Starting in 2001, the UN Development Program's annual Human Development Reports began to publish estimates of the income of the wealthiest and poorest 10 percent of countries' populations. The ratio between what each tenth earns in a year offers a useful measure of social and economic inequality.
According to UNDP, the countries with the most well-distributed wealth are Japan (the wealthiest 10% earns only 4.5 times what the poorest 10% earns); Scandinavia (6.1 times in Norway; Sweden 6.2) and Western Europe (France 9.1...
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Polls for the second and final round of Colombia’s presidential elections, scheduled for June 20, have pro-government candidate Juan Manuel Santos leading former Bogotá mayor Antanas Mockus by a 2-1 margin. Read my analysis of Colombia’s first-round elections at the OpenDemocracy.net website. Links to much more coverage of Colombia’s election campaign
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Adam and Abigail discuss Colombia's May 30 presidential vote; the upcoming OAS meeting in Peru; Secretary of State Clinton's planned visit to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Barbados; and Peruvian President Alán García's meeting with President Obama.
The "Just the Facts" podcast is available here and on iTunes. Thank you for listening.
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Yesterday, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela traveled to La Paz, Bolivia, where he met with Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca. Valenzuela's quick trip sought to start talks about the bilateral framework agreement that could lead to the re-establishment of full diplomatic relations between the two countries. The United States and Bolivia have not had diplomatic relations...
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Colombia’s first round of presidential voting is over, and results have been tallied. Former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos came close to avoiding a second-round runoff vote with 46.6%, about ten points higher than polls had been predicting. Former Bogotá mayor Antanas Mockus will face him on June 20; he won 21.5%, more than 10 points lower than polls had foreseen. Santos won 31 of Colombia’s 32 departments; Mockus only won in Putumayo.
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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
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Colombians go to the polls today for the first round of voting to elect a new president. Here is a quick overview of what each of the major candidates has said on the record about Colombia’s relations with the United States.
Antanas Mockus, Green Party
Favors the 2009 defense agreement with the United States. Proposes to rethink drug policy through a “broad national debate.” Supports the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement signed in 2006.
- “While he considered that ‘there are reasons to privilege the relationship with the United States ...