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In Occupying Schools, Rio’s Students Get a Political Education
Usually the challenge is to keep students in school. But 18-year-old Douglas Santana is one of thousands of teenagers from more than 70 high schools across the state of Rio de Janeiro who for months refused to go home until the government promised more investment in education. A senior at Colégio Estadual Visconde de Cairu … Read more
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This Week in Latin America: Polls Close in Peru
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered to your inbox every Monday. Peru Votes: With over 90 percent of votes counted as of publication, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski holds a slim lead in Peru’s run-off presidential election thanks to a late surge against his rival Keiko Fujimori. The 77-year-old Kuczynski, who would be the country’s oldest president at the time of taking office, positioned … Read more
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Podcast: Inside Rio’s Favelas: The Fallout from an Alleged Gang Rape
Also available for download for Apple iOS and Android. The alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in a Rio de Janeiro favela last month set off national protests against Brazil’s macho culture and shined a harsh spotlight on the city two months before it hosts the 2016 Olympics. But favelas are not the problem, according to Theresa … Read more
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Not Impossible: Could Rousseff Return as Brazil’s President?
When Dilma Rousseff was suspended as Brazil’s president last month, Vice President Michel Temer quickly fired the existing cabinet and installed his own team. Though her presidential portraits were put back on the walls after being briefly removed, the message was still clear: Dilma won’t be coming back. But could she? Rousseff’s path back to the … Read more
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This Week in Latin America: A Close Vote in Peru
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered to your inbox every Monday. Peru Votes: Peru will choose a new president Sunday in a close runoff election between two center-right candidates. In an Ipsos poll released on May 29, first-round winner Keiko Fujimori held a six-point advantage over her business-friendly challenger Pedro Pablo Kucyznski. However, Kuczynski may yet … Read more
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How Latin America Should Address the Crisis in Venezuela
This morning’s call from the chief of the Organization of American States (OAS) for an emergency meeting to discuss the erosion of democracy in Venezuela signals that regional leaders are taking a tougher stance with the Caracas government. But to go beyond mere rhetoric, Brazil and Argentina must also step up. Susana Malcorra and José … Read more
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Podcast: Should the Rio Olympics Be Canceled Because of Zika?
Also available for download for Apple iOS and Android. With 26,000 suspected cases so far, the state of Rio de Janeiro is considered the heart of the Zika outbreak. While some global health officials are advising that the upcoming 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games be moved or postponed, Dr. Davis Ferreira of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro argues otherwise. A leading expert in Brazil on Zika and other … Read more
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Judge Moro: Systemic Corruption Can Become a ‘Sad Memory’ of Brazil’s Past
Editor’s note: Moro is the federal judge overseeing “Operation Car Wash,” the historic investigation of corruption at Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras. This piece first appeared in Portuguese in Exame magazine, and can be seen here. The English translation has been lightly edited for clarity, context and length. More than two years after the start … Read more
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How Colombia’s Drugs Battle With Novartis Could Change Healthcare in Latin America
An ambitious healthcare reform in Colombia may be facing its toughest challenge yet: the pharmaceutical industry. In a bold step with wide repercussions for Latin America’s healthcare sector and drug patent law, Colombia’s Ministry of Health in late April moved to unilaterally end Swiss drug giant Novartis’ patent on the expensive cancer treatment Glivec after the … Read more
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Podcast: Michel Temer’s Uphill Fight
Also available for download for Apple iOS and Android. Far from over, Brazil’s political crisis will continue to dog Michel Temer, who was installed as Brazil’s interim president on Thursday following the suspension of Dilma Rousseff. “Popularity, it’s a very rare asset these days, not only in Brazil but also in Latin America,” analyst João Augusto de Castro … Read more
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This Week in Latin America: Temer’s Time
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered to your inbox every Monday. Temer’s Time: It’s the first full week in office for Michel Temer, the interim president of Brazil while Dilma Rousseff is suspended pending a Senate impeachment trial. Temer is expected to today name a new president of the Central Bank after a weekend of consultations with his … Read more
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OAS Human Rights Chief: ‘Galling’ Errors, Obstruction in Case of 43 Missing Mexican Students
As president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), as well as the group’s rapporteur for Mexico, James Cavallaro has been a driving force behind investigating what happened to the 43 Mexican college students who disappeared in September 2014. And he doesn’t pull punches in saying that the Mexican government failed to cooperate with the IACHR’s … Read more
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After Brazil, Will Venezuela Be Next to Remove Its President?
Throughout Latin America, there is talk about presidential interruptions, again. In the last seven years, four presidents have left office prematurely – Manuel Zelaya in Honduras, Fernando Lugo in Paraguay, Otto Pérez Molina in Guatemala, and now Dilma Rousseff in Brazil. Many analysts think that Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro is next. However, there is good … Read more
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Puerto Rico’s Student Activists See Default as Only Option
Desperate for a lifeline from the U.S. Congress, university students in Puerto Rico are pushing local politicians to take an extreme step – default on their debt. With the island’s fiscal troubles going from bad to worse, student leaders say default on upcoming payments is the only way to force Congress to pass restructuring legislation … Read more
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A Final Defense of Dilma Rousseff
Back in March 2014, when the Petrobras scandal was just getting started, some of President Dilma Rousseff’s top aides saw a golden opportunity to kill the investigation – or at least badly wound it. Márcio Anselmo, the Federal Police deputy in charge of the probe, had given an interview (which can be seen here) to … Read more
