In January, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. dollar was “too strong,” a departure from the past practice of U.S. presidents, who tried to avoid making such statements and influencing currency markets. How is the U.S. dollar’s relative strength affecting Latin American and Caribbean economies, and what would a weaker dollar mean for the region?
Argentine President Mauricio Macri meets today in Washington with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump. How have U.S.-Argentine relations fared since Macri took office in late 2015, and where are they headed during Trump’s presidency?
Unrest in Venezuela was sparked after the country’s Supreme Court effectively dissolved the country’s legislature but then reversed the move following widespread condemnation over fears that the country was lurching toward a dictatorship. Meanwhile, the legislature has begun the process of removing pro-government Supreme Court justices. Is the relationship among Venezuela’s branches of government irreparably damaged?
Ruling party candidate and former vice president Lenín Moreno claimed victory in Ecuador’s presidential vote on Sunday, as supporters of conservative challenger Guillermo Lasso clashed with riot police in major cities, accusing authorities of permitting fraud in the election. With more than 99 percent of votes counted, Moreno had secured 51.2 percent of the votes compared with Lasso’s 48.8 percent, according to the electoral council. Lasso has called for a recount in every province of the nation, but the electoral council’s head, Juan Pablo Pozo, has appealed to the opposition to recognize the results.
Organization of American States Secretary-General Luis Almagro said last week that Venezuela should be suspended from the group if it does not hold elections “as soon as possible.” Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government has frequently dismissed Almagro as working in the interests of the United States. Should the OAS suspend Venezuela? What would result from such a suspension?
Hours before a Feb. 28 speech to a joint session of Congress, U.S. President Donald Trump signaled openness during a luncheon with journalists to address legal status for immigrants who are in the United States illegally. What are the chances for immigration reform legislation to win approval this year in Congress?
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly wants to slash funding to the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development by 37 percent, while also pouring an additional $54 billion into the country’s defense budget. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers quickly criticized the cuts, however, saying they would hobble U.S. influence in the world. What would such cuts, and increased defense spending, mean for the United States’ role in Latin America and the Caribbean?
In January, oil giants ExxonMobil and Hess announced they had drilled a deepwater exploration well that strongly suggests the seafloor beneath Guyana’s coastal waters holds one of the largest oil and natural-gas discoveries in recent years. What is the outlook for Guyana’s oil and gas sector, and what has changed since the announcement of the Liza discovery nearly two years ago?
Brazilian Minister of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services Marcos Pereira said in January that Brazil could stand to gain from the United States’ move to a more protectionist trade stance under new U.S. President Donald Trump, especially in the agribusiness sector. He added that Brazil would hope to fill the gap the United States would leave by backing out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Is Pereira correct in saying that Brazil stands to gain under the Trump administration’s policies?
En los últimos años, la corrupción en América Latina y el Caribe ha atraído un nivel de atención sin precedentes, con jefes de estado de grandes y pequeños países destituidos de sus cargos debido a acusaciones de soborno, auto-enriquecimiento y el mal manejo de fondos públicos. Sin embargo, los defensores del aumento de la transparencia gubernamental y de la lucha contra la corrupción están preocupados que los cambios sean superficiales y que los enjuiciamientos de políticos de alto rango no hagan frente a los problemas estructurales que tienen que iniciarse para alcanzar el fin de la corrupción. ¿Está disminuyendo la voluntad popular y política para atacar la corrupción?
Recent years have brought unprecedented levels of attention to corruption in Latin America and the Caribbean, with heads of state in countries large and small removed from office amid allegations of bribery, self enrichment and mismanagement of public funds. However, advocates for increasing transparency and fighting corruption worry that superficial changes and isolated high-level prosecutions do not get to the deep and structural safeguards needed to tackle the problem in 2017 and beyond. Is the popular and political will to address graft and corruption waning?
Tensions boiled over between the United States and Mexico recently, amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s advancement of a plan to build a multi-billion-dollar wall along the countries’ shared border and his continued insistence that he will force Mexico to pay for it. The situation led Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to cancel a planned meeting with Trump in Washington and reiterate that his country would not pay for the wall. Are U.S.-Mexico relations likely to deteriorate further, or will Trump and Peña Nieto find common ground?
Brazilian Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes on Jan. 3 pledged to overhaul the country’s criminal justice system to address prison overcrowding in the wake of a prison riot in Amazonas state that left 56 dead, the largest riot of its kind in two decades. Within days, dozens more inmates were killed in prison riots in Roraima state, Manaus and Rio Grande do Norte state. What reforms are most needed for the country’s criminal justice system, and how should they be implemented?
The White House on Jan. 12 ended the so-called “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” policy, which for two decades had automatically allowed Cubans who reach dry land in the United States to stay. Then-U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration announced the end of the policy, which Cuba’s government had long opposed, just eight days before Obama left office. How will the change affect Cuban migration patterns throughout the region?
Since taking over as Argentina’s president a year ago, Mauricio Macri has implemented free-market measures in an effort to spur the economy and attract foreign investment. However, the country’s economy contracted for the fourth consecutive time in last year’s third quarter, and Macri in December dismissed his finance minister, Alfonso Prat-Gay, and split his ministry of treasury and finance into two cabinet departments. What kinds of economic policies can be expected of new Treasury Minister Nicolás Dujovne and new Finance Minister Luis Caputo?
