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Zhang, C. & Monteiro, M. (2013). Tactics and practices of the alcohol industry in Latin America: What can policy makers do? International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research, 2(2), 75-81-6. doi:10.7895/ijadr.v2i2.95 (http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v2i2.95)Aim: This paper describes the practices and tactics of the alcohol industry in Latin America, focusing on industry globalization and consolidation, implementation of research studies, marketing, and corporate responsibility initiatives, and discusses how these areas of influence may have an impact on alcohol policy development in this region.Design: The information provided here is drawn from an international literature review, news websites, and informal communications with officials in Ministries of Health and researchers from Latin America, and from annual reports and websites sponsored or maintained by major alcohol companies operating in Latin America.Setting: Latin America and Caribbean RegionFindings: Industry globalization and consolidation, implementation of research studies, marketing, and corporate responsibility initiatives are major activities of the alcohol industry in Latin America that can influence alcohol policy making.Conclusions: We conclude that implementing effective alcohol control policies is likely to fail if the influence and actions of the alcohol industry cannot be managed by policy makers in countries of this region. There is a need to increase knowledge of the alcohol industry's role and actions and of its conflicts of interest with public health, and to build capacity across various sectors of government to implement effective policies, using clear rules for engagement. Research on alcohol marketing, corporate social responsibility practices and the industry's influence on policy making should be a priority in emerging markets in general, but particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Since 1982, most Latin American countries have witnessed slow economic growth and a persistent net transfer of funds to the rest of the world as a result of sharply reduced inflows of private international bank lending and large debt payment obligations. Against this background direct foreign investment (DFI) has received increasing attention as one important element in overcoming the present stagnation-cum-debt crisis as well as in contributing to renewed economic growth. This article explores the possible contributions of DFI to the future economic growth and development of the region.1

At present, entrepreneurship has been part of a number of scenarios of analysis, debate, research and even political speeches in favor of its importance for the development of countries and its invaluable contribution to the strengthening of the middle class. Thus, the contributions made on this subject have been several, all coinciding in the representativeness of building an entrepreneurial ecosystem that allows targeted development, correct and in the best possible circumstances with the aim that those newly formed "businesses" help to improve the quality of life of people in macroeconomic terms. Reason why in the region have adopted diverse measures that favor the business activity, many of them without achieving yet to achieve its objective. Thus, this article presents a descriptive analysis of the real state of entrepreneurship in Latin America, its relationship with economic growthand the impact of this new wave of public policy in favor of entrepreneurial activity. ; En la actualidad el emprendimiento ha formado parte de un sin número escenarios de análisis, debate, investigación y hasta discursos políticos en pro de su importancia para el desarrollo de los países y su invaluable aporte hacia el fortalecimiento de la clase media. Es así que los aportes realizados sobre esta temática han sido varios, todos coincidentes en la representatividad de construir un ecosistema emprendedor que permita el fomento direccionado, correcto y en las mejores circunstancias posibles con el afán de que aquellos "negocios" recientemente formados coadyuven a mejorar la calidad de vida de las personas en términos macroeconómicos. Razón por la cual en la región se han adoptado medidas diversas que favorezcan la actividad empresarial, muchas de ellas sin lograr aún su objetivo. Es así, que este artículo presenta un análisis descriptivo del estado real del emprendimiento en América Latina, su relación con el crecimiento económico y la incidencia de esta nueva ola de política pública en favor de la actividad emprendedora.

At present, entrepreneurship has been part of a number of scenarios of analysis, debate, research and even political speeches in favor of its importance for the development of countries and its invaluable contribution to the strengthening of the middle class. Thus, the contributions made on this subject have been several, all coinciding in the representativeness of building an entrepreneurial ecosystem that allows targeted development, correct and in the best possible circumstances with the aim that those newly formed "businesses" help to improve the quality of life of people in macroeconomic terms. Reason why in the region have adopted diverse measures that favor the business activity, many of them without achieving yet to achieve its objective. Thus, this article presents a descriptive analysis of the real state of entrepreneurship in Latin America, its relationship with economic growth and the impact of this new wave of public policy in favor of entrepreneurial activity ; En la actualidad el emprendimiento ha formado parte de un sin número escenarios de análisis, debate, investigación y hasta discursos políticos en pro de su importancia para el desarrollo de los países y su invaluable aporte hacia el fortalecimiento de la clase media. Es así que los aportes realizados sobre esta temática han sido varios, todos coincidentes en la representatividad de construir un ecosistema emprendedor que permita el fomento direccionado, correcto y en las mejores circunstancias posibles con el afán de que aquellos "negocios" recientemente formados coadyuven a mejorar la calidad de vida de las personas en términos macroeconómicos. Razón por la cual en la región se han adoptado medidas diversas que favorezcan la actividad empresarial, muchas de ellas sin lograr aún su objetivo. Es así, que este artículo presenta un análisis descriptivo del estado real del emprendimiento en América Latina, su relación con el crecimiento económico y la incidencia de esta nueva ola de política pública en favor de la actividad emprendedora.

