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The Other Winner of Mexico’s Energy Reforms
On a recent summer afternoon, Carlos Gamez, a project manager at solar energy provider Enlight, was overseeing a home installation in the affluent Mexico City neighborhood of Lomas de Chapultepec. Workers prepared to tilt two dozen or so panels to 19 degree angles toward the equator, and position them far from the shade of a … Read more
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In Argentina, the Ghost of Populism Haunts Investors Ahead of Elections
This piece has been updated. Every morning María Graciela Ottaviani sets up a cart by the beach in Mar del Plata, Argentina, where she sells popcorn to the tourists that flock to the coastal city. It’s not easy work for the 71-year-old, who recently broke an elbow when she fell on the stairs. But ever … Read more
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Foreign Firms Show Renewed Interest in Bolivia’s Gas Fields
On his 100th day as president, Evo Morales sent the military to occupy Bolivia’s oil and gas fields in a bid to nationalize reserves of its most important resource. It was a dramatic statement that captured attention in Bolivia and beyond. A decade later, Morales is adopting a more pragmatic approach. There’s little fanfare this time, … Read more
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The Cost of Brazilian President Michel Temer’s Political Survival
Peasants, small farmers, and indigenous people are being massacred over land rights and environmental conflicts across rural Brazil. From January to July of this year, 52 people have been killed, according to the Land Pastoral Commission (the Comissão Pastoral da Terra, or CPT, a Catholic organization that tracks this violence). At this rate, 2017 will … Read more
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For Latin American Youth, Big Ambitions Meet Familiar Obstacles
Experts, policymakers and young people gathered in Lima for AQ’s launch event on challenges and opportunities facing youth in the region today.
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Live Now: What It’s Like to Be 18 in Latin America
Lima, Peru – What is it like to be on the cusp of adulthood in Latin America today? The first generation to grow up in a continent where the middle class outnumbers the poor, today’s young are on average better educated than their parents. They also have much higher aspirations—but will they be able to reach … Read more
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The Six Players in Venezuela’s Crisis
Venezuela is at a crossroads. President Nicolás Maduro is pushing ahead with a vote Sunday to elect a 545-member National Constituent Assembly (ANC) with powers to rewrite the constitution and cement his hold on power. Events over the next few days will determine the survival of Venezuelan democracy, the welfare of its population, and the … Read more
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Venezuela’s Neighbors Need to Step Up. What’s Holding Them Back?
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump promised “strong and swift economic actions” if Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro goes through with the July 30 vote to select delegates to the constituent assembly. This announcement comes after an increasingly desperate situation in Venezuela has been met with remarkable regional inaction, producing a power vacuum not seen for decades. Those, however, … Read more
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Are Bolivia and Chile Ready to Ease Rising Border Tensions?
LA PAZ – When Bolivian and Chilean border officials gather on July 25 – their first meeting in six years – they will have a seemingly simple agenda: to restore functional relations along their border without regular resort to courts, threats or name-calling. It won’t be easy. The 528-mile border has been a source of … Read more
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A Former President’s Detention Raised Few Eyebrows in Peru. What’s Going On?
LIMA – In most countries, the arrest of a former head of state on corruption allegations would trigger uproar. In Peru, the pre-trial detention of former President Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia has met with something of a collective shrug. The country has been here before. Recently. Of Humala’s three predecessors spanning … Read more
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The Venezuelan Diaspora’s Role in Confronting Maduro
On Sunday, July 16 more than 7 million Venezuelans – at home and abroad – participated in a symbolic referendum against the constitutional convention proposed by President Nicolás Maduro. I was one of the votes from abroad. Besides casting my ballot, I also volunteered to accompany observers witnessing the process in New York City. We started by visiting … Read more
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Brazil Is Tired. Guess Who Benefits?
Everywhere you go in Brazil, it’s the same thing. Circles under the eyes, hushed voices. A shrug. “Fazer o que?” In the bakeries of Eastern São Paulo. In courtrooms. In President Michel Temer’s government. Outside shuttered storefronts. At City Hall. In the 50-person line for jobs at a yogurt shop. In corporate suites. The anger … Read more
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Brazil Is Tired. Guess Who Benefits?
Everywhere you go in Brazil, it’s the same thing. Circles under the eyes, hushed voices. A shrug. “Fazer o que?” In the bakeries of Eastern São Paulo. In courtrooms. In President Michel Temer’s government. Outside shuttered storefronts. At City Hall. In the 50-person line for jobs at a yogurt shop. In corporate suites. The anger … Read more
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Can Latin America’s Development Banks Be Fixed?
Scandals and corruption investigations unfolding in Latin America have given development banks a terrible reputation: They stand accused of feeding crony capitalism, transferring resources from taxpayers to undeserving billionaires, and making lending decisions that misallocate capital at the whims of bureaucratic planners who do not necessarily know best. Should we just close them, implode their buildings … Read more
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Rio de Janeiro’s Party Is Over. Who Pays the Bill?
I teach at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, one of the most important educational institutions in Brazil, with more than 30,000 students. Broad programs of affirmative action have ensured that many of those students are from poor backgrounds, often the first members of their families to go to college. They are part of … Read more
