Money and Democracy: the Dangers of Unregulated Campaign Finance

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Article from NotiCen, April 17

Money was no object for Manuel de Jesús Castillo, a former congressman who ran for mayor in Guatemala’s department of Jutiapa in 2007. Manolito wooed voters by raffling cars, houses, horses, and cell phones, donating ambulances to the local health clinic, and throwing lavish parties where alcohol flowed and copious amounts of free food were distributed. The Manolito case highlighted one of the greatest perils associated with unregulated political finance in Latin America: an increase in campaigns funded by organized crime and a rising tide of violence as mafias use their muscle to secure the victory of their candidates. The study "Funding of Political Parties in Latin America," published by the Organization of American States (OAS) in 2011, also cites the election campaigns of former Presidents Jaime Paz Zamora in Bolivia, Ernesto Samper in Colombia, and Ernesto Pérez Balladares in Panama in the 1990s as some of the clearest examples of the penetration of drug cartels in election campaigns, a risk that is particularly acute in a context in which most Latin American countries have decentralized the voting process and local politics plays an increasingly important role. Louisa Reynolds Read More

How to Become Costa Rica's President in Three Awesome Steps

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Article from NotiCen, April 17

The underdog in the bid for the presidential nomination for the opposition center-left Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC), political scientist and university professor Luis Guillermo Solís, last year scored the first of three surprise political wins in a row when he became the party’s hopeful for the 2014 election. Just as he did for his party’s primary, the presidential candidate who started off basically known to academia, journalists, and international organizations rolled up his sleeves and geared up for some hard work. The result was the second surprise victory, when, despite poll estimates that did not give him much of a chance, early results of the elections on Feb. 2 placed him first, followed by Johnny Araya of the ruling social democratic Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN), who came in second, after having led polls. April 6 came, and with it Luis Guillermo’s third election surprise: a landslide victory margin of more than 55 points. George Rodríguez Read More

New Electoral Watchdog Agency Starts Work Under Cloud of Suspicion

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Article from SourceMex, April 9

The Congress approved comprehensive election reforms in 2011 and 2013 with the intention of creating greater transparency in the voting process in Mexico and allowing greater direct citizen participation in the electoral process. The new laws have resulted in a few improvements in the country’s electoral structure, including the right of candidates not affiliated with any political party to run for office and a provision that allows for citizen consultations. Critics say, however, that the new structure did not bring transformation to Mexico’s political landscape; only token changes along with major obstacles to the democratic process. One change introduced by the 2013 reforms was to replace the electoral watchdog agency, the Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE), with a more independent and transparent agency called the Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE). Critics have also suggested that the INE will differ little from the IFE, since the new institute appears to be serving the interests of the establishment political parties, particularly the governing Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI). Carlos Navarro Read More

Latest Brazilian Response to U.S. Spying; Mexico Approves New Electoral Reforms; Racial Discrimination in Panama

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for December 11-13

Brazil Responds to U.S. Spying with International Diplomacy and Domestic Lawmaking

The September revelations that the US National Security Agency (NSA) included Brazil on its list of spy targets continue to fuel political drama in the country’s foreign and domestic policy, including a UN resolution on the right to digital privacy and congressional debates about a landmark Internet privacy bill. The spying scandal’s most immediate outcome, the unprecedented indefinite postponement of President Dilma Rousseff’s official state visit to the US, initially slated for Oct. 23, remains in limbo. Political analysts speculate that it is unlikely to be rescheduled before the end of Rousseff’s first term, which concludes in January 2015. -Gregory Scruggs  Read More

Central American Migrants Remain Under Siege in Mexico

As Mexico awaits movement in the debate on immigration policy in the US, some changes are in the works on Mexico’s own policies toward immigrants, including a proposal to strengthen the rights of persons about to be deported. Some see the proposal from President Enrique Peña Nieto as a shallow move intended to benefit a Peruvian-born television commentator who has come under fire for her  reporting tactics, while others view the change as a tactic to improve the business climate in Mexico for foreigners. Regardless, critics are urging the administration to take on a more urgent immigration-related matter: protecting the rights of migrants from Central America and other countries in Latin America who travel through Mexico to attempt to cross into the US. These migrants are often kidnapped and robbed, or worse—they are killed by criminal organizations following failed extortion schemes. By some estimates, 400,000 to 500,000 Central and South Americans cross illegally into Mexico every year. Some are seasonal farm workers, but the vast majority are passing through on their way to the US. -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Racial Discrimination: a Crime Without Punishment in Panamanian Society

Panama has made progress in the fight against racial discrimination but still lacks the necessary legal framework to bring perpetrators to justice. This was the main conclusion of a report published by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Panama’s Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores on Nov. 14. The report, based on an OHCHR visit to Panama in January this year, highlights a number of significant steps taken toward eradicating discrimination but also lists omissions and failings. The OHCHR welcomed the creation of the Comisión Nacional contra la Discriminación (CND), in 2002, and the approval of a law against discrimination in the workplace, as well as the creation of the Secretaría del Consejo de la Etnia Negra, a government bureau that works to advance the rights of Afro-Panamanians and defend the preservation of their culture. -Louisa Reynolds  Read More

Congress Approves New Set of Electoral Reforms

The Mexican Congress has approved another set of electoral reforms that would make the legislative branch more effective and open up the country’s political institutions to more democratic participation and scrutiny. The latest reforms, approved in early December, allow sitting members of Congress to run for re-election, eliminating the previous restriction that limited legislators to a single three-year term in the Chamber of Deputies and a six-year term in the Senate. Under the reform, states would be given the option to decide whether to allow direct re-election of mayors and deputies in state legislatures. The changes would also replace the Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE) with a more powerful and independent agency, the Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE). This reform is intended to create greater oversight of state elections, which have been managed by state electoral institutes. -Carlos Navarro  Read More

Nicaraguan Legislature Ready to Ratify President Daniel Ortega’s Constitutional Rewrite

At the behest of President Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua’s Sandinista-controlled legislature has given initial approval to a series of made-to-order constitutional reforms that together amount to an overhaul of the country’s political system. Among other things, the changes clear the way for Ortega--who has already won the presidency three times (in 1984, 2006, and 2011)--to seek indefinite re-election. The Ortega administration says the reforms will give Nicaragua a more "direct democracy" and institutionalize a model of government it now calls "evolving constitutionalism." Unveiled in late October, the proposals were "inspired by the values of Christianity, the ideals of socialism, and the practices of solidarity," the administration went on to say. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar  Read More

Uruguayan Politics Heats Up 11 Months Before Election

Although Uruguayan political parties still have seven months to select candidates in open, obligatory, simultaneous primaries, and the general election is 11 months away, people are already talking about who might rule the country for the five years from March 2015 to March 2020. Both upcoming elections are already hot topics with pollsters hazarding predictions of victors in both the internal party and general elections. The possibility that the progressive Frente Amplio (FA) could continue governing the country for a third consecutive term has sparked worried conservative and rightist sectors--the traditional Partido Nacional (PN or Blanco) and Partido Colorado (PC)--to spring into action. In addition, seven small parties have filed to register for the elections. -Andrés Gaudín   Read More