A nearly month-long strike by Chile’s public sector employees ended earlier this month after workers failed to win a pay increase of 7 percent and instead reluctantly accepted President Michelle Bachelet’s initial proposal of a 3.2 percent raise. In an email interview, Peter M. Siavelis, a professor of politics and international affairs and the director of the Latin American and Latino studies program at Wake Forest University, discusses labor relations in Chile. WPR: What are the public sector’s grievances with President Michelle Bachelet’s administration, and how have they affected relations between the government and public employees? Peter M. Siavelis: The [...]
Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the legal status and socio-economic conditions of indigenous peoples in a range of countries. According to the United Nations, at least 21 human rights activists, mostly from indigenous communities, have been killed in Colombia this year. Most of the murders are related to the ongoing peace process with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and many fear it will only get worse if a peace accord isn’t implemented soon. In an interview transcribed by Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli, a senior associate with the Washington Office on Latin America, [...]
When Donald Trump won the Republican nomination for the presidency of the United States, many in Latin America started watching U.S. politics with a sharper interest. The tone, the content, the flamboyance and the egomania that Trump put on display during the campaign had a familiar ring. That’s because Latin Americans had seen similar personalities take the stage before—and seen them win. In the United States, populist politicians are new to most voters. In Latin America, they’re old hat. After Trump’s surprising upset in the Nov. 8 election, many Venezuelans, in particular, cast knowing glances at the U.S. electorate. Trump’s [...]
