Raúl Castro does not want discussions and debates, and even less, voices raised against him. He wants his government to be based on results. He needs absolutes.

• The necessary double standard in order to survive in Cuba
  por José Luis Martínez

Why the war between the drug cartels themselves has broken out in Mexico. The opium coming from Afghanistan. The corruption of the police and the legal system. The lack of action by the United States. The express kidnappings. Felipe Calderón and his war against organized crime.

Some 340 million people comprise what can be defined as Latin America’s middle class. And in their hands lies the power to tip the balance at the polls. Consequently, in view of the proximity of the upcoming elections, many parties in the region have begun to head towards the center.

Chile and Uruguay will kick off a new round of elections in Latin America at the end of the year. Will there be a shift towards the center or will the left reassert its dominance? How will the electoral results in these two countries influence the rest of the Latin American elections?

Polarization will remain the cornerstone of Venezuelan politics. But which of the country’s models will end up prevailing? The global crisis and the price of oil will influence the answer, says the author.

• Chávez wins the elections that Venezuela has lost
  por Javier del Rey Morató

The drop in the price of oil is threatening Venezuela’s internal stability: for every ten dollars that it drops, Caracas will lose five billion dollars each year, which will bring the country to bankruptcy.

The crisis sweeping the financial markets, epicentered in Wall Street, is bringing both fear and opportunities to the countries of South America. The author states that the trade agreement between Mercosur and the State of Israel is a step forward. The challenge lies in creating policies that soften the effects of this global crisis.

• Mercosur’s unresolved agenda, 16 years after its creation
  por Mariana Foglia

Is the pathology of democracy firmly established in Venezuela? The electoral triumph of the PSUV in the regional elections, and fundamentally in the rural government offices, is indisputable. But the problem persists, says the author. And this is it: Chávez is a problem, but Chávez is not the problem: the problem, before and after November 23, is called Venezuela.

• The Bolivarian revolution’s "fiasco"
  por Ricardo Angoso

The crisis is situational. It was the modest home buyer’s fault. The problem was caused by easy-to-fix technical errors. We must listen to the credit rating agencies so that what occurred on Wall Street will not happen in Latin America. The top executives also lost, because their stocks fell. With small tweaks to the model, everything can be fixed.

• Removing ethics from the economy has been a great failure
  por Bernardo Kliksberg