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1161. "BRIC countries are opaque"

Author:
George Vojta
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Media Tenor International
Abstract:
Media Tenor: Even within the BRIC States one cannot say that all three are on the Media Agenda, not mention developing countries. What could be the reason for this salience? Vojta: My sense is that the four BRIC countries are rising in media visibility as they become more significant players in the global system. Very shortly these four countries will surpass the G7countries in annual absolute growth results.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Infrastructure
Political Geography:
Russia, China, South Asia, and Latin America

1162. No sympathy for Chavez: Venezuela's president in the media

Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Media Tenor International
Abstract:
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has difficulties in exporting his socialistic ideas to the region. The newspapers of seven Latin American countries have shown little sympathy towards his ideas in the past months, as has been shown by a new Media Tenor analysis of 21 leading newspapers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Columbia, Mexico and Peru (chart 1). Chavez's re-election generated positive headlines, but his leadership aspirations for the region as well as his announced renaissance of a new socialism of Latin American coinage (the “Bolivian Revolution”) were both met with skepticism. Some newspapers see Venezuela the brink of dictatorship, and the Mexican newspaper Reforma called Chavez a “tropical Mussolini”.
Topic:
International Relations, Mass Media, and Socialism/Marxism
Political Geography:
Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia

1163. Brazil with strong challenge ahead: Other BRIC countries enjoying stronger media support

Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Media Tenor International
Abstract:
Despite its size, both geographically and in terms of its population, Latin America plays a rather insignificant role in international television news. With Western media for the most part still reporting within traditional and existing parameters (East-West), countries falling outside of these parameters seem to only appear on television when they violate these set norms and expectations (as in the case of Iraq, Iran, North Korea) or if they confirm existing stereotypes, such as crime and violence in Africa. With Latin America hovering on the peripheral of these issues (except for the United States-Venezuelan \'relations\' matter), it is no surprise that Latin America attracts only marginal coverage on television news. Swiss and German television news reports dedicated only 3% of their total coverage in 2006 to Latin America, while South African, British and Arab media dedicated less than 2%. Only U.S. television, largely due to reporting on Cuba and Venezuela, dedicated a full 5% of its total coverage to the continent.
Topic:
International Relations, Politics, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
United States, South Africa, Cuba, Latin America, and Venezuela

1164. Report on the Security Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean

Publication Date:
08-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
Security is one of the most urgent problems in Latin America and the Caribbean today. The topic is a central concern of citizens in practically all of the countries. Moreover, it is one of the central issues affecting relationships among states and government finances. From the perspective of individuals, it affects the daily life of the population. Moreover, in many of these countries, the institutions affiliated with the security sector have taken on roles beyond those originally assigned to them. In the past, in various countries, security sector institutions have directly intervened in national political life, which with the installation of democratic regimes, has required an effort to “adjust” to new political systems. It is in this context that reform efforts arise that, in many instances, are not in line with the goals of strengthening the rule of law, democracy, and professionalism of the sector.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Latin America and Central America

1165. A Contemporary Challenge to State Sovereignty: Gangs and Other Illicit Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) in Central America, El Salvador, Mexico, Jamaica, and Brazil

Author:
Max G. Manwaring
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
Another kind of war within the context of a “clash of civilizations” is being waged in various parts of the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere around the world. Some of the main protagonists are those who have come to be designated as first-, second-, and third-generation street gangs, as well as their various possible allies such as traditional Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). In this new type of war, national security and sovereignty of affected countries is being impinged every day, and gangs' illicit commercial motives are, in fact, becoming an ominous political agenda.
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Mexico

