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runlai_jiang

OAS mission issues preliminary statement on the general elections in Antigua-Barbuda | ... - 0 views

www.caribbeannewsnow.com/-in-Antigua-Barbuda-21569.html

shared by runlai_jiang on 02 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • OAS mission issues preliminary statement on the general elections in Antigua-Barbuda
  • electoral observation mission issued the following preliminary statement on the general elections In Antigua and Barbuda:
  • n Antigua and Barbuda congratulates the people of Antigua and Barbuda for their extraordinary commitment to the electoral process, reflected in a high voter turnout and a peaceful exercise of their franchise during the Election Day.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • recognizes the efforts made by both the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission and the Supervisor of Elections in the preparation of this election, enabling them to overcome several of the problems experienced in 2009.
  • collaborating to ensure a peaceful voting process.
  • runlai_jiang on 02 Nov 16
     
    On the June 12th, 2014, the OAS issued a electoral observation mission to supervise and reflect the voter turnout on the Election Day. A team of 16 members went to observe on the Election Day. Security was present to ensure a peaceful voting process. The team's purpose was to supervise the Election and enabling them to prevent the problems experienced in 2009. Finally, the election was very successful and smoothly. Women and all the people had the chance to vote. 
jblackwell2

Colombia peace deal: Historic agreement is signed - BBC News - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...world-latin-america-37477202

politics colombia war peace

shared by jblackwell2 on 02 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • The Colombian government and left-wing Farc rebels have signed a historic agreement that formally brings an end to 52 years of armed conflict.
  • The last of the major Cold War conflicts killed 260,000 people and left more than six million internally displaced.
  • We will achieve any goal, overcome any hurdle and turn our nation into a country we've always dreamed of - a country in peace."
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Correspondents say President Santos has risked his political future on the success of the peace deal.
  • But after 50 years of war, many Colombians still aren't ready to forgive. As President Santos put it, the hard work of building peace now lies ahead.
  • President Santos said this historic moment was a message from Colombia to the world: no more war. "No more war," the crowd chanted in return.
  • However, only hours before the signing, the EU announced it would suspend the Farc from its list.
  • 1964: Set up as armed wing of Communist Party2002: At its height, it had an army of 20,000 fighters controlling up to a third of the country. Senator Ingrid Betancourt kidnapped and held for six years along with 14 other hostages2008: The Farc suffers a series of defeats in its worst year2012: Start of peace talks in Havana2016: Definitive ceasefire
  • jblackwell2 on 02 Nov 16
     
    This article reflects the ending of the long war.
horowitzza

Witness for Peace : Informal Economies: Reflections from a recent delegation ... - 0 views

www.witnessforpeace.org/article.php

witness peace reflections recent delegation nicaragua

shared by horowitzza on 02 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • In Nicaragua, I came to understand the reasons that poor people, sometimes accompanied by their children, sold newspapers, snacks, and washed windshields while standing in the swirl of traffic
  • observed the many ways that poor Nicaraguans struggled to support their families.
  • Clearly in both India and Nicaragua there are not enough job opportunities with fair wages, and poor people are unable to provide for their families by working in the formal economy
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • my experiences in Nicaragua changed my perspective. I hope to continue my travels in the developing world, and I want some of those travels to be with Witness for Peace
tristanpantano

