The Five Cs of Universal Health Care
Earlier this year, the U.S. Congress passed a landmark health care reform bill that broadened access to health insurance for millions of Americans. Even as U.S. pundits and politicians continue to argue about the meaning and the scope of the bill, many other countries in the region might reasonably wonder what the fuss is all … Read more
The War on Media
More than 25 years after democratization in the region, Latin American reporters have learned, often to their peril, that the system does not provide enough safeguards against the enemies of the press. Despite the emergence of a style of watchdog journalism that has been essential for strengthening institutions in young democracies, large and powerful criminal … Read more
Narcotics International, Inc.
Drug trafficking is not only the most lucrative manifestation of organized crime, but also one of the most insidious in terms of the challenge it represents to states around the world. Frequently associated with violence, the drug trade is one of the principal sources of human insecurity throughout Latin America. Drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs) have emerged … Read more
Mexico-U.S. Relations: What’s Next?
Open any Mexican newspaper today and the drug carnage is front and center. In the last three years, narco-related murders surpassed 18,000, nearly 8,000 of these occurred in 2009 alone. The macabre nature of the violence ratcheted up too, featuring heads rolling across an Acapulco disco floor, a “stewmaker” admitting to dissolving some 300 bodies … Read more
The Trade in Human Lives
In Mexico, 19-year-old “Anna” is standing by a bus stop in a small town when she meets a charming young man. After winning her trust, he smuggles her into the United States. Once there, he forces Anna to prostitute herself with migrant workers in a canyon outside San Diego. In New York, an Indonesian woman … Read more
The Right To Justice
The most pressing threat to the rule of law in Latin America used to be political violence. Today it is law enforcement—or the lack thereof—in countries plagued by violent crime. The need for more effective policing is a top public concern in much of the region. And with good reason. People have a right, well-established … Read more
Your Economy on Drugs
By any conventional measure, Colombia is a success story. Between President Álvaro Uribe’s elections in 2002 and 2008, GDP soared by 260 percent and the murder rate dropped by nearly half. This was ascribed in large part to his democratic security policies. With the assistance of billions of dollars in U.S. military aid, those policies … Read more
Understanding and Improving Mérida
With the Mérida Initiative set to expire on September 31, 2010, it’s time to evaluate in what form the initiative should continue. Developed under the administration of former president George W. Bush and passed by Congress in 2008, the Mérida Initiative to Combat Illicit Narcotics and Reduce Organized Crime provided $1.4 billion over three years … Read more
Crime’s Breeding Ground
Over the course of the last half century, a profound cultural revolution has taken place in Latin America. The way in which young men and women relate to each other and to their offspring, their notion of what is permissible and what is not within a marriage and before it, and their definition of appropriate … Read more
Ask the Experts: The Next Generation
Patricia Mercado Answers: It’s difficult to give advice when you know there is none better than the experience accumulated on one´s own. In politics, more than in any other sector, the greatest truth is that each person must acquire his or her own experiences and lessons; each moment, place and situation that a leader or … Read more
Sins of My Father
I decided to make “Sins of My Father” when I met Sebastián Marroquín, the only son of Pablo Escobar, in late 2005. Heavy set with unruly black hair, Sebastián bears a striking resemblance to his father and had been living in Argentina under a new identity for more than ten years, but few people knew … Read more
Capitalism Meets Common Property
Imagine a business with a 384-member board of directors that governs using organizational principles predating the rise of modern capitalism. Imagine as well that this business has a 20-member executive committee that includes the town mechanic and newspaper vendor, and whose monthly meetings can last three days. The business also changes its CEO and other … Read more
The Reconciliators
If you are a young person in Venezuela, the odds of realizing your dreams are stacked against you. Take, for example, Julio. He lives in La Vega, a high-crime neighborhood located on a hill in the southwest of Caracas. Julio, 17, attends school in the morning and works in the afternoon. A guitarist, he dreams … Read more
The Human Rights Champion
I was six years old when I first wondered what I was going to be when I grew up. I asked my mother, and she said, “Don’t worry about that now. It’s probably a profession that doesn’t even exist yet.” She was right. I always knew that whatever I chose to do would transcend borders … Read more
The New Entrepreneurs
Our parents often complain that there’s more violence, more social inequality and more hunger than when they were young. This may be true. But our generation takes an optimistic view. Despite its problems, Latin America has become an entrepreneurial region. Young people, in particular, have the energy and the independence of spirit to try out … Read more
