New studies have detected a rising number of reports of diseases in marine organisms such as corals, molluscs, turtles, mammals, and echinoderms over the past three decades. Despite the increasing disease load, microbiological, molecular, and theoretical tools for managing disease in the world's oceans are under‐developed. Review of the new developments in the study of these diseases identifies five major unsolved problems and priorities for future research: (1) detecting origins and reservoirs for marine diseases and tracing the flow of some new pathogens from land to sea; (2) documenting the longevity and host range of infectious stages; (3) evaluating the effect of greater taxonomic diversity of marine relative to terrestrial hosts and pathogens; (4) pinpointing the facilitating role of anthropogenic agents as incubators and conveyors of marine pathogens; (5) adapting epidemiological models to analysis of marine disease.

No abstract

The governments of Hugo Chávez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), and Rafael Correa (Ecuador) share strategies, policies, and discourses that contrast with those of the center-leftists in power in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay as well as the social democratic, socialist, and classical populist experiences of the past. All three governments have triumphed at the polls with large majorities, rely on the ongoing mobilization of their followers, and embrace radical democracy based on a strong executive branch and direct popular participation in decision making as opposed to corporatist mechanisms. The three governments have been characterized by steady radicalization, their movements consist of multiclass alliances, and their economic policies have diversified commercial and technological relations. They have also established close ties with neighboring center-left governments and have promoted unity arrangements in the continent to resolve political disputes that exclude the United States. Their movements have fashioned a new narrative of nationhood that links radical goals and nationalist sentiment with traditions of political and social struggle.

During the 1990s Peru's Alberto Fujimori and Argentina's Carlos Menem were the two main political successes of Latin American populism. Both completed two successive presidential terms, a unique accomplishment in the continent, and overcame the political instability that previously beset their nations. Scholars who analysed these and other contemporary regimes concluded that Latin American populism was flexible and resilient enough to adapt to a radically different environment from that of the 1930s and 1940s, when it had emerged as a major force. Some political scientists labelled as ‘neopopulism’ the newer variant of populism in the context of globalisation and widespread acceptance of neoliberal policies. These scholars stressed two salient features of neopopulism that contrasted with ‘classical populism’ of the 1930s and 1940s: its social base consisting of members of the informal economy, as opposed to the organised working class; and its implementation of neoliberal policies, as against the model of import substitution and state interventionism.

The political movement led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is subject to internal contradictions that play themselves out on various fronts. Members of three major social groups-the organized working class, the middle sectors, and the traditionally unincorporated sectors-identify with different lines of thinking and defend different interests. Chavismo's internal political currents correspond to distinct leftist traditions. One adheres to the Marxist view of the organized working class as the main vanguard, another focuses on economic objectives, and a third stresses revolutionary values. Three important areas of struggle in the recent past have impacted these internal currents: expropriations, factional strife in the Chavista labor movement, and the community councils. The expropriations, far from obeying preconceived ideological notions corresponding to one of the three currents, were a response to the challenges posed by the private sector linked to the opposition. The gradual and peaceful path to socialism faces two challenges without easy solutions: one is an enemy whose tactics force the government to respond in ways that sometimes intensify conflict and the other is cleavages among members of the movement who have greater capacity for mobilization than in the past.El movimiento político encabezado por el presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez se sujeta a contradicciones internas que se ponen en juego en varios frentes. Miembros de tres grupos sociales importantes-la clase obrera organizada, los sectores medios, y los sectores tradicionalmente desincorporados-se identifican con distintas lineas de pensamiento y defienden intereses distintos. Las corrientes políticas internas del chavismo corresponden a distintas tradiciones izquierdistas. Una se adhiere a la perspectiva marxista que ve la clase obrera como la vanguardia principal, otra se enfoca en objetivos económicos, y una tercera enfatiza los valores revolucionarios. Tres áreas importantes de lucha en el pasado reciente tuvieron impacto en estas corrientes internas: las expropiaciones, los conflictos entre facciones del movimiento laboral chavista, y los consejos comunales. Las expropiaciones, lejos de seguir una ideología preconcebida correspondiente a una de las tres corrientes, fueron una respuesta a los desafíos presentados por el sector privado ligado a la oposición. El camino gradual y pacífico hacia el socialismo encara dos retos sin solución fácil: uno es un enemigo que usa tácticas las cuales obligan al gobierno a responder de tal manera que a veces se intensifica el conflicto, y el otro es las divisiones entre miembros del movimiento quienes ahora gozan de mayor capacidad de movilización que en el pasado.