This year, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung celebrates an important anniversary: 50 years of development cooperation and promoting democracy around the world. Our efforts to promote the spread of democracy began in Latin America in the 1960s. We will continue to work there at all levels to promote civic engagement and good governance.

by Gerhard Wahlers

Results of Regional and Local Elections in Colombia

Colombia’s congressional elections took place in March 2010 and the presidential elections in May of the same year, while regional and local elections were held in October 2011. Just over 30 million Colombians were called upon to decide on who was to take up well over 18,000 positions, for which over 100,000 candidates were vying. The significance of the outcome of the 2011 elections for all parties went beyond the elections themselves.

by Stefan Jost

President Kirchner embarks on her second term of office with a strengthened mandate

With the the general election in October 2011, Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has been confirmed in office. In the concurrent congressional elections, at which half the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and a third of the seats in the Senate were up for renewal, the Peronist election platform “Frente para la Victoria” (FPV) that backs her also emerged victorious. As the 2011 elections clearly showed, Peronism remains by far the most important political force in Argentina.

by Bernd Löhmann

Brazil is often described as the biggest Catholic country in the world. Still, 19 percent of the population, are believed to belong to a Pentecostal Church. The number of Catholics as a percentage of the total population is therefore estimated at only 61 percent. This rapid shift in the balance of power has become particularly apparent in the last two decades and raises the question of why this has happened and what impact it will have on society as a whole.

by Lukas Lingenthal

The issue of maritime security and the widespread threats to shipping in the area around the Horn of Africa has received a little less media attention in recent times due to the events in the Arab world since the beginning of 2011. But this region of East Africa continues to be important because of the ongoing catastrophic drought and the recent abductions in Kenya by Somali militias. Despite international efforts to combat their activities, Somali pirates have actually extended their operating range in the region.

by Benjamin-Tedla Hecker

Russia’s population has been declining rapidly for years. The Russian state is experiencing a demographic crisis on such a scale that it poses a significant threat to the economic future and security of the country. As a result, the issue of migration has become an important item on the internal political agenda.

by Johann C. Fuhrmann