Last week, in Merída, Mexico, the leaders of Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia met to affirm their shared commitment to economic integration, growth, and competitiveness. You may not have heard of the summit. In fact, a Google search of recent U.S. news articles covering the meeting of the “Pacific Alliance” turns up only nine results. It seems that while the United States’ key partners in Latin America were meeting to discuss critical economic and trade issues, America failed to pay much attention. America’s disregard, however, makes little sense. With a …
Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez faces an election on November 23, and he’s wasting no time in further undermining civil society and consolidating his power. Jaime Daremblum of the Hudson Institute reports: On July 22, the Venezuelan president arrived in Moscow to finalize a number of bilateral energy and military agreements, including several arms deals that (according to a Russian newspaper) are reportedly worth around $2 billion. (His previous weapons acquisitions from Russia total some $4.5 billion.) On July 31, he announced plans to nationalize the Spanish-owned Bank of Venezuela, his …