1166. American Grand Strategy for Latin America in the Age of Resentment

Author:
Gabriel Marcella
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
The fear that extra-hemispheric powers would strategically deny Latin America as a friend of the United States has animated American statesmen since the 19th century. Such fear certainly pervaded the Cold war competition. Today the challenge to the security and well-being of Latin America is neither ideological, nor military, nor external. Strategic denial is more likely to come about from a highly combustible blend of poverty, crime, despair, corruption, resentment, and antidemocratic sentiments that promise a vague 21st century socialism under new authoritarian clothing. The sentiments are sinking deep roots in the socio-political landscape, and they are profoundly anti-American.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Cold War
Political Geography:
United States and Latin America

1167. China's Expansion into and U.S. Withdrawal from Argentina's Telecommunications and Space Industries and the Implications for U.S. National Security

Author:
Janie Hulse
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
In April 2005 when the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee met to discuss Chinese involvement in Latin America, administration officials tended to downplay Chinese engagement in the region except in areas related to communications and intelligence. Indeed, globalization, new technologies, and growing Chinese information warfare capabilities make the United States particularly vulnerable to Chinese activity in these strategic areas. China's recent success in Argentina's telecommunications and space industries exemplifies China's increasing effectiveness in strategic developing markets and raises concerns regarding increasing U.S. reliance on international information networks.
Topic:
International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
China, Argentina, and Latin America

1168. Latin America's New Security Reality: Irregular Asymmetric Conflict and Hugo Chavez

Author:
Max G. Manwaring
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
Since his election as President of Venezuela in 1998, Hugo Chavez has encouraged and continues to encourage his Venezuelan and other Latin American followers to pursue a confrontational “defensive,” populist, and nationalistic agenda that will supposedly liberate Latin America from the economic dependency and the political imperialism of the North American “Colossus” (the United States). Chavez argues that liberation, New Socialism, and Bolivarianismo (the dream of a Latin American Liberation Movement against U.S. hegemony) will only be achieved by (1) radically changing the traditional politics of the Venezuelan state to that of “direct” (totalitarian) democracy; (2) destroying North American hegemony thoughout all of Latin America by (3) conducting an irregular and asymmetric “Super Insurgency,” or “Fourth-Generation Warfare” to depose the illegitimate external enemy; and, 4) building a new Bolivarian state, beginning with Venezuela and extending to the whole of Latin America.
Topic:
Security and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
United States, Latin America, Venezuela, and North America

1169. Latin America and the Catholic Church: Points of Convergence and Divergence (encontros e desencontros) 1960–2005

Author:
Luiz Alberto Gómez de Souza
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The author aims at uncovering points of convergence and divergence in the relationship between the Catholic Church and society. He begins by analyzing the challenges facing the Church in modern times, using the case of the United States and the traditional political relationship between Church and State in Latin America until the rise of the social-Christian options in the 1960s. He then describes Vatican II, which opened the Church to the influences of modern times. Subsequently, the author explains what he calls the “glorious period” of the Latin American Church, from the conference of bishops in Medellin (1968) to the meeting in Puebla (1979), with the Church's critique of “social sin,” its option for the poor, and liberation theology. Concurrently, the author shows the contradictory effects of the military regimes in the region. Looking at the relationship between Christians and politics, he analyzes in particular the case of Brazil, later expanding his analysis to Latin America and the world. The author then addresses social participation and politics in ecclesiastical practices and the slow building of democracy in the region, offering methodological criticisms of some static and nonhistorical analyses. He delineates how democracy has challenged the Church and, looking ahead, explores the present dynamism of society, especially the virtuosity of social movements and ecclesiastical communities when facing future transformation. The author ends by describing the current situation in Latin America, highlighting the pressing need for the Church to face issues that are presently frozen (such as sexuality, celibacy, and women as priests), in the hopes of a possible Council process in the future.
Topic:
Civil Society, Government, and Religion
Political Geography:
United States, Brazil, South America, and Latin America

