Cuba will most likely be elected to its fifth term in the HRC, which will enable it to run for re-election in 2023. By returning to the Council in 2023, Cuba would then complete 18 of the 20 years of the HRC’s existence in one of its seats. Other countries with a similar record, such as Saudi Arabia or China, could achieve the same. The fact that Cuba manages to maintain its «leadership», spending as many years as possible in an organization that it makes fun of, says a lot about the lack of real leadership in Latin America regarding the defense of human rights.

The current outline in English addresses the main ideas and statements included in the report «La falta de compromiso de Cuba con el sistema universal de derechos humanos» (Cuba’s lack of commitment to the international human rights system), originally published in Spanish. To fully understand it, a thorough reading would be required. However, we believe the current summary, to which we have decided to add both the report’s introduction and conclusion sections almost entirely, represents a valuable document that will offer a comprehensive overview of the topics discussed and the conclusions drawn from the original report.

I write my comment on this hostile environment to the arts and culture in Brazil in a time of coronavirus and social isolation, in which so many of us are sick and several of us have already died, including artists such as Aldir Blanc, Rubem Fonseca, Sérgio Sant’Anna, Moraes Moreira y Flávio Migliaccio. The Bolsonaro government was not in solidarity with any of these losses, preferring to ignore them while continuing with its conservative agenda.

The Danish NGO Freemuse has produced a comprehensive report calling it the “State of Artistic Freedom”: a detailed survey of different abuses of the right of expression enshrined in the Universal Charter of Human Rights. It highlights the state of emergency in which thousands of artists and intellectuals live and survive in different parts of the world. There is no ideology, no system, no political regime that does not have its eye on artists.

In the annual report presented on 15 April 2020, Freemuse points out a continuing deterioration of freedom of expression in general and of art in particular, which translates into 711 attacks in 93 countries and shows that art continues to be a hazardous activity that can lead to harassment, censorship, imprisonment and even death. To successfully monitor this development, Freemuse compiles and analyses statistical data, as well as thorough interviews with artists around the world. The comparative analysis allows to identify global trends and recognize those areas where interference is necessary to defend the freedom of artistic expression.

In a context of excessive disorder, it is more difficult than ever to discuss police abuses and enduring racism rationally. Looting and mayhem often produce a political dynamic of escalating polarization. But in politics nothing is foreordained. The United States can find a better way, one that gives the police the incentive and resources they need to work for people.

According to the Bertelsmann Transformation Index of 2020, Colombia is on the right path when it comes to economic growth and democracy, although evident challenges remain. Social and income inequalities are apparent and coupled with consistent corruption scandals, the population’s faith in the state is plunging.

Of all the controls that people all over the world have accepted with little protest in the name of public health, the prohibition of movement is the most consequential. …[C]ombining trustworthy government information, solidarity with the desperate, and pragmatic technology would surely be an improvement over the mass lockdowns in place in much of the world.

In the exact sense of the Narcissus myth, the Cuban state may drown in the attempt to kiss the constructed and projected image of itself in an era previous to instant and globalised information. In the post-Covid-19 world, states need more than mirrors. They need effiicency.

(The Global Americans) The general formula of establishing good and strong institutions to serve the public are the inspiration of democratic norms. But there is still a long way ahead to discover what will work for Alberto Fernández and what shape his democratic policies will take.

From the perspective of the commitment to human rights, the decision of the new Uruguayan authorities -that will assume office next March 1- to not include the region’s autocrats in the swearing in ceremony is consistent with their values. It speaks badly of an exemplary democracy to give “equal treatment and respect” to leaders in other countries that were not elected through free, fair and competitive elections.

(The Global Americans) In recent months, there has been an increasing focus on human rights when discussing the events taking place in Chile. In its report, HRW emphasizes the human rights abuses during last year’s protests committed by Chile’s Carabineros. It also shows how authorities responded to this challenge and the progress (or lack thereof) of these initiatives. It also pays attention to human rights issues that have had a longer history in the country and that continue to affect minorities.

(The Global Americans) On January 14, during his inauguration ceremony held in Guatemala City, Giammattei vindicated his promise of handling corruption and endemic violence in the country with a “hard hand.” To this end, he proposed a law initiative to denominate “maras and gangs as terrorist groups.”

