One of the big stories this weekend will be the near-certain re-election of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He enters Sunday’s election with a comfortable double-digit lead. And why not? Apart from whatever legitimate popular support he has, he apparently has also stamped his face, his image, his slogans onto every available surface — including the [...]

While our attention is rightfully riveted on the dramatic and accelerated unraveling of  U.S. policy in Iraq, our immediate neighbor to the south seems to be entering its own period of escalated instability. By the time you read this on Friday, Mexico’s new president, Felipe Calderon, will or will not have successfully been sworn in [...]