Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas
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Moody’s: Lula Appointment Could Spell End of Fiscal Adjustment in Brazil

Brazil’s political crisis is moving at such intense speed that it’s hard for even dedicated analysts to keep up. AQ’s editor-in-chief spoke on Tuesday with Moody’s ratings agency’s chief analyst for Brazil, Samar Maziad, about how the changes in Brasilia are affecting the economy. At the time, there were rumors that former President Luiz Inácio … Read more

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The Key to Rousseff’s Future – And Maybe Brazil’s, Too

After more than a decade studying Brazil, there are still two things whose popularity I cannot fully explain: bacalhau and the PMDB. The former is a vile salted codfish that no human being should ever be forced to ingest. The latter is the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, a shape-shifting, ideologically diverse group of politicians that … Read more

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Brazilians Vent Rio Olympics Frustration in Graffiti – Photo Essay

The graffiti marking nearly every building in Rio de Janeiro’s Vila Autódromo favela isn’t the work of idle teens. With five months to go before the Summer Olympics, the small community is being demolished to make way for Rio’s planned Olympic Park. The favela has become a focal point for anger over Olympics development, as … Read more

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How a Film About a Bear Got Chile to Reckon With Its Past

When Chile won its first-ever Academy Award on February 28 for the animated short film “Bear Story” (Historia de un Oso), the nation got more than a gold-plated statuette. It was also jolted into confronting the still-taboo subject of forced exiles and political disappearances under the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. An estimated 200,000 Chileans fled … Read more

Lula da Silva

Don’t Let Brazil Become Venezuela

This piece was updated on March 7. The next week will be critical to the future of Brazilian democracy. The temporary detention of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for questioning related to the Petrobras probe is indeed a sign that no one in Brazil is above the law. But it also brings the … Read more

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News Quiz: Did It Happen in Brazil or “House of Cards?”

A special thanks to Nexo, which first published this piece in Portuguese. “House of Cards” has inspired a political science class in Chile, the meme #CasadeNaipes in Argentina, and the parody “House of Narcs” in Mexico. But Netflix’s political series has hit a special nerve in Brazil. President Dilma Rousseff is fending off record-low popularity … Read more

Policia Federal

The Brilliant Names of Brazil’s Anti-Corruption Operations: A Guide

This piece was updated on March 7. Operação Lava Jato, or “Operation Car Wash,” isn’t the only odd-sounding police sting to make waves in Brazil in recent years. Here are some of the names and stories behind the country’s most scintillating anti-corruption busts: Operação Lava JatoIn March 2014, a Brazilian currency exchanger named Alberto Youssef was caught … Read more

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Brazil’s Historic Corruption Probe May Be at Risk

To date, President Dilma Rousseff has done a mostly admirable job of handling the historic corruption probe underway in Brazil. Even as the investigation of graft at state-run oil company Petrobras drew closer to her inner circle, and threatened to culminate in her impeachment, Rousseff allowed federal police and prosecutors to do their work with … Read more

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This Week in Latin America: Brazil’s Environmental Disaster

Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered straight to your inbox every Monday. Samarco Settlement: Nearly four months after a burst mining dam in Brazil killed 19 people and caused a wave of toxic sludge to pollute major water sources, mine owner Samarco Mineração S.A. is expected Monday to announce a financial settlement with the Brazilian government. Joint … Read more

Aerolineas Argentinas

How Mauricio Macri Plans to Fill a $1 Billion Hole at Aerolíneas Argentinas

Last year was a good one for global airlines. Thanks to falling fuel prices and an increased demand for air travel, the industry earned an estimated $33 billion in 2015. Carriers around the globe earned near-record profits. Not so in Argentina, where according to official figures state-run Aerolíneas Argentinas operated at a loss of nearly … Read more

Complexo

Rio’s Big Moment: A Photo Essay

This was supposed to be the year of Rio de Janeiro. The 2016 Olympics were meant to showcase a safer, modernizing city that could not only provide for its more than 6 million citizens, but also play host to a marvelous global party. Unfortunately, it hasn’t turned out that way – Rio has been badly … Read more

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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

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Syrian Refugees in Uruguay Face an Uncertain Future

To see our entire feature on Syrian refugees in Latin America, click here. Uruguay’s invitation in late 2014 sounded like a dream to the Alshebli family, who had been living in a cramped Lebanon apartment for more than a year since they fled Syria. Not only would all 17 Alsheblis receive asylum, they would also … Read more

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