Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas

Southern Cone & Brazil

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How Do We Make Sustainable Cities Sustainable Policies?

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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

 

Argentina Adopts New Restrictions on Online Purchasing

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The Argentine government adopted new legislation limiting online buying on Tuesday in an effort to defend domestic production. The resolution, adopted by Argentina’s tax agency, the Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos , and published in the Boletín Oficial, restricts Argentines to two tax-free purchases of up to $25 on foreign-based websites per year, with a … Read more

 

FIFA Threatens Curitiba Over World Cup Readiness

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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

 

Argentina Invests in Power Grid After Blackouts

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Argentine government officials formalized a $500 million plan to improve the distribution of electricity in Buenos Aires this week, but remained strongly opposed to raising utility rates in order to alleviate the city’s ongoing energy crisis. The measure comes after the hottest heat wave on record prompted a series of power outages, leaving hundreds of … Read more

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National to City, Diagnosis to Funding

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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

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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

 

Brazil Endorses International Decade for People of African Descent

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On Monday, December 23, 2013, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing the International Decade for People of African Descent, which will run from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2024. The aim will be to raise social consciousness in the fight against prejudice, intolerance, xenophobia, and racism. The resolution follows a series … Read more

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Breves narrativas diplomáticas by Celso Amorim

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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

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10 Things to Do: Valparaíso, Chile

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The port of Valparaíso, nicknamed the “Jewel of the Pacific,” draws its charm from the pastel-colored houses that line its many cerros (hills) and the breathtaking vistas that await those who climb them. The city is rich in history, boasting Latin America’s oldest stock exchange, Chile’s first public library and the oldest Spanish-language newspaper still … Read more

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Civic Innovator: Rolando Humire, Chile

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Rolando Humire Coca, the political representative of approximately 4,000 Indigenous atacameño people in Chile, is a busy man. The 32-year-old biochemist (and beer brewer) serves as president of three local organizations, including the Consejo de los Pueblos Atacameños—a political body of 17 local Indigenous communities known as ayllus. Humire’s activism was fueled by his achievements … Read more

 

Monday Memo: Supreme Court and Argentina – Michoacán Violence – Pope Names Cardinals – Nicaragua Canal – Venezuelan Bolivars

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Likely top stories this week: the U.S. Supreme Court will look at Argentina’s debt case; Michoacán’s government asks for help; Pope Francis names Haitian, Brazilian, Nicaraguan and Chilean cardinals; President Ortega says that Nicaragua Canal construction will begin this year; Air Europa rejects Venezuelan customers’ bolivars. Argentina’s Bondholder Battle Goes to U.S. Supreme Court: The … Read more

 

Dilma Defends World Cup Preparedness

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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

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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

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