Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas
Maximo

AQ Top 5 Young Entrepreneurs: Maximo Cavazzani

This article is adapted from our AQ Top 5 feature on young Latin American entrepreneurs. To see the rest of our list, click here. Leer en español If you could pick a time and a place to start a business, Argentina in 2009 probably wouldn’t top your list. The global economic crisis was raging. Argentina … Read more

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How Can Latin America Keep Its Entrepreneurs At Home?

This article is adapted from AQ’s print issue on entrepreneurship. To see our AQ Top 5 list of young entrepreneurs in Latin America, click here. When Bruno Santiago first came up with his idea for a business travel app that combines commercial and private jet databases, he sat down and wrote a list of pros and … Read more

women entrepreneur

The Double Standard Facing Latin America’s Women Entrepreneurs

Vilma Tellez Ballesteros has been a coffee producer for most of her life, running a successful business from her home in northern Nicaragua for more than two decades. But when she goes to the bank to negotiate loans, she brings her husband with her. “They listen to him,” her daughter, Carmen Davila Tellez, told AQ. … Read more

Venezuela

Venezuela’s Life-Saving Social Networks

Amid supermarket rationing and lines of empty store shelves, Venezuelans are taking day-to-day survival into their own… smartphones. Twitter, Facebook, and messaging service WhatsApp have become go-to platforms for thousands of Venezuelans as they undertake the increasingly difficult task of finding and paying for everything from cooking oil to cancer medication. @delmercadoencontre (“At the market I … Read more

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Apoye “la diplomacia de Silicon Valley” en América Latina

Leer en inglés Estimado(a) Sr(a) Presidente(a): Los líderes mundiales viajan regularmente a Washington, Nueva York o Houston, pero ningún destino es tan anhelado y codiciado como Silicon Valley. Al representar lo mejor de nuestra inclinación hacia la innovación y el espíritu empresarial, la región suscita la envidia del mundo. De hecho, Silicon Valley se ha … Read more

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Support “Silicon Valley Diplomacy” in Latin America

Leer en español In the new issue of Americas Quarterly, we asked people, “What would you tell the next U.S. president about Latin America?” To see other authors’ responses, click here. Dear Mister / Madam President, World leaders regularly travel to Washington, New York City, Houston — but no visit is more coveted or anticipated … Read more

cuba wifi

Far From Silicon Valley, Cuba Cultivates Startup Scene

The barriers to founding a tech startup in Cuba are high. For starters, hardly anyone has access to internet connections faster than dial-up. But that’s not stopping a generation of young entrepreneurs on the island, where a nascent tech community is challenging the idea that tech innovation has to come from places like Silicon Valley. Two of those … Read more

Jobs

Where Are Central America’s Real Jobs?

These days, Celso López is a naturopathic doctor living a quiet life on a farm. But during the 1980s, he led a column of about 100 guerrilla fighters in the mountains surrounding San Martin, Guatemala. López said he was “the most wanted man in the area,” with a hefty price on his head, and he … Read more

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How Central America Can Make the Most of a $750 Million U.S. Aid Package

The passage of a $750 million U.S. aid package for Central America is an example of the collaboration needed to end violence and rebuild society in the Northern Triangle. As policymakers spend these funds, having the right data to inform spending will be crucial. For over 15 years, INCAE Business School has helped collect and … Read more

Complexo

Rio’s Big Moment: A Photo Essay

This was supposed to be the year of Rio de Janeiro. The 2016 Olympics were meant to showcase a safer, modernizing city that could not only provide for its more than 6 million citizens, but also play host to a marvelous global party. Unfortunately, it hasn’t turned out that way – Rio has been badly … Read more

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Interview: Javier Olivan, Facebook

Facebook began in 2004 as an online social networking service for students at Harvard University. Since then, it has grown into a global enterprise worth over $200 billion, with more than 1 billion active users. In July 2014, the company launched Internet.org, with telecom and other industry partners, in an effort to broaden access to … Read more

e-commerce

Commerce Without Borders: Latin America’s Wired Entrepreneurs

In 2013, Nataliya and Daniel Ulasik started their own business in Quito, Ecuador. The business, EcuaLama, enables Indigenous people in the small Ecuadorian mountain town of Otavalo to sell handmade blankets, ponchos and hats to consumers in 30 countries. The company’s online sales and marketing eventually led to a relationship with a London-based retailer. Today, … Read more

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