In this paper I present a comparative analysis of the legal regulation of political parties in Latin America. I study the legislation in force by early-2020 considering two elements: public funding and internal democracy. The results show that all countries in the region grant public funding for political parties, and that in all countries but Brazil the political parties must be internally democratic. Additionally, taking into account characteristics of the regulation not considered in previous studies, this study revealed that in most of the countries there is public funding for parties that must be allocated to political research and training, and that in most of the cases there is a procedure for party members to appeal against the party leaders' decisions. Finally, I claim that the regulation of parties in the region could improve the parties' performance as decision makers and straighten the political participation and representation of the citizenship.

In this paper I present a comparative analysis of the legal regulation of political parties in Latin America. I study the legislation in force by early-2020 considering two elements: public funding and internal democracy. The results show that all countries in the region grant public funding for political parties, and that in all countries but Brazil the political parties must be internally democratic. Additionally, taking into account characteristics of the regulation not considered in previous studies, this study revealed that in most of the countries there is public funding for parties that must be allocated to political research and training, and that in most of the cases there is a procedure for party members to appeal against the party leaders' decisions. Finally, I claim that the regulation of parties in the region could improve the parties' performance as decision makers and straighten the political participation and representation of the citizenship.

Cultural understanding between countries is a vital element of good international relationships. Using the arts to build cultural understanding has many advantages and is referred to as "cultural diplomacy". The arts can signify the visual arts, performing arts and the culinary arts. Cross-cultural education is also included within the definition of cultural diplomacy and can refer to international student / academic exchange, academic collaboration between institutions as well as the academic study of a country's history, politics, arts and language. Latin American is an increasingly important region for Australia and the development of cultural understanding between our regions has become a priority of several Australian Government institutions. These agencies foster cooperation between Australia and Latin America in many ways, including business and trade, tourism, education and cultural promotion such as cultural diplomatic events. Examples of cultural diplomatic events within Australia can be recognised in the work of the Ecuadorian Embassy in Canberra. The Embassy is currently operating several cultural initiatives including visual art exhibitions, film festivals and musical performances. Australia and Ecuador are very different countries in a number of ways. Even our national languages are different, making collaboration difficult. The Embassy's cultural initiatives attempt to bridge the cultural gaps between our countries, "finding the right words" without the restriction of language, building people to people links and also pointing to cultural similarities that are not immediately apparent. The cultural information conveyed through these art events offer a fluid and dynamic way for Australian audiences to gain an exposure to and develop an appreciation of Ecuador, strengthening Australian and Ecuadorian relations. This report will conclude with proposals for new cultural exchange projects that the Embassy might be interested in implementing or, using these programs as templates, introduce similar programs. The goal of these proposals is not only to foster connections and build cultural understanding between Ecuador and Australia, these proposals may also increase awareness of environmental sustainability as well as providing students and artists with a fantastic opportunity to develop their art practice in a new, challenging and ultimately rewarding context. Cultural knowledge built through cultural diplomacy will be an important part of our globalised future and as such is readjusting the value of the arts in societies. As the global village shrinks through advances in telecommunications and the Internet, understanding, respect and appreciation are becoming more important than ever, building opportunities for cooperation across many fields beyond the arts and education.

Policy makers in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) often complain that poor fiscal performance in their countries is a result of a high degree of spending rigidity. Despite being a common complaint, the issue has remained largely ignored by the literature because of the lack of adequate measures of rigidity that allow cross-country and time series comparability. This report helps close this gap by introducing a new measure of spending rigidities that can be easily applied to multiple countries. It focuses on the categories of spending that are naturally inflexible—wages, pensions, transfers to subnational governments, and debt service—and separates them into two components: structural and nonstructural. The structural component is determined by economic, demographic, and institutional fundamentals. The nonstructural component is determined by short-run transitory factors associated with business and political cycles. The degree of rigidity of spending is then proxied by the ratio of structural spending to total spending, with a higher value indicating that spending is driven mostly by factors out of the policy makers' control. This concept of rigidity was applied to 120 countries for the years 2000–17. The report concludes by discussing several policies to contain the sources of rigidity in the long term, ranging from the importance of deepening the pension reform process to the need of establishing strong fiscal institutions promoting medium-term fiscal planning.

"Hugo Chavez won re-election in the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election, despite a closer margin between candidates than in previous elections. The results were puzzling for those who believed that Chavezs government had long ago reached its limits, while Chavezs supporters were struck by the growth of the opposition vote. Thus understanding the Venezuelan election of 2012 has proved to be challenging, with various recent studies focused upon it. Luis F. Angosto Ferrandezs book advances two ideas not previously discussed: the relationship between electoral behavior in Venezuela and contemporary Latin American geopolitics, and the way that relationship is projected through the candidates appeal to narratives that situate Venezuela at the core of a heroic Latin American tradition and of a new regional process of integration.This edited volume first contextualizes and explains the results of the last re-election of Hugo Chavez in terms of its geopolitical conditionings and implications. Contributors tackle Latin American geopolitics by analyzing Venezuelan foreign policy and the countrys role in continental projects of supra-national integration. Contributors also examine electoral strategy and tactics in order to show how the two main candidates built their campaign on emotional grounds as much on rational ones. This will be connected to the investigation of new narratives of national identification in contemporary Venezuela and how they may have practical implications in the design of policies addressing issues such as indigenous rights, community media and national security.Compiling state-of-the-art research on Latin American and Venezuelan politics, this book will appeal to academics and professionals who specialize in Latin American studies, international relations, democracy, and indigenous peoples"--