Colombia: Reform, Stagnation and New Hopes for Peace – A Mid-Term Asessment of the Unidad Nacional Government | Seven years of Evo Morales in Bolivia – Asessing a self-appointed beacon of hope for indigenous peoples | Economic and political relations between Europe and Latin America in advance of the 1st EU-CELAC summit in Santiago de Chile | People’s Parties in Crisis – Christian Democrats in Belgiumand the Netherlands | Kenya decides – Challenges of the new constitution and 2013 elections | The Crisis in Mali – Origins, Developments and the Impact on the Sub-Region
Show table of contentsInterim assessments on Latin America - International Reports
Interim assessments on Latin America
Content
Interim assessments on Latin America
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Editorial
The Sahel Region has turned into an uncontrollable area, vulnerable not only to Islamists, but also to extortion as well as the drug trade and human trafficking. As diplomatic initiatives have not succeeded in resolving the conflict to date, the West African ECOWAS has now petitioned the UN Security Council for a mandate for an intervention in Mali. A positive decision is expected in the near future. Those who think that they can rely purely on political negotiations must answer the question as to who would be the negotiating partner in this scenario.
Other Topics
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Colombia: Reform, Stagnation and New Hopes for Peace
A Mid-Term Asessment of the Unidad Nacional Government
In August 2010, Juan Manuel Santos took over as the new President of Colombia. In the two years since his inauguration he has pushed through a new domestic and foreign agenda. When a few weeks ago Santos declared that peace talks would begin with the FARC-Guerilla, this marked the political high point of the first two years of his government.
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Seven years of Evo Morales in Bolivia
Asessing a self-appointed beacon of hope for indigenous peoples
In December 2005, Evo Morales Ayma won the presidential elections in Bolivia with 54 per cent of the votes. The elections set the seal on the decline of the traditional party system, and propelled the governing party, MAS. After seven years of this government, the hopes of many have been replaced by a more sober attitude. In October, the country celebrated the 30th anniversary of the end of the military dictatorships and the return of democracy. At the same time, it is undergoing a series of social conflicts unmatched in number since 1982.
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Economic and political relations between Europe and Latin America in advance of the 1st EU-CELAC summit in Chile
Since 1999, European Union, Latin American and Caribbean heads of state and government have met almost every two years for a joint summit to discuss the state of relations between the two regions. The seventh such summit is to be held on 26 and 27 January 2013 in Santiago de Chile, although this time it will bear a new name. Following the creation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in 2010, the summit has been announced as the 1st EU-CELAC summit.
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People’s Parties in Crisis
Christian Democrats in Belgium and the Netherlands
Since the Second World War, the Christian Democrats in Belgium and the Netherlands have had a significant influence on the politics of their respective countries and on the European unification process. In the last two decades they have also had to overcome some fundamental crises. In the most recent elections their popularity reached an all-time low. What has happened to them and the way they have attempted to deal with these crises could provide an indication of the challenges ahead for other Christian democratic parties.
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Kenya decides
Challenges of the new constitution and 2013 elections
After the elections in December 2007 protests against election tampering degenerated into violent unrest, arson attacks and looting. The conflict claimed hundreds of lives. A National Accord brought an end to the disturbances in February 2008. The agreement envisaged the drafting of a new constitution. Debates around the latter continue to shape events. It will only be fully implemented come the elections in March next year.
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The Crisis in Mali
Origins, Developments and the Impact on the Sub-Region
The West African country of Mali is undergoing a deep crisis that threatens its territorial integrity, and therefore its sovereignty, and that has worrying implications for large swathes of the Sahel and West Africa as a whole. The sub-region faces many challenges in trying to resolve a conflict that raises many questions about the African state’s very survival and the clash between the principle of sovereignty and transnational non-institutional actors.
About this series
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Editor
Dr. Gerhard Wahlers
ISBN
0177-7521
Benjamin Gaul
Head of the Department International Reports and Communication
