Politics Innovator: David Reyes, El Salvador
In the notoriously polarized and often corrupt world of Salvadoran politics, federal deputy David Reyes stands out for his commitment to bipartisan governance. Elected in March 2009 to the National Assembly, Reyes, 30, of the conservative Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA) party, has cosponsored a series of bills targeting youth unemployment, greater government transparency and services … Read more
The battle against narcotics traffickers has undermined exactly what is needed to win this war: the rule of law.
If winning means eliminating all drug production, trade and consumption, then the only honest answer is “no.” The strategic lines drawn by the Mexican government rely on “containment and weakening” criminal organizations, not “elimination.” Even if we assume a sharp reduction in the consumption of drugs in the United States, significant demand will remain, and … Read more
By working with Mexican civil society and reforming the police force, we are scoring major victories.
Success in Mexico’s fight against drugs can’t be measured like a game of baseball, in which you simply add up the score at the end of nine innings. It’s a war with many fronts, and it requires a much different perspective. Drug trafficking is only one element of the larger problem: the reach of organized … Read more
[i]AQ[/i] Interview
Americas Quarterly: During your first year in office, flooding displaced or affected nearly 7 percent of the population. What are your short-term plans for helping the affected citizens and recovering from the predicted 2.5 percent drop in GDP that your government estimates this natural disaster will cost? Juan Manuel Santos: First of all, I don’t … Read more
From the Think Tanks
América Latina y el Caribe: Globalización y conocimiento, co-published by the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), is the first installment of a three-part report on rethinking Latin America in the twenty-first century. The work, focusing on poverty reduction and social development, is an effort to … Read more
[i]La Vida Bohème[/i] (video available)
Above: Music video for “Radio Capital” from La Vida Bohème‘s most recent album (Nuestra, June 2011). Four young musicians from Caracas, decked out in paint-spattered overalls, are just entering the international spotlight in a bid to reclaim what they call a “party of our own.” In July 2011 the band, La Vida Bohème, made its … Read more
10 Things to Do: San Salvador
San Salvador is not only El Salvador’s capital city, formally known as La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador, but home to nearly half of El Salvador’s 6 million inhabitants. Nestled in El Valle de las Hamacas (The Valley of Hammocks) and surrounded by active volcanoes, it is the epicenter of El Salvadoran business, culture and … Read more
Ride em’ [i]Boiadeiro[/i] (slideshow available)
Ask the Experts: When Profit Meets Social Purpose
Michael Edwards Answers: Judging by the amount of buzz around impact investing, social enterprise and corporate social responsibility, one could be led to believe that these ideas provide the key to social progress in Latin America. But this would be a dangerous delusion, threatening to divert support from the kinds of public action and civil … Read more
The Brazil–Africa Narco Nexus
The vicious drug cartels in Colombia and Mexico regularly make headlines, but there has been remarkably less public attention to the growing role of Brazil—and Brazilian organized crime —as a major player in the global trade in illicit narcotics. Expanding links between Brazilian criminal groups and their counterparts in West Africa, easy access to European … Read more
Do Chinese Mining Companies Exploit More?
*Watch an “AQ Q&A” interview on this topic, featuring two leading scholars in Peru: Miguel Santillana and Cynthia Sanborn. *Access an AQ study guide for this article. China’s huge appetite for energy and minerals to fuel its expanding economy has strained international markets for oil, natural gas, iron ore, coal, copper, nickel, aluminum, and other … Read more
Argentina’s New National Goal
As Argentina’s government prepares for a new term beginning in December, a priority for the next four years (and beyond) must be improving the quality of national education. Clearly, more of the same will not be enough to improve Argentina’s education system. The usual debates over which reform to prioritize—greater public- or private-sector participation, local-level … Read more
Hype or Promise
Co-author Antony Bugg-Levine speaks to Americas Quarterly about this article in an installment of “AQ Q&A.” For the past 100 years, especially in the West, we have organized our resources around two basic assumptions: first, that the only way for private citizens to address social problems is by providing donations to charities; and second, that … Read more
Madame Officer
Drive through just about any traffic circle in Lima, Peru, and you will likely see a female police officer directing traffic. Dressed in neatly pressed, dark green, buttoned uniforms and helmets, this newest segment of the National Police of Peru (PNP) is the friendly public face of the country’s policing for thousands of Peruvians—and not … Read more
