Negotiations Continue over Panama’s Barro Blanco Dam
A new round of negotiations will begin on March 27 over Panama’s $225 million Barro Blanco hydroelectric project—now 95 percent complete, but the source of a long-standing feud between the Generadora del Istmo S.A. (GENISA) company, the contractor for the dam, and the Ngäbe Buglé Indigenous group, which is vehemently opposed to the project due … Read more
Tone Down the “Winners and Losers” Talk on Cuba
Cuba is the Groundhog Day of the twentieth century. That the United States’ policy of isolation and permanent embargo went on into the 21st century is testimony to the endurance of both Americans and Cubans in making a failed policy become a third rail in U.S. domestic policy. Not that there weren’t attempts at reconciliation … Read more
Looking Backwards: International Women’s Day
This year, International Women’s Day, which celebrated its 100th birthday on Sunday, also marked the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. In what is still considered the most comprehensive blueprint on advancing women’s rights, 189 governments adopted the 1995 Beijing roadmap. Looking back … Read more
Protests Highlight Guatemalan Minimum Wage Concerns
Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti’s insensitive recent comments about planned changes to the country’s minimum wage were answered by nationwide demonstrations on February 22, organized by Guatemala’s Coordinadora Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas (National Coordination of Peasant Organizations—CNOC). In response to four accords approved at the end of 2014 to establish a lower monthly minimum wage … Read more
Terrorism: Fear is Not a Policy
Last week’s international summit on terrorism at the White House showed how much the issue has become a central concern around the world. Evidently, the fear of a homegrown attack has understandably pushed many nations to enact more stringent laws and preventive measures. The recent spread of terrorist attacks in Western Europe and Canada has … Read more
Monday Memo: Peru-Chile Relations—Panama Hydroelectric Dam—Guatemala-Honduras Customs—São Paulo Drought—Venezuela Conspiracy Charges
Allegations of Espionage Threaten Peru-Chile Relations: Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Heraldo Muñoz announced on Sunday that Chilean Ambassador Roberto Ibarra would not return to his post in Peru in light of the country’s espionage complaints against Chile. On Friday, Peruvian Ambassador Francisco Rojas Samanez was recalled to Lima after Peruvian prosecutors claimed that several Peruvian … Read more
AQ Slideshow: El Bote at Cambalache: Life at a Landfill
“El Bote” is a fitting name for a large, now-defunct landfill in the community of Cambalache, along the Orinoco River in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. The Indigenous people known as the Warao rely on El Bote—often translated as “the can” or “throw away”—for their livelihood. The Warao once lived far up the Amazon River, but years … Read more
Dispatches: Amazonas, Brazil
A lot of people would like to know how Ivan Tenharim died. On the afternoon of December 2, 2013, a relative found the chief of the Tenharim people in Brazil’s Amazonas state lying unconscious near his undamaged motorcycle on a long, uninhabited stretch of the Trans-Amazonian Highway. His neck was broken, and blood was trickling … Read more
Politics Innovator: Intercultural Commission of Mejoremos Guate
Conflicts between Guatemalan Indigenous communities and corporations have raged for decades. One tragic example: in the early 1980s, at least 444 members of Maya-Achi communities protesting construction of the Chixoy Dam on the Rio Negro were killed by government troops (a reparations plan was announced in 2014). Yet since 2013, a group of businesspeople and … Read more
Civic Innovator: Carlos Cruz
Carlos Cruz knows how dangerous it is to investigate crime and violence in Mexico. Since joining the mass of organizations and individuals demanding answers for the September 2014 disappearance of 43 Mexican students in the state of Guerrero, Cruz and his organization, Cauce Ciudadano (Citizens’ Way)—a nonprofit that addresses youth violence—have been warned not to … Read more
Why Our Businesses Need Executive Action on Immigration
Over the past week, politicians have argued about whether or not President Barack Obama should take administrative action to protected undocumented immigrants and their families. But for small business owners like me, the case is clear: the president should act quickly and boldly. I’m the proud, tax-paying owner of Latina Beauty Variedades, a clothing and … Read more
Is the Western Hemisphere Ready for Ebola?
Over the past month and a half, the world has been challenged by the nimble Ebola virus, the latest outbreak of which has killed over 5,000 people. Even in the United States, a country with one of the best healthcare systems in the world, the Ebola virus infected two healthcare workers and claimed one life, … Read more
Is Dilma Rousseff the Answer for Brazilian Women?
Brazil’s October 26 election was undoubtedly contentious. As incumbent Dilma Rousseff edged out centrist opposition leader Aeció Neves in a runoff with only 51.6 percent of the vote, it was one of the closest elections in Brazilian history. Ultimately, the Brazilian people opted for another four years with the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers’ Party—PT). So … Read more
Peace in Colombia: Negotiating to Move On
On the afternoon of February 27, a bright and warm winter day in Cuba, the staff at the Hotel Nacional in Havana busily prepared for the arrival of former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was due to a give a talk to a group of business people that afternoon. Meanwhile, I was … Read more
The Resilience of the Latin American Right
Unlike the internationalist left over the past century, the Latin American right has never been united by a single symbol or slogan. This was not accidental. In a region that only recently abandoned military dictatorship, why would political parties openly identify with repressive authoritarian regimes? And with 165 million people still living in poverty, hoisting … Read more
