Southern Cone & Brazil Archives - Page 84 of 87

Monday Memo: Raúl Castro to Retire in 2018 – Venezuela Awaits News on Chávez – Bolivian Soldiers Face Hearing in Chile – Oscar Arias visits Paraguay – Mining Strike Continues in Colombia

Top stories this week are likely to include: Cuba prepares for political successors in 2018; Venezuela’s opposition protests lack of information on Chávez; Tensions between Chile and Bolivia rise over Bolivian soldiers’ arrest; Oscar Arias visits Paraguay for OAS elections observations; and Cerrejón strike continues after explosives destroy trucks. Raúl Castro Says he’ll Step Down … Read more

Yoani Sanchez Goes to Brazil…and Oddly, It Feels Like Home

Raúl Castro’s government faces a number of critical issues, including the deteriorating health of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the potential loss of his oil and Cubans’ impatience with the government’s timid economic reforms. Who would have thought that a slight, humble woman of 37 years figured among them? Yet the actions of the Cuban government and … Read more

Rise of Ethanol in Brazil?

Earlier this week in Brazil, the price of ethanol rose above the price of sugar for the first time in nearly two years. What does this mean? Sugar mills, which dot Brazil’s landscape, will now opt to produce ethanol rather than sugar. This is a key development in a country that has been a leader … Read more

The Rights of Chile’s Mapuche Population

Chile’s Mapuche population has long struggled for greater rights. So many warmly greeted President Sebastián Piñera’s recent promise to give “top priority and urgency” to finding a constitutional solution that will recognize Chile’s Indigenous Mapuche people, a 700,000-person strong minority group that constitutes 6 percent of Chile’s population. His reaction comes after a month of … Read more

Argentina and the IMF

Last Friday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Board of Governors voted to censure Argentina for failing to revise its widely-disputed inflation data. Censure by the IMF is historic for a G20 member—having never occurred previously—and will likely harm Argentina’s already-limited access to foreign capital. If Argentina does not provide new inflation data and implement “remedial … Read more

Nightclub Fire in Brazil Prompts New Inspections Ahead of Carnaval

Brazilian authorities inspected and closed doors on nightclubs throughout the country yesterday as part of an agreement between São Paulo’s governor, Geraldo Alckmin, and Mayor Fernando Haddad in response to Sunday’s deadly nightclub fire that claimed 235 lives and injured 143 in the southern city of Santa Maria. Alckmin stated that the joint response from the … Read more

[i]AQ[/i] Videos: Natural Resource Extraction in Chile, Colombia and Peru

AQ traveled to Colombia, Chile and Peru in 2012 to study natural resource extraction and its effect on social inclusion, made possible with the generous support of the Ford Foundation. On each trip, the team met with mining officials, local government representatives, community leaders, and environmental activists to gain a broad, nuanced and diverse understanding … Read more

Brazil Truth Commission Investigates Former President’s Death

Brazil’s Truth Commission said yesterday that it planned to investigate the death of former Brazilian President Juscelino Kubitschek, a centrist politician popularly known as “JK,” who died in a car accident in 1976. According to a report released late last year by the Minas Gerais chapter of the Ordem de Advogados do Brasil (OAB), a … Read more

Brazil’s Cuban Connection

Brazil is once again seeking to enhance its international profile. But this time, rather than engaging in close partnerships with its fellow BRICS club members—Russia, India, China, and South Africa—Brazil is collaborating with a smaller nation: Cuba. Since assuming office in 2011, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has worked closely with Cuban President Raúl Castro to … Read more

Innovation: The Case of Chile

How do you “start up” a start-up ecosystem? That was the question facing Chile in 2010, as the Corporación de Fomento de la Producción (Chilean Economic Development Agency—CORFO) and the Chilean Ministry of Economy looked for ways to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. Despite Chile’s strong economic performance, its business culture did not have a history … Read more

Business Innovator: Bedy Yang, United States/Brazil

Silicon Valley may be the technology capital of the world, but Brazilian cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are giving the Bay Area a run for its money. A booming economy and an increasingly connected middle class that grew by 50 percent from 2003 to 2009 have made Brazil a logical new hub … Read more

Civic Innovator: Álvaro Herrero, Argentina

Álvaro Herrero could have pursued any career of his choice. His impressive academic credentials include a law degree from the Universidad Nacional de la Plata in his native Argentina, an MA in Latin American studies from Georgetown and a PhD in political science from Oxford. But in 2005, he opted instead for a job as … Read more

Cerro Abajo

Linking “Chile” and “extreme sports” usually conjures up an image of off-road vehicles racing at breakneck speed through the Atacama Desert during the annual Dakar Rally [AQ, Summer 2011], or of high-endurance hikers climbing the Andes. But downhill racing in Valparaíso, Chile’s bohemian harbor city? In fact, since 2003, romantic “Valpo,” which counted Pablo Neruda … Read more

“No”

In October 1988, a national plebiscite to extend the military rule of then-Chilean President Augusto Pinochet was voted down by 56 percent of the electorate. This transformational event has been re-imagined 24 years later in a film named after the “No” coalition of 16 political parties that led the opposition campaign.No is the third and … Read more