Cuban President Raul Castro and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos review troops during a welcome ceremony, Havana, Cuba, July 17, 2017 (AP photo by Ramon Espinosa).

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos traveled to Havana this month for a visit that regional outlets described as focused on economic cooperation. In addition, Santos again thanked Cuban President Raul Castro for having hosted the talks that led to a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In an email interview, Adam Isacson, a senior associate for regional security policy at the Washington Office on Latin America, explains how the talks led to warmer ties between Bogota and Havana, and how this could pose trouble for U.S.-Colombia relations given the Trump administration’s Cuba policy. WPR: Historically, what […]

An Ache family poses for a portrait at their home, Kuetuvy, Paraguay, Jan. 20, 2013 (AP photo by Jorge Saenz).

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and senior editor, Frederick Deknatel, discuss recent tensions between Israel and Palestine, and the vanishing voice of the Trump administration in the conflict. For the Report, Max Radwin talks with Peter Dörrie about the challenges facing Paraguay’s Ache people as they continue their transition into a sedentary agricultural lifestyle, and explains how the Ache’s rainforest traditions might be the key to navigating them. If you like what you hear on Trend Lines, as well as what you’ve seen on WPR, please think about supporting our work by subscribing. Listen: Download: […]

Venezuelan opposition lawmakers brawl with pro-government militias at the National Assembly, Caracas, July 5, 2017 (AP photo by Fernando Llano).

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 […]

Activists with signs that read in Spanish, “Stop violence against women,” during a march against gender violence, La Paz, Bolivia, Oct. 19, 2016 (AP photo by Juan Karita).

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 […]

Ache children play with bubbles while celebrating the 12th anniversary of the village of Kuetuvy, Paraguay, Jan. 20, 2013 (AP photo by Jorge Saenz).

Southeast Paraguay would look a lot like Iowa were it not for the small patches of jungle sticking out of its rolling hills of corn and soybeans. Agriculture has become the cornerstone of the country’s economy over the past several decades, but the rainforest that was sacrificed to make that happen remains in bits and pieces, trying to hold on. Paraguay’s changing natural landscape has raised doubts about how the small country will balance both its economic and environmental needs. The government’s inability to reconcile them so far has created major—albeit often unnoticed—social conflicts in the southeast, especially for the […]

Colombians celebrate a Supreme Court ruling that adoption agencies can’t discriminate against sexual minority couples, Bogota, Nov. 5, 2015 (AP photo by Fernando Vergara).

Last month, Colombia’s Congress rejected a referendum that would have prohibited same-sex couples from adopting children. The measure had previously passed the Senate but was defeated during its first debate in the lower chamber, the House of Representatives. LGBT activists hailed the vote as a remarkable affirmation of the rights of same-sex couples in Colombia, where legal victories for same-sex marriage, adoption rights and military service have made Colombia central to what many have called a “gay rights revolution” that has swept through Latin America over the past decade. Yet in a puzzling turn of events, the momentum in favor […]

Victims of cholera protest outside United Nations headquarters during a U.N. Security Council delegation visit, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, June 22, 2017 (AP photo by Dieu Nalio Chery).

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and senior editor, Frederick Deknatel, discuss Iraq’s prospects for reconstruction and reconciliation after the liberation of Mosul. For the Report, Jake Johnston talks with Peter Dörrie about the problematic legacy of the U.N.’s stabilization mission in Haiti, and why accountability for past errors is key to its future role in the country. If you’d like to sign up for the beta version of WPR’s Africa-only subscription, you can do so here. It’s free for the first two months. And if you like what you hear on Trend Lines, as well […]

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrives for Army Day celebrations in Caracas, June 24, 2017 (AP photo by Fernando Llano).

With less than two weeks left before Venezuelans vote on a constitution-drafting constituent assembly, the Trump administration jumped into the fray, threatening to impose economic sanctions if Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro moves to rewrite the constitution to his liking. With that, Washington took a step down a path filled with landmines. The Trump administration is not wrong to exert pressure on the increasingly undemocratic Venezuelan regime. The Venezuelan people deserve international support. But in seeking to influence events in Venezuela, Washington should maneuver very carefully. The key to successful outside support is preventing Maduro from successfully framing this conflict as […]

Members of Haiti’s new national military force run during training at a former U.N. base, Gressier, Haiti, April 11, 2017 (AP photo by Dieu Nalio Chery).

