Brazilians learned they have a gay governor; LGBTQ acceptance is expanding in some countries; and Chile adopted full marriage equality.
Media coverage of the December 8-10 Summit for Democracy has largely focused on President Joe Biden’s remarks, coupled with critical reactions from China, Russia, and skeptical U.S. pundits. Few U.S. commentators seem to have bothered to listen to the three days of often thoughtful remarks by other world leaders and the many intelligent, emotionally engaging panelists representing a broad swath of civil society, business, and academia.
One does not usually think of bananas as big business, let alone as a factor in the fate of nations.
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.
When United States Vice President Kamala Harris said she wants to help bring hope to the people of Central America—and do it in partnership with local organizations—I was inspired. Generating hope requires rallying all stakeholders around solutions that work. Bringing private sector resources and civil society to the table, as Vice President Harris has recently done ahead of her upcoming visit to Guatemala and Mexico, is a critical step forward.
In creating an economic strategy, President Biden and his administration are stuck between conflicting policy goals of relocating industrial supply chains back to the United States and of reducing migration from Central America, where so many of these factories are located.
In many countries corruption undermines, or even co-opts, justice institutions. In Guatemala, judges are prone to becoming victims themselves.
While the Inter-American Foundation may have lacked the rock-and-roll-star power (and mud) of its fellow 1969 creation, the IAF set the path for development assistance to build civil society, private initiative and democracy in the Americas.
On May 21st, five candidates presented their credentials for membership of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for the 2021-2024 term. Four posts need to be filled.
An economic development model developed in the Midwest United States and Colombia is helping economies grow in Guatemalan highlands. Here’s why it works.
