This week’s snapshot looks at Latin America’s rankings in the recently released Global Competitiveness Index, produced by the World Economic Forum. While the so-called ALBA countries continue to occupy the bottom of the regional pile, the biggest surprise is Brazil, which sunk 18 places.
Corruption scandals and slowing economic growth have forced President Michelle Bachelet to backtrack on her campaign promises. Now facing the lowest levels of popular approval for any elected president since the 1990 transition, can Bachelet re-focus her government’s policy drift in time for the 2016 local elections?
Was the death of South American rock idol Gustavo Cerati yet another example of Venezuela’s interminable collapse?
As the tragicomedy of the 2015-2016 election season plays out, falsehoods, hyperbole and mean-spirited attacks among contenders will proliferate. The issue of trade (along with illegal immigration) will be the proverbial whipping boy in this contest. While the contenders choose not to be fully informed of the facts, there is no excuse for individual citizens not to be.
Venezuelans are having children at higher rates than their counterparts in other countries, despite the economic crisis (aided, perhaps in part, by the condom shortage). The resulting non-working, dependent population will make it increasingly difficult for the government to sustain its high levels of redistribution, even if oil prices improve. Ultimately, demographics may be what doom the Bolivarian revolution.
In a series of posts—this our first—we will assess whether it is not only desirable but also possible that the two divergent trade blocs of Pacific Alliance and MERCOSUR in Latin America can converge as Chile is now pushing. Or is this just another exercise in empty political posturing?
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has resurrected century-old land claims over two-thirds of neighboring Guyana and its corresponding maritime borders. Venezuela’s aggressive efforts are a direct challenge to the hemisphere’s traditions of rule of law and diplomacy. The U.S. and other neighbors need to step up their condemnation of Venezuela’s aggression and urge a diplomatic solution.
In the final stages of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, the U.S. is still pushing for the elimination of safeguards to regulate capital inflows and capital flight. Those controls have mitigated past crises and prevent others in economies that for decades have been buffeted by financial instability.
Beyond the economics of the 30 million Latin Americans living abroad, out-migraton from the region has also created a looming a political problem. Countries and societies are losing political and civic talent and leadership, precisely at a time when Latin America confronts complex, technical policy and economic reforms.
In 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize the possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana. The bold move unlocked the discussion on drug policy reform in the Americas. But is it working in its purported objectives in reducing violence, illegality and health risks?
