Brazil

A Tale of Two Cities: Curitiba

View a slideshow of Curitiba below. It’s nine a.m. in the Nossa Senhora de Aparecida vila (shantytown) in Curitiba, Brazil, and dozens of people have formed a line at the top of a small hill. Despite a slight drizzle and the brisk cold of the morning, people stand patiently with filled wheelbarrows and carts. Two … Read more

Monday Memo: Chile-Peru Maritime Dispute — CELAC Summit — Argentina’s Economy — São Paulo Protests — Belize-Guatemala Agreement

Likely top stories this week: the International Court of Justice will rule on the Chile-Peru Maritime border; the CELAC Summit begins on Tuesday in Havana, Cuba; Argentina begins easing restrictions on purchasing US dollars; protesters of the World Cup clash with police in Sao Paulo; Belize and Guatemala sign an agreement at the OAS. International … Read more

A Tale of Two Cities: Bogotá

Read a sidebar on affordable housing. View a slideshow of Bogotá below. From his modest home in Ciudad Bolívar, high in the hills of Bogotá’s poor southwestern edge, Alexdy Torres, 41, can see the city of 7.5 million people spread out before him. Far to the north, he can make out the wealthy districts of … Read more

Safe Streets, Safe Cities

Discussions of sustainable cities tend to focus on environmental goals such as developing eco-friendly architecture, recycling, and improving the resiliency of urban infrastructure systems. But public or citizen security is an equally important aspect of building a sustainable city. Often, it is the issue that tops the list of citizens’ concerns—and with good reason. Violent … Read more

How Do We Make Sustainable Cities Sustainable Policies?

Read a sidebar on waste and recycling. Several of the region’s high-profile mayors who championed sustainability during their administrations have recently left—or will soon leave—office. This raises an important question: what will happen to the policies and programs they left behind? Incoming mayors have their own agendas and policy preferences, and sustainability initiatives—unlike crime or … Read more

FIFA Threatens Curitiba Over World Cup Readiness

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football—FIFA) warned officials in the Brazilian city of Curitiba on Tuesday that it could be excluded as a host site of the 2014 World Cup if preparations remain behind schedule. FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said that renovation of the 43,000-capacity Arena da Baixada stadium … Read more

National to City, Diagnosis to Funding

For too long, Latin America’s urbanization has been haphazard and chaotic. As a result, the world’s most urbanized region (with over 80 percent of its population living in cities) became associated with sprawl, waste, inefficiency, pollution, and increasing vulnerability to climate change. But a new approach to this challenge emerged on the sidelines of the … Read more

Brazil’s Acre State Asks to Close Borders, Keep Haitians Out

The Brazilian state of Acre has asked the government to temporarily close the Brazil-Peru border to control Haitian migration. Acre’s secretary of justice and human rights, Nilson Mourão, said the levels of Haitian migration into the region are unsustainable and have strained the capacity of social services in the area. Since the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that … Read more

Breves narrativas diplomáticas by Celso Amorim

Brazil featured early in the international crisis that erupted from Edward Snowden’s disclosures of U.S. access to telephone conversations of more than 30 foreign leaders over the past decade, when Rio de Janeiro-based journalist Glenn Greenwald provided information about U.S. spying in Brazil to O Globo’s television program, Fantástico. In response, President Dilma Rousseff took … Read more

From the Think Tanks

SEDEREC Mexico City has seen a surge of external and internal migration since the late 1990s. In the report, Ley y reglamento de interculturalidad, atención a migrantes y movilidad humana en el Distrito Federal: Reflexiones, SEDEREC sums up the proposals made by the public and private sectors to the Mexican government over the past 15 … Read more

Dilma Defends World Cup Preparedness

President Dilma Rousseff said yesterday that Brazil will successfully host the 2014 FIFA World Cup, despite construction delays at numerous stadiums. “We love soccer, and that’s why we’ll host this Cup with pride and make it the Cup of Cups,”Rousseff said via Twitter, just days after the Swiss newspaper 24 Heures published an interview with … Read more

It’s Time to Expand Latin America’s Impact Economy

Last week, hundreds of Latin American leaders from the public and private sectors descended upon Rio de Janeiro to join former President Bill Clinton for Clinton Global Initiative Latin America. Former President Clinton has long demonstrated his admiration for this corner of the world. But convening CGI here for the first time turns a new … Read more

Workers Strike at World Cup Site in Amazon

Three hundred construction workers went on strike in the Brazilian city of Manaus on Monday after a fellow worker, Marcleudo de Melo Ferreira, fell to his death on Saturday. The workers of the Arena Amazonia stadium have demanded better conditions, saying that the pressure to complete construction is affecting their safety. The Prosecutor’s Office has … Read more

Monday Memo: FARC Ceasefire – Venezuela – Mexican Energy Reform – Argentine Police Strike – Clinton in Rio

Likely top stories this week: The Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—FARC) announce a ceasefire; Venezuelans vote in municipal elections; the Mexican Congress debates energy reform; Police strikes across Argentina continue; Bill Clinton visits Rio de Janeiro for the Clinton Global Initiative Latin America meeting. FARC Rebels Announce a Ceasefire: In … Read more