Latin America must brace as El Nino flips to La Nina, experts warn
Reuters Latin American nations must be on high alert as the weather phenomenon known as El Nino rapidly switches over to La Nina, experts said on Thursday, leaving populations and crops little time to recover. El Nino and its abundant rains could soon turn into droughts caused by La Nina as well as an intense […]
Essay: Deep-seated inequality is fuelling an escalation of violence across Latin America
ANDREW NICKSON, of the University of Birmingham looks at the causes for the rising violence in an article first published on The Conversation… For most of the 20th century, Latin America was portrayed as one of the world’s most peaceful regions. Coups and repressive military regimes had long been commonplace but widespread civil disorder and […]
Record half-million migrants crossed Latin America’s dangerous Darien Gap in 2023
Panama CityReuters A record 520,000 migrants crossed the treacherous jungle between Colombia and Panama known as the Darien Gap in 2023, more than double the number reported the year before, according to government figures seen by Reuters on Tuesday. The migrants who made the journey that marks the start of the dangerous trek north from […]
Voices from the diaspora: In Chile, Palestinian community makes its voice heard on Gaza
ALEXANDER VILLEGAS, of Reuters, reports from Chile which has the largest Palestinian population outside the US…
Colombian President proposes Latin American alliance to transform ‘war on drugs’
Bogota, Colombia Reuters Colombian President Gustavo Petro proposed on Saturday an alliance between Latin American countries to bring a unified voice to the fight against drug trafficking, by recognizing drug consumption as a public health problem instead of confronting it with what he called a “failed” militarised approach. President of Colombia Gustavo Petro and Mexico’s […]
The Explainer: The Global South is on the rise – but what exactly is the Global South?
JORGE HEINE, interim director of the Frederick S Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Boston University, looks – in an article first published on The Conversation – at what the term means…
Latin America’s anti-corruption strength slips, ranking shows
Mexico City, MexicoReuters An index evaluating Latin American countries’ ability to root out corruption showed most countries moving backward, according to the ranking released on Tuesday. The 2023 Capacity to Combat Corruption Index, published jointly by Americas Society/Council of the Americas and Control Risks, points to a decline in the region’s average score for the […]
US must stem “iron river” of guns flowing to Latin America, activists say
Reuters US guns, many of them exported legally, are flowing into Latin America in an “iron river” ending in the hands of drug cartels and abusive security forces, activists said Monday, calling for greater oversight from US law and federal agencies. More than half of “crime guns” recovered and traced in Central America are sourced […]
Corruption rife across Latin America; Guatemala, Nicaragua reach all-time lows: report
Sao Paulo, Brazil Reuters Guatemala, Nicaragua and Cuba reached all-time lows on Transparency International’s corruption index released on Tuesday due to increased organised crime by public institutions, co-optation by political and economic elites and increased human rights abuses. “Weak governments fail to stop criminal networks, social conflict, and violence, and some exacerbate threats to human […]
Essay: After 50 years, ‘liberation theology’ is still reshaping Catholicism and politics – but what is it?
LEO GUARDADO, an assistant professor of theology at Fordham University, explains – in an article published on The Conversation – at what liberation theology is and the role it’s played in Catholic thought in Latin America…