Politics

• Friday, April 17th 2009 - 05:18 UTC

  Paraguayan president “honest leader” image suffers a whacking

  

  The “honest leader” image of Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo, who last Monday admitted fathering a child while still a Catholic bishop, plummeted 16% according to the latest public opinion poll released this week.

• Thursday, April 16th 2009 - 12:01 UTC

  Colombia captures “Don Mario, most wanted drug lord

  

  Colombia announced Wednesday the capture of the man listed as the country's most wanted drug lord, Daniel Rendon. The government had offered a reward of up to 2 million US dollars for the capture of Rendon, an alleged paramilitary drug trafficker also known as “Don Mario.”

• Thursday, April 16th 2009 - 11:54 UTC

  Chavez names “chief of government” and takes control of Caracas

  

  Venezuelan legislators loyal to President Hugo Chavez approved this week a new law that further erodes the authority of Caracas' opposition mayor by subordinating him to a government-appointed official.

• Thursday, April 16th 2009 - 09:59 UTC

  Former guerrilla leads Uruguay’s ruling coalition presidential primary

  

  Uruguay’s presidential hopeful and former guerrilla leader Jose Mujica leads comfortably in the ruling coalition’s coming primary scheduled for next June 28th, according to the latest public opinion poll released this week.

• Thursday, April 16th 2009 - 09:53 UTC

  Lula da Silva has the highest approval rating; Cristina K the lowest

  

  Brazil’s President Lula da Silva and Colombia’s Alvaro Uribe with over 70% approval have the best leaders’ performances in Latinamerica while in the other extreme figure Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner and Honduras Manuel Zelaya, below 30%, according to the prestigious Mexican pollster Consulta Mitofsky.

• Thursday, April 16th 2009 - 06:54 UTC

  Chavez hosts alternative pre-summit in Venezuela

  

  The Venezuelan city of Cumana is hosting the summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of our Americas (ALBA), one of the newest regional cooperation initiatives created by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. The meeting takes place hours before the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad Tobago.

• Thursday, April 16th 2009 - 03:49 UTC

  Obama and Unasur presidents to meet Saturday in Trinidad Tobago

  

  United States president Barack Obama wishes to meet with his peers from the Union of South American Nations, UNASUR next Saturday on the sidelines of the fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad Tobago.

• Thursday, April 16th 2009 - 02:51 UTC

  The Taiwan Relations Act at 30: Enduring Framework or Accidental Success?

  

  Despite its pragmatic origin, ambiguous nature and transitory design, a unique piece of legislation has guided US-Taiwan relations for longer than many ever anticipated. By Vincent Wei-cheng Wang*

• Thursday, April 16th 2009 - 01:16 UTC

  Mafia chief who inspired “The French Connection” dies in Argentina

  

  François Chiappe, the fearsome Corsican capo-mafia who inspired the famous film “The French Connection” in 1971 died in a geriatric home in the Argentine province of Cordoba last February, according to reports in the Sunday press.

• Wednesday, April 15th 2009 - 10:47 UTC

  Summit of the Americas, “test of intelligence and shame” says Fidel Castro

  

  Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday Cuba had no desire to rejoin the “infamous” and “vile” decadent Organization of American States, and said the coming Summit of the Americas next week end in Trinidad Tobago will be “a test of intelligence and shame”.