investigating several people, including Liberal Party senator Piedad Córdoba, U.S. development consultant Jim Jones, and Telesur reporter William Parra, of FARC ties.

Anticipating a democratic victory in the November 4 presidential elections, 368 academics specializing in Latin America recently sent a letter urging Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama to become a partner, rather than an adversary, concerning changes already under way in Latin America.

Venezuela's strengthening military and diplomatic ties with Russia have led to alarmist headlines announcing the return of a Cold War standoff, and raising questions about the impact of Hugo Chávez's arms shopping spree on the regional balance of power.

In an era when energy and other natural resources are weighed with great importance, it is inconceivable for any country to claim that its motivation is plainly economic without any strategic or security concerns. This is especially true for developing countries which are hungry for natural resources in order to promote their growth.

U.S. policy toward Latin America has been notoriously absent from figuring in recent presidential debates or stump speeches, as both candidates seek to win over last-minute voters by reiterating their campaign platforms on domestic and foreign policy topics of high public concern.

During the past decade, Latin America has become the most exciting region of the world. The dynamic has very largely flowed from right where you are meeting, in Caracas, with the election of a leftist president dedicated to using Venezuela's rich resources for the benefit of the population rather than for wealth and privilege at home and abroad.

The most ambitious and significant recent project undertaken by South America's armed forces has been the creation of Conselho Sul-Americano de Defesa (South American Defense Council - CSD), an agency of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

Central America, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and islands in the eastern Caribbean are receiving more and more oil from Venezuela, while major refineries are planned in South America -- at Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil, and at El Aromo, on Ecuador's Pacific coast.

When we read in the American press that two officials from Human Rights Watch have been booted out of Venezuela, our first thought will not be, "what did they do". It won't be. We expect people who work for Human Rights Watch to, well, watch human rights.

Open letter published in the Guardian (UK) and signed by a variety of progressives, which calls on European governments to adopt a foreign policy independent of the Bush administration and in support of democracy in Latin America.