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computer parts posted:I heard Costa Rica was also pretty nice, or are you just counting South America? Costa Rica is really good at PR. Their standard of living is well below that of Chile or Panama. El Salvador and Mexico have more diversified and wealthier economies too. Costa Rica is all about tourism, which they do well. It's kind of Latin America Lite - mostly white population, no military, little violent crime (although rampant property crime). Ticos have the reputation for being the laziest, smuggest people in Central America.
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Nov 28, 2014 14:50
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Chewbaccanator posted:We live well and apparently also rank pretty highly in Happiness Indexes, but then again we had the major advantage of having no wars, significant guerrillas or violent change of power since 1948. I honestly don't see Peña being able to get any sort of major reform like this through with the absolute savaging he has (rightfully) taken. I have no idea what's going to happen in Mexico and can only look on with morbid curiosity each day, the loss of legitimacy not just of the government, but of the opposition parties and the state and it's institutions itself is really quite frightening. If the independent forensic reports come back and say the remains found weren't the students then Peña is left with zero credibility. Maybe the reason that the AG hasn't already resigned is because they want him to be around to take the fall if the tests come back negative to try and isolate some of the damage from the president? Gough Suppressant fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Nov 28, 2014 |
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Nov 28, 2014 15:22
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wateroverfire posted:I've seen the Vice documentary. Um...I would take with great skepticism what "some" suspect. The source is probably a politician in the left wing of Nueva Mayoria and, well, they would say that. Violence is mostly attributed to the anarchist groups, which are very active in Chile. In this case three suspects have been arrested so I guess we could do some digging and look for their actual affiliations. Hopefully they won't be released like the last bunch, who were later picked up for doing a bombing in Spain. To me the bombing themselves aren't as important as the discourse in Chile, which I do think it very polarized. quote:Eh. Like I said, if Bachelet hadn't swept the primaries with her star appeal we would have most likely ended up with center-leftist Andres Velasco as president. In that case the tone would have been much more moderate and education reform could have happened in a more productive way. But right now, yeah, there is very little chance of consensus. Most likely in a year or two the center of the Nueva Mayoria will bolt and Bachelet´s coalition will be broken. Then, well, who can say. But there is IMO a third way. I think the issue is that most people, including Americans see Bachelet as a center-leftist herself, her coalition may fall apart but I don't know how much reforms can be watered down at this point especially on the revenue side. That said, preferring her opposition in the primary at this point is a far cry from where this thread started in the first place. I wouldn't be surprised if you had "revolving door" coalitions as the government themselves really can't affect much change if the macro-economic situation remains poor globally.
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Nov 28, 2014 18:26
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TheImmigrant posted:Costa Rica is really good at PR. Their standard of living is well below that of Chile or Panama. El Salvador and Mexico have more diversified and wealthier economies too. Costa Rica is all about tourism, which they do well. It's kind of Latin America Lite - mostly white population, no military, little violent crime (although rampant property crime). Ticos have the reputation for being the laziest, smuggest people in Central America. Can confirm, am lazy and smug. For real though, pretty much every tico believes that our country is a special little snowflake, when in reality we're much more similar than we like to admit to our neighbors. I for one, cannot fathom how Central American integration has historically been such a failed process. Also if Nicaragua's whole channel thing comes through at least somewhat functionally, we're gonna be looking at two much more dynamic economies on both borders, say what you will about Ortega's deal with the Chinese. Maybe then some people will get their heads out of their asses. e: Gough Suppressant posted:If the independent forensic reports come back and say the remains found weren't the students then Peña is left with zero credibility. Maybe the reason that the AG hasn't already resigned is because they want him to be around to take the fall if the tests come back negative to try and isolate some of the damage from the president? This is what I'm fearing. A scapegoat in an attempt to brush the whole deal under the carpet and continue not confronting the amount of organized crime in regional government spells disaster to me, but I really don't know what Peña Nieto could do instead. As if him taking the blame/stepping down would do anything to address the underlying causes. Chewbaccanator fucked around with this message at 18:43 on Nov 28, 2014 |
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Nov 28, 2014 18:40
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Honestly it seems like Peña Nieto is hosed for the rest of his term, especially if stuff like this keeps happening. No matter how many sloppy blowjobs he gets from The Economist for "reform," he is on track to be almost as unpopular as Calderón, which I didn't even think was possible.
