"For many, that image changed in February when Bukele sent armed soldiers into Congress to demand they fund his security plan. The images evoked darker days from the past. "'February was a turning point,' Michael Camilleri, the director of the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program at the Inter-American Dialogue, told AQ..." Read the full article here: Full Article

"On Tuesday, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo unveiled a detailed framework for restoring democracy in Venezuela that was immediately rejected by the man who would need to step aside for such a transition to occur: Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. Perhaps this should not come as a surprise, given that just last week the U.S. Department of Justice charged Maduro with narco-terrorism and put a $15-million price on his head. "Many Venezuelans reacted with understandable satisfaction to the indictment of Maduro [...]

"One of the bolder claims in Donald Trump’s impeachment defense posits that the U.S. president withheld military aid to Ukraine out of genuine concern over corruption in the former Soviet republic, and not to extract an investigation into a political rival. The assertion might be more plausible were the White House not simultaneously contemplating revisions to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which Trump has long derided as placing American businesses at an unfair disadvantage. Still, some U.S senators appear willing to [...]

"Now, 'the trend lines point toward increasing authoritarian consolidation, a stronger Nicolas Maduro and a more fragmented opposition,' said Michael Camilleri, who served in the State Department and the National Security Council during the Obama administration. 'Those in the opposition who had deluded themselves into thinking Trump was going to invade and solve all their problems are coming to the realization that’s not going to happen.' "In a sense, the status quo works for Trump politically..." Read the full article here: [...]

“‘President Morales, his vice president, and the leaders of the House and Senate all resigned. This created a vacuum of power, as the constitutional line of succession does not contemplate a case in which these four positions are vacant,’ Michael Camilleri, director of the Rule of Law Program at the Inter-American Dialogue, told Fox News. "...‘Morales’ removal from power has polarized the hemisphere along tired, ideological lines,’ Camilleri said. “‘The United States and some governments in Latin America recognize Añez as [...]

“I think it is too early to call it a coup. Evo Morales clearly created this predicament for himself by violating the constitution and then orchestrating what appears to be a fraudulent election. The people of Bolivia reacted to that. They took to the streets for weeks to try to defend their democracy, but at the end of the day it was the military that gave Morales the final push. We are still waiting for all the facts to come out [...]

"On Oct. 20, Bolivian President Evo Morales will go to the polls in search of a fourth term. Victory would extend his time in office to almost two decades, and — depending on how the election goes — could place democracy itself at risk in the Andean country. "Unlike with Morales’s counterparts in Latin America’s three consolidated autocracies — Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua — his past elections have been democratic and his governance style autocratic but not authoritarian. Members of Bolivia’s [...]

"From its first weeks in office, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has been intent on dislodging Nicolás Maduro from power in Venezuela—resorting to everything from tough talk of “military options” and indictments of senior officials to hard-hitting sanctions and multilateral diplomacy. In January, after two years of effort, Washington seemed to be close to reaching its goal. With an uncharacteristic display of careful diplomatic coordination, the United States, along with several Latin American governments and other U.S. partners, announced [...]