Latin America and Caribbean Focus – In The News

October 29, 2021
Senior Advisor to the Carter Center, Jennie K. Lincoln: "Nicaraguan Democracy is Dead"
Published by La Prensa.
"The fraud is already done and human rights are on the ground," said Lincoln, who years ago was an electoral observer in Nicaragua. The principal adviser of the Carter Center on peace initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean, Jennie K. Lincoln, said this Friday that in Nicaragua there are no conditions for credible elections. 

May 6, 2018
Carter Center Sends Team to Nicaragua to Offer Assistance in the Dialogue
Published by Univision.
The Carter Center, founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, sent a mission to Nicaragua to offer assistance in developing a dialogue to resolve the political crisis in the country, after more than 40 people, mostly students, died in massive protests against the government of President Daniel Ortega.

Jan. 23, 2017
Published by CNN Espanol.
The Legacy of Barack Obama (El legado de Barack Obama)
The Carter Center’s Jennie Lincoln discusses President Obama’s legacy in Latin America. Después de ocho años en el poder, Barack Obama deja la presidencia de los Estados Unidos. ¿Cuál ha sido sus legado en América Latina?

Jan. 14, 2016
Panama Honors Former President Carter
Published by Fox 5.
Former President Jimmy Carter received a special award Thursday from the nation of Panama. The county's president presented the nation's highest award, the Grand Cross, to the 39th President. The nation honored President Carter because in 1977 he signed the treaty that transferred the Panama Canal back to the Central America nation.

Dec. 20, 2014
Cuba: History is on Obama's Side
Jennifer McCoy, published by Al Jazeera.
Though Cuba is no democracy, President Raul Castro has made modest but important steps in that direction. Society is changing. And President Obama's moves toward normalizing U.S.-Cuba relations will do much to empower Cubans to choose their own future.

Dec. 18, 2014
President Carter on the Thaw With Cuba
Published by CNN.com.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says if he had more time in the White House he would have restored diplomatic relations with Cuba.
Watch the video >

June 2, 2014
Carter Center Blasts Nicaragua's Electoral System
Published by The Nicaragua Dispatch.
The Carter Center today released a statement lamenting the Sandinista government's recent renewal of its scandal-plagued electoral authorities, calling the move a "significant lost opportunity for this country to strengthen its battered electoral institutions."

May 23, 2014
Carter Center: Clear Electoral Rules Are Required Under Democracy
Published by El Universal.
The director of the Carter Center's Americas Program said trust is built on the bases of transparency, justice perception, competitiveness, unbiased institutions, and monitoring by citizens and political parties.

May 22, 2014
Carter Center Suggests Revision of Venezuela's Electoral Framework
Published by El Universal.
In a report on the Venezuelan presidential election of 2013, The Carter Center made an appeal to update the legal framework governing electoral processes in Venezuela.

May 2, 2014
In Panama Vote, a Noncandidate Matters
Published by the Wall Street Journal.
Presidential elections in Panama on Sunday feature a crowded field of seven candidates, but are widely seen here as a referendum on one man who won't appear on the ballot: conservative President Ricardo Martinelli.

May 4, 2014
Incumbent's Party Loses Presidency in Panama
Published by The New York Times.
Panamanians, enjoying one of the fastest-growing economies in the hemisphere but wary of corruption and growing executive power, rejected the governing party's choice for president on Sunday - on a ticket with the president's wife for vice president - and instead hewed to tradition by electing an opposition candidate.

April 30, 2014
High-Level Delegation to Panamanian Election
Published by Newsroom Panama.
MARRED by accusations of dirty tricks and the intervention of President Ricardo Martinelli in the campaign, Panama's May 4, election is drawing world-wide attention despite the country's small population.

April 28, 2014
Carter Center: Contradictions Should be Avoided in Gov't-Opposition Talks
Published by El Universal.
The director of the Carter Center's Americas Program stressed how critical it was to keep "information and transparency, as well as communication" with citizens at all times.