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Nov 29, 2014 03:23
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Badger of Basra posted:Honestly it seems like Peña Nieto is hosed for the rest of his term, especially if stuff like this keeps happening. No matter how many sloppy blowjobs he gets from The Economist for "reform," he is on track to be almost as unpopular as Calderón, which I didn't even think was possible. Granted, he has ever right to be the target of that ire, that said it doesn't seem Mexico has really anywhere to go. If anything I guess the US economy being somewhat stable if a saving grace, otherwise it might turn into a "cold versus pneumonia" situation.
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Nov 29, 2014 03:37
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I just did some googling and it seems the lowest Calderón's approval rating ever got was 46%, which is completely insane.
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Nov 29, 2014 04:16
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Could some people from the countries in the region post what are considered the more reputable online news sources? Having never lived in latin america it can sometimes be hard to tell what the equivalent of Fox or the like is without context.
Gough Suppressant fucked around with this message at 13:26 on Nov 30, 2014 |
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Nov 30, 2014 13:14
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Gough Suppressant posted:Could some people from the countries in the region post what are considered the more reputable online news sources? Having never lived in latin america it can sometimes be hard to tell what the equivalent of Fox or the like is without context. You're opening a can even wormier than the one about bias in the US media. El Universal of Mexico City has good reporting, but this might be a fascist/communist/zapatista/poopypanted opinion. http://m.eluniversal.com.mx/home.html
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Nov 30, 2014 14:51
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Anybody from Uruguay here? It seems to be getting pretty good rep, is it justified or just good PR?
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Nov 30, 2014 14:52
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Forgall posted:Anybody from Uruguay here? It seems to be getting pretty good rep, is it justified or just good PR? I did a semester of school in Montevideo. It's the bright spot of South America - super progressive politics (legal marijuana, gay marriage), stable, affluent. Uruguay is also very friendly to foreign investment and foreign residents. I'm seriously toying with the idea of buying a place in Montevideo or Colonia. Population is like Argentina's, but WAY more laid back. Montevideo is like a smaller, less pretentious Buenos Aires.
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Nov 30, 2014 15:05
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Gough Suppressant posted:Could some people from the countries in the region post what are considered the more reputable online news sources? Having never lived in latin america it can sometimes be hard to tell what the equivalent of Fox or the like is without context. La Jornada is pretty good for Mexico (http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas). For Brazil I usually use CartaCapital (http://www.cartacapital.com.br/) or Revista Fórum (http://revistaforum.com.br/). Brazil and Argentina are pretty bad when it comes to getting any sort of impartial media.
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Nov 30, 2014 18:53
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How does this thread feel about Bayly?TheImmigrant posted:Already Spanish dialectal variation isn't much of an issue. Written Spanish is nearly identical across various Hispanophone countries, particularly if you aren't including Spain. Spoken dialects vary a bit more, with Rioplatense, Chilean, and Caribbean dialects the most divergent, but still I can't see 'which Spanish' ever being an obstacle. Dialect chauvinism is a nonissue today. Native speakers consider Iberian to be effete, and Mexican slang to be excessively vulgar, but there's little problem with intelligibility. At the risk of over-explaining the joke, while dialect chauvinism isn't an issue, there are some power dynamics and resentments between states/nationalities that would at least wrench federation a bit in the absence of a strong opposing entity. Similar to how had the British not been around, "gently caress the North"/"gently caress the South" might have further complicated collective action in the colonies, instead of being a charming amateur political science analysis.
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Nov 30, 2014 19:10
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Tabaré Vásquez won his election. Uruguay will have 5 more years of the Frente Amplio, and will probably stick to its pot legalization plan.
