The Americas Archive

Drug trafficking laws have led to some contentious relationships among North and South American countries. Now the decriminalization of drugs is challenging these relationships in new ways. Find out more—when you subscribe to World Politics Review. Drug trafficking has become such a part of the landscape in Mexico that those involved in the practice even have their own unofficial patron saint: Jesus Malverde, a mustachioed bandit from the hills of Sinaloa state who, according to legend, stole from the rich and gave to the poor until his death by hanging in 1909. Though primarily an icon for those who run […]

The Cuban government rolled out mobile internet service for the first time last month, one of the last countries in the world to do so. While the 3G mobile network will be too costly for most Cubans, it could still help open political space and develop the island’s burgeoning independent media scene. In an interview with WPR, Ted Henken, a sociologist at Baruch College in New York who specializes in contemporary Cuba, discusses the promises and peril of expanding digital access in Cuba. World Politics Review: How much of an impact will this actually have on Cubans’ ability to access […]

The Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants and asylum-seekers has placed the United States in the same camp as the countries recently denounced by National Security Adviser John Bolton as the “troika of tyranny”—Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. For years, those three countries have denounced or refused to participate in the proceedings of the Organization of American States’ inter-American human rights system when their own violations of democratic norms and human rights are under scrutiny. Over the past two years, the Trump administration has joined their ranks, ignoring or rebuffing the Western Hemisphere’s premier human rights body. Since Trump’s inauguration, the OAS’ […]

El Salvador’s legislature last month declined to reappoint Attorney General Douglas Melendez for a second term. The move is widely viewed as retaliation for Melendez’s anti-corruption crusade, which ensnared a number of high-profile Salvadoran political figures, including his predecessor as attorney general and several former presidents. In an interview with WPR, Eric Olson, a Latin America specialist at the Seattle International Foundation, discusses Melendez’s tenure as attorney general and the political impact of El Salvador’s “endemic” corruption, including on next month’s presidential election. World Politics Review: How pervasive is corruption in El Salvador, and what are its political ramifications? Eric […]