With more than 280,000 official deaths and a large recession looming, the world is tragically suffering the health and economic consequences of Covid-19. In this context, voices from abroad pointing to China’s alleged responsibility for trying to cover up the disease and therefore, for having contributed significantly to the global spread of the pandemic, are multiplying. To neutralise criticism and deflect its responsibility, Beijing has launched a propaganda offensive to position China not as the authoritarian country where the pandemic was incubated, but as an effective, responsible and generous international leader. Amid Beijing’s politicisation of aid provided to affected countries, the crisis has also shone light on China’s over-reliance on certain strategic sectors. Questioning China’s role in globalisation should be one of the lessons of Covid-1

The doctrine of human rights was concretized after a process of development of more than three centuries after the end of the Second World War and has changed the institutional panorama and the relations between actors at the international level.

On the 23rd of August, the City of Buenos Aires observes the Dayof Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarianism. The life of Czechactivist Milada Horáková is emblematic of the fight against variousforms of totalitarianism.

The conflict between a liberal economic agenda and a politics of repression appeared throughout the Argentine military dictatorship. Tensions between the junta’s pro-market and political agendas surfaced in various economic policies, such as international trade. During the dictatorship, Argentina increased trade with countries in the Soviet sphere: of the ninety-nine bilateral economic agreements signed between 1976 and 1983, thirty were with Soviet countries, China, or Cuba. Cases such as that of the military dictatorship suggest how domestic politics—especially the politics of human rights—can become intertwined with, opposed, and shaped by economic interests.

In the previous review, carried out in 2013, the Cubangovernment categorically rejected the most relevantrecommendations on their human rights violations, which persist today.

The biggest problem the UN is facing when defending Human Rights is that only a minority of its 193 members have a well-institutionalized democracy. Furthermore, unlike many authoritarian regimes and countries with poor democratic systems, which constitute the majority in the General Assembly, they do not coordinate their policy on human rights with each other.

The historical framework. Human rights in a communist dictatorship. The Peaceful Revolution in Autumn 1989 and German Unity on 3 October 19904. The complexity of the world in 2016. The role of human rights today. Basic principles of human rights policy in Europe.

A renewed struggle between democracy and authoritarianism has emerged. The decade-long democratic decline reported by Freedom House has been most dramatic within the ranks of already authoritarian regimes, which have become even more repressive. At the same time, the most influential among them—China, Russia, and Iran—have become more internationalist. In doing so, they have found ways to exploit integration and to broaden their influence in the democratic world. Through the development of the antidemocratic toolkit of simulated NGOs, think tanks, election monitors, and news media, the autocrats are actively seeking to undermine democracy from within.

As Cuba’s foreign relations undergo epoch-making change, and following President Barack Obama’s historic visit to the island in March, Havana circles the wagons of state doubling down on political centralization under Raúl Castro and los históricos.

Sixteen years after the first World Movement Assembly, the situation has dramatically changed. We no longer have the strong wind of triumphant democracy in our sails. Instead, we are facing a reinvigorated wind of authoritarianism that defies us not only in practice but also ideologically and tests our understanding of our own values, our consistency, and our commitment.

El libro lleva el prólogo de presidente Lech Wałęsa, Premio Nobel de la Paz y líder del movimiento Solidaridad, y tiene como autores a Andrzej Antoszewski, Fredo Arias King, Ewa Bujwid-Kurek, Leszek Balcerowicz, Marek Bankowicz, Zbigniew Bujak, Henryk Domański, Antoni Dudek, Rafał Matyja, Piotr Mazurkiewicz, Bogdan Szlachta, Krzysztof Szczerski, Magdalena Ślusarczyk, Kazimierz Michał Ujazdowski, Artur Wołek y Maciej Zakrzewski.

Of the 21 Latin American countries, eleven placed below the global average and only three received an ideal score in terms of civil liberties and political rights: Chile (14), Uruguay (21) and Costa Rica (41). They are also the only countries in the region to place among the top 50. However, these three countries make up part of a total of twelve in Latin America that dropped in ranking with respect to 2012. The biggest descents were the Dominican Republic (79), twelve positions; Panama (61), nine positions; and Argentina (85), six.

A constantly recurring theme in our discussions has been the extent to which a country’s, or group of countries’, distinctive history and culture impacts on what can be done and how quickly it can be done when it comes to both initiating and sustaining transitions from authoritarianism to democracy, and in particular whether revolutions are likely to consolidate or collapse.

The internal competitiveness of the 2013 primary elections (PASO) was very low, indicating that parties/alliances remain far from a political opening that involves citizens in the selection of candidates for general elections. In that regard, with the purpose of evaluating compliance with the objectives of the law which enabled the PASO elections to take place, the following is an index that measures the competitiveness of the primaries this year.

In order to appear in the ranking, the counties must qualify in the three indices from which the scores are drawn from. For the first time, North Korea is being included in this ranking. The totalitarian dictatorship is the most closed in the world and comfortably occupies the last position.

