Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas

Panama

Hundreds of trucks stand stranded by highway blockades in Panama's Veraguas Province on May 14.
Panama’s Protests Test President Mulino on Multiple Fronts

Controversial deals with the U.S. have supercharged demonstrations, but the government seems capable of avoiding a repeat of 2023.

Latin America

Latin America's Rightward Shift From left: Presidents Daniel Noboa (Ecuador), Javier Milei (Argentina), and Nayib Bukele (El Salvador)
Latin America’s Rightward Shift

The right looks well-placed in important votes coming up across the region.

Haiti

Port-au-Prince Haiti: People protest to demand the departure of the Transitional Presidential Council due to insecurity and gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on March 26, 2025. While authorities, including the National Palace and several ministries have all left downtown to escape the armed gang attacks in Port-au-Prince. Meanwhile, the people continue to fall victim to gang bullets.
Flows of Guns and Money Are Dooming Haiti

Anarchy is not inevitable. Action on weapons trafficking and illicit finances will be critical over the coming months, an expert writes.

Security

Colombia's national army guards the border Rumichaca bridge with Ecuador in January 2024. To Fight Organized Crime, Latin America Needs a Regional Security Force: Escalating violence is a cross-border crisis that demands collective action.
To Fight Organized Crime, Latin America Needs a Regional Security Force

Escalating violence is a cross-border crisis that demands collective action.

Panama

Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino looks on as US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signs a bilateral agreement, in Panama City on April 9, 2025. Hegseth arrived in Panama for the regional security summit and to reinforce the Trump administration's continued interest over the canal.
Panama’s President Mulino Is Right to Cooperate with the U.S.

Performative resistance to Trump might be gratifying, but it would undermine Panama’s most critical strategic interests, writes Mulino’s former deputy minister of foreign affairs.

El Salvador

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 14: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador in the Oval Office of the White House April 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump and Bukele were expected to discuss a range of bilateral issues including the detention of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who has been held in a prison in El Salvador since March 15. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
What Bukele Wants from Trump

The Salvadoran president’s controversial deals with the U.S. are calculated to preserve his reputation at home as the economy stumbles and evidence of a gang truce mounts.

Podcast

AQ Podcast | Guatemala: Arévalo’s Tumultuous First Year

An overview of how Guatemala’s democracy and economy are faring a year after President Arévalo was nearly prevented from taking office.

U.S. Policy

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez in Beijing on April 24. Why the U.S. Should Engage with Venezuela: The Trump administration is holding talks with Iran and turning its back on Maduro. Continued isolation will deepen Caracas’ reliance on U.S. adversaries.
Why the U.S. Should Engage with Venezuela

The Trump administration is holding talks with Iran and turning its back on Maduro. Continued isolation will deepen Caracas’ reliance on U.S. adversaries.

U.S. Policy

How U.S. Policy Toward Latin America May Backfire: Tariffs will pressure regional trade and economies, and could drive the region to more meaningful engagement with China, an expert writes.
How U.S. Policy Toward Latin America May Backfire

Tariffs will squeeze the region’s economies and trade, and could drive deeper engagement with China, an expert writes.

Cultura

The Mysterious Last Days of the “Lieutenant Nun”

A real-life Spanish nun turned conquistador is the focus of a new novel by an Argentine writer.

Cultura

When Everything Was Possible in Puerto Rican Film

A new documentary looks back at the remarkable cinema that came out of the island’s midcentury moment of optimism.

Long View

The Long Shadow of Mexico’s War Over Catholicism

A century ago, the Cristero war pitted Catholics against the state—and left a lasting impact on the country’s left, still visible today.

AQ Q&A

Q&A: Eugene Zapata-Garesché on the Future of Latin American Cities

An expert on urban issues discusses trends to watch and argues cities are where the region’s political future is being forged.

One Year Later

A New Stage in the Race to Develop Latin America’s Ports

A year after AQ’s report on port infrastructure, Chile’s far south has hit a few roadblocks as investment interest continues.

Cultura

Pope Francis, In His Own Words

The late pontiff’s autobiography provides a rare window into the inner and outer life of a beloved and complicated man.

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