Advantage for ARENA in El Salvador Elections

March 8th, 2012   Articles | Latin America | News

Norman Quijano, Mayor of San Salvador and up for reelection.

Sunday March 11, legislative and municipal elections will take place in El Salvador. Opinion polls confirm the decline of the support of  president Mauricio Funes (FMLN) and his government. A survey carried out by Mitofsky in February 2012 shows an increasing mistrust in the Government, as no improvement has been made, rather the contrary. The positive approval rates of the president has fallen 17 percent, and currently six out of ten Salvadorians believe that Funes has lost control over the Government and that he is also  losing control of the country.

When  president Mauricio Funes assumed the presidency 35  percent of the respondent in the polls believed that he didn’t have control over the country, today the aqivalent number is 60 percent. In November 2009, 22 percent estimated that the Funes Government was not what they had expected, now a 62 percent shares this opinion. (more…)

Hugo Chávez’ Challenger Has Been Elected

February 15th, 2012   Articles | Latin America | News

Henrique Capriles, a governor, former legislator and founder of the center-right Justice First party, February 12, 2012, won the nomination of a broad coalition of Venezuela’s opposition parties – called the Democratic Unity Panel. Mr. Capriles will face off in October elections against Hugo Chávez, since 13 years the authoritarian leader of Venezuela. “Analysts believe Venezuela’s oft-divided opposition, which for the moment has put its differences aside, has the best chance to oust the president at the polls— if it is able to stay united”, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Following the election Henrique Capriles was slandered by state media stating, among other things that “This is our enemy, the Zionism that Capriles today represents”. “Zionism, along with capitalism, are responsible for “90% of world poverty and imperialist wars.” (more…)

Women in Latin America

December 16th, 2011   Best practices | Latin America

The target audience of the Foundation in Latin America is decision-makers on all levels in society, but youths and women are especially notable. The Jarl Hjalmarsson Foundation is educating female decision-makers in order to strengthen their role in society. By boosting their capacity and ambition, the Foundation encourages them to take part more actively in political life, with the end-result that democracy is strengthened regionally.

The Foundation’s focus on female politicians was initially resisted by numerous of its cooperative parties which were dominated by men. However, the Foundation stood its ground, always keeping the superordinate goal of democracy in mind, and a series of educations for women was started. (more…)

Focus on Latin America

May 3rd, 2011   Foreign Policy | Latin America | Seminars | The Dominican Republic

Marcelo Schrubbe.

Political winds in Latinamerica was the theme of a seminar held in Stockholm May 3, 2011. Eduardo Quiñónez, Chairman of the Youth Section of the ARENA party in El Salvador’s capital San Salvador and Marcelo Schrubbe, local politicians in Blumenau and Chairman of the Youth of the Democrats, in Brazil, visited Sweden and the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation. The audience learned about their political work and development in their respective countries.

“61 percent of the population is under 30 and a third of them tell us that they are interested in politics. It is group that we in the ARENA Youth Section want to reach before the 2012 elections, said Eduardo Quiñónez.

He told that the issues that young people in El Salvador are most interested in are: economy, education, environment and safety. The latter is a question of being able to live without fear for criminal gangs that are a reality particular in the capital, San Salvador. (more…)

Appointment for Sister Party in Latin America

March 8th, 2011   Articles | The Dominican Republic

March 8, 2011, Mr. José Ricardo Taveras Blanco was installed as Director of the Department for Migration in the Dominican Republic. He is the secretary general of the Hjalmarson Foundation’s sister party in the Dominican Republic.

Mr. Taveras Blanco is the Secretary General of Fuerza Nacional Progresista (FNP), sister party of the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation in the Dominican Republic. He has been MP of FNP during two periods (2002-2006 and 2006-2010) though failing to be reelected due to fraud in the past elections in May 2010. Taveras Blanco has a long experience as a politician and as a lawyer and he is Vice-President of the regional organization Unión de Partidos Latinoamericanos (UPLA), within the International Democrat Union. Mr. Taveras Blanco visited Sweden as a guest of the JHS and as an observer in the past elections in Sweden together with prominent politicians from several countries. He participated in a special election watch program arranged by the Foundation which included seminars, conferences and bilateral meetings with politicians and institutions.

 

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Cuba – No Less Oppressive

August 12th, 2010   Articles | Cuba

Earlier this month the Castro regime, after mediation by the Catholic Church, announced that it would release 52 political prisoners and “allow them” to leave the island. This is a remarkable u-turn by the regime, since Cuba so far denied having any political prisoners at all.

