• U.S. drug policy needs to be altered; legalization must be subject to serious debate
• Legalization could eliminate illegal demand for Mexican marijuana and curb drug-related violence
• Medical dangers of marijuana may be largely exaggerated
• Economic costs and benefits should be balanced; legalization could reduce financial burden on the U.S.

Few topics of debate are as stigmatizing and polarizing as the legalization of marijuana. For the majority of the U.S. population, the idea invokes one of two reactions: a firm guffaw at the ridiculousness of it, or a tenacious, almost blind, support of it. Regardless of their stance, most people derive their opinions from personal beliefs and unsubstantiated myth rather than unassailable fact. Disinformation on marijuana is rampant and several U.S. presidents have been stubbornly opposed to any serious discussion about marijuana legalization. National interest in the subject is evidenced by the myriad of legalization-related questions directed at the White House, yet President Obama cannot stifle his laughter every time the topic is brought up. Secretary of State Clinton brushes off the idea, vaguely dismissing the subject with “[T]here is just too much money in it,”1—the implication of this statement is uncertain—while countless lawmakers simply cite “morality” in disregarding it. If the federal government is going to firmly oppose legalization, they must first establish that they have given significant consideration to the idea. Many Latin American nations, including Mexico and Colombia, the greatest victims of the drug trade, have already had serious debate about legalization. It is time for the U.S. to do the same. …Continue Reading »

Early last month in Havana, COHA Research Fellow J. Preston Whitt interviewed Josefina Vidal, head of the MINREX (Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs) North America division. In this interview, Vidal outlined the Cuban opinion regarding the Washington-Havana stand-off, and highlighted some of the proposed changes to be discussed at the April 16 Communist Party Congress, the first session of this body since 1997.

Cuba’s Pragmatic Compromise

Vidal began with what she called the Cuban “tough list” of requirements to officially normalize U.S.-Cuban relations. The seven-topic list started off, of course, with the demand of lifting the U.S. embargo. Next, Cuba requires the return of the Cuban Five, a group of Cuban spies currently serving long prison sentences in the United States. Cuba maintains that the Five were wrongfully convicted, arguing that they were investigating anti-Cuban terrorist organizations and were not acting against the United States government or the interests of the U.S. citizens. …Continue Reading »

Results now being assessed from the first round of Peru’s presidential election are expected to deliver a strikingly different outcome than what was widely predicted merely months ago. Former lieutenant colonel and quirky leftist candidate Ollanta Humala led the race with 31.37 percent of the popular vote. Keiko Fujimori, daughter of now jailed Peruvian autocrat Alberto Fujimori, trailed Humala with 23.22 percent of ballots cast. The other three top candidates—former president Alejandro Toledo, former IMF economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (PPK), and former Lima mayor Luis Castañeda—were all favored by the country’s center-right elites when it came to their political leanings. Many in the media have suggested that the three trailing candidates were too ideologically indistinct, fragmenting the aristocratic vote. This left Humala and Fujimori to compete for the remaining segments of Peruvian society, to whom they offered differing varieties of populist appeal. For many, this is an unfortunate outcome that could supplant reasoned political debate in the run-off on June 5 with emotionally-based responses to the two remaining candidates. …Continue Reading »

The enormous segment of Amazonian rainforest that covers over half of the country has always been an issue of contention for Peru due to the number of indigenous tribes that inhabit it. As early as the 16th century, the Peruvian Amazon has been linked to the world market, providing such products as timber, rubber, and quinine to an increasing global market. Ever since the region first became an attractive venue for resource extraction, the government’s economic ambitions have wantonly grown in spite of the ecological importance of preserving the Amazonian rainforest for Peru, its neighbors, and the international community.

The Peruvian segment of the Amazon is the setting for a wide variety of rare plant and animal species. The Peruvian rainforest is home to 25,000 species of plants, totaling ten percent of the world’s inventory. Peru boasts the world’s second largest population of birds and is among the top five countries for providing a habitat for thousands of mammals and reptiles. Of Peru’s 2,937 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles, 16 percent are endemic to the region and every year scientists are discovering new species. In 2010, scientists found a new species of leech and a new type of mosquito.1 Sadly, most of these discoveries depend upon, mining, logging and oil companies that have been granted exploratory rights to Amazonian lands. …Continue Reading »