Dispatches: The Stethoscope Diaspora
Alvin Mena Cantero might seem indistinguishable from the thousands of hard-working Cuban immigrants in Houston. The 30-year-old recently bought a house in the suburbs and has two jobs, one as a family nurse and the other as weekend supervisor at a mental health center. But Mena is no ordinary exile. Just four years earlier, he … Read more
Civic Innovator: Rosmery Mollo Mamani
Rosmery Mollo Mamani’s great-grandmother died in childbirth. It is an all-too-common tragedy in the Bolivian altiplano (plateau), where Indigenous women experience the country’s highest rates of maternal mortality. But Mollo refused to accept that fact as inevitable. At the age of 19, she left her Indigenous community in the province of Ingavi to pursue a … Read more
Medellín, The Smart City
Expectant mothers in the poorest areas of Medellín, Colombia, once had to travel far from their neighborhoods for doctor appointments—often spending more money than they earned in a day on transportation. But thanks to the Buen Comienzo (Good Start) program provided by the city government’s Medellín Ciudad Inteligente (Medellín Smart City) initiative, mothers-to-be in the … Read more
Politics Innovator: Aída Fabiola Valencia Ramírez
Aída Fabiola Valencia Ramírez learned the hard way what can happen when you fight for public accountability in rural Mexico. On March 10, 2013, the Mexican federal deputy attended a meeting in her hometown of San Agustín Loxicha in Oaxaca to question then-Municipal President Flavio Pérez about what she considered under-funded public works projects. An … Read more
Violence and Government Regulation Continue to Limit Press Freedom in the Americas, Report Finds
Only two percent of Latin Americans in 2014 lived in a media environment considered free, according to a press freedom report released Wednesday by the research institute Freedom House. The report registered no collective improvement for press in the Americas from the year prior, when press freedom dropped to its lowest level in five years. … Read more
Government Clashes with Guatemalan Indigenous Leaders Over Radio Station
The murder of Indigenous activist Pascual Pablo Francisco, whose body showed signs of torture when he was found dead on March 27 in the northern department of Huehuetenango, is the latest episode in a long-standing conflict between the Guatemalan government and the Mayan Q’anjob’al community over the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the K’anbalam … Read more
Bachelet Signs Law Allowing Same-Sex Civil Unions
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet signed a law on Monday allowing same-sex civil unions. The law, known as the Acuerdo de Unión Civil (Civil Union Accord—AUC), falls short of recognizing same-sex marriage, but establishes “civil cohabitation” as an officially recognized marital status that affords many of the same rights as marriage, such as visitation, inheritance and … Read more
Public Hearings Begin for Mexico’s Water Law
The Comisión de Recursos Hidráulicos (Hydraulic Resources Commission) of Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies initiated a period of public hearings today to inform a new draft of the Ley General de Aguas (General Water Law), which will regulate the management of country’s water resources. An earlier draft of the water bill, which appeared to have been … Read more
Broken DREAMs in Albany’s Budget
When my mother decided to bring my brothers and me to this country from Mexico six years ago, she did it because she wanted us to have a better future. My mom is a single mother with five children, and she always explained to us that the educational system here was much better than in … Read more
Negotiations Continue over Panama’s Barro Blanco Dam
A new round of negotiations will begin on March 27 over Panama’s $225 million Barro Blanco hydroelectric project—now 95 percent complete, but the source of a long-standing feud between the Generadora del Istmo S.A. (GENISA) company, the contractor for the dam, and the Ngäbe Buglé Indigenous group, which is vehemently opposed to the project due … Read more
Tone Down the “Winners and Losers” Talk on Cuba
Cuba is the Groundhog Day of the twentieth century. That the United States’ policy of isolation and permanent embargo went on into the 21st century is testimony to the endurance of both Americans and Cubans in making a failed policy become a third rail in U.S. domestic policy. Not that there weren’t attempts at reconciliation … Read more
Looking Backwards: International Women’s Day
This year, International Women’s Day, which celebrated its 100th birthday on Sunday, also marked the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. In what is still considered the most comprehensive blueprint on advancing women’s rights, 189 governments adopted the 1995 Beijing roadmap. Looking back … Read more
Protests Highlight Guatemalan Minimum Wage Concerns
Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti’s insensitive recent comments about planned changes to the country’s minimum wage were answered by nationwide demonstrations on February 22, organized by Guatemala’s Coordinadora Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas (National Coordination of Peasant Organizations—CNOC). In response to four accords approved at the end of 2014 to establish a lower monthly minimum wage … Read more
Terrorism: Fear is Not a Policy
Last week’s international summit on terrorism at the White House showed how much the issue has become a central concern around the world. Evidently, the fear of a homegrown attack has understandably pushed many nations to enact more stringent laws and preventive measures. The recent spread of terrorist attacks in Western Europe and Canada has … Read more
Monday Memo: Peru-Chile Relations—Panama Hydroelectric Dam—Guatemala-Honduras Customs—São Paulo Drought—Venezuela Conspiracy Charges
Allegations of Espionage Threaten Peru-Chile Relations: Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Heraldo Muñoz announced on Sunday that Chilean Ambassador Roberto Ibarra would not return to his post in Peru in light of the country’s espionage complaints against Chile. On Friday, Peruvian Ambassador Francisco Rojas Samanez was recalled to Lima after Peruvian prosecutors claimed that several Peruvian … Read more