(Global Americans) Under Argentina’s new government, foreign policy decisions based more on ideological affinity than on greater pragmatism could bare serious consequences for the country, more so when dealing with non-democratic countries.

In the last turn of events, President Duque agreed to convene the leaders who ignited the protests. The next few days will be key to see if the situation is radicalized or if a consensual exit from the agitation is achieved.

(Clarín) Would anyone accept in any country in Latin America that there can only be one ideology and that if one does not share it is a traitor subject to being fought by any means? Then it is worth asking, where is the regional reaction to such legal aberration and criminalization of human rights?

The way of Evo Morales to present himself as a candidate for president for the fourth consecutive time was not simple. Anyway, Evo has good cards to show. Among its advantages is economic stability and social improvements that occurred since its assumption. But several polls agree that if Evo does not win in the first round he would lose in the second against Carlos Mesa.

Brazil encompasses many of the problems that affect the region: corruption, street violence, cases of police abuse, and entrenched stereotypes in society that make all these problems in turn become more serious in minorities. In this regard, both Bolsonaro's sayings and his lack of commitment to the progressive agenda do not help to solve the structural problems of Brazil and the country seems to be going in the opposite direction to which it should go.

Agreements in which destination countries, which are usually developed democracies, pay for not having to accept more migrants, are not what humanitarian advocates who argue in favor of international cooperation to face migration crises usually have in mind. However, cooperation to restrict immigration is more common worldwide than is cooperation in a liberal direction.

The list of complacent would be long, for example, those of democratic countries whose officials never received any nomination for the Award for Committed Diplomacy in Cuba, so it is as if they were not there. And most worrying, after the delivery of the last edition of the Prize for the period 2016-2018, is the setback that some embassies recorded.

(The Global Americans) A month after promoting the establishment of PROSUR, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera contradicted the central principles of the new regional bloc during a trip to China.

(The Global Americans) Given the significant numbers of votes against the reform, the results of the referendum call into question the unanimity on which Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) have always attempted to stake the legitimacy of the revolution.

We must thank Michael Zantovsky, current executive director of the Václav Havel Library, for the awe, the laughter, the criticism, the almost intimate talk, and the slight psychological detachment provoked by some of the snippets narrated in the life of his friend. Zantovsky has privileged information of Havel and (almost) does not hold back, doing to all human beings a favor.

One year from primary elections, the future of Argentina is torn between economic stagnation, the debate over the decriminalization of abortion, and the corruption of the Kirchner years.

In the specific case of Cuba, the report questions the fact that artistic freedom on the island is subject to the aims of the Revolution and everything that is not framed within this premise is censored and repressed.

The institutionalization of the “revolution” has left Cuba with an electoral bureaucracy that suffocates popular sovereignty, allowing it’s citizens no room for freedom of political expression

(The Global Americans ) The regional and international condemnation of the Venezuelan autocracy is a step in the right direction. However, to be transparent, this condemnation has to be extended to Cuba.

(The Global Americans) It would be relevant to know the expectations of the High Representative of the European Union in the dialogue on human rights with Cuba.

(Perfil) Legislators can submit draft declarations condemning humanrights violations in dictatorial countries and ask for declarations from theirrespective governments in intergovernmental organizations; denouncecorrupt electoral processes that are neither fair nor transparent inautocratic regimes; and recognize the work and initiatives of democraticactivists whose lives are at risk.

From this year forward, the Argentine capital will be a pioneer city in Latin America as it commemorates the victims of totalitarianism every 23rd of August. Someone who will always be in our thoughts on this day will be Cecilia de la Torre, who passed last December.

(Latin America Goes Global) Unlike their Latin American counterparts, Cubans face unique challenges traveling and emigrating within Latin America. And that doesn’t include the trouble leaving the island.

(Latin America Goes Global) The Cuban government is practicing abroad what it is strictly forbidden within its own borders, infringing the political reciprocity principle in bilateral relations.

(Latin America Goes Global) If Argentina were to help foment a global trend in xenophobia it would be worrisome, and surprising. The country has one of the most open migration regimes in the world.

(Perfil/Buenos Aires, Argentina) The message I heard in Montreal was dire, both for the liberal values Cadal embodies and for the ability of think tanks and other civil society organizations to have any sort of effect on the world. However, I thought of reasons for optimism about Cadal´s ability to do good work even in the current difficult context.

