Posts By: W. Alex Sanchez

Moldova: Protesting against the unfixable?

September 28, 2024 by W. Alex Sanchez in Europe.

A boy holds his dog on the gate to the plot of land in a poor district on March 15, 2024 in Chisinau, Moldova.

For a country that has been independent for less than a quarter of a century, Moldova is a small country with big problems.

Big sanctions delisting sign of moribund Cali Cartel?

June 23, 2024 by W. Alex Sanchez in Americas.

No Comments

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the drug syndicate has suffered a financial collapse.

Peru’s satellite buy next step towards the stars

May 5, 2024 by W. Alex Sanchez in Americas.

No Comments

The sun sets over the ocean on November 12, 2024 in Lima, Peru. While Peru's economy has expanded an average of 6.4 percent per year from 2002-2012, its economy appears to be decelerating this year. Although the country's poverty rate has been substatntially reduced, inequality and infrastructure challenges persist.

If all goes well and the new satellite is launched as scheduled in 2016, it will make for a fitting farewell gift from President Ollanta Humala.

Why Honduras’s drug problem is going to get worse

April 10, 2024 by W. Alex Sanchez in Americas.

2 Comments

The president of the Honduran Congress and presidential candidate for the ruling Partido Nacional, Juan Orlando Hernandez (R) waves to supporters during a rally in Azacualpa, Santa Barbara, 300 km west of Tegucigalpa, on October 27, 2013. Honduras will hold general elections on November

The U.S. announces it will no longer share radar data with the Central American country.

Awkward: U.S. is middleman in Venezuela helicopter sale

March 10, 2024 by W. Alex Sanchez in Americas.

No Comments

Troops in Caracas on March 5. John Moore/Getty Images

On March 3, the Enstrom Helicopter Corporation announced it had received a signed contract from the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense for 16 training helicopters.

Is Ecuador’s Correa set to run again in 2017?

March 4, 2024 by W. Alex Sanchez in Americas.

2 Comments

The mayor of Lyon Gerard Collomb (L) welcomes Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in front of the city hall in Lyon, central-eastern France, on November 8, 2013.

Correa and his party, which has a majority in Congress, seem to have decided in favor of a constitutional reform allowing Correa to run.

Brazil’s left rises as USS Forrestal nears the end

February 13, 2024 by W. Alex Sanchez in Americas.

No Comments

People sing songs in praise of former South African President Nelson Mandela after arriving in the 95,000-seat FNB Stadium December 10, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A once-mighty symbol of American military prowess is being decommissioned, while Brazil’s former radicals take on new power and prestige.

Brazil’s warplane choice not a Saab story for France

December 19, 2024 by W. Alex Sanchez in Americas, Europe.

No Comments

A Saab JAS 39C Gripen jet performs during an aerial show in Eslov in this June 5, 2024 file photo. Brazil on December 18, 2024 awarded a $4.5 billion contract to Saab AB to replace its aging fleet of fighter jets, a surprise coup for the Swedish company after news of U.S. spying on Brazilians helped derail Boeing's chances for the deal. The contract, negotiated over the course of three consecutive Brazilian presidencies, will supply Brazil's air force with 36 new Gripen NG fighters through 2023. Aside from the cost of the jets themselves, the agreement is also expected to generate billions of additional dollars in future supply and service contracts.

A Dassault win would have been a feather in Hollande’s damaged cap and another link forged between Brazil and France.

Argentina marks 30 years since junta’s end

December 10, 2024 by W. Alex Sanchez in Americas.

No Comments

Policemen and their relatives from La Plata, the capital of Buenos Aires province gather during a protest in downtown La Plata December 9, 2013. Police in several Argentine provinces are demanding better wages and working conditions, local media reported.

The Argentina junta was called the “National Reorganization Process” (Proceso de Reorganizacion Nacional). While its intended goal was bring back stability to the country after the death of the popular leader Juan Peron in 1974, the military regime will be remembered in perpetuity for the human rights violations that it carried out.

Bachelet’s big agenda

November 15, 2024 by W. Alex Sanchez in Americas.

No Comments

Chilean presidential candidate Michelle Bachelet (C) of Nueva Mayoria (New Majority) dances during her closing campaign rally in Santiago, November 14, 2013. Chileans go to the polls in the first round of presidential elections on November 17.

It should be noted that there is still ongoing debate whether Bachelet will retake the presidency in the first round of voting or if a second round will be necessary (this would occur on December 15) against opposition candidate Evelyn Matthei.

All Blogs