The man who wants to change Chile

Marco Enriquez-Ominami - DR

You should hear about him. Now and in the coming years. His name is Marco Enriquez-Ominami. He is 36 years old. After being the first Latin American country that elected a woman as a president, Chile could innovate again. Marco Enriquez launched his candidature as an independent, away from the traditional parties.

What if Mexico didn’t win ?

Flickr/++Frank++

On Saturday, Mexico validated its ticket for the World Cup 2010, beating El Salvador 4-1 in the Azteca Stadium. A great joy for a team that was nearly eliminated a few months ago. Saturday night in Mexico City, 10.30 pm : the police begins an operation in order to take control of all the offices of Luz y Fuerza del Centro

Democracy in America…

The Konrad Adenauer Foundation published his annual report on democracy in Latin America. It contains the classification of different Latin American countries, established according to several criteria such as the respect for political rights, civil liberties or the quality of institutions. Conclusion of the report: “The development of a successful democratic culture remains a major challenge for many political leaders in Latin America.”

Uncertainty in Chile

Fotopresidencia.cl

In exactly two months, Chileans will vote. They will have to choose their new president as Michelle Bachelet, the first woman to be elected directly as a president in South America, cannot run for office again. Four candidates will stand for president.

Recent polls show that the left coalition could lose the presidency. Because of divisions.

Incentives

Flickr / Ali Brohi

The case is engulfing South America. The conflict pits Argentina against Peru, Colombia and Uruguay. The reason of this state affair ? The qualification for the World Cup. I sum up : one of the biggest nations of the football world, Argentina, is in danger.

Teotihuacan… Oh my Gods !

NR

I went to the premiere of the exhibition Teotihuacan, la cité des Dieux, in the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris. Very good idea to highlight this city-state, quite unknown in France. Teotihuacan has had a great influence on Mesoamerica between the 1^st and the 6^th century of our era, preparing the field for the civilization known as the Azteca here. The exhibition presents pieces from several collections, but the large majority comes from the impressive Museum of Anthropology of Mexico.

The end of the crisis in Honduras?

Flickr/Codepinkhq

It is an euphemism to speak of confusion when it refers to the situation of Honduras in the last months. We first saw a rather liberal President make a turn to the Left and become an ally of the social democracies in Latin America, dreaming of an alternative development model, a coup as we had not seen for years in the region, an illegitimate regime that has not been recognized by the international community, international envoys snubbed by the new regime, an amazing return of the ousted president crossing the border illegally and finding refuge in the Embassy of Brazil, emergency measures and a reduction of freedoms as if there was a civil war…

Brazil’s turn

World Cup 2014, Olympic Games 2016… All the sports fans around the world now dream to go to Brazil in the next few years. But of course the designation of Rio as the host of the Olympic Games goes beyond sport.

Clinton and Haiti, an old story

Logan Abassi / Minustah.org

Interesting case of diplomacy in Haiti. Bill Clinton went to Port-au-Prince for a third visit in the last few weeks. It is at least a proof that the former American president is doing his job of special ambassador in Haiti quite seriously. During the visit he admitted that he hated the embargo against Haiti he had to decide when he was president.

F… life

I just watched the documentary La Vida loca, the movie that the Franco-Spanish journalist  Christian Poveda made before he was assassinated, on September 2^nd. And it is just a shock. Christian Poveda knew very well El Salvador, where he arrived during the civil war, in the 1980s.