In his latest column, Matt Carr looks at the disastrous impact of Spain's economic crisis and finds parallels in Spanish history.
In the news this week in Latin America: no light at the end of the tunnel in Mexican drug war, 68 die in Cuban air disaster, deadly landslide in Costa Rica and Venezuelan ambassador accuses Spanish border police of “abuse”. Ceasefire correspondent Tom Kavanagh delivers his weekly round up of what's been going on south of the border.
In this week's 'North African Dispatches' Kateb Salim looks at the emergence, and remarkably-swift growth, of 'Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb' (AQIM), highlighting the context surrounding the phenomenon, including US attempts to extend its 'war on terror' to the region. The months to come, he argues, might herald some crucial developments.
In a new column, 'North African Dispatches', Kateb Salim casts a light on the case of Western Sahara, Africa's last, forgotten colony. He traces the history of the region from Spanish colonialism to Moroccan occupation, and charts the tremendous obstacles in the path to freedom that the Saharawi people have faced over the past decades. Unless a just peace is found soon, Salim argues, the repercussions are bound to be disastrous for the region.