The perception that China rewards loyalty is wrong. Not only is it doubtful that kowtowing to China will bring short-term benefits but, on the contrary, it is rather quite possible that we’ll end up paying a high price for such policy in the future. If today’s decisions are shaping our future, then granting China with market economy status will surely be a nail in the coffin for Argentina.

(Latin America Goes Global) Recently, a third of the members of the UN Human Rights Council were renewed with China, the biggest dictatorship in the world, accumulating no less than 180 votes which gives proof to the assumption that several developed democracies voted in China's favour.

(El País/Spain) If Raúl Castro truly wants Obama to have a bigger support in Congress to lift the embargo, he has to provide a gesture on his part which could include repealing Law 88. Since this wouldn’t involve the political risk of making a reform which stems from the recognition of the exercise of fundamental rights. If Raúl Castro doesn’t even repeal Law 88, this might be because he feels very confident that the dictatorship he installed with his brother Fidel is entirely safe from international pressure and questionings.

The Council has 47 member states, regionally elected by a majority of the UN countries. For the election of the members of the UN Human Rights Council, the contribution to the protection and promotion of human rights in the country should be taken into account. Now, regarding some of the countries that have just been elected to serve on this body, like Saudi Arabia, Cuba, China, Vietnam, and Russia, it remains clear that the fulfillment of its goal is unfeasible. Can there be a greater contradiction than a Human Rights Council that incorporates dictatorships?

The ranking published by CADAL deals with three matters of paramount importance in today’s world: democracy, markets and transparency. They are closely linked to the construction of that sought by many, both governments and citizens: a well-governed, prosperous country in constant progression, where law, security and political certainty rule. A country that responds to the individual and society-wide aspirations of its two most interested partners: the political community and civil society.

The UPR of Syria revealed an evident split in the region. On the one hand, Venezuela, Cuba and Ecuador are the leading countries that support authoritarian practices, while Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and Peru follow the European Union's pro-market, democratic model.

While the developed countries struggle with serious debt crises (as in the case of Europe), stagnation (like Japan), or listless recuperation (the United States), the Latin American economies are alive and kicking. Yes, the region's growth will slow in 2012, but it will still be significant and above the global average. The region is reliving the 2008-2009 crisis, when the greater part of countries in the region endured the considerable slowdown in the world's economy in a more than satisfactory manner.

The recent support of the self-defined “progressive” sectors of the Argentine legislature for the nationalization of the majority share of YPF shows they are no longer an alternative to the Kirchner government, in political or economic terms.

International customs, Buenos Aires airport, Argentina, noon, october 27. I turn on my cell phone and the message "Kirchner dead" appears. It takes me a while to fully grasp it, and when I do, I look around and begin to feel a mixture of tense calm and bewilderment among the customs officials. A lot of things run through my head during these minutes. It had been a long time since I had felt this particular sense of contained crisis that I have experienced so many times in this country.

It is paradoxical that Argentina, being a country with an economic history in which these events have been repeated ad nauseam and with awful results, still insists in this model. It would be very useful for the government to look at some of its neighbors, where progressive and center-left leaders have demonstrated to have learned from history and today navigate with relative comprehensiveness the stormy waters of the global economic crisis.

Furthermore, on the eve of legislative elections in one year, those affected by the kirchnerist proposal could vote massively for opposition candidates in October 2009 and then the governing party would be lethally hurt if it looses its own majority.

It finally happened. The moment has come to start shivering. The economic debacle that departing from Wall Street affected the whole world has become so intensive that the question is no longer if it will impact on Latin American economies, but rather in which way that will happen.

The major impact of peronism was always registered in the field of politics, as a heritage of the great capacity demonstrated by its founder in this area. But as also in many other areas, a disproportionate force in one sense always has to pay a price in another sense.

The golden sector of the Argentine administration (Sergio Massa-Martín Redrado) finally decided to pay the debt to the Club of Paris. Cristina was applauded by the industrial establishment that came together at Casa Rosada as when Néstor announced to pay cash to the IMF in 2005.

In the midst of the storm, emerging countries –and Latin America in particular- are facing a novel challenge: the strong appreciation of their currencies against the dollar. Indeed. Unlike past crises, when a sneeze coming from Wall Street sparked capital flight and devaluation, nowadays the region’s governments see their currencies gain value against the greenback, to the chagrin of its export businesses.