1170. The Strategic Triad: Form and Content in Brazil's Triangular Cooperation Practices

Author:
Adriana Erthal Abdenur
Publication Date:
11-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs
Abstract:
Triangular cooperation, in which two countries form a partnership to lend technical assistance to a third country, is a growing model of technical cooperation in the developing world. Why do developing countries participate in triangular cooperation, and how are these arrangements different from bilateral and multilateral linkages? An analysis of Brazilian triangular cooperation arrangements reveals that, in addition to offering pragmatic solutions, triangular cooperation is a tactic for national self-promotion within a broader strategy of foreign relations. The spread of triangular cooperation marks a shift in both the configuration and politics of international cooperation networks.
Topic:
International Relations, International Cooperation, and Politics
Political Geography:
Brazil and Latin America

1171. Latin America and the Caribbean: Domestic and Transnational Insecurity

Author:
Arlene B. Tickner
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the end of the Cold War coincided with transitions to democracy in Brazil and the Southern Cone, and the peaceful resolution of armed conflict in Central America. These developments, along with the intensification of globalization processes worldwide, inaugurated a hopeful era of “democratic peace” or “no war” suggesting a decreasing importance for traditional security matters. Although a series of bilateral border disputes continue to simmer in the region, the most intransient ones have been resolved. Indeed, since the 1995 war between Peru and Ecuador, interstate conflict has been all but erased, and military competition has been reduced dramatically. With the exception of Colombia's entrenched civil war and Haiti's faltering state, internal conflicts characterized by significant episodes of political violence have also become a distant memory.
Topic:
Security and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Brazil, Colombia, South America, Latin America, Central America, Caribbean, Haiti, Peru, and Ecuador

1172. Final Report on Ecuador's Approbatory Constitutional Referendum of September 28, 2008

Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
The Carter Center conducted a targeted observation mission of Ecuador's September 30, 2007, elections for 130 members of the Constituent Assembly with the goal of demonstrating the Center's interest and support for Ecuador's constitutional reform and political transition process. The Carter Center assessed the political and electoral environment prior to the Constituent Assembly elections and the transparency of the process.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Latin America

1173. Final Report to the Guyana Elections Commission on the 2006 General and Regional Elections, February 15, 2007

Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
With USAID funding, The Carter Center conducted a targeted observation for Guyana's Aug. 28, 2006, national elections to demonstrate the Center's interest in and support for Guyana's democratization process. The Center also sought to assess the political and electoral environment in Guyana surrounding the 2006 elections in follow-up to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's 2004 visit to Guyana. The 2006 elections marked a historic event in the country as Guyana experienced its most peaceful election in recent history.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, and International Organization
Political Geography:
United States, Latin America, and Guyana

1174. Declining Poverty in Latin America? A Critical Analysis of New Estimates by International Institutions

Author:
Ann Helwege and Melissa B.L. Birch
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
Abstract:
Indicators of progress in overcoming poverty in Latin America have been heralded recently by international institutions. Yet a closer look at data from the World Bank and the United Nations reveals contradictions that are not easily resolved by reference to the underlying methodologies. This paper provides an introduction to how poverty is measured, what the data indicate about trends in poverty, and reasons to tread cautiously in interpreting it as evidence of progress or stagnation. While significant progress has been achieved in a few large countries, the poorest countries are still very poor, and some countries have even seen increases in their poverty rates despite economic growth.
Topic:
International Political Economy, Poverty, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Latin America

1175. The Attraction for Success: the'Hezbollah in Venezuela' Case

Author:
Manuel R. Torres
Publication Date:
10-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Athena Intelligence Journal
Institution:
Athena Intelligence
Abstract:
A lo largo del verano de 2006, de manera paralela a la crisis desatada entre Hezbollah en el Libano y el Estado de Israel, hizo su aparición ante la opinión púiblica una organización que proclamaba ser "Hezbollah en Amtrica Latina". Aunque su "presentación en sociedad" se produjo el 29 de julio de 2005 (fecha en la que se crea su primera página web), fue en los albores del conflicto militar en el Líbano cuando este grupúsculo adquirió mayor notoriedad. La preocupación ante la posibilidad de que organizaciones terroristas de inspiración yihadista estuviesen extendendo sus tentáculos por en Sudamérica confirió, a las proclamas procedentes de este grupo una considerable publicidad y reabrió el debate sobre las posibles derivas del fenómeno terrorista en esta región.
Topic:
Terrorism
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, and Central America

