AUTHOR'S BIO
Denise Dresser
Denise Dresser is Professor of Political Science, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México.
| RECENT COMMENTARIES | FEATURED COMMENTARIES | MOST READ COMMENTARIES |
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Felipe Calderón’s Two Faces
Denise Dresser Series: Latin America 2011-04-12Mexican President Felipe Calderón has finally gotten what he wanted: the resignation of US Ambassador Carlos Pascual, who wrote sharply critical assessments of the "war on drugs" that Calderón unleashed four years ago. But Calderón's blustering disregard for the only ally he has is likely only to make matters worse.... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 12277
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Swimming With Sharks in Mexico
Denise Dresser Series: Latin America 
2009-12-08
As the saying goes: when the tide goes out, you find out who has been swimming naked. Few countries have emerged as naked from the receding waters of the global economic crisis as Mexico.... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 1 Read: 13724
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Why Mexico is Sick
Denise Dresser Series: Latin America 2009-05-11Mexico’s problems run deeper and are more widespread than swine flu. Over the past ten years, political and economic actors intent on preserving the status quo have blocked further democratic change and economic reform, condemning Mexico to move sideways, even as other emerging markets surge ahead.... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 15097
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Latin America’s Dysfunctional Democracy
Denise Dresser Series: Latin America 2005-07-29In Latin America, many people live with outstretched hands. Throughout the Hemisphere, paternalistic governments accustom people to receiving just enough to survive instead of participating in society. Across the region, politicians that writer Octavio Paz once referred to as “philanthropic ogres” create clients instead of citizens, people who expect instead of demand.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 30748
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Latin America's Visions of Kerry
Denise Dresser Series: Latin America 2004-10-31The tin man vs. the straw man. The candidate with a brain but without a heart against the president with a heart but without a brain. That's how many Latin Americans are viewing the race between John Kerry and George W. Bush. Even from afar, people perceive the forthcoming US election as a contest between two contending world views, two opposite visions, two ways of viewing reality and dealing with it. Kerry represents reason and Bush faith. Kerry embodies rationality and Bush morality. Kerry understands the real world, while Bush lives in one of his own making. ... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 5204
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Piñata Politics
Denise Dresser Series: Latin America 2004-02-20George Bush's immigration policy is a big piñata hanging across the border between Mexico and the United States. Some immigrants believe it's shaped like a star to guide them across the Rio Grande to work in the promised land, others think it resembles a devil, offering the tantalizing prospect of legal jobs in the US, only to discover that this is a mirage. ... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 16213
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Mexico Steps Beyond the Labyrinth of Solitude
Denise Dresser Series: Latin America 2003-02-27Where Iraq is concerned, Mexico's foreign policy doesn't seem to please anyone in Mexico. Opposition groups here applaud President Vincente Fox's recent anti-American stance in the UN Security Council, while Mexican businessmen oppose it. With the US seeking to line up nine votes in the security council in favor of declaring Iraq in "material breach" of Security Council resolution 1441, Mexico's stance toward the US will become vital in the coming days and weeks. ... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 18523
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Bush Needs to Pay Attention to Mexico
Denise Dresser Series: Latin America 2002-07-18Is George Bush fiddling while Latin America's financial infrastructure burns? Many people in the region seem to think so, given the US President's "hands-off" approach to Argentina's meltdown and to the gathering financial storm in Brazil. ... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 12634
