The ambition and capability of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to affect the political affairs of nations across Latin America and the Caribbean have only grown during the global pandemic. Recent events in Guyana and Paraguay show that COVID-19 vaccines have influenced governments, either directly or indirectly, toward Beijing’s political preferences.
In Colombia this week, demonstrations against a government tax reform proposal evolved into widespread general protests—fueled by the economic and social desperation provoked by the still-raging COVID-19 pandemic—that have been met with brutal repression from state security forces.
Chinese advances in the Dominican Republic that once inspired concern in Washington have gone largely unrealized. For the U.S., the Dominican Republic represents both a fleeting opportunity and challenge in its struggle against China’s expanding presence in the greater Caribbean region.
President Nayib Bukele’s drive to consolidate power represents another test of the international community’s ability to defend democratic principles. With El Salvador’s democracy in grave jeopardy, the stakes for the U.S. and the rest of Central America could not be higher.
A year of lockdowns, high unemployment, and rising poverty rates has provoked social discontent in Colombia. The current wave of protests—while originally triggered by the government’s poorly conceived, strategized, and communicated tax reform proposal—have been further inflamed by police brutality, a tone-deaf government response, and a vacuum of political leadership.
If the United States allows other Caribbean Basin countries to be eligible for components of its ambitious domestic agenda, it could simultaneously increase U.S. competitiveness and provide benefits to the region that far outweigh any traditional foreign assistance programs.
This week, new developments came to light in the decades-long saga of the El Mozote massacre, one of the most high-profile incidents of human rights abuses in modern Central American history.
There are over five million Venezuelan refugees and migrants around the world, of whom 200,000 are estimated to be in the Caribbean. Despite border closures and often dangerous travel conditions, Venezuelan migrants continue to try and make the journey to Trinidad and Tobago.
The U.S.-based Caribbean diaspora, as diverse as the region itself, constitutes a mosaic of communities. Coordinating, listening, and working with the Caribbean diaspora will provide U.S. policymakers with pathways to internalize the complexities of the region at large as well as the dynamics within specific Caribbean nations.
After several months of waiting, the Colombian government unveiled a tax bill intended to address the fiscal and social crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the proposed bill has not been well-received, and the following verdict has been almost unanimous: the proposal punishes the Colombian middle-class and jeopardizes economic recovery. Unless an agreement is reached in Congress in the coming months, Colombia could risk its post-pandemic socioeconomic recovery.
