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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

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

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

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

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

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

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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

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