One does not usually think of bananas as big business, let alone as a factor in the fate of nations.
Last Sunday, a popular referendum—and flagship project of President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO)—asked Mexican voters whether ex-government officials should be subject to investigation and prosecution for allegations of impunity and corruption. However, the referendum, a key component of AMLO’s promises to crack down on graft and government impropriety, was a flop, drawing the participation of only seven percent of eligible voters, well below the 40 percent voter turnout threshold required for the referendum result to be legally binding (although over 98 percent of those who did cast ballots voted in favor of facilitating the prosecution of ex-officials).
The Caribbean has long enjoyed a reputation for being one of the most democratic regions in the world. Despite the Caribbean’s seeming confidence in the ballot, however, countries in the region nevertheless face considerable challenges in keeping their democracies alive. Elections alone do not make a democracy; rather, there are many other factors that must be taken into consideration in order to ensure good governance.
Earlier this summer, leaders of the G7 launched the Build Back Better World (B3W) partnership, promising to develop high-quality, sustainable, and transparent infrastructure around the world. The U.S. has framed the B3W as a form of “strategic competition with China” and an answer to China’s infamous Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Last Friday, Guatemalan Attorney General María Consuelo Porras removed Juan Francisco Sandoval from his position at the head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI), an anti-corruption task force created by the United Nations-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which was removed from the country in 2019.
Las crisis económicas son siempre una oportunidad para impulsar reformas estructurales. En la historia reciente de América Latina sus dos grandes crisis—los años 30 y la década perdida de los 80—han terminado con cambios profundos en sus sistemas de desarrollo y con importantes reformas económicas. Colombia, sin embargo, no ha seguido ese mismo patrón.
With his historic inauguration, Pedro Castillo put one crisis to rest and turned his attention to numerous others: foremost among them, how to repair a healthcare system devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic and overhaul a brittle and uneven economy that has failed many Peruvians.
América Latina, una de las regiones más desiguales del mundo, necesita una nueva agenda de desarrollo. José Antonio Ocampo propone un plan para salir de la crisis y asumir los retos de los países latinoamericanos.
On Tuesday, Ariel Henry—a trained neurosurgeon and former Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of Interior and Territorial Communities, who had been named prime minister-designate by Moïse only two days before his death—was sworn in as Prime Minister and acting President of Haiti in a ceremony in Port-au-Prince, replacing former interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who had ruled the country as de facto head of state since Moïse’s killing. Joseph, who will evidently retain a ministerial role as Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced over the weekend that he would step down, ceding power to Henry “for the good of the nation.”
The 155 delegates to Chile’s constitutional convention share an obvious goal—drafting a constitution—but it is far from clear whether they share a common view on much else. What will their unprecedented focus on personal and collective identities mean for Chile’s new constitution and the future of Chile’s existing institutional order?
