The weakness of institutions in Mexico once gave its presidents leeway to reform the state. Today President López Obrador is using it as a tool to accumulate more and more power of his own.
Author: Alidad Vassigh
Born in Tehran, educated in Britain and France, I have been a freelance translator since the late 1990s.
From Venezuela to Hungary, populist leaders are carving away at fundamental checks and balances in slow and often subtle ways.
A closer reading of the Pope’s recent treatise that challenges the way contemporary culture sees poverty in society.
Colombians are the latest in Latin America to take to the streets, in what may be the ‘first clang of the bell’ of many aimed at President Ivan Duque.
In places like Germany, the so-called ‘dual system’ approach gives young people a chance to learn marketable skills by continuing their education in a proper workplace setting.
Corporations usually try to stay clear of controversy. But there may be benefits, in some cases, to taking sides.
Many people have had to tighten their purse strings in recent years. But that’s only part of what’s fueling frustrations in the region.
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Colombia, No Country For Children
An attack on a guerilla camp killed several minors earlier this year. It was an ‘accident,’ say authorities, but it says a lot about the country’s dismal child welfare record.
Drawing inspiration from his childhood in Colombia, architect Mauricio Cárdenas is convinced that the age-old material also has a bright future.
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Evo Morales Has Only Himself To Blame
The leftist leader had some worthy accomplishments during his long tenure as Bolivian president. But his quest for indefinite leadership cost him in the end.
Globally, 25% of all people admit they have nobody to talk to, with older people living longer and young people spending their time on line.
Chileans are fairly well off, but only in comparison to their Latin American neighbors. The country’s success has also bred greater expectations.
It’s no secret that Brazil’s ultra-conservative leader and the incoming president of Argentina have deeply divergent political leanings.
Election winners Alberto Fernández and Cristina Kirchner will soon take over leadership of the country. But they’ve also lost momentum already …
President López Obrador is bending Congress and the judiciary to his will, and scaring away investors in the process.
Europe’s Central Bank chief acted in past years to absorb EU bank debts and keep money flowing amid a major recession. Stable growth now depends on responsible policies by EU member states.
South American states like Chile and Ecuador suspect Venezuela’s socialist regime of fanning rioting in their countries.
Doctors still make house calls in the South American country. But more and more, health care services providers are urging patients to try ‘las videoconsultas.’
Politics in the region have become even more complex since the Cold War era of revolutions and military juntas.
Soccer stars and public figures show their dismal side when they play the victims on being caught in contempt of the law.
The Argentine government has bent over backwards to please the UK while getting nothing in return.
Moreno is now reversing course on austerity measures that provoked nearly two weeks of mass protests. But it may be too little too late to salvage his reputation.
Hotels are changing their design to reflect the style of modern travelers. A key component now is the entrance and lobby, which are morphing from the secluded and palatial into a multipurpose space that welcomes both guests and the public.
Careful cultivation of the Amazon’s curative fruits and plants could be far more profitable than destructive practices like soy or livestock farming.
Researchers have identified more than 30 different languages in the South American country, 15 of which are still spoken on a regular basis.
Some of the world’s most insular places are cut off by land, not water.
Campo del Cielo, in the far north, has an usual concentration of meteorites. But little by little they’re being pilfered, and often smuggled out of the country.
Questions are beginning to mount about the fast-growing, tech-based company’s business and hiring practices.
It would not be the first time Brazil and Argentina vie to clinch privileged ties with Washington, though for its economic weight and its president’s conservative fervor, Brazil may be ahead in this game.
From climate change and migration, to tobacco deaths and exploitative business practices, governments and multilateral bodies are systematically failing to act.
Peruvian coffee farmers desperately need help — from both the public and private sectors — to improve quality and bring down production costs.
Speaking the truth includes an honest expression of doubts and shortcomings. How many politicians and public figures do that.
After Trump fired hawkish U.S. official John Bolton, who had repeatedly threatened Venezuela’s regime with military action, Maduro may have the opening he’s been waiting for.
Mechanization is bound to destroy jobs, which not surprisingly provokes fear. But trying to delay the inevitable only makes matters worse and prepares neither society nor laborer for the future.
The world-renowned Brazilian novelist was one of thousands jailed and tortured during the military regime (1964-1985) that Brazil’s current President Jair Bolsonaro holds in such high esteem.
The border of Colombia and Venezuela has become a lawless land where people are kidnaped and killed with impunity.
China is setting up a naval base in Djibouti. Could it do the same in Latin America? Depends on the scope and scale of its growing economic interests in the region.
It’s easy to fault Jair Bolsonaro for his apparent indifference to the unfolding environmental disaster in Brazil. But there’s plenty of blame to go around.
The war on drugs continues to feed the flames of violence in Colombia, even in this so-called ‘post-conflict’ period.
Partisans of political moderation are mistaken if they are looking for the ideals of the European liberal tradition in today’s neoliberalism.