Speech by Glanis Changachirere, Institute for Young Women Development, Zimbabwe: On the Occasion of the Opening Ceremony of the 7th World Assembly, October 14th, 2012 in Lima, Peru.

Essential human rights principles say that for citizens ‘everything which is not forbidden is allowed’ while for the government ‘everything which is not allowed is forbidden’. But authoritarian states manage to turn these principles upside down both in law and it practice.

Chile heads the regional ranking, rising one position to 15th overall since 2010, overtaking Austria. Uruguay is the second country in the regional ranking and finds itself in 23rd place worldwide. Costa Rica continues its descent, losing five places since 2010 but maintaining its third place in the regional ranking, followed by Panama.

In the words of George Orwell, “one does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship”. That sentence, from his novel 1984 , published in 1949, was to prove true on a remote Caribbean island – Cuba – a decade later. At that moment, the first day of the year 1959, the world looked kindly on the feat of those bearded, idealistic boys, who had defeated the loathsome regime of Fulgencio Batista. (From the Prologue by Jorge Elías)

This document seeks to study the UPR corresponding to the Cuban regime, which took place during the fourth working session of the UPR Working Group, in the period February 2nd-13th 2009, and its corresponding context. The focus is comparative between two regions of the world: Latin American governments and European governments.

Leaders of development - The analysis of the cases of New Zealand and Denmark, heading the ranking for third consecutive year, indicates that there are powerful theoretical reasons to think that open economies, liberal democratic regimes and transparent public sectors go together.

This document seeks to study the UPR corresponding to the Cuban regime, which took place during the fourth working session of the UPR Working Group, in the period February 2nd-13th 2009, and its corresponding context. The focus is comparative between two regions of the world: Latin American governments and European governments.

The most serious crisis has taken place in Central America, specifically in Honduras – The global economic crisis, which was unleashed in the United States around September 2008 and soon spread out to the rest of the world, didn’t affect the region in a direct way – The regional economy will already start to recover towards the beginning of next year, and those countries which adopt a more sensible economic policy, like Peru, Brazil or Chile, and probably Mexico, will do that even before and more vigorously – The rise to power of a new American president, the Democrat Barack Obama, also contributed to the creation of a relatively relaxed atmosphere in the political field – The left-turn of the region is reaching an end: with Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Mexico in a clearly distinct position, the expansion of populist policies al

This document intends to analyze the functioning of the “economic model” in the provinces, reflecting on the political impact which the current economic crisis could have there. The leading argument is that, since the country overtook the 2002 crisis, the provincial governments adopted a pro-cyclic model that is based upon a constant increase of public spending and public sector employment, which will enforce a cutback on expenditures, starting on June 28th.

Committed diplomacy is a problematic concept. Even though its exact definition is elusive, it is a practice that is backed by sufficient historical evidence to be recognized internationally. However, that does not subtract from the fact that the acts of diplomats committed to human rights beyond their call of duty are a scarce minority.

The most alarming issue within the President’s speech is her conception of economics: “Economics – as you all know - is, precisely, to administer with the disposable resources and the contributions at hand. Always within economy it occurs that what some people receive is taken from others, because the only one who could multiply fish and bread was Jesus Christ, the rest has to make decisions based on the disposable resources.”

As a sort of contemporary slaves, we, the Cuban people in the middle of the 21st century, do not only depend on government permissions to leave or to return to our country, but we are also constantly confronted with the violation of our right to free movement, as the permissions are granted arbitrarily, they are delayed or refused, causing a deep grief within thousands of innocent families, who, paralyzed by their fear, are unable to claim for the respect of their basic rights.

Few ideas generated more adhesion and sympathy during the whole 20th century than these of socialism and nation. And nothing else within History triggered off bigger disasters than the attempt to unify both of them to one singular political project.

Living a very different economic situation, a recession and a constriction of the world markets, the populist governments are currently confronted with a tough reality: they are not able any more to go on dispensing money abundantly (money which they do not possess), and now they have to adhere the limits which are set by the reality of their countries.

The arbitrary use of public advertising is an ever more denounced practice, thus new criteria on the subject is beginning to run over the region, with more transparent policies to change the historical attitude of those who rule the use of public funds.

Just like in the previous edition, two former British colonies, New Zealand and Myanmar, occupy the first and last position in this ranking, respectively. All in all, referring to 2007, about 75 countries improved their score while 62 got worse and seven stayed the same.

A little more than a hundred years after the abolition of the death penalty, the criminal system of Uruguay and especially the jail system – assuming that the latter could be referred to in such terms – is immersed in a profound crisis.

The economy Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen revolutionized the concept of development by referring to it as "human development". This is how liberty became a central element of the process of development. Following this path, today many authors vigorously defend freedom of the press as an elementary base for development.

