BUENOS AIRES -- Here's what surprised me the most during a weeklong vacation in Argentina and Uruguay: People seem to be following the Middle Eastern conflict in Gaza much more closely -- and passionately -- than in the United States.
Judging from the latest headlines, U.S. influence in Latin America has reached its lowest level in recent memory. So I was somewhat surprised when the top U.S. diplomat for the region told me that such a view is ``significantly wrong.''
The European Union and United States' decisions to suspend foreign aid to Nicaragua because of apparent fraud in recent municipal elections is a welcome move, but raises a thorny question: whether we're picking on tiny Nicaragua while looking the other way when oil-rich Venezuela and other countries breach democratic freedoms.
Fifty years after Fidel Castro took power in Cuba, the big question about the Cuban revolution is not whether it was justified, but whether it was worth it. From all available evidence, it wasn't.
Here's an interesting proposal for cash-strapped Latin American countries: Take advantage of the world financial crisis to put an end to massive subsidies to the rich, and use that money to help the poor.
Here's some good news for Latin America: A new worldwide survey reveals that Brazil, Argentina and Mexico have a better image abroad than India, China, South Africa and most Central European countries.
A new poll shows that, amazingly, Latin Americans are much happier with their countries' public education systems than people in other regions that score much better in international student achievement tests and university rankings.
If you want to know how President-elect Barack Obama's transition team views the world, here's a highly unscientific but very interesting way to figure it out -- looking at the order in which Obama called foreign leaders after the Nov. 4 elections.
ANDRES OPPENHEIMER aoppenheimer@MiamiHerald.com Both narcissist-Leninist President Hugo Chávez and the opposition claimed victory in Venezuela's key state and municipal elections Sunday, but a dispassionate look at the voting trends shows that Chávez is gradually losing public support -- and faces even harder times ahead.
Anti-Americanism around the world will diminish in coming years, and not just because President George W. Bush -- often portrayed as the symbol of cowboy diplomacy -- is about to leave the White House.
If you think that recent U.S. economic infatuation with Asia is a product of the pre-crisis U.S. consumption binge, and that sooner or later the United States will forge much closer ties with Latin America, a new study should make you wonder.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- One of the first issues President-elect Barack Obama's transition team will look into when it starts mapping its Latin America policy: the wave of crime that is rocking much of the region, and that is increasingly spreading into major U.S. cities.
The big question in Washington's Latin American diplomatic circles is who will be the Obama administration's top policymakers for Latin America and the Caribbean. At least half a dozen names are being mentioned.
Congratulations, President-elect Barack Obama! Now that you are moving swiftly to put together your Cabinet and solve the economic crisis, let me suggest a few things you could do in an area that will demand your attention sooner than you may think: Latin America and the Caribbean.
Andres Oppenheimer aoppenheimer@MiamiHerald.com One of the biggest questions about President-elect Barack Obama is whether -- unlike President Bush -- he will fulfill his campaign vow to meet without preconditions with anti-American strongmen such as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Cuba's Raul Castro.
One of the big surprises of Tuesday's elections: Florida's Hispanic population voted heavily for Democratic candidate Barack Obama after decades of allegiance to Republican presidential candidates.
Here are two scenarios of what could happen if the polls are right and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama wins Tuesday and becomes the 44th president of the United States. You choose which is the most likely one.
I don't know whether Sen. Barack Obama would make a good president if elected next Tuesday. But after watching his latest Spanish-language television ad, I've concluded that if he doesn't make it to the White House, he should head directly to Hollywood.
Perhaps the most important question raised in the last presidential debate was the one that got the least media attention -- whether a Barack Obama presidency would lead to U.S. protectionism, trade wars and a global depression.
The world financial meltdown of 2008 is sparing no ideologies: It has crushed the Bush administration's brand of go-go capitalism and it will put a damper on Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's oil-based leftist populism.
RSS|
My Yahoo|
Newsletters|
Widgets|
Mobile|
Alerts|
Twitter
About The Miami Herald| About the McClatchy Company| Terms of Use & Privacy Statement| Corrections| Contact Us| Advertise
Partners: El Nuevo Herald| Newspaper in Education| WLRN | Miami Herald News| CBS4 WFOR-TV| More
Copyright 2009 Miami Herald Media Co. All rights reserved
