Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas

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Evo Morales on May 1, 2014
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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Lilian Tintori speaks at the AS/COA
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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Military Police in Rio de Janeiro
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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An internally displaced Embera child in Colombia
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

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Colombian police help Colombian women carry their belongings as they cross the Tachira border river from Venezuela to Colombia
The Trump-ification of Venezuela

Welcome to the Trump-ification of Venezuelan politics. By closing one of the busiest sections of the border with Colombia, and launching mass deportations of citizens from that country, the government of President Nicolás Maduro has actually implemented what the Republican presidential candidate only dreams of doing.  Indeed, Maduro’s policies constitute a low point in the … Read more

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Jimmy Carter speaking at an event for The Elders
Jimmy Carter, “A Great Moral Leader of Our Time,” by Fernando Henrique Cardoso

In 1977, I was working as a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University when, one fine day, the telephone rang. It was Robert Pastor, a special adviser at the White House, inviting me to Washington. Pastor was a friend, himself a political scientist, who had helped me overcome difficulties obtaining a … Read more

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Brazil's police force faces a new front in its war on drugs
Gangsta’s Paradise: How Brazil’s Criminals (and Police) Use Social Media

Rio de Janeiro´s most wanted drug trafficker, Playboy, died in a hail of police gunfire at his girlfriend´s apartment this month. Photographs of his bullet-riddled body began circulating on the Internet within minutes of his demise. So did an audio recording suggesting that he “left the scene alive, but arrived to the hospital dead.” His assassination is yet another pixel … Read more

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Protests in Brazil
Janio Is Coming: The Return of the Old, Unstable Brazil

Over the last two decades, it seemed like a new Brazil had taken root. A stable, democratic Brazil, one where presidents finished their terms, a vibrant economy lifted all boats, and money more or less retained its value. But now – meu Deus. With every cry for impeachment, with every revelation of the rot at … Read more

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Street art in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s Debt Debate Overlooks Human Costs

Imagine that you only have access to running water every three days. That’s not so bad, given the government’s plans in response to an extreme summer drought to shut down tap water completely for up to four days at a time. To add insult to injury, imagine you still have to pay for the tap water … Read more

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A protest rally after the death of Rubén Espinosa
Dismissed as a Drug Crime? How Mexico’s “Old” Media Covered Ruben Espinosa’s Death

Hours after photojournalist Rubén Espinosa and four others were found dead in a Mexico City apartment on July 31, much of Mexico’s traditional media had settled on a theory: This was a run-of-the-mill drug crime. In a video newscast titled “They didn’t kill him because he was a journalist,” Luis Cárdenas López, a reporter for … Read more

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An Often-Ignored Cause of the U.S.-Cuba Thaw
An Often-Ignored Cause of the U.S.-Cuba Thaw

It wasn’t so long ago that reestablishing diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba seemed politically unthinkable. So it’s natural to ask: What really changed? But while much of the focus has been on the generational changes affecting the Cuban-American community, and the foreign policy-driven considerations of President Barack Obama, there was also a … Read more

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Morgan_DR_fotolarge1
My Struggles as a Black American in the Dominican Republic

When I lived in the Dominican Republic, there was a point when the jeers from the streets, shouts of “Arréglate ese pelo!” (Fix that hair!) and mocking gestures about my prominent pajón (afro) became too much to deal with. In a country of complex racial dynamics, where straightened hair is a social currency and billboards … Read more

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Joe Biden and Thomas Traumann meet at the Palácio do Planalto in Brasilia
The Incredible Unknown Bond between Joe Biden and Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff

How the vice president’s style—and a shared connection from the past—helped win over the Brazilian president.

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un_paraguay_large
Paraguay’s Surprisingly Powerful Voice in Climate Negotiations

When Paraguay joined ranks with a group of fellow Latin American countries at the United Nations climate talks this month, the media scarcely noticed. After all, its coverage of the UN’s ongoing negotiations to deal with global warming tend to focus on more “dramatic” developments—spats between major powers and the glacial pace of negotiations. It’s … Read more

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Climate change, environment, Climate March
Can Latin America Blaze a Trail to Paris?

Next week, the United Nations climate change negotiations will reconvene in Germany, where countries will continue to draft a new global climate agreement to be finalized this December in Paris. This year marks a watershed for Latin America, as the region decides what it will contribute to the agreement. This is not only about what … Read more

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