Brazil Archive

At the end of 2015, South American political and economic prospects were promising. Just 18 months later and the situation has been upended, leaving a region whose future is not nearly as bright as it once appeared to be. SANTIAGO, Chile—Imagine an Obama administration official looking out at the world from the vantage point of December 2015. The Middle East is engulfed in bloody conflict and crackdowns on domestic dissent. Africa is muddling through a humbling correction to the “success story” narrative that had been used to portray the continent’s preceding decade of dynamic growth and democratic progress. Asia is […]

Latin American countries have consistently ratified international conventions to protect women. They are falling behind in implementation, though, despite some of the worst rates of gender-based violence and femicide in the world. Why aren't these agreements being translated into policies? Protecting women against gender-based violence is too often overlooked as a global human rights issue. On the surface, Latin America may look like an exception. All of the region’s countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and 14 have ratified the convention’s optional protocol that permits a special U.N. committee […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series about workers’ rights in various countries around the world. Though mired in scandal and dogged by low approval ratings, Brazilian President Michel Temer has pushed forward with reforms that stand to dramatically reshape the country’s labor market. In general, these reforms, including a law he signed last week, are geared toward scaling back worker protections and increasing the power of employers. In an email interview, Salo Coslovsky, an associate professor of international development at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University, explains how […]