International Reports 1/2009

Ausgabe 1/2009 der Auslandsinformationen der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

by Gerhard Wahlers

Looking back, on the day on which the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution is commemorated in 2009, the balance can surely not be positive. Moreover, the brevity of the congratulatory message of the former leader, Fidel Castro, suggests that the icon of the revolution is close to death.

by Frank Priess

The conflict that is reigning in Colombia is a complex matter, particularly because of its current transformation. The following ten propositions may help to explain recent developments in the country, where the great potential for violence has been generating negative headlines for a long time.

by Carsten Wieland

Talking about political reform has been dominating the agenda of the Brazilian parliament since the days when democracy was reintroduced in 1946. Essentially, all the innumerable debates and failed initiatives revolved around the ambivalence of democracy and the ability to govern.

by Wilhelm Hofmeister

On December 7, 2008, Ghana elected a new parliament as well as a new president. Having obtained no more than 107 seats in parliament, the hitherto ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP) lost not only the absolute but also the simple majority. The 114 seats won by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) gave it almost a majority, while the People’s National Convention (PNC) won two and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) one seat.

by Klaus D. Loetzer, Volker Mönikes

Zimbabwe is caught up in a crisis that could not be severer. Not for the first time, President Robert Mugabe demonstrated that he is not prepared to relinquish his power, even though poll results may show him up as the loser: at the presidential, senatorial, parliamentary, and local elections that were held in March 2008, the challenger, Morgan Tsvangirai, and the opposition parties united in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won 47.9 percent of the vote, leaving the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) behind at 43.2 percent.

by Derek Matyszak