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  • I’m Miguel Centellas. As a political science professor, academic interests are a significant part of my personal life. I post on Bolivian politics, interesting books, pop culture, and daily life in a Baltimore.View my (old) academic pages at Dickinson College.
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Category: Global Issues

  • This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Pronto* in the “Global Issues” category. They are listed from newest to oldest. For a list of other category archives, see the right sidebar; you may also look through the archives or search by keywords.

Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism

Posted June 6, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4)
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I’ve been meaning to post a note about my objections to the use of the term “race” when discussing Bolivian social politics (I prefer the term “ethnicity”). A brief report in today’s La Razón provides a great starting point: The Qhara Qhara “nation” was “reborn” yesterday.

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Another LAS speaker

Posted February 28, 2008 | Permalink
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If you’re in the Dickinson area, you may want to check out the next installment of our Latin American Studies spring speaker series. Anthropologist Steve Striffler (University of Arkansas) will speak on “Colombia, Coal, and Transnational Labor Solidarity.” The focus is on the effects of coal mining on indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.

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Castro is not yet dead

Posted February 19, 2008 | Permalink
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Fidel Castro has (finally) stepped down, officially. I’m not sure what that actually means for US policy towards Cuba, Cuba’s policy towards the US, or international relations more generally. After all, unlike Generalissimo Franco, Castro isn’t dead. Castro is instead scheduled to resume writing his political column full time. But I’m hopeful that this will mean a transition to some form of democracy—and w/ it, a more rational US-Cuban relationship.


The “bases” reign in Evo

Posted February 17, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4)
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In an interesting (though not entirely surprising) political turn, Evo has been reigned in by his own supporters (the organizaciones de base). Only days before, Evo had publicly struck out against the Santa Cruz autonomy movement (which is steamrolling forward), claiming that his supporters were willing to use force if necessary, then calling on the military & “social bases” to mobilize.

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The Fulbright espionage scandal

Posted February 11, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (14)
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There’s been some discussion about a recent ABC News report that a Fulbright scholar in Bolivia was asked to “spy” on Venezuelans & Cubans in Bolivia (to be precise: to report if he had seen any, who, and where) during his mandatory security briefing.1 I’ll refer to the discussion at Gringo Tambo (a group blog of primarily ex-Fulbrighters who study Bolivia).

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Indefinite reelections for everyone!

Posted November 2, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (66)
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When did this kind of power-grabbing come back en vogue?

Yes, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez wants to have indefinite reelection for president (but not for governors or mayors) in the new constitution. Seems pretty consistent for that administration. Bolivia’s Evo Morales wants indefinite reelection for presidents (but not for prefects or mayors—why does this sound so familiar?) put in that new constitution as well. So does Ecuador’s Rafael Correa.

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The American Idea (and its future)

Posted October 14, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (8)
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Last month, I posted some reflections on 9/11 & the question of “the American idea” (though I didn’t use that exact expression). This month, The Atlantic celebrated 150 years w/ a series of contributions from writers, artists, poets, and other public intellectuals. They were asked to contribute something (either in writing or in art) on “The Future of the American idea.” It’s worth a look.


How to win the Nobel Peace Prize

Posted October 13, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Reason’s Jesse Walker provides some interesting advice on how to win the Nobel Peace Prize along w/ a roundup of past winners.

That said: Congratulations to Al Gore. The environment sure needs someone to save it, regardless of why or how.


Toulmin on Gore & global warming

Posted October 12, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (16)
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Camilla Toulmin, in an essay in openDemocracy, raises some interesting questions for Al Gore about his position on global climate change. In particular, she raises questions about (and the implications of) Gore’s narrow focus on a US (rather than international) audience. It’s certainly worth a look.

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PS. Camilla Toulmin is director of the London-based International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED).


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