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Venezuela’s Media Isn’t Smearing the Opposition; It’s Making Them Invisible
With legislative elections on December 6 fast approaching and faith in President Nicolás Maduro’s government at an all-time low, Venezuela’s opposition senses an opportunity for a big win. Polls indicate a 15 to 30 point advantage for opposition candidates, which means that for the first time since the early 2000s the opposition has a real … Read more
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Brazil, Heaven and Hell in the Same Day
Last Thursday began beautifully, deep in the Brazilian Amazon, with a walk through a lush city park. I strolled among bougainvillea and castanha do Pará and samaúma trees. I saw a large red and blue macaw ambling down the sidewalk, and had just sat down to take a selfie with him when the little jerk … Read more
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How Former Protesters Are Leading the Next Generation of Chilean Politics
As student leaders in 2011, they mobilized some of the largest protests Chile had ever seen. They frustrated authorities, inspired millions of young people and earned a fair share of international attention. In 2013, before the age of 30, they were elected to Congress in a national election that many considered proof of the Chilean … Read more
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A Batalha Pela Amazônia
Nosso barco deslizava calmamente sobre o rio Tapajós, quando, de forma inesperada, a monotonia hipnótica da Amazônia foi quebrada por pequenos corpos saltando na água. Um punhado de crianças da tribo local Munduruku havia se pendurado em árvores ao longo da margem do rio. Ao nos ver chegando, elas pularam na água escura, subiram a … Read more
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What Justin Trudeau’s Election Means for Energy and the Environment in Canada
Call it an energy reset. When President Barack Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline project on November 6 after a seven-year political slugfest, the timing, especially for Canadians, was conspicuous. Just two days earlier, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau had been sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister after an election heavy on talk of … Read more
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How Twitter Activism Made Violence Against Women a Campaign Issue in Argentina
Whoever wins Argentina’s presidential runoff on November 22, they will be expected to deal with the country’s staggering rates of gender violence. A femicide occurs in Argentina on average once every 30 hours. But it isn’t just the scope of the problem that has the candidates scurrying to suggest solutions. It is also thanks to the … Read more
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La pobreza en Latinoamérica esta bajando, pero la violencia sube. ¿Por qué?
Versão em portuguêsRead in English Con la pobreza en América Latina y el Caribe en sus niveles más bajos en décadas, ¿por qué la violencia está disparada? Aunque algunos países están peor que los demás, la región cuenta con las tasas de homicidios más altas del mundo. Esta relación es desconcertante y contradictoria. Los investigaores … Read more
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Na América Latina, enquanto diminui a pobreza, aumenta a violência. Por quê?
Read in English Os índices de pobreza na América Latina e no Caribe atingiram seus níveis mais baixos em muitas décadas; por que, então, a violência continua acima do esperado? Embora alguns países estejam em situação pior que outros, a região como um todo apresenta as mais altas taxas de homicídio do mundo. Tal relação … Read more
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Latin America’s Poverty Is Down, But Violence Is Up. Why?
Versão em português With poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean at its lowest level in decades, why is violence off the charts? Although some countries are worse off than others, the region features the world’s highest homicide rates. This relationship is puzzling and counterintuitive. Researchers tend to expect an inverse relationship between improvements in the welfare of the … Read more
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What an Economic Recovery in Brazil Might Look Like
Now might seem like an odd time to look for signs of hope in Brazil. Dilma Rousseff has an approval rating of just 10 percent, she faces possible impeachment proceedings, scandal has frozen activity at the country’s biggest companies, inflation runs around 10 percent and the economy is expected to shrink 3 percent this year. … Read more
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How Students Turned the Tables on Corruption in Paraguay
Add Paraguay to the growing list of Latin American countries where citizen protests are successfully holding public officials accountable for alleged abuses of power. In the past month, a student-led response to revelations of corruption within Paraguay’s largest university has landed the institution’s highest official behind bars and disrupted the status quo in a country … Read more
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Bolivia’s Evo Morales in Hot Seat Over Climate Policy
An estimated 3,000 climate activists will arrive in the Bolivian town of Tiquipaya this weekend for the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and Defense of Life. Also in attendance: Some 3,000 police officers, tasked with “securing” the conference in a sign of the increasingly troubled relationship between Bolivia’s President Evo Morales and the indigenous and … Read more
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Leopoldo López’s Prison Treatment Amounts to Torture, His Wife Says
In September 2015, a Venezuelan judge sentenced opposition leader Leopoldo López to nearly 14 years in prison for his role in anti-government protests that swept the South American nation in early 2014. On October 1, AQ sat down with Lilian Tintori, a human rights activist and López’s wife, to talk about conditions in Venezuela, her … Read more
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What’s Happening on Rio’s Beaches?
A civil society group is resisting government efforts to restrict access to some Rio de Janeiro beaches, announcing a plan for thousands of the city’s favela residents to travel en masse to a popular Ipanema beach on October 4. Papo Reto Coletivo, an independent media group based in Rio’s expansive Complexo do Alemão favela, is coordinating the event to … Read more
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Colombia’s Next Challenge? A Psychologically Traumatized Society
Following a breakthrough in negotiations with FARC guerillas on Wednesday, President Juan Manuel Santos suggested that peace in Colombia was closer than ever. But even if a deal is signed, the task of coming to terms with the psychological effects of the decades-long conflict will remain. Colombian economist Andrés Moya is studying what that might … Read more