Nicaragua 2015 Crime and Safety Report - 0 views

www.osac.gov/...ContentReportDetails.aspx

crime safety politics latin america foreign policy Nicaragua

shared by tristanpantano on 25 Oct 16 - No Cached
  • Nicaragua has low overall reported crime
  • In 2014, the most frequent violent crime reported by U.S. citizens was robbery (accounting for 75 percent of all violent crime reports).
  • For a large number of incidents, victims reported that the perpetrator possessed a weapon, but acts of gratuitous violence either with or without a weapon were only reported 33 percent of the time.
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • The number of reports of burglary increased 63 percent from 2013 to 2014.
  • 248:
  • ost frequently reported non-violent crime was thefts from or parts of a motor vehicle, accounting for almost half of all non-violent crime reports.
  • 9:100,000 inhabitants.
  • The most frequent locations where non-violent crimes were reported to occur were restaurants, hotels (60 percent increase), roadways (700 percent increase), and on buses.
  • 100,000
  • 102:100,000
  • 100,000
  • The U.S. Embassy must pre-approve all travel by U.S. government personnel to the Northern and Southern Caribbean Coast Autonomous Regions due to crime and transportation safety concerns.
  • anagua, Granada, Masaya, San Juan del Sur, Rivas, Tipitapa, Leon, Diriamba, Bluefields, Puerto Cabezas, and the Corn Islands.
  • Areas of Concern
  • Nicaraguan law requires vehicles to be equipped with a stopped/disabled vehicle indicator (a reflective triangle) and a fire extinguisher.
  • Nicaraguan law requires drivers to be taken into custody for driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs.
  • In 2014, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, there were 13 5.0+earthquakes near/in Nicaragua at depths from 8-124 miles
  • Nicaragua has many active and potentially active volcanoes.
  • tristanpantano on 25 Oct 16
     
    This article gives a lot of statistics about crime rates in Nicaragua. It has various foreign policies and how it affects the US. 
horowitzza

The Trouble With Measuring Peace in Latin America - 0 views

www.insightcrime.org/...asuring-peace-in-latin-america

trouble measuring latin latin america peace america

shared by horowitzza on 02 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • A new report ranks Colombia and Mexico as the least peaceful nations in Latin America -- however, this definition of "peace" may not accurately reflect the state of security in the region. 
  • The GPI's ranking system is somewhat perplexing, given that Central American countries with higher homicide rates -- namely, Honduras and El Salvador -- are considered more "peaceful" than Colombia and Mexico
  • Last year, both El Salvador and Honduras registered homicide rates higher than 60 per 100,000 people, more than double that of Colombia.
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  • the time murder rates began to decrease dramatically in cities such as in Tamaulipas and Ciudad Juarez, once hotspots for drug-related violence
Javier E

U.S. Is Pressing Latin Americans to Reject Snowden - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...ericans-to-reject-snowden.html

latin america US foreign policy international politics diplomacy

shared by Javier E on 12 Jul 13 - No Cached
  • Washington is finding that its leverage in Latin America is limited just when it needs it most, a reflection of how a region that was once a broad zone of American power has become increasingly confident in its ability to act independently.
Ellie McGinnis

Guatemala's president: 'My country bears the scars from the war on drugs' | World news ... - 0 views

www.theguardian.com/...tto-molina-war-drugs-guatemala

guatemala narcotics trafficking pérez molina

shared by Ellie McGinnis on 04 Aug 13 - No Cached
  • caught in the crossfire between the nations to the south (principally Peru, Colombia and Bolivia) that produce illegal narcotics and the country to the north (America)
  • Mexico and Colombia – partially funded by the US – stepped up surveillance of aircraft and airspace. Simultaneously the US began more vigorous co-operation with Mexico to stop drugs shipments by sea.
  • the concept of the "transit" nations was born – countries in Central America through which drugs were passed en route to the world's largest drugs market,
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  • he declared that the war on drugs had failed and that the international community needed to end the "taboo" of debating decriminalisation
  • Pérez Molina is unequivocal about the need to search for an alternative to the current paradigm,
  • For Colombia, drugs are a matter of national security; for other countries it is mainly a health and crime issue."
  • The cartels have grown in strength, the flow of arms towards Central America from the north has grown and the deaths in our country have grown. This has forced us to search for a more appropriate response."
  • The situation in Guatemala has become more serious as Mexican cartels – taking refuge from an attempt to militarily defeat them – have inserted themselves into Guatemala and sought to control the trafficking routes through that country
  • with the cartels come other nightmares: kidnapping, extortion, contract killers and people trafficking.
  • Pérez Molina concedes: "Drug traffickers have been able to penetrate the institutions in this country by employing the resources and money they have.
  • western countries fail to understand the reality that countries such as Guatemala and those of Central America have to live in," said Pérez Molina
  • due to a lack of understanding on the part of western countries.
  • arguing explicitly for the introduction of a regulated market for drugs. Not full legalisation, but a controlled, regulated market for the production, distribution and sale of narcotics.
  • the Guatemalans have been consulting with the Beckley Foundation, probably the leading global advocate of deploying science and empirical evidence to drive the debate about the war on drugs
  • "I believe they should reflect on this, to avoid these deaths that are occurring in transit countries. We don't produce and we don't consume, but we are countries that suffer deaths and place our institutions and our democracy at risk.
Javier E

