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Begin New Search Political Geography America Author Roger F. Noriega

1. Honduras under siege

Author:
Roger F. Noriega and José Javier Lanza
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
As stepped-up counternarcotics policies in Colombia and Mexico have increased pressure on regional drug trafficking networks, organized crime syndicates have relocated operations to Central America, where law enforcement agencies and institutions are ill-equipped to withstand the onslaught. These multibillion-dollar gangs are making common cause with some local politicians who are following a playbook honed by Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. The result in Venezuela was the birth of a narcostate, and similar dramas are playing out in Central America. Like Chávez, caudillos are using the democratic process to seek power, weaken institutions, and undermine the rule of law—generating turmoil that accommodates narcotrafficking. Making matters worse for Honduras is that left-wing activists abroad, in support of ousted president and Chávez acolyte Manuel Zelaya, are waging a very public campaign of outlandish claims seeking to block any US assistance to help the Honduran government resist the drug cartels. It is imperative that US policymakers vigorously support democracy, the rule of law, and antidrug programs in Honduras.
Topic:
Corruption, Crime, Democratization, War on Drugs, Narcotics Trafficking, and Fragile/Failed State
Political Geography:
America, Latin America, and Mexico

2. Two Visions of Energy in the Americas

Author:
Roger F. Noriega
Publication Date:
02-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
"America is addicted to oil," President George W. Bush told the nation in his January 31 State of the Union address, "which is often imported from unstable parts of the world." Spelling out a plan for using technology "to develop cleaner, cheaper, more reliable alternative energy sources," the president set a worthy goal to "make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past." Although the president's long-term vision is of a country less dependent on petroleum, a near-term solution for being less reliant on "unstable" sources of energy can be found in encouraging resource-rich nations in the Western Hemisphere to adopt sound policies for developing their oil and gas industries. Without a concerted effort right now engaging government and industry, however, we may witness some countries with vast potential embrace statist models that squander their natural resources and make them less reliable and less stable partners.
Topic:
Economics, Energy Policy, and Environment
Political Geography:
United States and America

3. The Summit of the Americas: Rescuing the Reform Agenda

Author:
Roger F. Noriega
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The fourth regional Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on November 4–5, will be a test of courage for the region's leaders. Pressured by genuine popular dissatisfaction, they will either commit unequivocally to finish the hard work of creating economic opportunity for the region's 128 million poor, or they will let warmed-over populism undermine the consensus behind free-market reforms and democracy itself. The stakes are high, and the leaders must use the summit process to advance the reform agenda for their peoples' sake. At the summit, President George W. Bush will, no doubt, press his colleagues to reemphasize their commitments to defend democracy and the rule of law, deepen economic reforms, and expand trade as a recipe for sustained, equitable growth. But there is a significant number of Latin leaders who may try to scuttle this work plan and serve up sympathetic rhetoric to cynically court the poor.
Topic:
International Relations, Democratization, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
America, Argentina, and South America