Latin America Current Events. Latin American News & Current Events

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2012 Anything But Boring in the Americas

Every year brings about changes, but 2012 is likely to be an especially eventful one in the Americas: there will be elections in the United States, Mexico and Venezuela, as well as other news events that could change the political map

Latin America Still Growing, But Economic Fiesta Is Over

A key United Nations think tank that has been very bullish about Latin America in recent years is sounding a little less optimistic about the region's economies for 2012

Latin America May Split into Pacific and Atlantic Blocs

President Obama's announcement that he will seek to create what may be the world's largest trading bloc along the Pacific rim raises an interesting question in this part of the world: whether we will see a de facto split of Latin America into a Pacific and Atlantic bloc

Cuba Asking Advice from IMF? Don't Laugh

Despite big increases in tourism, some investments in mining and massive subsidies from Venezuela, Cuba's economy remains in the doldrums. The main constraint slowing the Cuban economy is not U.S. trade sanctions, but Cuba's own outdated economic model

Mexico's Drug Cartels are no 'Terrorist Insurgency'

Like in every election season, when legislators compete to make headlines, there are some bizarre ideas being discussed in the U.S. Congress these days

The Inequality Behind Chile's Prosperity

Although Chile boasts one of Latin America's most stable economies, the economic inequality amidst Chile's growing affluence has been a significant challenge for the well-reputed Andean nation

Helping Cuban Reforms through Agricultural Trade

The Cuban government is encouraging the creation of small businesses and private farming. More than 180,000 'self-employment' licenses have been issued since 2010, and the government has turned over four million acres of land to 143,000 private farmers since 2008

The Mexican Drug Cartel Threat in Central America

Central America is experiencing increasing levels of crime and the prospect of heightened competition from Mexican drug cartels in its territory. The institutional weakness and security vulnerabilities of Guatemala and other Central American states mean that combating these trends will require significant help, most likely from the United States

FARC Leader Killed in Colombia

Latin America analyst Karen Hooper discusses the killing of FARC leader Alfonso Cano and explains how the violence in Colombia will likely continue

Submarine Near Venezuela Prompts Accusations Against United States

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is again launching accusations of wrongdoing against the United States after he says his navy chased a foreign nuclear submarine away from Venezuela's coast

Anonymous vs. Zetas Amid Mexico's Cartel Violence

The online activist collective Anonymous posted a message on the Internet saying it would continue its campaign against Mexican criminal cartels and their government supporters despite the risks

Child Poverty and Access to Education: Hidden Costs on the Hispanic Community

The Pew Hispanic Center recently published a report on the growing presence of child poverty in the United States. The child poverty rate of the Hispanic population has come to exceed that of both the black and the white populations

Rafael Correa Remains the Strongest Leader in Ecuador, but his Influence is Waning

President Rafael Correa may remain Ecuador's dominant figure today, but deep fissures have developed among his political supporters. At the same time, his opposition, though relatively weak, continues to gain strength

Brazil's Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Brazil has been making great strides toward securing a prosperous future, but one of its recent actions has centered on resolving a troubling aspect of the country's past. On October 27, state officials announced a plan to establish a truth and reconciliation commission that will investigate crimes against humanity from 1946 to 1988

Panamanian Corruption Spreads to Land Holdings and Prominent Politicians

Endemic corruption in Panama's government threatens to jeopardize the recently enacted free trade agreement with the United States and Panama's economic strength

Cuba's Communist Party Condemns U.S. Immigration Policy

An official Cuban government newspaper accused the United States of encouraging the tragedy of Cuban exiles who flee on makeshift rafts and boats for the Florida coast, only to be lost at sea

Cuban Economic Reform Allows Private Home Sales

The Communist Cuban government authorized the legal transfer of private property for the first time since the Castro regime took power in the late 1950s

South of the Border

People ask me where I go for a vacation. Europe is certainly my passion and the focus of my work, but Central America has long held a fascination for me

American Border Law Enforcement Uses More Military Equipment

New surveillance equipment and weapons being deployed along the U.S. border with Mexico are prompting some Mexicans to complain that U.S. law enforcement is becoming too military

Latin America is Beating Poverty -- Sort Of

A new United Nations report has good news for Latin America: it says that poverty levels in the region have dropped to their lowest levels in 20 years. But are the U.N. figures about Latin America as great as they sound?

