COHA Kennedy Tribute

Thirty-five Years of Being at the Senate’s Vital Center When it Came to U.S.-Latin America Relations: COHA’s Historic Ties to the Senator Who Did More for the Hemisphere than Any Other Legislator of his Time (COHA’s Tribute to Senator Kennedy will be issued Wednesday September 2)

From the first days after its founding in 1975, COHA worked closely with Senator Kennedy’s office, often on an urgent basis, when the lives of various embattled Latin Americans were at risk as a result of a series of dirty wars being waged by the region’s military and other authoritarian regimes against their own citizens during the 1980’s.

In the course of this long relationship, we were particularly grateful for Senator Kennedy’s kind words about this organization which he inserted in the Congressional Record, where he referred to COHA as “one of our nation’s most respected bodies of scholars and policy ma kers.”

COHA’s tribute to the Senator, will describe a number of instances in which our office worked with him on a range of crises breaking-out in Latin America during these years. Along with a handful of other invaluable senators serving in the same way like Tom Harkin of Iowa and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Senator Kennedy was one of the best informed and most caring U.S. legislators when it came to responding to the humanitarian tragedies being perpetrated in various Latin American countries such as Argentina, Guatemala, Chile, Colombia and El Salvador, among others.

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This analysis was prepared by

The Wilson Center Kennedy Tribute

With the permission of Cynthia Arnson, the head of the Wilson Center’s Latin America Program, COHA is running that instituti on’s own Tribute to Senator Kennedy.

The Wilson Center Honors Senator Edward Kennedy’s Contributions to
Human Rights in Latin America

By Cynthia J. Arnson
Director, Latin America Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center
August 26, 2009

The Woodrow Wilson Center was privileged to have hosted Senator Ted Kennedy on several occasions and we join his family and the entire nation in mourning his passing. As noted by Time magazine in 2006, Senator Ted Kennedy “amassed a titanic record of legislation affecting the lives of virtually every man, woman and child in the country.” His contributions to civil rights, health care, and education policy are recognized across the nation, constituting only some of the areas in which he exercised unparalleled leadership.

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This analysis was prepared by Cynthia J. Arnson

Embraer: Bra zilian Military Industry becoming a Global Arms Merchant?

Brazil has become a high-tech and growing civil-military power in the same league as Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries). When it comes to Brazil and military technology, one name comes to mind: Embraer (Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica, S. A.). The Brazilian company specializes in civilian and military aircraft, and is regarded as one of the top three aircraft companies in the world, next to Boeing and Airbus. Today Embraer’s military products make it an increasing factor in the arms manufacturing and supplying field, along with several other transnational arms companies currently competing to be major international weapons suppliers.

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This analysis was prepared by Alex Sanchez

BBC: Leaders to tackle US-Colombia deal

A ugust 28, 2009
Candace Piette
BBC News, Bariloche

Nestled in the foothills of the Andes, the picturesque Argentine ski resort of Bariloche has plenty to offer visitors.

But the 12 Latin American leaders gathering there for a summit later on Friday will have little time to sample the cool delights of Bariloche in the southern hemisphere winter.

The meeting has been called to discuss a planned accord between Colombia and the US that would allow the American military use of seven Colombian military bases – a deal that has already provoked some heated rhetoric, from, above all, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez.

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This analysis was prepared by

El Comercio: Latinoamérica también estuvo bajo la lupa de Kennedy

August 28, 2009
Olga Imbaquingo
El Comercio

Edward Kennedy fue el político más influyent e de los últimos 50 años en la vida pública, social y hasta del glamour estadounidense.

Actas y leyes para cerrar la brecha entre los blancos y los negros, cuotas de inmigrantes provenientes de países que sufrían opresión y guerras, medidas a favor de los refugiados, respaldo al avance de las libertades civiles y defensa al derecho al voto son algunas de las medidas que tienen el sello del León del Senado, como se lo conocía a Kennedy.

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This analysis was prepared by

Les bases US en Colombie suscitent une crise régionale

August 7, 2009
By Lamia Oualalou
Le Figaro

En trois jours, le président colombien, Alvaro Uribe, a rendu visite à six de ses homologues sans parvenir à les convaincre de s’accommoder de l’installation des militaires am éricains dans son pays.

Chassés d’Équateur, où le président Rafael Correa a refusé de renouveler la concession de la base militaire de Manta, les officiers américains devraient se déployer en Colombie sur sept bases, trois terrestres, deux aériennes et deux navales. L’annonce provoque un tollé en Amérique latine. Au Venezuela, qui possède une frontière de 2 000 kilomètres avec la Colombie, Hugo Chavez décrète un «gel» des relations diplomatiques en retirant son ambassadeur. Même courroux à Quito, où Rafael Correa ne pardonne pas à Alvaro Uribe d’avoir ordonné le bombardement d’un camp de guérilleros des Farc, en février 2008 sur le territoire équatorien, sans se soucier de la violation de souveraineté.

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