The Americas Archive

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, senior editor, Frederick Deknatel, and associate editor, Omar H. Rahman, discuss what Germany’s election results mean for Europe and the rise of populist nationalism on the continent, as well as Iraqi Kurdistan’s big leap forward for independence. For the Report, Ciara Long talks with Peter Dörrie about how Brazil’s economic downturn and austerity budgets are combining to undo the impressive gains the country previously made in poverty-reduction, while also jeopardizing the celebrated Bolsa Familia initiative that has helped move millions out of poverty since 2003. If you like what you […]

Some of the Trump administration’s most recent foreign policy pronouncements have put Venezuela, perhaps the biggest crisis in the Western Hemisphere, front and center. The statements signal that the administration is not only placing more importance on Venezuela, but also that it is attempting a much-needed course correction. Last week, in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, President Donald Trump spoke at length about the political and economic unrest in Venezuela, outlining Washington’s new approach. On the evening before the speech, Trump met with a group of Latin American leaders, and Venezuela was topic No. 1 ahead of […]

On July 20, more than 1,000 Mexican Marines and federal and local police descended on a southeastern suburb of Mexico City to try and capture a notorious, alleged drug cartel boss. In the clash that ensued, the Marines killed eight suspected drug traffickers from the Cartel de Tlahuac, including its reputed leader, Felipe de Jesus Perez Luna. In response, the cartel’s members hijacked and burned buses in the streets. The operation put to rest a longstanding Mexican government narrative that the country’s drug cartels, present in the majority of Mexican states, do not operate in the capital. It has also […]

Every Tuesday night beginning at 10 p.m., Luciana Rosana de Souza joins a growing queue outside a faded, lavender building, a stone’s throw from Rio de Janeiro’s sleek downtown neighborhoods. The squat, two-story concrete houses nearby are a stark contrast to the glassy office tower blocks in the city center and the high-rise apartments perched on Rio’s postcard beachfronts. Six hours later, just before dawn, Miriam Gomes arrives and begins sorting food donations into plastic bags with the help of a handful of volunteers. Souza’s family is one of 80 or so that Gomes’ NGO, Anjinho Feliz, or Happy Little […]

Reports from Caracas of browbeaten protesters retreating from the streets are another grim reminder of the inability of sanctions to single-handedly change the behavior of an entrenched and increasingly autocratic government. Rather than undermine the regime in Venezuela, the recent series of U.S. sanctions appear to have set off a wave of unintended consequences. Not only have sanctions strengthened the legitimacy of President Nicolas Maduro’s claims of U.S. imperialism—the Trump administration has already threatened military intervention—they have provided a convenient excuse to round up opposition leaders on the charge of treason. Over time, other actions detrimental to U.S. interests will […]

Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series on LGBT rights and discrimination in various countries around the world. Since Haiti was devastated by an earthquake in 2010, the country’s already-marginalized LGBT community has faced a surge of attacks at home, including attempts to pass harsh legal measures that would further restrict LGBT rights. In response, Haiti’s LGBT community has become progressively more organized and active, pushing back for the first time. In an email interview, Amber Lynn Munger, senior program officer at the American Jewish World Service, explains the turbulent environment that LGBT people face in Haiti, […]

LIMA, Peru—After little more than a year in office, Peru’s president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, faces an uphill battle to realize his agenda of ramping up economic growth in order to reduce poverty and follow through on other campaign promises. Can PPK, as he is known in Peru, deliver? Kuczynski has faced some unexpected challenges over the past year. His administration was forced to funnel approximately $6.2 billion of federal funds into reconstruction of areas devastated by El Nino-linked floods in March, which Kuczynski says reduced economic growth this year by 2 percent. The administration is also struggling to restart major […]

In recent years, while different regions of the world fought battles against extremism, disease or the rise of authoritarianism, Latin America waged its own pivotal war against what has been arguably the region’s greatest scourge: corruption. Now, after a string of victories that would have been unimaginable only a few years ago, the conflict faces a make-or-break challenge in the very place where it was born, Guatemala. Guatemala’s president, Jimmy Morales, has put the lie to his campaign promise to stand against corruption and in support of the rule of law, and is now threatening the institution that made it […]

Two years ago, Guatemalans succeeded in pushing then-President Otto Perez Molina and Vice President Roxanna Baldetti out of office for corruption, thanks to the help of the U.N.-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, or CICIG. Through its investigations, which brought thousands of protesters out into the streets, the commission found that Perez Molina’s administration had led a high-level graft ring, taking bribes from international businesses rather than collecting taxes for the state. Both leaders are currently in prison. It was an unprecedented moment of accountability for a country that suffers from high rates of impunity. But it was just […]

Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series about education policy in various countries around the world. Peru’s education system has been rocked by a nearly two-month-long teachers’ strike that came to a “temporary” end on Sept. 2, but not before tarnishing the image of the government and threatening to force school children to repeat the academic year. While the teachers were able to agree on some terms with the government, many underlying issues remain unresolved. In an email interview, Santiago Cueto, senior researcher at GRADE and a member of Peru’s National Education Council, explains what education in […]