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Dec 1, 2014 03:45
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So is there any good place I can find information about Honduras. I really want to know what are the chances of the place ever turning itself around from the self inflicted wounds it has made on itself.
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Dec 1, 2014 07:39
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For security / crime / drugs and all that fun stuff (in English) I like InSight: http://www.insightcrime.org/ It also breaks down by country so you can read about failed Honduran prison reform and other really niche news. The downside is that it definitely reads along the lines of Washington-oriented and moderate consensus, down-the-middle analysis. A lot of "on the one hand / on the other hand" formulations when discussing about why a particular country is going down the drain. But they're pretty knowledgeable. BrutalistMcDonalds fucked around with this message at 08:28 on Dec 1, 2014 |
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Dec 1, 2014 08:26
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Crowsbeak posted:So is there any good place I can find information about Honduras. I really want to know what are the chances of the place ever turning itself around from the self inflicted wounds it has made on itself. Slim to none. Weak state, systematic corruption, massive gang problem initially formed by deportees from the US, Honduras is hosed. I go at least once a year, usually with a night or two in San Pedro Sula, which is genuinely the most menacing place I've been. Wounds there aren't really self-inflicted. Probably no place in the Americas has been as consistently and thoroughly worked over by the US, and especially US fruit companies. For much of its history, Honduras was mostly owned by foreign fruit companies. Sorry, don't have a specific publication on Honduras that isn't focused on US immigration. TheImmigrant fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Dec 1, 2014 |
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Dec 1, 2014 14:36
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Gough Suppressant posted:Could some people from the countries in the region post what are considered the more reputable online news sources? Having never lived in latin america it can sometimes be hard to tell what the equivalent of Fox or the like is without context. Like TheImmigrant said that's kind of a big can of worms. For Chile El Mercurio is more or less the paper of record. They tend to lean right. Also, to get an article published in El Mercurio you must write like you have a 3" diameter stick up your rear end all the time. La Tercera is a pretty good source. TBH The Clinic is at least as insightful as other national sources and more entertaining to read. Take any statement by a politician or uanttributed statement with a huge grain of salt no matter where it comes from. Chilean politicians are often American state legislature levels of incompetent and crazy.
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Dec 1, 2014 15:43
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Brazilian Deputy and all around awful person Jair Bolsonaro is out with another hit: "I wouldn't rape you, because you don't deserve it." http://www.revistaforum.com.br/blog/2014/12/nao-estupro-voce-porque-nao-merece-diz-bolsonaro-maria-rosario/ In related(?) news, it looks like the corruption scandal at Petrobras continues to grow, but hasn't been linked to Rousseff yet - who knows if it ever will. The SEC is also opening an investigation in the US. I've read some reporters saying they don't think her and the PT would be making such strong denials about involvement if they had been involved, so who knows. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/09/us-brazil-petrobras-idUSKBN0JN1GZ20141209
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Dec 10, 2014 05:58
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wateroverfire posted:Like TheImmigrant said that's kind of a big can of worms. For perspective: The Clinic is for the most part a comedy newspaper that leans heavily to the left (swaying between pro-Concertación and pro-non concerta left), with a sense of humor somewhere between LF and 4chan. Curiously enough, they've always been pretty good at investigative journalism, and their resident photographer is like, insane good, easily among the best in the country. I haven't bought the paper in a while though, since reading a bunch of cuicos progres attempting to be funny by lifting memes (in an only slightly less blatant way than their hilariously short-lived right-wing counterpart) gets old after a while, so I don't know if that's still how they roll. La Tercera and El Mercurio for the most part do a great job of projecting neutrality, objectivity and lack of bias, but their conservative bent (EM being traditionally conservative, LT being closer to the neoliberal right) REALLY flares up when dealing with a few touchy topics. EM is anti-mapuche as gently caress, for example, and they've both been spearheading the right's media effort to oppose the tax and educational reforms. El Mostrador is the closest thing there is to a left-leaning Mercurio/Tercera, though El Mostrador is not a newspaper, it's exclusively online. There's also CIPER, of course. Touted by some as the last bastion of real, hard-hitting journalism in Chile, it's certainly the only place I can think of that still releases journalistic "bombs", so to speak. Its objectivity has been called into question every once in a while, though. Last time I checked most Chileans still believe that radio stations are the most trustworthy when it comes to getting credible, unbiased information, chiefly from Cooperativa and Biobio (EL HOMBRE QUE NO ESTÁ INFORMADO, NO PUEDE TENER OPINIÓN).
