The Miami Herald

Este archivo solo abarca los artículos del periódico incorporados a este sitio a partir del 1 de septiembre de 2006.

Nota informativa: The Miami Herald es un periódico propiedad de The McClatchy Company, establecida en Gran Miami, Florida (EE. UU.). Tiene implementado un «muro de pago» por lo que es necesario suscribirse para tener acceso a todos sus contenidos. Más información en su página de suscripción.

A demonstration against the government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro in Bogota on Oct. 2. Abaca Press Long Visual Press/Abaca/Sipa USA

MundoAmérica,

On Oct. 29, Colombia’s first elected left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, is facing local elections that will bluntly reveal the public mood. The vote for offices like mayors and governors will take the pulse on the country’s armed conflicts — and the government’s promise to end them, seeking “total peace” through negotiations.

Bogotá has made real progress sitting down with armed groups. But the election might show that those achievements have yet to be felt on the ground. As one Atlantic coast neighborhood leader told me, “Peace is more of a dream for now — especially during election season”.

It’s not only the voting results but also the level of armed group interference in the campaign that we should watch for.…  Seguir leyendo »

Venezuelan migrants in Colombia walk toward the border amid the coronavirus lockdown in 2020. Fernando Vergara AP

MundoAmérica, ,

Colombia’s new president, Gustavo Petro, promises sweeping changes. Entrenched inequality, coca eradication, military offensives and dependence on fossil fuel all are targets for reform. Addressing his supporters on the night of his victory in June, Petro — the first left-wing politician to become president in Colombia’s recent history — also called for years of regional bickering to end and a “dialogue in the Americas without any people being excluded”. Achieving unity, or just a bit more co-operation, in a region where governments range from hard left to far right, and from despotic to democratic, will be no easy feat. Still, Petro’s stance will be decisive for Latin America.…  Seguir leyendo »

This is a restored version of a French and Hebrew Passover text that had been severely damaged. U.S. National Archives

MundoOriente Próximo, ,

For more than 10 years, the United States has served as a gracious host to thousands of Iraqi Jewish artifacts discovered by the U.S. military in Saddam Hussein’s intelligence headquarters during the Iraq War. The trove, which includes 2,700 books, Torah scrolls and prayer books, and thousands of documents dating to the 1500s, represents the lost history of a once thriving, two-millennia-old Jewish community in Iraq.

Despite the U.S. government’s valiant effort to preserve and restore this treasure, the State Department is preparing to return the artifacts to Iraq in September 2018 in accordance with an agreement made with the Iraqi government under the Obama administration.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

In recent weeks, international headlines regarding Brazil have focused on the country’s widening corruption scandal, including allegations leveled against President Michel Temer. Amidst this ongoing turmoil, a significant development last week has received little global attention: the passage of a new immigration law, which explicitly embraces human rights principles, emphasizes equality between migrants and Brazilian nationals, and provides a thoughtful framework for the development of future migration-related policies. Although various provisions were subjected to a line-item veto by President Temer, the law overall represents a progressive and inclusive approach to managing migration – a standout, given rising xenophobia and stricter border controls in many parts of the world.…  Seguir leyendo »

Despite their dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israelis are content to let him lead. AP

MundoOriente Próximo

Once again, Israel stood up to its nickname, Startup Nation, when two weeks ago Intel paid the awesome sum of $15.3 billion to acquire Mobileye, an Israeli company leading in computer vision for autonomous driving technology. While I’m proud of this accomplishment of my country, it nevertheless leaves me with mixed feelings.

On the one hand, it is good to know that, like Waze before it, the Israeli GPS that made driving much simpler for millions of people, Mobileye will enhance safety on the roads and guide future autonomous and driverless cars, the next quantum leap in transportation.

On the other hand, perhaps Israel itself is some kind of an autonomous car.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaEuropaUnión Europea, , ,

March is the month of “La Francophonie”. It is an opportunity for all the countries that share the French language, including Canada, France and Haiti, to celebrate this great family.

We belong to one of the largest linguistic communities in the world. Today, French is spoken by more than 274 million people on all continents. This number is expected to reach 700 million by 2050. French is the second most learned foreign language in the world, after English.

French is a great language of communication. It is the fourth most common language used on the internet. Four international radio stations and six international television stations broadcast in French, reaching 243 million households.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

A time-bomb called Gaza is sitting Israel’s back yard. The question is not whether it will explode, but when.

