Note: I originally wrote this post for an e-mail list of policy experts interested in tracking the politics of drug policy reform in Uruguay. Contact me at gramsey@wola.org if you are interested ...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2015/02/february-23-big-day-for-uruguays.html
MILTON ROMANI TO HEAD URUGUAY’S NATIONAL DRUG COUNCIL With the return of Milton Romani as Uruguay’s drug czar, and with the medicinal use and commercial sale elements of the country’s c...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2015/02/uruguays-marijuana-law-continuity-on.html
For the past three and a half years, I have had the pleasure of using this space to provide regular summaries and analysis of political and civil society issues in Latin America. Starting in 201...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/changes-at-pan-american-post.html
Guatemala’s Constitutional Court -- the same court that annulled Efrain Rios Montt’s guilty sentence on genocide charges in 2013 -- has paved the way for the ex-dictator to face a new trial ...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/rios-montt-trial-slated-for-january-5.html
Despite last week’s historic breakthrough in U.S.-Cuba relations, Cuban President Raul Castro has made it clear that a major overhaul of his country’s political system anytime soon. But wh...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/no-immediate-regime-change-in-cuba-but.html
Yesterday, U.S. President Barack Obama signed the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014 , which imposes sanctions on Venezuelan officials responsible for human rights v...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/obama-signs-sanctions-against.html
Yesterday, President Barack Obama announced the biggest change in United States policy towards Cuba of the past 50 years. But while Obama deserves praise for finally taking executive action on t...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/congressional-cold-warriors-stick-to.html
In a potential indicator of the increasing militarization of public security in the country, Honduras has appointed the first ever active-duty general as head of its security ministry. On Sun...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/honduras-new-security-minister-sign-of.html
On Sunday, Proceso magazine published an investigative report that directly contradicts the official account of the disappearance of the 43 students of Ayotzinapa. The investigation, which is b...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/report-mexican-federal-police-involved.html
In a major concession to the opposition that could end the country’s long-running electoral stalemate, Haitian President Michel Martelly has agreed to accept the resignation of Prime Minister ...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/haiti-pm-lamothe-resigns.html
Following Congress’s passage of a bill that would impose targeted sanctions against Venezuelan officials linked to human rights abuses, today’s Washington Post and New York Times report th...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/obama-will-sign-venezuela-sanctions-but.html
Much of the reporting on yesterday’s release of the Brazilian National Truth Commission (CNV) report has focused on the fact that it recommended overturning the country’s 1979 amnesty law. ...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/brazils-truth-commission-addresses.html
With a presidential commission outlining a potential path forward, and pressure from United Nations and U.S. officials mounting, the long-running dispute over Haiti’s elections may see some im...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/hope-for-haitis-electoral-impasse.html
From abusive crackdowns on protests to forced disappearances , police violence in Brazil has been making headlines in recent months. Tomorrow, however, lawmakers in Brazil’s lower house could...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/brazil-lawmakers-to-tackle-impunity-for.html
It’s been just a week since Uruguay’s presidential election, but the past few days have seen some subtle indicators of how outgoing President Jose Mujica and President-elect Tabare Vazquez w...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/mujica-and-vazquez-shift-on-uruguays.html
Following reports that as many as 41 inmates died after allegedly ingesting toxic substances from the infirmary following a protest, the official version of the incident has come under suspicion...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/after-deaths-venezuelan-ngos-call-for.html
Two reports published yesterday have focused attention on widespread perceptions of insecurity and corruption in Latin America, a trend with harmful consequences for democratic governance in the...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/insecurity-corruption-threaten-latam.html
Recent weeks have brought near constant reminders of Mexico’s troublingly weak rule of law, and President Enrique Peña Nieto’s police reform plan seems unlikely to make major gains on this ...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/us-legalization-takes-toll-on-mexico.html
Ecuador’s fractured opposition is struggling to challenge the constitutional reforms proposed by President Rafael Correa’s Alianza Pais political movement, but have seen electoral authoritie...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/ecuadors-opposition-pushes-for-popular.html
With 100 percent of ballots counted, Frente Amplio (FA) candidate Tabare Vazquez has been elected to serve as Uruguay’s next president, beating his National Party challenger Luis Alberto Lacal...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/12/the-top-3-challenges-for-vazquezs-2nd.html
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto unveiled a highly anticipated ten-point security reform package yesterday. But while the plan is laudable for incorporating civil society demands on transp...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/11/mexican-civil-society-skeptical-of-epns.html
Venezuela’s attorney general has announced that Maria Corina Machado will be charged in association with an alleged plot to kill President Nicolas Maduro, making her the latest opposition figu...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/11/charges-filed-against-yet-another.html
Colombia’s peace talk crisis cleared another hurdle yesterday as FARC guerrillas released two soldiers who had been taken as prisoners last month in the northern department of Arauca. The reb...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/11/farc-release-captured-soldiers-2-down-3.html
Despite concerns by civil society groups over the partiality of the judge involved, Peru’s Supreme Court has rejected a request by former President Alberto Fujimori’s defense team to amend h...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/11/peru-court-rejects-fujimori-re.html
Despite allegations that backroom deals political interests played an overwhelming role in their nomination, the 13 judges who will serve on Guatemala’s Supreme Court for the next five years a...
http://www.thepanamericanpost.com/2014/11/guatemalas-supreme-court-judges-take.html