Crises as catalysts of foreign reporting on Latin America: An evaluation of the German press over 15 years

2020 ◽  
pp. 175063522094573
Author(s):  
Regina Cazzamatta
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Central American ◽  
Washington Consensus ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
American States ◽  
German Press ◽  
Foreign Reporting ◽  
Latin American Countries

This article investigates whether, in light of the political and economic changes that occurred in the region in the last decades, crises are still a catalyst for foreign reporting on Latin America. The study comprises 3,831 articles related to the 20 Latin American countries published from 2000 to 2014 in the German press: the dailies Süddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the political magazine Der Spiegel and the alternative newspaper tageszeitung. The author found that more than half of the coverage on the continent depicted some sort of crisis, especially non-violent ones and controversies (36.4%). However, the portrayal of crises is sectorial. The ‘invisible’ Central American states (Honduras, Haiti, Guatemala and El Salvador) and the countries against the Washington Consensus (Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela) exhibit a higher coefficient of crisis intensity. Colombia, despite considerable press attention, has the most crisis-centred reporting due to the conflict with FARC.

scholarly journals Four facets of Latin America: A study of the German press coverage from 2000 to 2014

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Regina Cazzamatta
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Central American ◽  
Washington Consensus ◽  
The Political ◽  
Press Coverage ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
German Press ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Foreign Reporting ◽  
Latin American Countries

This paper reassesses the image of the twenty Latin American countries in the German press – the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), the alternative newspaper taz and the political magazine Der Spiegel – almost forty years after the NWICO debates. The study comprises 3831 analysed articles published during 15 years (from 2000 to 2014), a period in which the continent has experienced substantially political transformations. We identified four main categories of foreign reporting related to the region; 1) Germany’s most important trading partners (Brazil, Argentina and Mexico); 2) the states against the Washington consensus (Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador); 3) the invisible Central American countries and 4) the other Mercosur and Pacific Alliance’s nations (Colombia, Peru, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay). The main postulations of the “Foreign News Study” – negativity, focus on politics and dominance of elite – should be relativised, especially in the case of the first category.

From State to Market: A Fork in the Reform Road

Dragonomics ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 93-129
Author(s):  
Carol Wise
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Washington Consensus ◽  
Regional Comparison ◽  
Beijing Consensus ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Latin American Countries

This chapter undertakes a cross-regional comparison of the developmental paths of China and the Latin American countries of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru (LAC 5). It traces the economic histories and policies implemented within the LAC-5 from the 1950s until the 1980s before turning to China to do the same from the 1980s onward. The author argues that the contrasting underlying logic between the Washington Consensus and the Beijing Consensus can explain the widely divergent outcomes in the development of Latin America and China.

scholarly journals Maritime Piracy in the Modern Era in Latin America

2020 ◽  
pp. 121-128
Author(s):  
Amarilla Kiss
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
International Law ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Legal Aspect ◽  
Maritime Piracy ◽  
American States ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Domestic Law ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
Latin American Countries

Maritime piracy is an activity that was considered defunct long ago and that Latin American countries experience it again in the 21st century. Since 2016 the number of attacks has increased dramatically involving armed robbery, kidnapping and massacre. Modern day piracy has nothing to do with the romantic illusion of the pirates of the Caribbean, this phenomenon is associated with the governmental, social or economic crisis of a state. When it appears, we can make further conclusions regarding the general conditions of the society in these states. But do these attacks really constitute piracy under international law? Does Latin American piracy have unique features that are different from piracy in the rest of the world? The study attempts to answer the questions why piracy matters in Latin America and how it relates to drug trafficking and terrorism. Apart from that, the study presents a legal aspect comparing the regulation of international law to domestic law, especially to the national law of Latin American states.

Part II Investor-State Arbitration in the Energy Sector, 13 Energy Investor-State Disputes in Latin America

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romero Eduardo Silva
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Energy Sector ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
The Political ◽  
Foreign Companies ◽  
Private Interests ◽  
American States ◽  
Resource Nationalism ◽  
Latin American Region

This chapter discusses the recent resurgence of ‘resource nationalism’ in the Latin American region. These include the shift in the political and economic control of the energy sector from foreign, private interests to domestic, state-controlled companies and the disputes this has triggered. After looking at the historical background of investor-state arbitration in Latin America, the chapter analyzes relevant strategies used by investors and states to defend their standpoint on resource nationalism. It also identifies which ones have proved most successful in relation to fiscal measures and nationalizations by certain Latin American states. The chapter also provides an assessment of corporate restructuring strategies used by foreign companies to challenge these types of resource nationalism measures.

scholarly journals Political Institutions and Street Protests in Latin America

2011 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabiana Machado ◽  
Carlos Scartascini ◽  
Mariano Tommasi
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Level Information ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
Latin American Countries

In this article, the authors argue that where institutions are strong, actors are more likely to participate in the political process through institutionalized arenas, while where they are weak, protests and other unconventional means of participation become more appealing. The authors explore this relationship empirically by combining country-level measures of institutional strength with individual-level information on protest participation in seventeen Latin American countries. The authors find evidence that weaker political institutions are associated with a higher propensity to use alternative means for expressing preferences, that is, to protest.