1176. Privatization--A Summary Assessment

Author:
John Nellis
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
In the last 25 years many thousands of formerly state-owned and operated firms have been privatized in developing and transition countries, generating over $400 billion (US) in sales proceeds. In addition, thousands of firms have been transferred by privatization processes in which no money was raised (though a surprising number of state-owned firms remain in these regions). The vast majority of economic studies praise privatization's positive impact at the level of the firm, as well as its positive macroeconomic and welfare contributions. Moreover, contrary to popular conception, privatization has not contributed to maldistribution of income or increased poverty——at least in the best-studied Latin American cases. In sum, the technical picture is generally positive. Nonetheless, public opinion in the less developed world is generally suspicious of, and often hostile to, privatization. A good part of the problem is that privatization has proven harder to launch, and is more likely to produce errant results, in low-income, institutionally weak states, particularly in the most important infrastructure sectors. Privatization is hard to sell politically; it has become a lightning rod and handy scapegoat for all discontent related to liberalization and globalization. What is needed are reform mechanisms that give incentives and comfort to reputable private investors, that create and sustain the policy and regulatory institutions that make governments competent and honest partners with the private operators, while at the same time protecting consumers, particularly the most disadvantaged, from abuse.</p
Topic:
Development, Economics, Political Economy, and Privatization
Political Geography:
Latin America

1177. Gender and the Distribution of Wealth in Developing Countries

Author:
Cheryl R. Doss and Carmen Diana Deere
Publication Date:
10-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Only recently has it been recognized that women may not share in the wealth of men, even within the same household or family. Moreover, there is growing evidence that the gender distribution of wealth matters. This paper first reviews the available evidence for developing countries on the gender asset gap and finds that it is significant. It then considers the constraints on women's asset ownership with particular attention to the role of legal marital and inheritance regimes. The paper then turns to a more detailed examination of women's land ownership in Latin America and Africa. The final section considers the impact of women's land ownership on household income and welfare.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, International Political Economy, and Third World
Political Geography:
Africa and Latin America

1178. Household Wealth in Latin America

Author:
Seymour Spilerman and Florencia Torche
Publication Date:
10-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This paper provides a descriptive analysis of wealth ownership and wealth inequality in Latin American countries, using diverse published sources and primary data analysis for 16 nations. We produce estimates of the distribution of home ownership, land, and financial assets, and find very high wealth concentration in all these types of assets, with the partial exception home ownership. The relevance of informal assets and the historical patterns of wealth accumulation and concentration since colonial times are discussed. Mechanisms of intergenerational wealth transmission are analyzed for the Chilean case.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
South America and Latin America

1179. Food Retailing, Supermarkets and Food Security: Highlights from Latin America

Author:
Mehmet Arda
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
The importance of supermarkets in the world food economy has increased radically since the early 1990s. They are now major sellers and buyers of food items not only in developed but also in developing countries. Urbanization and the liberalization of the services sector have been important facilitators of this process.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Latin America and Central America

1180. The Political Economy of Taxation and Tax Reform in Developing Countries

Author:
Jonathan Di John
Publication Date:
07-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Taxation provides one of the principal lenses in measuring state capacity, state formation and power relations in a society. This paper critically examines three main approaches (economic, administrative and political economy) to understanding taxation. It also examines differences in tax composition across middle-income developing regions and finds that Latin American economies tax upper income groups much less than in East Asia and Eastern Europe, and explores the political economy and policy implications of these differences. The paper also examines issues of tax reform in low income/post-war economies and explores the problem that capital flight poses for less developed countries.
Topic:
Development, International Trade and Finance, Political Economy, and Third World
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, East Asia, and Latin America