| Dec 3, 2013 | Rights / DemocracyTenacity can be an admirable trait in a leader — except when it’s stupid. Stupid tenacity has afflicted several right-wing governors and lawmakers who grabbed hold of a bad idea that, in practice, has proven to be even worse than expected. The bad idea was to...
| May 2, 2011 | Economy / BusinessManuel Esteban Tejada was a teacher in the Colombian province of Cordoba, near the Panamanian border. Unfortunately for him, he was also a union member. On January 10, paramilitary gunmen broke into his house at 6 a.m. and shot him multiple times, killing him. Tejada...
| Mar 14, 2011 | Peace / SecurityWhen Washington ramped up its anti-drug efforts through Plan Colombia, more than 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States came through Colombia. A decade later, we get about 97 percent of our cocaine via Colombia. Amazingly, officials are hailing the...
| Feb 15, 2010 | Environment / HealthThere’s one thing that Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama have all agreed on: expanding military aid to Latin America to fight the so-called “Drug War.” A new phase of the Drug War began in 2000 under President Bill Clinton, with $1.3 billion in...
| Oct 1, 2009 | Rights / DemocracyPresident Barack Obama’s drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, should be commended for initiating some basic reforms in U.S. drug policy. One of his first sensible acts was to drop the phrase “War on Drugs.” “Regardless of how you try to explain to...
