The twin blows of U.S. sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbated by runaway inflation triggered by an economic reform gone awry, have plunged Cuba into its worst economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The most poignant and costly manifestation of the public’s exhaustion is the sharp increase in emigration.
Latin America should be watching the current protests in Peru and Venezuela nervously. The two crises have long and deep roots in local dynamics, but the anger seen in both countries over the past month is a reaction to causal factors that aren’t exclusive to them. Protesters are angry at political systems that are failing them.
The ADF, regarded as an Islamic State affiliate, claimed responsibility for a bomb attack at a church in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Jan. 15 that killed at least 17 people and wounded 39 more. It’s the latest high-profile incident in Congo’s eastern region, where a complex security challenge threatens regional stability.
