Since the recent anti-racist mobilizations in the United States and Latin American countries, there has been a strengthening of the black and feminist movements in Brazil as well as a resumption of the debate on race. Within this framework, there has been a resurgence of interest in ideas and theories of the past.
Migration is a central phenomenon of the contemporary world that challenges all countries involved. And the promotion of entrepreneurship is often seen as the solution to integrate migrants into the host society. Is this another neoliberal myth or is it a viable option?
The report of the Truth and Justice Commission on the events that occurred during the protests of October 2019 was recently presented in Ecuador. The report concludes that there were alleged human rights violations committed by members of the National Police and Armed Forces against the population.
Migration generates major social transformations. These changes, especially in countries receiving massive migratory flows in short periods of time, often end up leading to complex situations regarding issues such as cultural adaptation or employment.
The electoral campaign for next Sunday’s presidential elections in Peru is atypical. Not only because the elections will be held in the midst of a second wave of Covid-19. It is atypical also because the polarization of public opinion that dominated the previous elections has led to a dispersion of electoral preferences.
Central Americans continue to flee their home countries, and according to U.S. authorities, more than 100,000 people were apprehended at the southern border in the last month, with an increase in families and unaccompanied children over the previous month.
Exactly one year ago we saw the dramatic scenes of corpses piled up in hospital wards, in refrigerated containers, inside homes and on the sidewalks of the city of Guayaquil. These were the first images of the devastating effects of the pandemic in Ecuador in the eyes of the world.
One of the most repeated discursive elements of the president’s speech is austerity. They never miss a chance to remind us how much they save on salaries, suppliers, gasoline, and bureaucratic expenses. He has turned savings into a symbol of honesty and moral authority with traces of fetishism.
The fiscal imbalances of Latin American economies, the recent increase in debt and the sharp slowdown in economic activity will most likely lead to an increase in financing needs and probably a new debt crisis.
A popular idea in economics holds that poor countries tend to grow faster than rich countries. Therefore, the world’s economies eventually converge in their income levels. However, historical experiences of convergence have been bitter.
In November, hurricanes Eta and Iota devastated parts of Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize, leaving more than 200 people dead and more than half a million displaced. Hurricanes, as well as floods, droughts or sea level rise caused by climate change, do not affect territories equally.
One year after the health emergency and the beginning of the restrictive measures, speculations about the post-post-covid future are beginning to emerge. Will we go back to living as in the past? Or will we see the changes experienced during the pandemic perpetuate, affecting how and how much we work, educate ourselves, feed ourselves and socialize?
Four years ago, there was a debate in several countries in the region about the beneficiaries of bribes from the Brazilian company Odebrecht. History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. In 2021, we discuss whether there are some lucky ones who, skipping all protocols, have joined the list of those vaccinated against Covid-19.
Co-author Ignacio Lara
Covid-19 burst into a messy world dominated by weak and underfunded multilateral organizations. This has had an impact on how measures were taken to deal with the pandemic.
Do electoral debates change voting preferences or are they spaces of symbolic dispute in public opinion without any effect? Debates have a symbolic power that no one tests. The confrontation of ideas enriches public deliberation and demands from the candidates a better preparation to reach the voters.
In the 1960s and 1970s, military-led coups d’état were recurrent in Latin America. In the first two decades of the 21st century, however, interruptions of presidential mandates have developed other, less violent but equally serious characteristics.