The release and exile of political prisoners didn’t happen because the Castro regime decided to soften its stance. In particular since the untimely death in February of hunger striking political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, Cuba has come under intense and unprecedented international scrutiny. A recent hunger strike by Guillermo Farinas – for the more humane treatment and immediate release of the most ill political prisoners – increased the pressure on the regime after he was hospitalized in critical condition. (more…)

Eva Gustavsson in Latin-American newspapers

March 8th, 2010   In the Media | Latin America

On March 5-8, The Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation and Unión de Partidos Latinoamericanos (UPLA) held two parallel conferences about democracy for youth and women in San Salvador. The conferences received a lot of attention from Latin-American newspapers and agencies.

Eva Gustavsson, Managing Director of JHS, has been frequently quoted in the media with a comment on the political developments in the region: “For the last two years everybody when looking at Latinamerica watched what was happening with the governments of Bolivia and Venezuela, and Michelle Bachelet in Chile who had a very clear Socialist tendency. All that is now changing. We are seeing the reaction of the people that became fed up each time the government moved further to the left and with a clear dictatorial tendency”.

Further reading:
Merco Press (Uruguay)
Latam conservative parties encouraged with recent electoral victories

El Universal (Venezuela)
Partidos de derecha advierten retroceso de izquierda en Latinoamérica

Excelsior (Mexico)
Derecha toma el poder AL

La Prensa (Honduras)
Influencia chavista pierde fuerza en Latinoamérica

Estadao (Brazil)
Direita prevê retrocesso da esquerda na América Latina

Elsalvador.com (El Salvador)
UPLA: La influencia chavista pierde fuerza

Developments in Argentina

February 12th, 2010   Argentina @en | Articles | Latin America | News

The political situation in Argentina has been turbulent in the last year. In the legislative elections of June 2009, the opposition won majority in the House of Representatives and has over the last year been characterized by president Cristina Kirchner’s attempt to remain in power. When visiting Sweden in March, Carolina Poli Palazzo, Advisor to an Argentinian local politician described an Argentina which has been subject to political misgovernment but which is finally on its way back – if the opposition manages to build a stable coalition.


 The presidential form of government in Argentina not only results in a different role and impact of the legislative branch but also in few coalitions formed between parties compared to the Swedish form of government. As legislative elections are mid term elections, when majorities are changed in both chambers it doesn’t change the government whatsoever.

The two-party structure that has been predominant in the last sixty years came to an end in the 2001 political and economic crisis. Today, the system is largely based on four main parties (which have subdivisions and, in some cases, fragile alliances). This system has a direct impact on the National Congress and is likely to have an impact on the 2011 presidential elections. (more…)

Democratically Elected Center-Right President in Chile

January 20th, 2010   Articles | Chile @en | Latin America

On December 13 last year, 8.2 million people voted in the Presidential election in Chile. None of the candidates managed to receive a majority of the votes. The Candidates who received the most votes; Sebastian Piñera (44 percent) and Eduardo Frei (29 percent), were up for a second election on January 17, 2010. Piñera won with 51.6 percent against Freis, who received 48.4 percent.

On December 13 last year, 8.2 million voted in the Presidential election in Chile. None of the candidates managed to receive a majority of the votes. The Candidates who received the most votes; Sebastian Piñera (44 percent) and Eduardo Frei (29 percent), were up for a second election on January 17, 2010. Piñera won with 51.6 percent against Freis, who received 48.4 percent.

The newly elected president will not take office until March 11, due to the current holiday season in Chile. But the preparations for the government’s upcoming work have already started. An important part of the president’s power in Chile is the ability to propose legislation, which is one of the reasons why the new administration wants to prepare as much as possible before coming into power. (more…)

Five Voices about Latin America

November 6th, 2009   In the Media | Latin America

Five Latin American politicians and political analysts have been interviewed about the developments in their home countries. The interviews have been conducted by Linda Bergman. The picture of Latin America, presented in the book, is full of nuances. Though the five agree that the politics of Hugo Chavez are a threat to the region.

Read the article in Swedish

Intense program at the Gothenburg Book Fair 2009

September 30th, 2009   Foreign Policy | Latin America | Seminars | The Baltic States

On September 24-27, the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation participated in the Gothenburg Book Fair, with a showcase. In addition, the foundation arranged three seminars. Keeping in mind the over all focus of the fair, the foundation also presented two newly issued books. While the first one “The triumph of Democracy – 20 years since the fall of the Berlin wall” describes how democracy conquering communism, the other “Red Tornado” covers the increasing dominance of Hugo Chavéz in Latin America. Both books may be downloaded in Swedish at this site.

The celebration of the 20’th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall was also the main focus for one of the foundation’s seminars. Three of the authors of the book participated and gave their view on communism and the reasons for it being abandoned. Walburga Habsburg Douglas was one of those who cut the iron curtain between Hungary and Austria. Richard Swartz for a long time held the position as correspondent for the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet in Central- and Eastern Europe, whereas Cecilia Stegö-Chiló traveled and wrote frequently on Eastern Europe during the year of 1989. (more…)