Haiti began recruitment this week for a new army, an institution that was disbanded in the mid-1990s under then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The recruitment drive comes as the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti is being replaced by a smaller mission focused on rule of law. In an email interview, Geoff Burt, executive director of the Center for Security Governance and editor-in-chief of Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, describes the Haitian army’s troubled history and the challenges to making the new one both effective and apolitical. WPR: Why was Haiti’s army disbanded in 1995, and what security threats or other […]

Demonstrators protest against Brazilian President Michel Temer and his proposed changes to labor laws and the pension system, Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 30, 2017 (AP photo by Andre Penner).

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 […]

A boy bikes past a U.N. soldier from Brazil on the road between Port-au-Prince and Les Cayes, Haiti, Oct. 15, 2016 (AP photo by Rebecca Blackwell).

After 13 years and more than $7 billion, the “touristas”—as the United Nations soldiers that currently occupy Haiti are commonly referred to—will finally be heading home. Well, sort of. While thousands of troops are expected to depart in October, the U.N. has authorized a new, smaller mission composed of police that will focus on justice and strengthening the rule of law. But the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti, known by its French acronym, MINUSTAH, is not just thousands of foreign soldiers “keeping the peace.” It is the latest and most visible manifestation of the international community’s habit of intervening in […]

A Quechua indigenous person walks beside the stream of the Silala River, Potosi, Bolivia, March 28, 2013 (AP photo by Juan Karita).

Earlier this month, Bolivian President Evo Morales publicly berated his Chilean counterpart, Michelle Bachelet, for allegedly disclosing the contents of a filing before the International Court of Justice in The Hague concerning the two countries’ battle over the Silala River. It was just the latest flare-up in a dispute that has further poisoned relations between the South American neighbors. In an email interview, Chrisopher Rossi, an adjunct faculty member at the University of Iowa College of Law who has published detailed accounts of this dispute in the Stanford Journal of International Law and the Inter-American Law Review, explains the two […]

Protesters carry images of murdered journalist Javier Valdez during a demonstration outside the Interior Ministry in Mexico City, May 16, 2017 (AP photo by Rebecca Blackwell).

MEXICO CITY—Over two days in mid-June, more than 300 journalists gathered in Mexico City to discuss how to respond to the murder of 33 of their colleagues in the past five years. Last year, Mexico was the third-most dangerous country in the world for journalists, according to the NGO Reporters Without Borders. Nine reporters were killed in unrelated incidents across the country. With no fewer than seven journalists murdered so far this year, 2017 is almost certain to surpass that figure. The reporters in Mexico City launched an initiative known as the Journalists’ Agenda to push the government to participate […]

A person in costume poses for a portrait during the annual LGBT pride parade, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov. 15, 2014 (AP photo by Natacha Pisarenko).

Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on LGBT rights and discrimination in various countries around the world. Argentina has moved rapidly from a country that used to ban LGBT organizations to a global champion of the community. Favorable conditions and savvy strategies have helped fuel the embrace of LGBT rights in Argentina. Since becoming the first Latin American country to approve gay marriage in 2010, Argentina has continued to be a leader on LGBT issues, moving forward with an expansion of transgender rights at home while pushing for LGBT rights generally on the world stage. […]

A ship carrying five American oil workers, left, reaches the shore of Margarita Island, Venezuela, after being intercepted in disputed waters off of Guyana, Oct. 13, 2013 (AP photo via Cristian Zerpa, El Sol de Margarita).

On June 15, Guyana announced it had issued an oil and gas license as well as an environmental permit to ExxonMobil. Raphael Trotman, the resources minister, said oil extraction was expected to begin in 2020, a key step for Guyana as it tries to revive its struggling economy. However, a border dispute with Venezuela remains unresolved, and Guyana’s decision to move ahead with oil production risks souring bilateral relations. In an email interview, Robert Looney, a distinguished professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and a specialist in energy issues, explains the dispute and describes how oil fits […]