The Treaty of Rome (1957) and the acquis communautaire give the impression that the EU is broadly aware of responsible political and economic policies. However, these gospels applied so stringently to aspiring Member States don’t seem to be a guide for relations with Latin America.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END IN VENEZUELA
Chávez has been forced to accept, in a clearly angry state, that Venezuelans did not want to turn their country into a totalitarian dictatorship. The election results in Venezuela may influence the other countries of what we could call the chavista axis, particularly Bolivia.
A REGION IN SEARCH OF ITS DESTINY
Beyond the threat of authoritarian populisms, Latin America’s problem is that it is not fully taking advantage of the favorable economic juncture it faces. Meanwhile, the emphasis its leaders place on redistributing wealth before creating it, impatience over the inequalities between its inhabitants and the instability -or more exactly unpredictability- of its political destinies stop investments from flourishing adequately and hamper growth.

THE WORST AREAS TO PRACTICE JOURNALISM IN THE SECOND SEMESTER 2007
- During the succession currently underway, Cuba is maintaining control over public communications.
- In almost every country in the region, presidents criticize media outlets and journalists on a regular basis, as well as journalism in general.
- The revenue bonanza many Latin American countries are enjoying is strengthening government-owned media.
- In the context of a worsened institutional culture, Argentina maintains a government communications model that has proved successful at preserving governability and winning elections.

This report argues that development stands on three pillars: democratic liberties, a market economy and transparency in government.

Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay lead the ranking.
 Bolivia fell five positions in the region.
Haiti did not change its position in the ranking but managed to increase its distance from Venezuela.
The only country still behind Venezuela is Cuba, that in the global aspect is only before North Korea.

Political transitions are highly uncertain events. For example, in 1988, the conventional wisdom was that communist rule in Eastern Europe was entrenched and would last into the indefinite future. The right question to ask about Cuba is not what will happen but rather what could happen. The latter question implies more than one possible future scenario. In this article, I construct and discuss alternative futures in Cuba after Fidel Castro passes away. The possibility of a transition to democracy in Cuba depends mainly on three causal factors.

THE WORST AREAS TO PRACTICE JOURNALISME IN THE FIRST SEMESTER 2007
- Journalists' life in Cuban prisons.
- Mexico surpasses Colombia in the number of journalists murdered.
- Bolivia and Ecuador Constitutional Assemblymen and the media.
- Congresses refuse to eliminate "dead words".
- Latin American Supreme Courts' took key decisions.

Rogue states are perhaps new as a term in international politics, but they are not a novelty per se. They have existed throughout the different periods of history, generally displaying the same characteristics: The system of government is dictatorial and tend more towards totalitarianism than towards authoritarianism; their rhetoric and foreign policy are fervently anti-American; unlike other dictatorships, they are obsessed with international politics; they are constant practitioners of melodrama and expert users of propaganda.

THE POLITICAL OUTLOOK BECOMES CLEARER
21st. century socialists. Cuba. Venezuela. Bolivia. Ecuador. Nicaragua.
There is a group of countries where important changes have been taking place, mainly in the political sphere, threatening certain basic liberties of citizens.
THE ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IS MAINTAINED
The rest of the region is following a relatively stable path, of an acceptable economic growth and of relative political calmness.

Iceland heads this 2006 ranking whilst Turkmenistan is assigned the last spot. Chile makes an impressive appearance at post number 17, best ranked amongst all Latin American Countries.

A lot of “Argentine ideas” have been floated in Serbia of late. As Serbia looks at experiences of other countries, it must realize that the key to growth and development lies in generating the kind of economic competitiveness that allows the country to succeed in the global marketplace. Most importantly, it must realize that there is no global conspiracy led by international fi nancial institutions, and that the blame for failure, as well as praise for success, should be directed towards domestic reformers, rather than anyone else.

A non-authourized biography and the difficult relationship with Kirchner

The women of the prisoners of the Black Cuban Spring

The role of the Soviet Union in Argentina’s defense is well-known among human rights experts, who noted the development of an “unholy alliance.” Less is understood about the support that Cuba gave the military government in order to block consideration of the Argentine case at the United Nations. This document, based on a chapter of a planned book on Argentine-Cuban relations, attempts to fill that gap based on information from personal interviews, Argentine archival material, and secondary sources.

Postscript on the siege of the press during the Southern Cone military dictatorships

The experience of Eastern Europe

Consensus for Development

From the benefactor government to the possibilitating government

This Document is part of a program of activities between the Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL) and the Center for Liberal-Democratic Studies (CLDS), with the support of the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE).

Testimony from the current Cuban political prison

In its relationship with China, Kirchner’s government seems to be decided to apply a sort of pinochetist pragmatism: “economic openning is welcome, leaving aside the great internal repression”. And is curious that this is the foreign policy of a “progressist” government that ensures to have human rights as a priority.

A proposal of social auditing

The end of labor and the new prophets of Apocalypse

Report and testimonies about the New Cuban Press

The peaceful struggle for democratic opening in Cuba