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Latin America and the Caribbean
Honduran Elections: Live Blog8:30 P.M. EST: The National Lawyers Guild International Committee has released the following statement:
The National Lawyers Guild, with a delegation of 17 members who observed Sunday's elections in Honduras, will be issuing a press statement tomorrow. In advance of that statement, the NLG International Committee wants to alert our members and other interested parties that US media and government reports of a free, fair and transparent election in Honduras are premature and inappropriate. Such unsupported claims will only exacerbate tensions in a country that recently suffered a coup, followed by massive attacks on human rights defenders, opposition party candidates and activists that continue to this moment.
Honduras has a flawed electoral system with many deficiencies including control of the process by political parties, unregulated and undisclosed campaign financing, and inadequate resources, training and voting facilities that disadvantage poor communities. In addition Honduran electoral law provides for no run-off election. Without a runoff election in which a majority of voters choose leadership, the electoral aspirations of two-thirds of Honduran voters who voted for change, are frustrated, and the winner of a mere plurality is denied a real mandate.
The NLG will issue a press statement tomorrow to be followed by the delegation’s comprehensive report.
6:56 P.M. EST: Although the TSE has yet to announce the final results of the election, current Honduran president Porfirio Lobo has congratulated Juan Orlando Hernández on his election, reports La Prensa.
6:30 P.M. EST: The TSE continues to update their website with partial results, however a few discrepancies have emerged. The main page of the TSE website shows 61.77 percent of voting tables as having been counted, however on the results by department page, the TSE reports 57.99 percent of voting tables as having been counted. On the main page, the TSE reports a total of 15,147 voting tables while on the results by department page, the TSE reports a total of 16,135 voting tables.
The results by department page, which includes both null and blank votes, shows a total of 2,009,101 votes as having been processed. However if one adds up all the votes for each candidate as well as null and blank votes, the total is 1,928,450, a discrepancy of over 80,000 votes.
The TSE has yet to make any formal announcement today with updated results, but check the TSE website periodically for updates.
CEPR / November 24, 2013
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Labor Market Policy Research Reports, November 9- November 22, 2013The following labor market policy research reports were recently released:
CEPR and / November 22, 2013
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Don’t Blame the RobotsJohn Schmitt and / November 22, 2013
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Kevin Drum and the Retirement Crisis: Eye on the Ball?Dean Baker / November 22, 2013
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Paul Ryan Getting Advice on Poverty Policy From K Street Organization that Receives Most of Its Funding From GovernmentShawn Fremstad / November 21, 2013
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Policy Alternatives for a Return to Full Employment in SpainDavid Rosnick and Mark Weisbrot / November 21, 2013
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The Cost of Protectionism: Limited Choice of Doctors and HospitalsDean Baker / November 21, 2013
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Quick, How Big a Burden is a $9.7 Billion Infrastructure Bill to Germany?Dean Baker / November 21, 2013
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The Unemployment Rate at Full Employment: How Low Can You Go?Jared Bernstein and Dean Baker
Economix (The New York Times), November 20, 2013
Dean Baker / November 20, 2013
report informe
Don’t Blame the Robots: Assessing the Job Polarization Explanation of Growing Wage InequalityJohn Schmitt / November 20, 2013
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Why Doesn’t Nick Kristof Hate Food Stamps Too?Shawn Fremstad / November 20, 2013
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Washington Post Mistakes Wisconsin Politician for Political PhilosopherDean Baker / November 20, 2013
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Latin America and the Caribbean
John Kerry’s Rhetoric Does Not Match RealityYesterday, Secretary of State John Kerry gave a major address at the Organization of American States on U.S. foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere and, despite all evidence to the contrary, he continued to describe the relationship between the U.S. and Latin America as a partnership between “equal partners.” Kerry did not reveal any new policy changes, and his talk contained few specifics, but we can still take time to appreciate some of the contradictions in his statements.
First of all, it seems abundantly clear that the U.S. does not treat any country as its equal, especially not any Latin American country. This has been proven recently by the Obama administration’s disregard for “collateral damage” in the war on drugs and its support for the Cuba embargo despite opposition from all of the countries in Latin America, indeed all the world’s countries except Israel recently voted against the embargo at the U.N. Other examples are not hard to find.
Second, Kerry continued the U.S.’s half-acknowledgement of espionage targeting foreign citizens, leaders and companies. He incorrectly placed Latin American countries on the same side as the U.S. when he referred to “understandable concerns around the surveillance disclosures.” Actually, Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald have received praise for their work around U.S. government transparency – their disclosures are credited with having brought to light an issue of vital importance for international trade, sovereignty and human rights. The “understandable concerns” are about the surveillance itself. The postponement of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s state visit was only the culmination of a long series of failures on the part of the U.S. government to offer an acceptable explanation or apology.
CEPR and / November 19, 2013
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Gildan, Fruit of the Loom Commit to Ensuring that Haitian Workers Receive Minimum WageJake Johnston / November 19, 2013
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Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Runs into Serious Resistance Due to Public ScrutinyMark Weisbrot / November 19, 2013
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Latin America and the Caribbean
What’s Going on at the WTO?: Opportunities and Risks before the 9th Ministerial MeetingDeborah James / November 19, 2013