Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas

In the Americas, Democrats’ “Soft Power Matters”

A continuation of Biden's policies would promote democracy while addressing hotspots like Haiti and Venezuela, two former national security officials write.

By Ricardo Zúniga and Nicholas Zimmerman |

Trump’s Vision: “Make the Americas Grow Again”

A second Trump term would focus on reviving hemispheric economic growth through nearshoring and other policies, writes a former adviser.

By Mauricio Claver-Carone |

Timeline: U.S.-Latin America Relations Under Trump and Biden. AQ highlights the major moments in hemispheric relations under the two presidents, from USMCA to Biden’s border action.

Timeline: U.S.-Latin America Relations Under Trump and Biden

AQ highlights the major moments in hemispheric relations under the two presidents, from USMCA to Biden’s border action.
By Rich Brown and Emilie Sweigart | July 16, 2024
Latin Americans Weigh In On the Next U.S. President’s Agenda. AQ asked politicians and former high-ranking officials what the next U.S. administration should focus on in Latin America.

Latin Americans Weigh In On the Next U.S. President’s Agenda

AQ asked politicians and former high-ranking officials what the next U.S. administration should focus on in the region.
By AQ Editors | July 16, 2024
Regardless of the election’s victor, the U.S. should seize the ample economic opportunities of closer ties with the rest of the hemisphere, writes AS/COA’s CEO Susan Segal.

Susan Segal: The Next U.S. President Should Pay More Attention to Latin America

Regardless of the election’s victor, the U.S. should seize the ample economic opportunities of closer ties with the rest of the hemisphere, writes AS/COA’s CEO.
By Susan Segal | July 16, 2024
Claudia Maribel Vera Pech, left, 38, and Regina Laudalina Valle Chim, 47, of the award-winning Chelemeras group trek through a wetland toward the beginnings of a new forest, planted by hand

Meet the Chelemeras: The Maya Women Who Restore Mangroves in Mexico’s Yucatán

Internationally hailed, the reforestation project run by 14 women targets these life-sheltering, shoreline-protecting ecosystems.
By Bénédicte Desrus | July 16, 2024
A 1940 front page of El Universal reports shortages of morphine and other drugs due to war in Europe.

When Mexico Tried a Different Approach to Drugs—and Washington Said No

In 1940, a major reform envisioned treating drug addiction with regulated dispensaries, until the U.S. helped put a stop to it.
By Carlos A. Pérez Ricart | July 16, 2024
Chile's Torres del Paine National Park in Magallanes

Q&A: Chile’s Ambitious Environmental Fund

Restoring the national botanical garden, which burned down in this year’s wildfires, is just one project for the relatively new national fund.
By Emilie Sweigart | July 16, 2024
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the RSA cybersecurity conference in San Francisco in May.

U.S. Cybersecurity Diplomacy Is Helping Counter China

A year after AQ’s special report on cybersecurity in Latin America, U.S. aid and collaboration are making some headway.
By Randy Pestana | July 15, 2024

Cultura

Didi Bortoluci had cancer while his son interviewed him for What Is Mine. He died in November 2023.

“Your Dad Helped Build This Airport”: Brazil’s 20th Century in One Family’s Eyes

In an internationally hailed new book, a sociologist traces Brazil’s tumultuous development through his trucker father’s life story.
By Luiza Franco | July 16, 2024

Searching for Argentina’s Lost Yiddish Theater

In a young Argentine literary standout’s new novel, the country’s Jewish past and present collide.
By Facundo Milman | July 16, 2024
La laguna del soldado’s experimental structure overlays images of Andean grasslands with the voices of scientists and locals—and a reading of Bolívar’s poetry.

In the Footsteps of Bolívar, A Meditation on Nature’s Superhuman Power

A new film retraces the Liberator’s difficult campaign across the Colombian Andes, revealing the natural world’s final victory over mankind.
By Ena Alvarado | July 16, 2024
Orquestra Mundana Refugi performing their song “Taranta” from their album Todo lugar é aqui

AQ’s Summer Playlist: Unexpected Collisions

From São Paulo to Havana, surprising musical and cultural combinations mark AQ’s music critic’s warm-weather selection.
By Sebastián Zubieta | July 16, 2024
Using paints made from local soil, Dell Alvarado depicts the environmental toll of resource extraction in her native part of Oaxaca.

The Dark Side of Development in Mexico’s Isthmus of Tehuantepec

With handfuls of earth and hard data, a Oaxacan artist testifies to the toll that a wind farm boom and other changes have taken on her native lands.
By Andrea Villa Franco | July 16, 2024
Sign up for our free newsletter