Latinoamerica 21Una región, todas las voces

Washington is once again betting on a strategy that already failed more than six decades ago: using economic sanctions to force political change in Cuba. Yet, while it seeks to isolate the regime, it also hampers reforms and pushes Havana closer to China.

Brazil’s foreign policy is often analyzed through the lens of its regional leadership or its participation in the BRICS and the G20. Yet one of its most strategic dimensions has been its relationship with the Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP), a sphere that illustrates how a middle power can expand its autonomy in a multipolar international system by relying on resources that extend beyond economic and military power. During the governments of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003–2010), Brazil significantly reshaped its foreign policy. Rather than concentrating its international engagement on its traditional ties with the United States and Europe, it adopted a strategy that international relations scholars Vigevani and Cepaluni described as "autonomy through diversification": expanding its room for maneuver by building alliances with the Global South in order to reduce its dependence on the Global North. This approach was not unique to Brazil. Argentina under the Kirchners and Venezuela under...

Ideological convictions can become the filter that prevents people from recognizing risks when they come from their own side.