Democratic Speed Bumps in Latin America

Attitudes toward democracy are on the decline in Latin America, and U.S. foreign policy isn't helping

Community Of Latin American And Caribbean States Officially Launched

The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) was officially launched at a summit attended by most of the region's heads of state. The new group aims to work on economic and political integration, as well as to adopt joint stands in global affairs, without the presence of the United States or Europe

A 'Major Win' for Panamanian Corruption

After the agreement with Panama was passed, President Martinelli spoke of 'fortifying a great and historic friendship between Americans and Panamanians.' Contributing familiar political hyperbole, he diverted attention from the crucial issue of corruption in Panama

Mexico Seeks to Extradite Americans Linked to 'Operation Fast And Furious'

Mexico's attorney general moved into a political hot seat by asking the U.S. government to extradite six American citizens suspected of smuggling guns during Operation Fast and Furious

Latin American Politicians Renew Suggestions to Legalize Drugs

The president of Colombia and Mexico's former foreign minister suggested that legalizing some recreational drugs might be the only way to stop the violence and smuggling associated with drug cartels

Alabama Law Against Illegal Immigration Suffers Setback

A federal judge's decision this week to block part of a tough Alabama law against illegal immigration is casting doubt on whether the law will survive a court challenge

Colombia and Panama Trade Deals Just a Chance

In the new crisis-ridden global economy, free trade agreements are no longer what they used to be. In the past, when the U.S. economy was growing fast, gaining preferential access to the U.S. market was a make-or-break deal for countries like Colombia or Panama.

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Wins Re-election by a Landslide

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was re-elected by one of the widest margins in the country's history. Sra. de Kirchner obtained fifty-four percent of the votes while her challenger, socialist Hermes Binner, acquired just seventeen percent

Mexicans Complain About Secret U.S. Infiltration of Drug Cartels

Mexican government officials are again concerned that U.S. law enforcement agencies might have trampled their sovereignty by infiltrating drug cartels

NAFTA Is Starving Mexico

Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) became the law of the land, millions of Mexicans have joined the ranks of the hungry. Malnutrition is highest among the country's farm families, who used to produce enough food to feed the nation

A Way Out of Mexico's Morass

Rethinking Mexico's relationship with the United States is an urgent priority, according to leading Mexican politician Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

Redeployment of Mexican Soldiers to Urban Areas Boosting Illegal Drug Production

Domestic production of marijuana and opium poppy in Mexico are at high levels because of the deployment by the government of soldiers to urban areas to fight criminal gangs

Cuba's Culture of Dissent

Caricatures of Cuba as intolerant of political expression may contain a kernel of truth, but they miss the richness of dissent in the daily life of Cuba's political culture

Chinese Investment Flows Continue to Aid Brazil's Ascendency

Brazil has been able to avoid a major setback from the global financial crisis, due largely to its burgeoning trade relationship with China

Animal Spirits: Shaping Patterns of Economic Growth

'Birds of a feather flock together,' the old saying goes. So, too, do investors. Increasingly, talk is of a 'double-dip recession', 'Euro zone collapse' and the United States and Europe 'turning into Japan' -- that is, experiencing years of economic stagnation

Argentina: Lessons of Default

This time exactly 10 years ago, in December 2001, Argentina was sinking under the weight of its debts and hardly anyone was watching. In Argentina, you could feel the relentless slide towards catastrophe

China and the End of the Monroe Doctrine

Is a superpower confrontation over the Falkland islands a real possibility?

