Latin America & the Caribbean

Photo: Maradona visited Argentina's new president Alberto Fernández (right) on 26 December 2019. CC BY 4.0

How Nigerians Remember Maradona

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) – When the news of the death of Diego Maradona broke, I was in a friend’s office. Our initial spontaneous reaction was sorrow and regret. And then we drifted, almost as if we had rehearsed it, to the next thing: who is football’s all-time greatest? Maradona or Pele?

My friend wasted no time in declaring that for him, it is and always will be Maradona. He spoke about the Argentine’s prodigious talent, talked about his imagination and gushed, above all, about his artistry and genius.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 10 December 2020

How the U.S. Is Locking Out China from Latin America and the Caribbean

Viewpoint by Vijay Prashad *

NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) – On August 20, 2018, El Salvador’s leftist president Salvador Sánchez Cerén announced on national television that El Salvador would break its ties with Taiwan and recognize the People’s Republic of China. This was in accord with international law, said Sánchez Cerén, and it would bring “great benefits for our country.”

Not long after, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio took to Twitter to announce that this move “will cause real harm to relationship with the U.S. including their role in #AllianceforProsperity.”

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 04 December 2020

India Succeeds Russia as BRICS Chair Amid Rising Challenges

By Kester Kenn Klomegah*

MOSCOW (IDN) – India assumes the rotating Chairmanship of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) regional association on January 1, 2021. The South Asian nation takes over from Russia under whose leadership the organization managed to achieve progress in the political, economic and humanitarian fields.

During the five-nation bloc's last meeting held under the theme “BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth” – on November 17, the organization noted that much advance has been attained in streamlining the full-scale operational activity of BRICS.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 29 November 2020

Image: Collage of pictures with Venezuelan President Maduro (left) and Joe Biden (right) from Internet.

US President-Elect Should Talk to Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro

Viewpoint by Vijay Prashad *

This article was produced by Globetrotter.

NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) – In June, Joe Biden, who will be the U.S. president in January 2021, sent out a tweet that described Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro—and others—as “thugs and dictators.” Maduro won two elections to hold his post—in 2013 and 2018. In 2018, Maduro won 67.8 per cent of the vote, losing a third of the votes to Henri Falcón and Javier Bertucci, two figures of the opposition.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 11 November 2020

Photo: Jean-Bertrand Aristide returns to Haiti, following the U.S.-led invasion in 1994 designed to remove the regime installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Haiti Has a Long History of Being Assaulted by Its Latin American Neighbors

By Lautaro Rivara *

PORT-AU-PRINCE (IDN) – Thirteen United Nations peacekeeping missions are underway in various countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Haiti has been the epicenter of the UN peacekeeping missions in Latin America and the Caribbean; there have been eight UN missions since the International Civilian Mission in Haiti (MICIVIH) was deployed in Haiti in 1993. On October 15, 2019, the UN finally ended its 15-year-long peacekeeping mission in Haiti that began in 2004, leaving behind a “mixed legacy.”

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 02 November 2020

Mexico Has a UFO and It's Not an Unidentified Flying Object

Viewpoint by Bill Dahl*

QUERETARO, Mexico (IDN) – For the majority of people, the emotion engendered by a UFO landing on Earth is fear. For others, it is a confirmation of a hope – that there are alternative realities to the beliefs the majority currently hold. Confirming the reality of a UFO landing on Earth opens up vast possibilities that people had heretofore thought impossible.

Currently, Mexico has a UFO. It is not an Unidentified Flying Object. It is an Unequivocal Failing Organization. The name of the UFO is Pemex or Petróleos Mexicanos. Pemex is the largest taxpayer in Mexico, its largest company, and one of the largest companies in Latin America.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 11 October 2020

Image: Map of the Caribbean Sea and its islands. CC BY-SA 3.0

Caribbean Concerns Find Voice at 75th Anniversary of the UN

Viewpoint by P.I. Gomes*

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) – The High-level Meeting to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations was held on September 21, 2020, with a view to adopting a political declaration on the theme: “The Future We Want, the United Nations We Need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism”.

The opening Plenary session observed the usual formalities of statements by the President of the General Assembly (GA) and by Presidents of the Security Council, Economic & Social Council and of the International Court of Justice.

: Dr. Patrick Gomes - former ACP Seretary-General; UN INSIDER; 30 September 2020

Photo: Degraded – but not deforested. Credit: CIFOR/flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

Forest Degradation Is Outpacing Full Deforestation in the Amazon

Viewpoint by Tommaso Jucker*

BRISTOL, United Kingdom (IDN) – Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has increased abruptly in the past two years, after having been on a downward trajectory for more than a decade. With the country’s president Jair Bolsonaro notoriously enthusiastic about expanding into the rainforest, new deforestation data regularly makes global headlines.

But what fewer people realise is that even forests that have not been cleared, or fully “deforested”, are rarely untouched. Indeed, just 20 percent of the world’s tropical forests are classified as intact. The rest have been impacted by logging, mining, fires, or by the expansion of roads or other human activities. And all this can happen undetected by the satellites that monitor deforestation.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 12 September 2020

Voters Are the Limit to Democracy

Viewpoint by Roberto Savio*

ROME (IDN) – On August 23, a respected Brazilian polling institute found that the country's president, Jair Bolsonaro, enjoys an approval rating of 51 per cent, the highest since he was elected. Brazil ranks second as the country with the highest number of coronavirus deaths (116,000), according to Wikipedia, after the United States where the death toll currently stands at 170,000.

: Roberto Savio; OPINION; 28 August 2020

Photo: Patrón cortando caña (Patrón cuts the cane), Colombia, 2015. Credit: Pablo Fierro.

Colombian Sports Hero Patrón's Assassination Targets Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Communities

Viewpoint by Vijay Prashad and Zoe PC

This article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) – Not much, apart from football, unites the Colombian people. If a 2014 Interior Ministry survey called “The Power of Football” is to be believed, then 94 percent of the Colombian population say that football is either important or very important. Patrocinio Bonilla—called Patrón—was on the side of those who believed that football was very important, indeed essential. Patrón was murdered on August 11, 2020.