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Juan Manuel Santos, a Dialogue member-on-leave who has served as co-vice-chair, became president of Colombia on Aug. 7.  

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See the agenda for the 2010 CAF Conference on the Americas.

FEATURED Q&A

Argentina's Senate has approved legislation to reform the country's controversy-laden statistics agency, INDEC. The Dialogue’s daily Latin America Advisor published a Q&A (pdf) on the topic Aug. 25 with comments from former Central Bank President Martín Redrado (above)and others.

Press Center

Esta masacre destaca las dimensiones de la crisis de derechos humanos en México, y ambos países deben responder con más urgencia de la que lo han hecho.

 

Michael Shifter
EFE
August 27, 2010
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A blog by PREAL, the Dialogue's education program.


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MexicAN AUTHORITIES Fire 10 Percent of Police AS VIOLENCE RAGES

In the wake of discovering a group of 72 migrants from across the Americas massacred by criminal gangs in northern Mexico, authorities on Aug. 30 fired some 3,200 police officers for failure to carry out their duties, 465 of whom were denounced for suspected crimes. In a CNN report, Peter Hakim, president emeritus of the Inter-American Dialogue, linked the problem of human trafficking to U.S. immigration policy. "The smuggling became profitable the more the United States began to build barriers to immigration," Hakim said.  Dialogue president Michael Shifter told EFE that the massacre "highlights the dimensions of the human rights crisis in Mexico."


bachelet becomes co-chair of Inter-American dialogue board

Former president of Chile Michelle Bachelet joined the Inter-American Dialogue’s Board of Directors in July to serve as its Latin American Co-Chair. Bachelet, who was president from 2006 to 2010, achieved important advances during her tenure in women’s equity and child health and education, and successfully maintained Chile's status as one of the best-managed economies in the Western Hemisphere. See press release.  


                    the dialogue in the news 

Clarín: EE.UU. sigue “con mucha atención” la libertad de prensa en Argentina| Global Post: Costa Rica is wary of plans to allow U.S. Naval ships to dock on its shores | Reuters: "Mules" stretch limits of U.S. trade embargo on Cuba

Publications And Events

"In Cuba, a Hostage to International Brinkmanship," by Arturo Lopez-Levy, Jewish Daily Forward, August 26, 2010.

"¿Será posible manejar mejor las cosas esta vez?" by Michael Shifter, El Colombiano, August 26, 2010. (English)

"Time for Western Hemisphere countries to collaborate," by Bill Richardson, Washington Post, Saturday August 14, 2010.

"Summer reading: Latin America edition," Book suggestions from Michael Shifter for Foreign Policy, August 13, 2010. 

"Colombia looks past Washington," by Michael Shifter, The Washington Post, August 12, 2010.

"Latin America's Shift to the Center," by Michael Shifter, Foreign Policy, August 6, 2010.

"Rising Brazil: the Choices of a New Global Power," by Peter Hakim, Politica Externa, July 2010.

"Santos, ¿una apuesta distinta con Chávez?" by Michael Shifter, El Colombiano, July 29, 2010. (English)

"Nuevamente la región se encuentra en un momento de alta tensión" Interview with Michael Shifter in El Comercio (Ecuador), July 29, 2010.

"Changes in US Politics: For Good and For Ill" by Michael Shifter, ideele (Peru), July 2010. (Spanish)

"Chávez está en problemas" Interview with Michael Shifter in El Deber (Bolivia), July 26, 2010.

EVENT: Cuba's Political Puzzle, July 22, 2010. (Audio)

EVENT: A Conversation with Fernando Cordero, President of the National Assembly of Ecuador. July 16, 2010. (Audio)

EVENT: The Age of Productivity: Transforming Economies from the Bottom Up.  July 15, 2010. (Audio and Report)

Film Casts Glowing Light on Hugo Chavez: "South of the Border" Movie Review Interview with Michael Shifter for Voice of America, July 13, 2010.

What Next for Lula? by Peter Hakim, O Estado de S. Paulo, July 11, 2010. (Portuguese)

EVENT: Latin America's Economic Future: Can the Region Become an Engine for Economic Growth?  July 6, 2010. (Audio)

"Santos y Washington: ¿Una época diferente?" by Michael Shifter, El Colombiano, July 6, 2010. (English)

Community and US Policy in the Americas by Peter Hakim, América Economía, June 2010. (Spanish)

O Brasil em ascençao: os desafios e as escolhas de uma potência global emergente by Peter Hakim in Política Externa, Jun/Jul/Aug 2010. (English

Hay un retroceso democrático claro en Nicaragua Interview with Michael Shifter in Confidencial (Nicaragua), June 30, 2010.

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CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY

"Obama Administration Policy in Latin America: Year II," Peter Hakim.  Testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. March 10, 2010.

"The Crisis in Honduras," Michael Shifter. Testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. July 10, 2009. (Video)

rethinking relations between the united states and colombia

In recent articles, Inter-American Dialogue President Michael Shifter discusses a change afoot in US-Colombia relations. The Washington Post published an op/ed by Shifter arguing that the entirety of US-Colombia relations “may be on the verge of some important changes.”  In Politica Exterior, Shifter calls for “a new approach” to Plan Colombia, the US aid program designed to help Colombia fight drug trafficking and insurgency. And most recently Shifter weighed in on the US-Colombia defense cooperation agreement (which has been blocked by Colombia's Constitutional Court), writing that the Court's decision gives the US "a chance to manage this issue more skillfully and sensitively than it did in 2009."     .  

Linowitz Forum: IMMIGRATION REFORM, DRUG POLICY, SECURITY TOP 2010 meeting AGENDA 

The shared drug problem, international and domestic ramifications of the US immigration debate and the prospects of reconstruction efforts in Haiti led the agenda of topics addressed at the Inter-American Dialogue’s eighth biennial Sol Linowitz Forum on June 25 to 27 in Washington, DC. The Forum brings the Dialogue’s 100 members together with outside analysts and officials for an extended discussion of the key issues in hemispheric affairs. Select guest speakers at this year’s Forum included IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, President Obama’s National Security Council special advisor for the Western Hemisphere, Dan Restrepo, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Treasury Nancy Lee. For more information visit the Forum webpage, view the agenda or read the event summary.

cuba to free 52 prisoners

The Cuban government will release 52 political prisoners into exile over the next four months. For the first time in four years, Fidel Castro made a public appearance (pictured) following the announcement. Dialogue president Michael Shifter told the Associated Press that the deal was "clearly positive…for the Cubans and positive for any steps the U.S. wants to take.” Shifter was also quoted by the Inter-Press Agency and the Wall Street Journal.  Dialogue member Jorge Dominguez of Harvard University was interviewed on PBS NewsHour.