Caught between Egypt and Israel, and ruled by an oppressive terrorist organization, Hamas, the 1.85 million Gazans are in a dire situation. One third of the population is under 30, and two out of three of these young people are unemployed. With no hope over the horizon for this generation, an explosion is only a question of time. And we know from past experience what form this explosion might take: attacks on Israel. These attacks have already invoked three major counter-attacks by Israel — Operation Cast Lead (2008), Operation Pillar of Defense (2012) and Operation Protective Edge (2014) — which brought devastation to Gaza, but couldn’t stop the cycle of violence.…  Seguir leyendo »

Berta Caceres, who was murdered, at the banks of the Gualcarque River in the Rio Blanco region of western Honduras where she, COPINH (the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras) and the people of Rio Blanco maintained a struggle to halt construction on the Agua Zarca Hydroelectric project, saying that it poses grave threats to local environment, river and indigenous Lenca people. Tim Russo

Internacional, ,

One year ago, we awoke to the shocking news of the murder in Honduras of Berta Cáceres, recipient of the 2015 Goldman environmental prize, in response to her campaign to stop the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam being built on indigenous Lenca territory.

Cáceres had received more than 30 death threats during her campaign. Foreign backers of the Agua Zarca dam have suspended lending. But threats to those opposing development projects have never been higher.
Over the past year, at least six more campaigners have been killed in Honduras including, just over two weeks ago, José de los Santos Sevilla, the leader of the indigenous Tolupán people.…  Seguir leyendo »

President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a news conference at the White House on Feb. 15. Pablo Martinez Monsivais AP

MundoAméricaMundoOriente Próximo,

In his last press conference before leaving office, President Obama reiterated his support for a two-state solution as the most viable way to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “I don’t see how this issue gets resolved in a way that maintains Israel as both Jewish and a democracy if there are not two states,” he said.

Then, with his subtle sarcasm, he added: “We’ll see how Trump’s approach plays out.”

On Thursday, at the joint press conference of President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we were treated with a taste of the Trump approach. “So I’m looking at two-state and one-state,” Trump quipped between smiles, “and I like the one that both parties like.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica, ,

Here is an interesting question for President Donald Trump: Who deports more Central American migrants, the United States or Mexico? The answer is Mexico by a long shot.

In 2015, Mexico, without a wall — but with better surveillance in collaboration with the U.S.-deported 165,000 migrants from the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The United States deported 74,478 Central Americans the same year.

So antagonizing the people of Mexico and the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto with a constant refrain of, “You will pay for the wall” may not be the best way for Trump to lower the number of migrants crossing the southwest border into the U.S.…  Seguir leyendo »

A man enters the Sachsenhausen death camp through the gate on International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2016. Markus Schreiber AP

ReflexionesSocialEuropaUnión Europea, , ,

My father, Bernard R. Wieder arrived in America in 1923, 18 years old with plans to bring his entire family here from Maramoros Szighet, the same small Hungarian town where Elie Wiesel was born.

My father worked in Miami Beach as a busboy and then as a waiter in 1923 at the Nemo hotel in the winters and gambled at the dog track and horse tracks. He bought some striped pants and promoted himself to headwaiter. He said that Miami Beach had only two policemen then, and one of them was let go in the summer. “Nothing for them to do,” he said.…  Seguir leyendo »

Entrance of the Hong Kong regional head office of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, one of the world’s biggest creators of shell companies. Vincent Yu - AP

InternacionalEconomía, ,

Seven months after the leak of 11.5 million documents from a law firm in an incident that has come to be known as the “Panama Papers”, the world is right to ask what has been done since to fight global tax evasion and promote financial transparency.

As president of Panama, and in particular through my interactions with the international community, it is clear that the affair shined a light into the dark corners of global finance and sparked a worldwide reform agenda. Despite the unfortunate name, The Panama Papers has been good for Panama as well as for the world.

Panama was well on the path of reform long before the scandal broke.…  Seguir leyendo »

President Obama misreads Israeli-Palestinian conflict

MundoAméricaMundoOriente Próximo, ,

Who could have imagined that the final weeks of President Obama’s tenure would bring a flurry of mutual recriminations between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Obama administration?

Who? Anyone who was paying attention.

For months we have been hearing that Obama planned a parting shot, perhaps allowing an anti-Israel resolution to pass without a U.S. veto at the U.N. Security Council. I heard about it as far back as last summer.

But as Obama wounded feelings in Israel and enraged Netanyahu, the paradox behind this unseemly quarrel between two good friends, the United States and Israel, is that the biggest losers here are the Palestinian people and their hopes for the establishment of a Palestinian State.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalTerrorismo Internacional,

The terrorist who hijacked a truck in Berlin, then ran over and killed 12 people, maiming and wounding 48 more, in that massacre in the Christmas market, has done more damage than he could imagine.