Brazil Vote Highlights a Rift Linked to Economics - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...-rift-linked-to-economics.html

brazil politics economics latin america

shared by Javier E on 02 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • “We’re emerging from an election that has revealed a rift between economic classes,” said Murillo de Aragão, the president of Arko Advice, a political consulting firm in Brasília. “The level of tension is remarkably high, accentuating a loss of confidence in the president among big economic interests.”
  • few changes are expected in the popular antipoverty programs that have shielded poorer Brazilians from an economic slowdown, with the unemployment rate remaining low even as the economy went into recession this year.
  • But Ms. Rousseff has signaled other changes, including the appointment of a new finance minister. That could open the way for a shift away from policies that have created ire in Brazil’s business establishment, like price controls on fuel in a bid to keep inflation from accelerating.
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  • In addition to the class tension, the election also exposed geographic fissures, reflected by the strong showing of the centrist challenger Mr. Neves in São Paulo and states in southern Brazil, compared with Ms. Rousseff’s sweep of states in the north and northeast, where recipients of social welfare programs broadly backed the incumbent.
Javier E

Mannequins Give Shape to a Venezuelan Fantasy - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...ape-to-venezuelan-fantasy.html

beauty latin america Venezuela surgery sexism culture

shared by Javier E on 24 Dec 14 - No Cached
  • Eliezer Álvarez made a simple observation: Venezuelan women were increasingly using plastic surgery to transform their bodies, yet the mannequins in clothing stores did not reflect these new, often extreme proportions.
  • So he went back to his workshop and created the kind of woman he thought the public wanted — one with a bulging bosom and cantilevered buttocks, a wasp waist and long legs, a fiberglass fantasy, Venezuelan style
  • Now his mannequins, and others like them, have become the standard in stores across Venezuela, serving as an exaggerated, sometimes polarizing, vision of the female form that calls out from the doorways of tiny shops
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  • “You see a woman like this and you say, ‘Wow, I want to look like her,’ ” said Reina Parada, as she sanded a mannequin torso in the workshop. Although she cannot afford it, she said, she would like to get implant surgery someday. “It gives you better self-esteem.”
  • Cosmetic procedures are so fashionable here that a woman with implants is often casually referred to as “an operated woman.” Women freely talk about their surgeries, and mannequin makers jokingly refer to the creations as being “operated” as well.
  • The embrace of plastic surgery clashes with the government’s socialist ideology and frequent talk of creating a society free of the taint of commercialism.
  • the world’s largest estimated petroleum reserves — has long fed a culture of easy money and consumerism here, along with a penchant for the quick fix and instant gratification.
  • “Venezuela is known for its oil, and it’s known for its beauty,”
  • Beauty took on a particularly important role in the late 1970s and ’80s when the country’s beauty queens, already a national obsession, were crowned Miss Universe three times.
  • And the beauty queens’ fame helped fuel a fascination with cosmetic surgery and procedures like breast implants, tummy tucks, nose jobs and injections to firm the buttocks.
  • For Mr. Sousa, beauty really is skin deep: “I say that inner beauty doesn’t exist. That’s something that unpretty women invented to justify themselves.”
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