AQ Top 5 Young Chefs: Xavier Pacheco
Leer en español See the rest of the AQ Top 5 When Chef Xavier Pacheco returned to his native Puerto Rico from Barcelona, he knew opening a restaurant that served dishes with fresh, local ingredients, would be an uphill struggle. Puerto Rico, once home to a thriving agricultural sector, now imports 85 percent of its … Read more
How Obama’s Havana Trip Signals a ‘New Normal’ in U.S.-Cuba Relations
For all the pomp and circumstance surrounding U.S. President Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba last week, the visit had a simple goal: to make the administration’s opening to the island impossible to reverse, no matter who wins the White House in November. After spending the week of Obama’s visit in Havana, it is clear to … Read more
La diáspora es la mejor opción para cambiar la situación en Puerto Rico
Read in English Es complicado vivir entre dos países. Creo que la película Selena explica bien la situación cuando el padre de la protagonista le dice a su hija: -Tenemos que ser más mexicano que los mexicanos y más gringo que los gringos. ¡Ambos al mismo tiempo! ¡Es agotador! Para los que crecimos como miembros … Read more
Top 10 Plays in U.S.-Cuba Baseball Diplomacy
Cuba and the U.S. have not always seen eye-to-eye. But the two countries have long shared a love for baseball, which each claims as its national pastime. Similar to how Ping-Pong diplomacy broke the ice between the U.S. and China in the 1970s, baseball helped thaw relations with Cuba ahead of President Barack Obama’s historic … Read more
Puerto Rico’s Diaspora Offers Its Best Chance for Change
Leer en español Feeling caught between two countries is always complicated. I think the experience was best summed up in the movie Selena when the title character’s father laments: “We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans, both at the same time! It’s exhausting!” For those of us … Read more
Castro Still Unlikely to Play Ball With MLB
In the latest game of U.S.-Cuba baseball diplomacy, Raúl Castro has home field advantage. The Cuban president on March 22 hosted the first Major League Baseball game in his country since 1999, a potent symbol of MLB’s efforts to take advantage of U.S. President Barack Obama’s diplomatic opening with the island. So far, however, Castro … Read more
This Week in Latin America: Obama in Havana, Venezuela in Crisis
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered straight to your inbox every Monday. Cuba, Argentina Host Obama: Cuba and Argentina each play host to U.S. President Barack Obama this week, with human rights issues shading both visits. Today, Obama will hold a working meeting with Cuban President Raúl Castro, who will then host a state dinner … Read more
This Week in Latin America: Preparing for Cuba
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered straight to your inbox every Monday. Cuba Groundwork: A flurry of deals is expected ahead of President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Cuba from March 21 to 22. Obama is expected this Thursday to announce measures to ease travel and trade that would loosen banking rules, revise regulations on usage of … Read more
AQ Corruption Busters Celebrate Successes, Urge Even Greater Progress
To watch a video of the event, click here. “He stole, but just a bit.” “Corruption is just something we live with.” Declarations such as these were once a common refrain in Latin America. But from Brazil to Guatemala, a historic crackdown on corruption is making the old tropes obsolete. Leading this dramatic shift is … Read more
10 Things to Do: San José, Costa Rica
Costa Rica, smaller than West Virginia, boasts over 5 percent of the world’s biodiversity, an environmental abundance that brings in over $2 billion in annual revenue from tourism. San José, the capital, is a convenient jumping-off place for trip to the country’s volcanoes, rainforests and pristine Pacific beaches — as well as an excellent introduction … Read more
How a New Breed of Bounty Hunter Is Helping Countries Get Their Money Back
This article is adapted from our 1st print issue of 2016. For a look at our Top 5 Corruption Busters special feature, click here. Early on the morning of March 22, 2004, one day before the elections that ended the Antigua Labor Party’s 28-year hold on power, several boxloads of government files were hauled out … Read more
El increíble caso que demostró que la ofensiva de América Latina contra la corrupción va en serio
Read in English ¿Guatemala? ¿De verdad? Confieso: esa fue mi reacción en el momento en que Guatemala fue más lejos que cualquier otro país en la campaña contra la corrupción que ahora se propaga en América Latina. Una cosa es que Brasil o Chile, que tienen una historia más larga de instituciones fuertes, investiguen a … Read more
AQ Top 5 Corruption Busters: Iván Velásquez
This article is adapted from our 1st print issue of 2016. For an overview of our Top 5 Corruption Busters, click here. Visiting Iván Velásquez’s office is like entering an armed fortress. And no wonder. Even before leading the investigation that caused the resignation and imprisonment of a sitting Guatemalan president, Velásquez was a man … Read more