scholarly journals Dollars for Pesos? The Political-Economy of Dollarization in Latin America

2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-81
Author(s):  
PAMELA K. STARR
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Policy Choice ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Stable Growth ◽  
Latin American Countries

ABSTRACT The capacity of dollarization to generate stable growth in Latin America despite occasional instability in the international financial system has been the subject of significant economic analysis in recent years. Yet very little attention has been afforded to the politics of the issue. This paper attempts to fill this void by looking at both the political and the economic factors which influence the policy effectiveness of dollarization. The paper reviews the theoretic and policy debate within which the dollarization question is situated and then develops an informal model of the political and economic variables which influence the viability of dollarization. It concludes that although dollarization may be the correct policy choice for some Latin American countries, it is unlikely to benefit the majority. Most Latin American countries would benefit more from directly addressing the forces know to promote economic instability.

The Political Sociology of 21st-Century Populism in Latin America: A Critique of the Ecuadorian Case

2021 ◽  
pp. 089692052110322
Author(s):  
Jorge Daniel Vásquez
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Historical Contextualization ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
Universal Application

This paper calls into question the universal application of the concept of populism. It points to how particular historical processes need to be taken into account when addressing the formation of populism in Latin American countries. Unlike more theorized cases as Argentinian or Mexican populism, I use the Ecuadorian case to show how critical historical contextualization of 21st-century populism requires analyzing the continuities and ruptures with sociological knowledge about a particular populism. Such an analysis of continuities and ruptures shows the theoretical convergences among Latin America as a region and the political dynamics of specific historical processes. I highlight how the conceptions of 21st-century Ecuadorian populism as a “passive revolution” or “authoritarian disfigurement of democracy” provide some theoretical tools for examining the historical process of Ecuadorian populism but ultimately fall short of critical analysis. In conclusion, I derived from the Ecuadorian case some elements for the analysis of Latin American populist projects.

Latin America: Results of Electoral Cycle

2011 ◽  
pp. 69-75
Author(s):  
E. Dabagyan
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Primary Interest ◽  
Electoral Cycle ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right ◽  
Latin American Countries

The article examines a range of forces represented in the political arena of the Latin American countries that recently held general election (Panama, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Brazil, El Salvador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador). A primary interest is paid to the left radicals, the left centrists, the centrists and the right centrists. While assessing the outcome of the elections the author underlines the trend towards convergence of left and right centrists. This is creating opportunities for their cooperation. Simultaneously, there is a compression of space for the interaction of these political forces with the left radicals.

Party Systems and Redistribution in Democratic Latin America

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Mauro
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Political Left ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
Over Time

A redistributive wave across Latin America provided credence to existing explanations that emphasize the importance of democracy and the political left for democratic redistribution. Yet, neither of these theories tells the entire story behind the contemporary politics of inequality in Latin America. This article stresses the importance of party systems for democratic redistribution, especially their role in increasing the scope of social policy as well as igniting competitive electoral environments that incentivize political elites to redistribute, leading to the amelioration of inequality over time. Utilizing a time-series cross-sectional dataset on fifteen Latin American countries covering the period of 1990–2015, and extending the analysis to sixty-five global democracies, this article finds that countries with institutionalized party systems exhibit greater income redistribution and lower levels of inequality than those with inchoate counterparts.

Foreign Direct Investment and Its Politics in Latin America

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Douglas Hecock
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
National Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
Latin American Countries

The open economic policies Latin American countries adopted in the wake of the debt crisis of the early 1980s were expected to bring a variety of benefits. Trade liberalization and privatization make domestic firms more competitive, and deregulation helps to create an efficient business climate. Notably, such policies are also likely to spur foreign investment seeking new opportunities, and Latin American countries did indeed begin to see large inflows in the 1990s. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is thought to be particularly complementary to economic development. Compared to portfolio investment in stocks and bonds, FDI consists of the construction or purchasing of physical assets including manufacturing facilities, retail outlets, hotels, and mines. FDI should spur local economic activity and bring with it jobs and technology transfers. Furthermore, because divestment takes planning and time, direct investment is relatively long-term, so investors are expected to display greater commitments to the economic and political futures of their hosts. As a result of these substantial potential benefits, a body of scholarship has emerged to try to understand the political dynamics of FDI. Is investment more likely to flow to democratic or authoritarian regimes? Are direct investors seeking countries with few labor protections and weak environmental regulations or are they attracted to public investments in human capital? Do they eschew governments with poor human rights records or do they see abusers as potential partners in managing a compliant workforce? What are the effects of FDI flows on the political contexts of their hosts? Among others, these questions have received significant scholarly attention, and while we have learned a great deal about the behavior and effects of FDI, considerable potential remains. Having received massive inflows averaging more than $100 billion between 2000 and 2017 and consisting of countries with broadly similar development trajectories, Latin America offers a rich landscape for such analysis. In particular, finer-grained examinations of FDI to Latin American countries can help us understand how it might affect political systems and which types of investment best complement national development projects. In so doing, studies of FDI flows to Latin America are poised to make major contributions to the fields of international political economy, development studies, and comparative politics.

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