Gingrich Brings Common Sense to Immigration Debate

Finally, there is a voice of reason on immigration among the front-runners for the Republican nomination, who until recently seemed to be competing with one another to see who could take the craziest stand against Hispanic immigrants

A Call for an Enlightened Foreign Policy toward Latin America

With a little under a year remaining until the next U.S. presidential election, a coherent and sustainable area policy toward Latin America remains absent from the campaign literature and both parties' electoral strategies

OAS Makes Bad 'Error' in Nicaragua

What was most surprising about Nicaragua's election was not that President Daniel Ortega was reelected after a highly questionable electoral process, but that his victory got a seemingly unconditional blessing from 34-country Organization of American States chief Jose Miguel Insulza

Venezuela Among World Leaders in Red Tape

Following the announcement that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has created two new Cabinet ministries it may be time to propose a new economic theory: that countries' economic development is inversely proportional to their number of ministers

Never-Ending Drug War Moves to Central America

While Mexico's bloody war against the drug cartels is making headlines worldwide, there is a little-known fact that is sounding alarm bells among U.S. and Latin American officials: Central America's drug-related violence is far worse than Mexico's

Condoleezza Rice Book Shows 'Inattention' to Latin America

Condoleezza Rice, whose boss President George W. Bush vowed during the 2000 campaign to make Latin America a 'fundamental commitment' of his presidency, devotes only two of the 58 chapters of her memoir 'No Higher Honor' to the region. That's about 15 pages of the 766-page book, plus a few sporadic references here and there

Mexican Constitution Now Recognizes Right to Food

For more than fifteen years, Mexico's lawmakers -- absurdly -- seemed to prefer to abolish the desire to eat rather than comply with international agreements on human rights signed by Mexico regarding the recognition of the right to food

Learning From Mexico's Coalition Debate

A group of 46 high-profile Mexican politicians and academics from across the ideological spectrum shook this country recently with a daring proposal to end Mexico's political gridlock: forcing whomever is elected president in 2012 to form a coalition government

The Conservative Case Against a Border Fence

A fence along the U.S. border with Mexico illustrates a lack of understanding of the logistics and costs, the historical motivations driving U.S. immigration, and ignores a profound systemic change that must be achieved in order to address illegal immigration problems in a sustainable and cost efficient manner

GOP Uses Border Fence as Immigration Distraction for 2012

In GOP primary politics, the U.S.- Mexico border fence is an immigration litmus test, but an apparently unhelpful one. Nevertheless, some 2012 candidates continue to find political capital in touting the fence

Islamic Plot to Bomb U.S. Embassy Reported in Mexico

An Islamic terrorist tried to detonate explosives to destroy the American embassy in Mexico City last year, according to Mexican media reports this week

The Suppression of Democracy in Haiti

The U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti has suppressed both electoral democracy and free speech in Haiti by organizing fraudulent elections and shutting down peaceful protests, which has helped to exclude Haiti's poor majority from participation in the electoral process

Colombia: Human Rights Issues Unanswered

President Santos, by labeling illegally armed actors as 'delinquents' and 'criminals', marks a significant departure from the hardly nuanced dialogue of his predecessors. It foretells -- perhaps falsely, or at least somewhat optimistically -- the return of dialogue and the embracing of a political solution to Colombia's long-standing armed conflict

Steve Jobs May Have Failed Abroad

A Tweet I received after the death of Steve Jobs caught my attention. It said, 'In Spain, Jobs wouldn't have been able to do anything, because it's illegal to start a business in your garage, and nobody would give you a penny.' The comment raises the interesting questions of why there aren't more innovators such as Jobs in other parts of the world

Americas to Become Mecca of World's Energy

The turmoil for reform sweeping most Middle Eastern oil producers is grabbing big headlines today, but that region may lose some of its economic clout in the future: there are signs that the Americas will replace the Middle East as the world's biggest oil-producing region

Time for United States to Think Big on Latin America

Latin Universities Index Doesn't Tell Full Story

Blind Eye to Colombia's Questionable Human Rights Record

United States - Cuba Policy Staggers from Inept to Pedestrian

Rick Perry Proposal of American Troops in Mexico Stirs Criticism

GOP Candidates Look at Narco-Terrorism Risks

Other Leaders Should Copy Brazil's Anti-graft Measures

The Drug War Spreads the Bloodbath South

Obama's U.N. Omission: The War Next Door

Mexican Cartels and Pan American Games: A Threat Assessment

Mexico: Death by Social Media

Big Agriculture's Latin American Exploits