The world at a glance . . . Americas

Calgary, Alberta

Bush speaks: Hundreds of protesters greeted former President George W. Bush in Calgary this week, as he arrived for his first public address since leaving office. As Bush spoke to 1,500 business leaders from the Calgary Chamber of Congress, demonstrators thronged outside, waving posters that read “Go Home Bush” and “Canadians Don’t Welcome War Criminals.” Many of them threw shoes at pictures of the former president. One demonstrator was arrested after trying to force his way into the building. A lawyers’ group had lobbied in vain for Canada to ban the Bush visit, citing torture and war crimes allegedly committed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Mexico City

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Trade war: Mexico is raising tariffs on about 90 U.S. industrial and agricultural products, in retaliation for a U.S. decision to stop allowing Mexican trucks to transport goods within the United States. Economy Secretary Gerardo Ruiz Mateos said the U.S. move violated NAFTA. “We consider this U.S. action to be wrong, protectionist, and a clear violation of the treaty,” Ruiz Mateos said. A few Mexican trucks had been allowed to operate in the U.S. beyond the border buffer zone since 2007, under a pilot program. But Congress last week cut the program when it passed the big omnibus spending package. The Obama administration pledged to create a new trans-border trucking program. The U.S. has barred Mexican trucks from operating on its soil because of concerns about their safety.

San Salvador, El Salvador

Leftist wins presidency: Salvadorans rejected 20 years of right-wing rule this week and elected a leftist from the former rebel group that fought U.S.-backed forces during the 1980s. Mauricio Funes is a member of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, the former Marxist guerilla group—although he was a journalist, not a soldier. After his narrow victory, Funes appealed for national unity, saying he wanted to work with the opposition-controlled legislature. He also reached out to the U.S., saying he hoped to strengthen relations with President Obama and work on bilateral issues such as immigration and drug smuggling.

Caracas, Venezuela

Chávez expands his realm: Venezuela has brought all its airports, highways, and seaports under direct control of the president. Lawmakers loyal to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez passed the new measure last week after Chávez said that “corrupt” governors had been allowing drugs to be smuggled through airports and seaports in their states. This week, Chávez ordered the navy to take over two key seaports in states controlled by the opposition, saying the states’ governors might resist the new law. If they did, he said, “that would earn them prison.” The new law deprives state governments of the money from tolls and tariffs, further weakening the opposition.