Defense Minister Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro has submitted a plan to the government a plan to legalize the sale of marijuana through government controlled outlets. Revenues would be used to fund rehabilitation programs. Several countries throughout Latin America have recently legalized small amounts of marijuana, including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Fernández Huidobro noted that it is…
Fernando Lugo was elected president of Paraguay in 2008. His election was particularly notable, as it marked the first time in the history of Paraguay that any ruling party had peacefully transferred their power to an opposing candidate. The “Colorado Party” had been in power for 61 years before Fernando’s election. As Paraguay’s second leftist…
Initiated in 2004 as a pet project of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, the Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América started as a pact between the impoverished nation of Cuba, and Venezuela. The pact started as a simple partnership between communist Cuba, and fascist Venezuela. Under the initial agreement, Venezuela basically exchanged about 96,000…
Bolivia has a history with Chile. During the War of the Pacific, Bolivia and Peru united against Chile from 1879 through 1883. Being on the losing side of the war, Bolivia lost direct access to the Pacific. According to the Treaty of Peace and Friendship signed by Bolivia in 1904, Bolivia lost territory previously connecting…
Bolivia, Ecuador Nicaragua, and Venezuela are no strangers to anti-Western posturing. Recently, the nations have been cozying up to the Islamic nation Iran while simultaneously touting increasingly populist rhetoric, and implementing draconian policies such as disarming law abiding citizens in Venezuela, flouting national laws in Nicaragua, or attacks on the press in Ecuador. Last Tuesday,…
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. – Thomas Jefferson During his 13 years of rule in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez has presided over a dramatic increase in violence in Venezuela. In 1999, the year Chavez…
At least four countries in Latin America have implemented special economic zones designed to encourage development. These special zones with favorable economic liberties can be found in Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and more recently Honduras. In February of 2011, the legislature of Honduras created the legal framework to initiate special zones intended to be largely autonomous,…
Santiago Chile is one of the most important financial and industrial cities in Latin America, and accounts for nearly 45% of the entire country’s GDP, but it has a nagging problem. Smog. The city is home to five million, and is one of the most polluted cities in the world, and as of the 25th…
Recorded history of the Falkland Islands spans more than 500 years. Active exploration in the area began in the 1700s, and a settlement was founded at the end of the 1800s. They have been claimed throughout that span by the French, Spaniards, British and Argentines Once the Panama Canal was opened to commerce in 1914,…
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