Monthly Archives: June 2012

Nationalisation: Uruguay’s solution to its drug problem Law allowing state to sell cannabis could be adopted across Latin America in defiance of US

Nationalisation: Uruguay’s solution to its drug problem Law allowing state to sell cannabis could be adopted across Latin America in defiance of US
  • June 22, 2012
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Uruguay – in a bid to curb a narcotics-fuelled violent crimewave across the country – has unveiled plans to nationalise its cannabis market and become the first government in the world to sell the soft drug to consumers. The measure is aimed at both reducing the rising power of drug gangs and the growing number of users of crack and freebase cocaine in what has traditionally been one of Latin America's most peaceful nations. "We want to fight two different things: one is the consumption of drugs and the other is the trafficking…Read more …

Is Peru going authoritarian? Critics accuse President Ollanta Humala of having dictator tics after brutal crackdowns on anti-mine protesters.

Is Peru going authoritarian? Critics accuse President Ollanta Humala of having dictator tics after brutal crackdowns on anti-mine protesters.
  • June 14, 2012
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On the campaign trail, Ollanta Humala vowed that as president he would not sacrifice rural communities to mining and oil companies that wanted to dig and drill on their lands. The leftist candidate even pushed for a recall of then President Alan Garcia, blaming his refusal to listen to Andean and Amazonian villagers for triggering deadly clashes between police and protesters. But as president, some of Humala's onetime allies are accusing him of authoritarianism and betrayal as his government struggles to keep a lid on a wave of angry anti-mining protests. Police using…Read more …

The ghosts of Mexico’s past Exhausted by the war on drugs, the country is on the verge of electing the PRI, a party notorious for its autocratic, corruption-plagued rule. Simeon Tegel reports from Mexico City.

The ghosts of Mexico’s past Exhausted by the war on drugs, the country is on the verge of electing the PRI, a party notorious for its autocratic, corruption-plagued rule. Simeon Tegel reports from Mexico City.
  • June 4, 2012
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For seven decades, the Institutional Revolutionary Party ruled Mexico by hook or by crook, stuffing ballot boxes, massacring democracy protesters and bribing journalists into providing sycophantic coverage. When it finally lost a presidential election for the first time, in 2000, the atmosphere was reminiscent of the fall of the Berlin wall. But now the party, universally known in Mexico as PRI, its Spanish initials, is on the brink of a triumphant comeback, with its youthful candidate for July's presidential polls, Enrique Peña Nieto, enjoying a consistent lead of around 20 points over his…Read more …