April 10, 2014
Carter Center: Dialogue in Venezuela Suitable to Address Crisis
Published by El Universal.
"A set of minimum agreements resulting from the talks could begin to restore confidence in public institutions and heal the social wounds from the confrontations," the organization stated.

Feb. 26, 2014
Pope, Carter Call for Calm in Venezuela
Published by NBC News.
Pope Francis and former President Jimmy Carter called on leaders to step in to end the violence in Venezuela, which has already killed at least 13 people, making it the country's worst conflict in a decade.

Feb. 25, 2014
Ex-President Carter Planning Trip to Venezuela
Published by the Associated Press.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is expressing concern about Venezuela's escalating political crisis and wants to meet with leaders on both sides in an upcoming trip.

April 25, 2013
The Roots of Venezuela's Recount
Jennifer McCoy and Michael McCarthy op-ed, published by The National Interest.
After fourteen years of Hugo Chávez's personalist leadership, Venezuelans took their first steps into a brave new world of political contestation on April 14 when they elected a president to fulfill Chávez's term. The fireworks that marked the aggressive campaign are, in a sense, still going off.

March 6, 2013
Chavez Legacy an Incomplete Revolution
This op-ed by Jennifer McCoy was published by the USA Today.
Hugo Chávez was a larger than life figure who dominated Venezuelan politics and shaped hemispheric relations as few leaders have done. He personified change in Venezuela and was the single unifying force in the country since 1999 – unifying his diverse supporters to follow his lead, and uniting his opponents to try to defeat him.

Jan. 4, 2013
With Chavez Ill and Inauguration Near, Uncertainty Reigns in Venezuela
Published by CNN.
Lawmakers erupted in applause at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's inauguration six years ago. An orchestra played. Chavez beamed.

Oct. 10, 2012
Venezuela After the Vote
This interview with Jennifer McCoy was published by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Hugo Chávez won another six-year term as Venezuela's president in Sunday's election, defeating opponent Henrique Capriles and vowing to advance his vision for bringing about "twenty-first-century socialism." Jennifer McCoy, director of the Americas Program at the Carter Center, credits the promise of government benefits as well as "emotional and political ties" Chavez has with voters as crucial to his win. But she adds that the opposition "is recognizing that they are growing" and can potentially command a strong showing in the upcoming governors' election in December.

April 24, 2012
War on Drugs: There Has to Be a Better Way
This op-ed by Jennifer McCoy and Kristen Sample was published by the Miami Herald.
The main U.S. headlines coming out of the recent Summit of the Americas in Colombia were a sideshow about Secret Service misconduct and the perennially divisive question of Cuba, while President Obama touted the event as an opportunity to help jumpstart U.S. employment by selling more goods to a dynamic Latin America.

Feb. 27, 2012
What Are Capriles Chances of Defeating Chavez in October? (PDF)
Published by TheDialogue.org.
Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski handily won the Feb. 12 primary with 62 percent of the vote and is set to face President Hugo Chávez in the country's Oct. 7 presidential elections. What are Capriles' chances of unseating Chávez, whose popularity rankings have been above 50 percent lately?

March 7, 2012
Carter Center Warns About Violence If Venezuelan Vote Is Too Close to Call
Published by EL UNIVERSAL.
If Venezuelan presidential election to be held in October 2012 is too close to call, and the losing party does not accept the results, violence could burst out in the South American country, warned on Tuesday Jennifer Lynn McCoy, the Director of the Carter Center's Americas Program and Professor of political science at Georgia State University.

Feb. 24, 2012
Ex presidentes de América exhortan al Ecuador que respete libertad de expresión
Published by La Republica.
Ex presidentes y íderes políticos del continente americano, encabezados por el ex presidente de los Estados Unidos, Jimmy Carter, pidieron este viernes al gobierno ecuatoriano que respete la libertad de expresión y que suspenda las sanciones contra el diario El Universo, condenado por injurias contra el presidente Rafael Correa.

