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Uruguay Oil Investment Bucks Global Pullback
After decades of standing by as neighbors Brazil and Argentina struck it rich in oil, Uruguay is getting into the action. Oil majors Total, ExxonMobil and Statoil are all making big investments in the tiny South American country, attracted by new projections that Uruguay may hold an “elephant” of an oil field. Problem is, with oil … Read more
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Far From Silicon Valley, Cuba Cultivates Startup Scene
The barriers to founding a tech startup in Cuba are high. For starters, hardly anyone has access to internet connections faster than dial-up. But that’s not stopping a generation of young entrepreneurs on the island, where a nascent tech community is challenging the idea that tech innovation has to come from places like Silicon Valley. Two of those … Read more
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The Northern Triangle’s Moment – and How to Make it Last
Central America’s most troubled region is at a turning point. Throughout the “Northern Triangle” of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, successful challenges to endemic corruption, violence and impunity are gaining force. A courageous generation of citizens, politicians and jurists is saying “enough.” But as the three countries remain gripped by staggering rates of violence and … Read more
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Venezuela: Is This the Final Straw?
To see a full list of electoral irregularities that have occurred since Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro took office, scroll to the bottom of the page I recently wrote about the one institutional factor that, in my opinion, is keeping Venezuela’s government alive. I called it the judicial shield, which refers to how the Supreme Court … Read more
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This Week in Latin America: Full Plate for the OAS
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered to your inbox every Monday. Leaders Gather: The Organization of American States (OAS) will hold its 46th annual assembly today through June 15 in Santo Domingo, with a political crisis in Haiti expected to take center stage. Haiti has missed repeated deadlines to elect a new president and its … Read more
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The Real Lesson of Mexico’s State Elections
Mexicans from the U.S. border to the Yucatan peninsula issued a strong rebuke to President Enrique Peña Nieto and his ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in state elections on Sunday. The PRI lost governorships in six of the nine states it held going into the vote, including four – Durango, Quintana Roo, Tamaulipas and Veracruz – … Read more
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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
