Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas

Latin Americans’ Perceptions of the Challenges of Urban Living

Rapid urbanization has shaped Latin American societies for the last half century. Across the Latin American and Caribbean region, about four out of every five citizens now live in an urban area. Nearly two out of every five citizens of the region live in an urban area with more than 1 million inhabitants.[1] The region’s … Read more

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The Challenges Ahead for Hugo Chávez

After Hugo Chávez convincingly won re-election on Sunday, the margin of victory—over 1.5 million votes, totaling over 10 percentage points—has stunned members of Venezuela’s opposition, leaving them searching for answers. Some pointed to the Consejo Nacional Electoral (National Electoral Council—CNE), which is controlled by chavistas and turned a blind eye to government abuses. Others pointed … Read more

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The FARC’s New Boss

Rodrigo Londoño Echeverria, known as Timochenko, became the third Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) commander in as many years after the Colombian military killed Alfonso Cano in November 2011.  Timochenko has inherited a very different organization than that commanded by his predecessors.  Only a little more than 10 years ago the FARC—Latin America’s oldest … Read more

 

High Inequality

Latin America suffers from both the world’s highest rate of income inequality and from a lackluster economic performance that puts it well behind the growth levels of other emerging regions such as Asia. Could there be a connection? Recent research suggests that high inequality and low social mobility are more than just poor people’s problems: … Read more

 

Growing Public Insecurity in Central America

Crime has replaced soccer as the hot conversation topic among business leaders, journalists, construction workers, and secretaries in Central America’s Northern Triangle—El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Although the problems of delinquency, particularly maras (youth gangs) and organized criminal networks, are not new to the region, public skepticism—bordering on contempt—for all three governments’ inability to deal … Read more

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