ECUADOR: Colombia Once Again in the Middle of Election Campaign

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe's claim that Raúl Reyes, a spokesman for Colombia's FARC guerrillas, is living in hiding in Ecuador has heated up the campaign for the second round of presidential elections in this country and raised questions about the relations between Quito, Bogotá and Washington.

BRAZIL: Lula, More than Ever ‘Father of the Poor’

After his landslide victory in Sunday's runoff election, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promised that his first step would be to push through political reforms, and underlined that the poor will remain the top priority in his second term, which begins Jan. 1.

ELECTIONS-BRAZIL: There’s No Stopping Lula

Barring an unforeseen calamity, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will be reelected Sunday to another four-year term, despite a series of scandals that have rocked his leftist Workers' Party (PT) and put his government in the sights of the press and the opposition for the past year and a half.

ELECTIONS-BRAZIL: Black Voters Crucial for Lula

Brazilians of African descent, who make up 47 percent of a total population of 187 million, did not increase their representation in parliament in the last elections, but are proving to be a decisive force in the likely reelection of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

MEXICO: Politics Stand in the Way of Solution to Oaxaca Crisis

Out of incapacity or due to political commitments, the government of Vicente Fox and the Senate have failed to put an end to the five-month crisis in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, where 10 people - mainly protesters - have been killed and hundreds of demonstrators are still camped out on the streets and squares of the state capital.

ELECTIONS-NICARAGUA: And It’s Everyone Against Daniel Ortega

The possibility of a victory for the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in Nicaragua's Nov. 5 elections has unleashed what is virtually an all-out political war against its presidential candidate, Daniel Ortega.

ELECTIONS-ECUADOR: Correa Set to Win (But Perhaps Not This Sunday)

Although Rafael Correa looks set to win Sunday's presidential elections in Ecuador, pollsters are uncertain as to whether a run-off will be necessary, and in that case, who he would be competing against.

MEXICO: Fox Barely Dents Impunity Surrounding PRI ‘Dirty War&#39

As the government of President Vicente Fox comes to an end, activists point out that it has failed to bring to justice those responsible for the massacre of hundreds of student protesters on Oct. 2, 1968 in Tlatelolco square in the capital, as well as other atrocities committed in Mexico's "dirty war" against dissidents in the 1960s and 1970s.

ELECTIONS-BRAZIL: Suspense – a Latecomer to the Campaign

Interest in next Sunday's elections in Brazil has revived in the last two weeks of the campaign, as two big question marks emerge: will President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva win a first-round victory, and what repercussions will the latest corruption scandal have.

MEXICO: Oaxaca Protesters Fear Major Police Crackdown

Thousands of local residents, teachers and social activists in the front line of a historic movement against local authorities in the capital of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca are preparing to resist a police operation they believe may be imminent.

MEXICO: National Democratic Convention Faces Uncertain Future

The convention recently established by leftist groups in Mexico is not the first time social and political movements in this country have banded together in such a strategy. Similar conventions in 1813 and 1914 significantly altered the country's course; the third, in 1994, barely created a ripple, and current efforts have raised hopes as well as doubts.

BRAZIL: New Scandal Rocks Election Campaign

Brazil's election campaign, which appeared to be sailing smoothly towards a first-round victory for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has been shaken by the latest in a long string of scandals tainting the ruling Workers Party (PT).

MEXICO: A Country with Three Presidents

Mexico's left plans to re-lay the foundations of the country with a symbolic "government" chosen by its followers, working through social activism, and a party coalition acting through the country's institutions. The challenge it faces is to persuade the Mexican people, among whom approval of the left is declining, to support its goals and strategies, observers say.

ELECTIONS-BRAZIL: The Threat from the Left

A small woman whose apparent fragility is deceptive and is belied by her sharp tongue is running for president in Brazil on a platform based on cherished causes of the left that she feels have been betrayed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his Workers Party (PT).

MEXICO: Government Backs Down, to Defuse Tension

Mexican President Vicente Fox backed down from his plan to celebrate independence day Friday in Mexico City's central Zócalo square, which has been occupied by the left for seven weeks, thus averting potential violent clashes.

POLITICS-MEXICO: The Right Flexes Its Muscles

Mexican president-elect Felipe Calderón, a moderate conservative and devout Roman Catholic, has promised to govern with the opposition parties and has even adopted some of the left's cherished causes. But some of his allies, powerful business sectors and rightwing radicals, are pulling in the opposite direction.

ELECTIONS-MEXICO: Presumption of Innocence Favoured Calderon

Any election is valid until the contrary is proven - that is the legal presumption followed by Mexico's electoral court in certifying conservative Felipe Calderón as president-elect.

MEXICO: The Myth of a Country Divided Between Left and Right

Mexico's Jul. 2 presidential elections and the subsequent standoff have left the impression of a country sharply divided between left and right, rich and poor - a perception that has taken deep root and is expanding in the midst of the ongoing crisis. But a closer look at the statistics and opinion poll results points to a much more nuanced reality.

POLITICS-NICARAGUA: Sandinistas and Somocistas Are Now Pals

With the Nicaraguan elections due in November, the left-wing Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) has forged alliances with political forces that it has been fighting for decades. Observers and opponents are warning that the move could turn out to be counterproductive.

MEXICO: Court Certifies Calderon as President-Elect

Mexico's electoral court declared conservative candidate Felipe Calderón president-elect Tuesday, after validating the results of the Jul. 2 presidential elections.

ELECTIONS-MEXICO: Preliminary Ruling in Favour of Calderon

In a preliminary ruling Monday, Mexico's electoral court rejected leftist candidate Andrés López Obrador's claims that the Jul. 2 elections, in which he was narrowly defeated by conservative candidate Felipe Calderón, were marred by widespread fraud.