María Eugenia Vidal and the “Other” Buenos Aires
Leer en español In the Buenos Aires everyone knows, the Buenos Aires of opera houses and bifes de chorizo and nightclubs that don’t dream of opening until 1 a.m., you can almost forget there’s a recession going on. The steakhouses are full, the rose gardens are in bloom, and grand avenues hum with the city’s … Read more
The Amazon’s Greatest Generation? A Forgotten History of World War II
Lourenço Canário da Silva never fought in World War II, but he was one of the unsung footsoldiers who contributed to the Allied victory. A poor laborer from the northeastern state of Ceará, Da Silva and some 34,000 other Brazilians were recruited to tap rubber in the Amazon forest between 1943 and 1945. The bounty … Read more
AQ Top 5 Young Entrepreneurs: Maximo Cavazzani
This article is adapted from our AQ Top 5 feature on young Latin American entrepreneurs. To see the rest of our list, click here. Leer en español If you could pick a time and a place to start a business, Argentina in 2009 probably wouldn’t top your list. The global economic crisis was raging. Argentina … Read more
AQ Top 5 Young Entrepreneurs: Leila Velez
Beauty company Beleza Natural became a national leader by empowering Brazilian women.
No More Odebrechts: Three Steps to Reduce Graft in Latin America
The revelations of years of immense and systemic bribe payments to policymakers across Latin America by engineering and construction conglomerate Odebrecht are an unmitigated disaster for Brazil – and its foreign policy of the last decade and a half. The internationalization of Brazilian capitalism – that is, the government’s strategy of boosting Brazil’s influence by … Read more
Five Latin America Stories You Might Miss in 2017 (But Shouldn’t)
If 2017 is anything like 2016, making predictions on where Latin America will be a year from now is probably a losing bet. Remember when it seemed inevitable that voters in Colombia would pass the country’s landmark peace accord with the FARC, or that the Rio Olympics would be crippled by large-scale social unrest? The … Read more
Cardoso: The Era of Elitist and Demagogic Politics Is Over
A version of this article was first published in Portuguese on Poder 360. In a recent interview, Brazilian President Michel Temer invoked the “voice of the streets” to say he would veto a so-called “Caixa Dois” bill – a proposal that would grant legislators amnesty for irregularities involving election financing – if Congress approved it. … Read more
Brazil’s Democracy Is Dominated by Old Men. This Group Wants to Change That.
Brazil’s democracy is under assault. On November 16th, activists stormed the lower house of Congress in Brasília and openly called for the reinstatement of the military dictatorship that reigned from 1964 to 1985. On the very same day, public servants occupied the State Congress in Rio de Janeiro protesting newly introduced austerity measures by the … Read more
Argentina’s Return to Honest Accounting Is More Than Just Numbers
Nearly four years after Argentina became the first country to be censured by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for providing inaccurate data on inflation and economic growth, the international body on Nov. 9 restored the country to good standing. The move provided a win for the government’s reform agenda and offered a positive sign for hesitant … Read more
How Foreign Policy Can Help Address Brazil’s Violence Epidemic
Last week, Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública, a well-respected NGO based in São Paulo, published a series of grim statistics. In 2015, a staggering 58,383 people were assassinated in Brazil. The number of murders in Brazil increased over 250 percent in the last three decades, jumping from 13,910 in 1980 to above 50,000 in 2012. … Read more
Fighting Corruption: Why Argentina Might Not Be the Next Brazil
Argentina has seen an unprecedented wave of corruption charges this year against high-profile individuals, plus the arrest of members of the business elite, union leaders, and former government officials. Even former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007-15) was formally charged in May over her alleged role in the sale of future dollar contracts by the … Read more
Why Women in Argentina Called for a National Day of Mourning
(Updated on October 20) On October 19, tens of thousands of women across Argentina – and others across the hemisphere – protested a rash of violence against women. The particularly chilling murder of a 16-year-old girl has inspired women’s rights movement Ni Una Menos (Not One Less) to call for a day of mourning dubbed … Read more
The Coming Fight Over Chile’s Strict Abortion Laws
On October 2, the amplified thump-thump-thump of babies’ heartbeats echoed in front of Chile’s La Moneda Palace. A dozen pregnant women, loudspeakers attached to their protruding bellies, stood with some 100 supporters to protest pending legislation that would liberalize the country’s harshly restrictive abortion laws. Calling their campaign “La Voz del Corazón,” or “The Heart’s … Read more
How Paraguay Is Finally Reckoning With Its Dark Past
This article is adapted from AQ’s most recent issue, “Fixing Brazil.” To receive the print edition at home, subscribe here. It was nicknamed the caperucita roja — “Little Red Riding Hood” — and during the 1954 to 1989 dictatorship of the late General Alfredo Stroessner, the appearance of a red Chevrolet Custom 10 in the streets of Asunción was … Read more
AQ Top 5 Jóvenes Políticos: Eduardo Leite
Read in English Cuando Eduardo Leite se lanzó a la alcaldía de la pequeña ciudad de Pelotas en Rio Grande do Sul, el estado más meridional de Brasil, este hijo de profesores universitarios no contaba con una red política apreciable en la cual apoyarse. Así que ¿cómo es que, cuatro años después de su sorpresiva … Read more
