Shannon K. O'Neil

Latin America's Moment

O'Neil analyzes developments in Latin America and U.S. relations in the region.

The GOP Platform on Latin America

by Shannon K. O'Neil Wednesday, August 29, 2012
A convention goer wears a button during the second day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa A convention goer wears a button during the second day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa (Eric Thayer/Courtesy Reuters).

With the Tampa Bay Republican Convention underway, the Republican Party platform, in its entirety, has finally found its way onto the internet. The fifty-plus page document touches briefly on all of the hottest election year topics, addressing everything from traditional marriage to Medicare to foreign policy. In regards to Latin America, the Republican Party platform focuses almost exclusively on the two states toward which the GOP has the greatest antipathy: Venezuela and Cuba. Read more »

Human Rights and the Mexican Military

by Shannon K. O'Neil Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Soldiers stand in formation during the preparation for the Independence Day celebration at the Zocalo in Mexico City (Stringer/Courtesy Reuters). Soldiers stand in formation during the preparation for the Independence Day celebration at the Zocalo in Mexico City (Stringer/Courtesy Reuters).

Human rights abuses within Mexico’s drug war are garnering increasing attention, both in Mexico as well as in the United States (holding up some 15 percent of Merida money in 2010). A recent Trans-Border Institute report looks systematically at Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission’s (CNDH) filings on human rights violations. Numbering less than 400 in 2007, complaints implicating the Mexican military increased fourfold during Calderón’s presidency (to over 1,600 in 2011). Read more »