Winston Churchill

By Gabriel Elizondo in Americas on January 8th, 2011
Ricardo Seitenfus during interview in Brasilia with Al Jazeera. Photo: Maria Elena Romero/Al Jazeera

You will be hard pressed to find a man anywhere more passionate about the plight of the Haitian people than Ricardo Seitenfus. The Brazilian professor of international affairs first went to Haiti in 1993 and the warmth of the Haitian people – combined with their immense struggle - has been drawing Seitenfus back to the island nation like a magnet ever since his first trip. Seitenfus has authored a book about the country, as well over a dozen other publications about international affairs. (His personal web site, in Portuguese, can be viewed by clicking here.) Seitenfus feels so connected to Haiti, he often doesn’t even realise he refers to the country as “we,” not as “they” or “it.”

Since 2009 Seitenfus has been working in Haiti on behalf of the Organization of American States.

By Alan Fisher in Americas, Europe on July 20th, 2010
Photo by Getty Images

In 1940, when Adolf Hitler's armies seemed certain to sweep across the English channel to invade the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill made a speech.  He described Britain's links with the United States as a "special relationship", tying in his country's fate with that of the US, hoping his powerful words and strong rhetoric would move those who opposed American involvement in what they saw as a European war.

Seventy years later, the phrase still frames US-UK relations.  It's trotted out every time the leaders of the two countries meet, and again it's been used extensively this week.  Yet the Americans have never regarded it as that special.

Famously, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan enjoyed a close relationship, shared by a common ideology, a common drive towards free markets and minimal state intervention.

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