Michael Shifter fue entrevistado por NTN24 acerca de la crisis en Nicaragua. Frente a la tensión política que se vive en el país, Shifter opinó que “puede ser que Ortega intente seguir con la represión contra la oposición y puede funcionar por un tiempo, pero no creo que le vaya a funcionar a la larga, creo que no va a llegar a 2021. Es difícil imaginar que Ortega termine hasta el final de su mandato.”
Host Ray Offenheiser and guest Michael Shifter, the president of Inter-American Dialogue, discuss the economic and political crises in Venezuela, as well as the upcoming elections and path forward for peace in Colombia.
On June 7, the Inter-American Dialogue hosted an event titled “Colombia’s Choice: Duque vs Petro”. The conversation analyzed the results of the first round of the election which propelled Iván Duque of the Centro Democrático party and Gustavo Petro of Colombia Humana into the second round of the presidential race. Participants also discussed what to expect on and after the second round of the presidential race.
Son pocas las instancias en las que las dictaduras, regímenes militares, y otras autocracias perduran más de 40 años en el poder. En este caso, el cambio político nicaragüense es inevitable.
As the first Colombian election after the historic signing of the peace deal approaches, the good news is that the conflict has blessedly ended, but the implementation of the accord has been complicated and contentious. It does not help that the political establishment stands fractured and discredited. The risk is that the country’s unsettled politics could upend the peace.
No se trata más de dialogar en Nicaragua. Daniel Ortega ha sabido ‘dialogar’ y se ha burlado de las conversaciones y propuestas. La sociedad ahora está lista para negociar los contrapesos necesarios para volver a un régimen democrático y representativo. Este es el verdadero poder del pueblo.
On March 27, the Inter-American Dialogue in partnership with the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C. hosted an event titled “The Explosive Growth of Private Security in Latin America.” This discussion, moderated by Michael Camilleri from the Dialogue, featured panelists Claudia Paz y Paz from the Organization of American States, Eric Tardif from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and Adam Blackwell from the Development Services Group. This discussion drew from a report recently published by the Dialogue titled, “Security for Sale: Challenges and Good Practices in Regulating Private Military and Security Companies in Latin America,” co-authored by Sarah Kinosian and James Bosworth.
The rapid rise of the private security industry is an inevitable byproduct of high levels of crime and violence in the region, and brings a new set of challenges to citizen security in Latin America.
Manuel Orozco, Director of the Migration, Remittances & Development Program, testified before the House Committee on Financial Services on the subject of “Examining De-Risking and its Effect on Access to Financial Services.”
On February 16, the Inter-American Dialogue in partnership with Insight Crime and American University’s Center for Latin American & Latino Studies (CLALS) hosted an event titled “Inside MS13: Separating Fact from Fiction” to discuss the findings of a recently published report. This discussion, which was moderated by the Dialogue’s Michael Shifter, featured panelists Steven Dudley from InSight Crime, Hector Silva Avalos from CLALS, and Vanda Felbab-Brown from the Brookings Institution. The conversation focused on dispelling the myths behind the MS-13 and how historical experiences can inform government responses.
On February 6, the Inter-American Dialogue, in partnership with Tulane University and Colegio de Mexico, hosted an all-day conference on US-México relations. This forum convened academic and policy experts from both countries to discuss the challenges and dynamics underpinning economic, migration, and security policies in the Trump administration.
Sending back 200,000 Salvadorans to an already strained region flies in the face of the objectives of the Alliance for Prosperity, and is a surefire way to worsen the social ills that lie at the root of the massive exodus to the United States. A chaotic Central America is a story with no winners except criminal syndicates.
On January 30, the Inter-American Dialogue and International Monetary Fund (IMF) hosted an event to discuss the findings of a recently published book, Unleashing Growth and Strengthening Resilience in the Caribbean (November 2017). This event was moderated by Manuel Orozco with panelists Joyce Wong, Sebastian Acevedo and Daniel P. Erikson. The panel discussed the roles that structural transformation, natural disasters, and fiscal policy have on unleashing future growth in the region.
Orozco, citando estudios del Diálogo Interamericano, sostiene que unos 146.500 salvadoreños con TPS envían dinero a El Salvador, lo que suma anualmente unos $630 millones. En el peor de los escenarios, “un retorno de todos los salvadoreños implicaría que El Salvador no tendrá crecimiento económico”.
El Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de Estados Unidos ha decidido terminar con el Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS) para los inmigrantes de El Salvador, con un período de inactividad de 18 meses. Sin embargo, el canciller Hugo Martínez resalta el plazo otorgado por Washington para la expiración de las preferencias temporales que cobijan a más de 200 mil ciudadanos para septiembre del 2019. El análisis al tema con Manuel Orozco, director del programa de Migración, Desarrollo y Remesas del Diálogo Interamericano.