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Dec 10, 2014 19:44
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Brazil's Truth Commission published their report on the 1964-1985 military dictatorship this week. Among the Southern Cone dictatorship I guess you could call it the least bad (Videla makes that easy), but the report documented at least 300 cases of murder or disappearance. President Rousseff, tortured by that dictatorship in the 70s, broke down during her speech receiving the report. The Commission recommended repeal of the dictatorship's self-amnesty law and prosecutions of those responsible for human rights abuses, but that's probably not going to happen.The Guardian posted:“Under the military dictatorship, repression and the elimination of political opposition was because of the policy of the state, conceived and implemented based on decisions by the president of the republic and military ministers,” the commission concludes.
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Dec 13, 2014 01:04
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Badger of Basra posted:Brazil's Truth Commission published their report on the 1964-1985 military dictatorship this week. Among the Southern Cone dictatorship I guess you could call it the least bad (Videla makes that easy), but the report documented at least 300 cases of murder or disappearance. President Rousseff, tortured by that dictatorship in the 70s, broke down during her speech receiving the report. The Commission recommended repeal of the dictatorship's self-amnesty law and prosecutions of those responsible for human rights abuses, but that's probably not going to happen. If the Chilean experience is anything to go by, waiting for a generational change in the judiciary is a better bet than waiting until the political climate allows for a change to the law or its derogation. The only reason we saw any kind of justice whatsoever is because eventually judges came to adopt the convoluted ways to circumvent the Amnesty Law (and statutes of limitations) presented by human rights attorneys. The idea of a "permanent kidnapping" (since there's no body, and therefore no certainty of murder, and therefore no statute of limitations applies) is obviously bullshit, but less bullshit than a tyranny forcing upon a democracy the impunity of its enforcers, so I ain't complaining. That being said, justice in Chile still has a long way to go in that regard, and by now I've pretty much given up hope of things getting any better before the remaining torturers die off.
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Dec 13, 2014 02:00
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SexyBlindfold posted:If the Chilean experience is anything to go by, waiting for a generational change in the judiciary is a better bet than waiting until the political climate allows for a change to the law or its derogation. The only reason we saw any kind of justice whatsoever is because eventually judges came to adopt the convoluted ways to circumvent the Amnesty Law (and statutes of limitations) presented by human rights attorneys. The idea of a "permanent kidnapping" (since there's no body, and therefore no certainty of murder, and therefore no statute of limitations applies) is obviously bullshit, but less bullshit than a tyranny forcing upon a democracy the impunity of its enforcers, so I ain't complaining. That being said, justice in Chile still has a long way to go in that regard, and by now I've pretty much given up hope of things getting any better before the remaining torturers die off. I think you're right, but if the generation hasn't changed enough in thirty years I'm doubtful it will any time soon. Especially when you have people like Bolsonaro in Congress calling for a new coup because of the DITADURA COMUNISTA #FORAPT
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Dec 13, 2014 02:07
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http://gizmodo.com/how-greenpeace-wrecked-one-of-the-most-sacred-places-in-1669873583 Greenpeace clearly knows better than you, ignorant Peruvians!
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Dec 13, 2014 09:17
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Jesus loving Christ
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Dec 13, 2014 09:47
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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/alan-gross-american-freed-cuban-jail/story?id=27649438quote:Held for five years in Cuba, 65-year-old American contractor Alan Gross has been released from prison and is en route to U.S. soil, ABC News has learned exclusively. The three Cubans released were the 3 remaining Cuban Five. Also: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/17/politics/cuba-alan-gross-deal/index.html quote:Wednesday's announcement that the U.S. will move toward restoring diplomatic ties with Cuba will also make it easier for Americans to travel to Cuba and do business with the Cuban people by extending general licenses, officials said. While the more liberal travel restrictions won't allow for tourism, they will permit greater American travel to the island. Sheng-Ji Yang fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Dec 17, 2014 |
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Dec 17, 2014 15:06
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Relations will be normalized and the U.S. will open an embassy in Cuba, AP reports. Pretty huge.