Feb. 22, 2012
Venezuelans In Georgia Burn Ballots
Published by Georgia Public Broadcasting.
In what's poised to be one of Venezuela's most heated elections in history, a young governor named Henrique Capriles will go up against the ailing President Hugo Chavez in October.

Feb. 13, 2012
Estás Viendo: El narcotráfico y los derechos humanos
Univision/Atlanta
Entrevista con Marieclaire Acosta, experta en los derechos humanos y miembro del grupo de amigos de la carta democrática interamericana.

Feb. 13, 2012
Después de las primarias de Venezuela
CNN Espanol
Entrevista de CNN en Español sobre las elecciones primarias en Venezuela a la Dra. Jennifer McCoy, Directora del Programa de las Americas del Centro Carter.

Feb. 9, 2012
Venezuela Opposition Parties Holding Primary in Challenge to Hugo Chavez
PRI's The World
Venezuela is holding presidential elections in October. President Hugo Chavez is looking for a fourth term in office. In the past, he's easily defeated the candidates put forth by a divided opposition.

14 de noviembre 2011
Entrevista con el Dr. Eduardo Stein
Transmitido en octubre de 2011 por Univision.
El ex vicepresidente de Guatemala habló sobre la vigencia y aplicación de la Carta Democrática Interamericana.

Sept. 23, 2010
Not much chance for opposition in Venezuela
Published Sept. 23, 2010, by The Washington Times.
As Venezuela's opposition prepares for Sunday's legislative elections, analysts say that even a strong nationwide vote in a free-and-fair election could translate into a meager number of seats due to gerrymandering and other actions by the government to help its allies.

Sept. 22, 2010
Chavez Looms Behind Venezuelan Parliamentary Vote
Published Sept. 22, 2010, on CNN.com.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is not on the ballot in this Sunday's parliamentary elections, but he nonetheless casts a large shadow over the vote.Voters will decide 165 seats out of 167 in the country's National Assembly, where Chavez's ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, or PSUV, holds 137 seats.

Nov. 29, 2009
Conservative Poised to Win in Honduras Election
Published Nov. 29, 2009, by the New York Times.
Porfirio Lobo, a longtime conservative politician, appeared headed toward victory on Sunday in the Honduran presidential election, which many hoped could help the country emerge from the crisis caused by last summer's coup and end its isolation.

July 13, 2009
Honduras Standoff
Published July 13, 2009, by Public Radio International's "The World."
Honduras' interim president said talks may begin Saturday to address the political crisis enveloping the country since the military deposed the country's sitting president two weeks ago. Anchor Jeb Sharp gets the latest from Jennifer McCoy, director of the Americas Program at the Carter Center in Atlanta.

July 4, 2009
Honduras' New Readers Reject Appeal for Zelaya's Return
Published July 4, 2009, on CNN.com.
The head of the Organization of American States said Friday he has found no willingness among leaders of Honduras' interim government to return President Jose Manuel Zelaya to power.

May 3, 2009
Panama Election Coverage Interview With Marcelo Varela
Published May 3, 2009, by CNN.
Marcelo Varela, del centro Carter, analiza la victoria de Martinelli. Entrevista de CNN por Claudia Palacios. Translated: Marcelo Varela, Carter Center, discusses the victory of Martinelli. CNN interview by Claudia Palacios.

Jan. 25, 2009
Bolivian Vote on Constitution Could Help President
Published Jan. 25, 2009, on CNN.com.
Bolivians are widely expected to approve a new constitution Sunday that would allow leftist President Evo Morales to run for another term this year, which he can't do under the current document.

Nov. 5, 2006
Carter Helps Monitor Nicaragua Presidential Election
Published Nov. 5, 2006 by NPR.
Former president Jimmy Carter is monitoring Nicaragua's presidential elections. This is President Carter's fourth time monitoring Nicaraguan elections with the Carter Center. He talks with host Debbie Elliott about how the elections -- and Ortega himself -- look different this time around.