If the perpetrator is the jihadist from Tunisia who had no right to be in Germany, and had been under surveillance, the bell could begin to toll not only for Angela Merkel but for the European Union.

That German lassitude, and the naivete behind it, allowed this outrage validates the grim verdict of geostrategist James Burnham in ”Suicide of the West”: ”Liberalism is the ideology of Western suicide.”…  Seguir leyendo »

Rehabilitating Guantánamo’s torture victims

MundoAméricaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional,

It is extremely unlikely that President Obama will be able to fulfill his promise of closing Guantánamo before leaving office, but he can still take action to mitigate this national stain. Torture causes profound harm to human beings, families, and communities. We cannot undo the torture that was committed on scores of men — but we can do the right thing now: We can provide the medical, psychological, and social supports these survivors need to heal.

This positive step will not only protect our national security by reducing the likelihood that released prisoners will act against our interests, but also will begin to restore the reputation of our country as a human rights protector — a distinction that has been shattered by our use of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment in the war on terror.…  Seguir leyendo »

Syrian soldiers walk among damaged buildings on a street filled with debris in Aleppo, Syria. A cease-fire between rebels and the Syrian government collapsed on Wednesday. Uncredited - AP

MundoOriente Próximo,

In the past five years, Syria has become many things: a refugee crisis, a regional quagmire, a Western nightmare, a terrorist haven, a Russian power play and the core of Iran’s ambitions.

To the international community, however, it’s a civil war. The United Nations, Western governments, media and European Union all refer to the Syrian conflict this way.

These simplifications are inaccurate and dangerous. They absolve the international community of responsibility, and give Bashar Assad a veneer of legitimacy. They liberate Russia and Iran — actively involved with troops in the conflict — from culpability. And they allow internal terrorist groups to justify their involvement and violence.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa

Back in March 2014, with Russian-speaking forces patrolling the streets of Crimea, until then a part of the sovereign country of Ukraine, I wrote an article arguing that, “We have entered a new Cold War.” Fast-forward to this surreal moment in American — and global — history, and it appears that Vladimir Putin’s Russia is handily winning this Cold War 2.0.

This is no longer a battle between Communism and capitalism/democracy. This is Putin against the West, against democracy, and Putin is winning.

It’s no secret that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted Donald Trump to win. He also wanted Hillary Clinton, whom he despises, to lose.…  Seguir leyendo »

Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinian and Israeli activists during a demonstration in November against construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Majdi Mohammed AP

MundoOriente Próximo

For years I have been warning that the ongoing Jewish settlement in the predominantly Arab West Bank will lead to one, bi-national state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, where Jews might eventually become a minority. In that case, Israel might either lose its Jewish character or its democracy.

In theory, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his speech in 2009 at Bar Ilan University, seemed to have recognized that, when he said that he endorsed a two-state solution. Except that the current Israeli government under his leadership, pressed by the ultra-right wings of his coalition, is leading us in the opposite direction.…  Seguir leyendo »

Dr. Antonio Jean Baptiste checks on a new mom in the maternal cholera unit while on rounds at a special obstetrics clinic in Port-au-Prince. PATRICK FARRELL

MundoAméricaInternacionalONU, ,  

Last week, I addressed the U.N. General Assembly to outline a new approach to tackle cholera in Haiti — a disease that has afflicted nearly 800,000 people and claimed the lives of more than 9,000 Haitians over the last six years.

This tragedy has cast a shadow upon the relationship between the U.N. and the people of Haiti. It is a blemish on the reputation of U.N. peacekeeping and the organization world-wide.

I began my speech to the General Assembly with a message to the Haitian people:

The United Nations deeply regrets the loss of life and suffering caused by the cholera outbreak in Haiti.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial,

For centuries Jews co-existed for the most part peacefully with their various neighbors across North Africa and the Middle East. Jewish communities thrived from the Atlantic Ocean to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, from Casablanca to Alexandria and Baghdad.

Today, they all have been virtually driven to extinction. Within one generation, from 1948 to 1973, nearly 1 million people were displaced, many becoming refugees.

In the wake of the Holocaust, the establishment of the state of Israel and the rise of Arab nationalism, the Sephardi/Mizrahi Jews in North Africa and the Middle East were increasingly subjected to pogroms, riots, arrest and detention.…  Seguir leyendo »