In looking for pragmatic solutions to address the COVID-19 crisis, and given the absence of global leadership during the pandemic, Caribbean governments are seeking support from long-time partner, Cuba.
By not inviting Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to his inauguration, Uruguay’s President-elect Luis Lacalle Pou breaks the close ties of his predecessors with the region’s autocracies.
Generally, the term “transition” is associated with democracy, but in practice this isn’t always the case. Case in point: the recent appointment of Miguel Díaz-Canel as the “elected” president of Cuba.
The Cuban government’s ideologically-driven operating principle has always been that only the state can define and promote minority interests. The independent LGBTI+ marches in May demonstrated the government’s fear of its citizens’ growing sense of autonomy.
On May 11, Cuba’s LGBTQI community took to the streets of Havana for the island’s annual gay pride parade, despite the government’s ban. But, in responding to protestors with its usual counteroffensive, the state was met with a sort of tropical Stonewall.
Washington can no longer take the Caribbean for granted. That means more than just impotently warning partners south of the hemisphere about China and Russia. Instead it will require more effective diplomacy and economic statecraft.
Latin America needs to forge alliances in a complex, changing world, but betting on extra-continental autocracies will not bring greater social equity and respect for human rights to the Americas.
Even with likely fraud, the number of no votes, null votes and blank votes exceeded one million on Sunday’s referendum.
Recent U.S. involvement in the Caribbean Basin has been defined by Whac-A-Mole-like reactionary policy. It’s time for a new coherent strategy for security and development in the Caribbean.
We combed through all of our publications from 2018 and selected what we thought were the best ten articles that captured the trends and events of the past year.
