Political Report #1463 – Venezuela’s November Elections: Washington’s New Strategy but Same Old Assumptions
Latin American Extractivism Dependency, Resource Nationalism, and Resistance in Broad Perspective
from our LAP Classroom Series
On September 26, 2000, during the inauguration of the second summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEP), President Hugo Chávez urged its members to recognize that the “worst environmental catastrophe facing the world is human poverty.” He called for unity through the promotion of a “social and egalitarian model of economic development to […]
Latest LAP issue! The Nicaraguan Crisis and the Challenge to the International Left
Political Report #1462 – Can an Article on Jair Bolsonaro be “Politically Neutral”?
by Steve Ellner
LAP’s Political Report 1459 titled “The Washington Consensus Arrives in Brazil,” takes an uncritical look at Jair Bolsonaro and his policies. At first glance, the article appears to be neutral and the authors, Marc Castillo and Sírio Sapper, impartial analysts. Neither of these initial impressions are the case and indeed elsewhere both authors have defended the policies of the Bolsonaro government. A careful reading of Political Report 1459 reveals that the article, albeit for the most part subtly, justifies Bolsonaro’s policies and his presidency. At the same time, there is absolutely nothing in it […]
Political Report #1461 Castillo’s Path
Nearly two months after Pedro Castillo’s narrow victory in Peru’s second-round runoff, the new president has only just managed to get his first cabinet appointed. The 73 to 50 vote through which the Peruvian Congress approved the ministers on 27 August came at the end of several weeks of obstruction and outcry from the opposition. This included a prolonged refusal by Keiko Fujimori, the defeated candidate, to acknowledge the result, as well as yet more of the hysterical redbaiting that had marked the presidential campaign. The turbulent weeks since the […]
Political Report #1460 – The Census, Skin Color and Social Analysis
by Esteban Morales Domínguez
Although it still causes many prejudices, misunderstandings and challenges, there is no choice but to pay attention to skin color. Above all, in its consideration within the media and national statistics.
Cuban society is a multiracial society, or rather, multicolored, mestizo. And that reality has to be registered statistically. Not by handling the Census as a simply numerical matter, but as a cultural demographic one.
It is about the fact that color is a legacy of slavery. It is not possible to avoid it, since it has marked Cuban society since its origins.
When the Spaniards […]
Blog Exclusive, Political Report #1959 – The Washington Consensus Arrives In Brasília
by Marc Castillo and Sírio Sapper
Abstract
John Williamson´s renown paper “The Washington Consensus” while causing controversy is nothing more than basic capitalist tenants. Brazil has been undergoing a “Washington Consensus” transformation for decades now. During the last several years this evolution has progressed at a more ambitious pace. This paper examines the actions and mechanisms that the Bolsonaro administration has undertaken to make free market principles more concrete in Brazil.
Keywords: Free Market Principles, Brazil Economy, Bolsonaro Administration, Brazil, Brazilian Politics
THE WASHINGTON CONSENSUS AND BRAZIL: CONTEXTUALIZATION
The ‘Washington Consensus’ has arrived in Brazil and it is there to stay. In […]
Political Report #1458 The Business of Puerto Rico’s Statehood Party by Pedro Cabán
LAP Blog Exclusive
“To reach the unreachable star. This is my quest, To follow that star No matter how hopeless, No matter how far.”
Don Quixote’s elusive quest is a fitting metaphor for Puerto Rico’s statehood movement. For over 120 years Puerto Rican annexationists have campaigned to convert the archipelago into a state of the Union. In 1899, one year after Spain was forced to cede Puerto Rico to the United States, the island’s Republican Party and the Federal Party called for the archipelago’s “definitive and sincere annexation.” Consistent with their understanding of U.S. territorial policy, the […]