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Dec 17, 2014 15:46
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MothraAttack posted:Relations will be normalized and the U.S. will open an embassy in Cuba, AP reports. Pretty huge. Wow. I wonder if Cuba agreed to any serious reforms for this to happen. This looks like the end of the embargo. I guess the Dems are writing off Florida next election.
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Dec 17, 2014 15:59
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Sheng-ji Yang posted:Wow. I wonder if Cuba agreed to any serious reforms for this to happen. This looks like the end of the embargo. Florida doesn't really work like that anymore (insofar as it ever did).
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Dec 17, 2014 16:00
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In 2012 a majority of Cubans as a bloc voted for Obama, so yeah, things are changing.
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Dec 17, 2014 16:06
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Younger Cuban-Americans are not hardline anti-Castro.
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Dec 17, 2014 16:08
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TheImmigrant posted:Younger Cuban-Americans are not hardline anti-Castro. Even hardline anti-Castro Cubans from the older generations aren't necessarily opposed to normalization at this point - nor is normalization a vote-flipping issue. Those who would flip their vote and go to the polls on this issue are already high-turnout GOP voters. FlamingLiberal posted:In 2012 a majority of Cubans as a bloc voted for Obama, so yeah, things are changing. A majority of Cubans in Florida, at that I believe.
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Dec 17, 2014 16:11
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Sheng-ji Yang posted:Wow. I wonder if Cuba agreed to any serious reforms for this to happen. This looks like the end of the embargo. Reportedly they're releasing 53 jailed dissidents, but wait for confirmation.
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Dec 17, 2014 16:31
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My grasp on US politics has become looser and looser, but doesn't this mean that Jeb Bush (or any other republican candidate) would campaign on reverting this completely to appease the GOP-voting Cubans?
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Dec 17, 2014 18:17
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SexyBlindfold posted:My grasp on US politics has become looser and looser, but doesn't this mean that Jeb Bush (or any other republican candidate) would campaign on reverting this completely to appease the GOP-voting Cubans? A majority of Cuban-Americans voted for Obama and a majority of Cuban-Americans are pro-normalization. If anything it helps the democrats.
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Dec 17, 2014 18:31
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Barudak posted:A majority of Cuban-Americans voted for Obama and a majority of Cuban-Americans are pro-normalization. If anything it helps the democrats. This isn't actually true. Obama got 48% of the Cuban-American vote.
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Dec 17, 2014 18:32
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Sheng-ji Yang posted:This isn't actually true. Obama got 48% of the Cuban-American vote. Whoops sorry your right its not a majority but he got more than the republican. 49% Obama 47% Romney in 2012 exit polls.
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Dec 17, 2014 18:36
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First, US-Cuba thawing and now the FARC declares an indefinite truce? http://m.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-30525871 Weirdest and  est day in a long time.Edit: nice things? In MY Latin America?? Ulvino fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Dec 17, 2014 |
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Dec 17, 2014 23:28
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Hasn't the issue been that FARC wants a ceasefire but the government constantly refuses?
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Dec 17, 2014 23:35
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Well yes and no, as far as I know. The Colombian government insisted that the ongoing talks shouldn't be bound to the Army suspending anti-guerrilla activities, but it could be because the FARC don't seem to be particularly cohesive as a military and political entity (the recent kidnapping of a Colombian general and his quick release appeared to demonstrate this), and afaik FARC have a history of breaking bilateral ceasefires for this reason. It somehow managed to not be a hindrance for the peace talks so far, though. Not sure if the declaration is a sign that the talks are heading in the right direction, or empty posturing.
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Dec 17, 2014 23:54
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