Hemisphere Highlights, Volume VII, Issue 5 - May 2008

The minister of foreign affairs of Canada resigns after a security breach. The president of Mexico announces the total elimination of tariffs for certain food items in an effort to lower domestic food prices. Leonel Fernández Reyna is reelected for a third term as president of the Dominican Republic. Twelve countries of South America meet in Brasilia to sign a treaty establishing a Union of South American Nations. Colombia extradites 15 ex-paramilitary leaders to the United States, and the FARC confirms an announcement that its long-time leader died two months earlier of natural causes. The environment minister of Brazil resigns under political pressure to change federal regulations on deforestation, and controversy over the true size of Brazil's latest oil discoveries in the Santos Basin continues. President of Chile Michelle Bachelet delivers her annual state address outlining several new academic initiatives.