Political Right versus Political Ultra-Right

"For the Colombian far right,  [Iván] Márquez and [Nicolás] Maduro are the living image of the devil," analyst Federico Larsen wrote in the Argentine daily Tiempo.

Billboard in Colombia ahead of runoff election

The simplest way to frame an election in Latin America is left versus right.But it's never really that simple, is it?

In the case of Colombia, where the election is between right and extreme right, the latter campaign (of ultra-right candidate Óscar Iván Zuluaga) is attempting to frame the former (incumbent Juan Manuel Santos) as a candidate of the "left." 

Santos, a conservative, is the first Colombian president to take the bold step of entering into a dialogue with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). The peace process is grinding along slowly, but progressing nevertheless. Still, because of that effort, the Zuluanga camp has portrayed Santos as a leftist of sorts. Zuluanga, a close ally of ex-President Álvaro Uribe, shows  posters contained images of Iván Márquez, second-in-command in the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) guerrilla army, and President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, along with a message:“Ellos quieren que gane Santos, ¿y usted? (They want Santos to win. How about you?)

Check out the Campaign Web Sites of the two candidates:  Santos    Zuluanga

For some analysts, the battle of ideology is only one aspect of the Colombian runoff election, which will be held on June 15. "The Santos-Zuluaga runoff will cap an election season that many observers say has weakened the country’s democracy. Analysts—from across the political spectrum—have used terms like "democracy deficit" or "low-intensity democracy" to describe the current situation in Colombia, where legislators and other elected officials are less and less representative," Andrés Gaudín says in the June 6 issue of NotiSur.   Read More

NotiSur also contains a piece about Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's Op-Ed piece in The New York Times and how students are searching for creative ways to continue their protests, which seemed to have fizzeled.

In NotiCen (June 5), Ben Witte-Lebhar writes about the outcome of a meeting between the Nicaraguan Catholic Bishops and President Daniel Ortega, and George Rodriguez tells us about the continuing conflict between teachers and the Costa Rican government, which is now led by President. Luis Guillermo Solís.

In SourceMex (June 4), we examine two court decisions favoring indigenous rights, and how the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) played a role in changing the Mexican government's attitudes toward indigenous communities. A second article in SourceMex examines judicial corruption, and how a casino magnate used the courts to advance his interests.

-Carlos Navarro

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Tight Election Expected in El Salvador; Zapatista Uprising 20 Years Later; Paraguayans Protest Corruption

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Articles in SourceMex, NotiCen and NotiSur for January 15-17

Accusations Fly in Final Stretch of Tight Salvadoran Presidential Race

Less than three weeks before voters head to the polls to select a replacement for outgoing leader Mauricio Funes, El Salvador’s marathon presidential race remains too close to call. Norman Quijano of the far-right Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA) and Salvador Sánchez Cerén of the leftist Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) are expected to finish first and second in the Feb. 2 election, though not necessarily in that order. Neither, though, is likely to earn the 50% plus one valid votes needed to win the five-candidate contest outright, meaning the two top vote getters will have to square off in a runoff. The second-round election, should it be necessary, will take place March 9. -Benjamin Witte-Lebhar   Read More

Ousting Of Bogotá Mayor Presents New Challenge To Colombia Peace Talks

As Colombia’s next presidential election approaches, the far right has yet to come up with a candidate who appears capable of giving the incumbent, President Juan Manuel Santos, a run for his money. Barring a major turn of political events, there is no reason to believe Santos won’t win the May 25 contest. The one thing that could derail his chances would be a collapse of the peace talks with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) . The far right is bent on dashing the Colombian public’s dreams of peace. Last November, the sector falsely accused the FARC of planning to assassinate former President Álvaro Uribe, A month later, the uribistas again tried to put an end to the peace talks by employing the services of Procurador General (Inspector General) Alejando Ordóñez, a government official who owes his post to backroom political dealings. On Dec. 9, Ordóñez sacked the country’s second-most-important elected official, Bogotá Mayor Gustavo Petro. -Andrés Gaudín   Read More

Zapatista Uprising 20 Years Ago Left Lasting Impression on Mexico

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) share one important date, Jan. 1, 1994. That is the date when both the agreement and the Zapatista movement officially became part of the Mexican reality. NAFTA and other efforts to open Mexico to foreign investment were part of the neoliberal economic policies promoted by ex-President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, which critics said would increase the gap between the wealthy and the poor. The EZLN used the launch of the agreement to push for greater economic and cultural rights for indigenous communities and to bring attention to the economic disparities in Mexico. Opinions are mixed on whether NAFTA has been good for Mexico, but most observers suggest that the Zapatista uprising had positive consequences for Mexico. -Carlos Navarro   Read More

Paraguayans Protest Corruption

No Paraguayan living today can remember playing a significant role in an important political decision. Since the time of their grandparents, no generation until now had changed the course of history. As 2013 drew to a close, young Paraguayans made an unprecedented protest against political corruption. Disgusted by legislators’ efforts to withhold information from the public, citizens took to the streets on Oct. 22. Two weeks earlier, Congress had voted to criminalize any attempt to look into the background and/or assets of public officials. After the first protest--an unusual event in Paraguay--things moved quickly. Forced by popular protests to take action, Paraguay’s Corte Suprema de Justicia (CSJ) ruled the same day that information about officials, their activities, and their salaries are in the public domain. It also ruled the right of privacy cannot be used to block a person or news media representative from getting that information. -Andrés Gaudín  Read More

Former Haitian Dictator "Bébé Doc" Duvalier Fights for Funds Frozen in Switzerland

Jean-Bertrand "Bébé Doc" Duvalier (1971-1986), who at the age of 19 inherited the ruthless and corrupt dictatorship of his father François (1957-1971, president for life since 1964) and retained his grip on power for the next fifteen years, is in Haiti facing charges of corruption and seeing about US$5 million of his ill-gotten fortune frozen in Switzerland and about to be turned over to the Haitian government. -George Rodríguez   Read More

Federal Government Proposes Expanding Mexico City Airport; Environmental Groups Oppose Plan

The federal government has proposed expanding the Mexico City airport in an easterly direction, constructing new facilities on land that the federal government has acquired near Lago de Texcoco in México state. The proposal has met with resistance from environmental groups and from the former director of the Comisión Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA), who fear that authorities will move forward without considering the consequences for the environment. Environmental advocates warn that the expansion could disrupt the migratory patterns of birds and threaten the water-distribution system for Mexico City and parts of México state.   -Carlos Navarro   Read More