Issue Nov 15-30 2024: On November 24, 2024, Uruguay elected Yamandú Orsi of the Frente Amplio (FA) as its next president in the second-round contest, returning the left to power after five years of conservative rule. Orsi received 49.8% of the vote over the 45.9% garnered by Álvaro Delgado of the Partido Nacional, with a

Issue Nov 06-14 2024: In early November 2024, commentators around Latin America and across the political spectrum gamed out what they see as the likely implications for the region during the second Trump administration.

Issue Oct 30-Nov 05 2024: Despite being barred from running again, former President Evo Morales of Bolivia wants to challenge President Luis Arce, his former ally, for the nomination of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party in August 2025. To that end, Morales’ supporters have held the country hostage with a series of blockades, during

Issue Oct 23-29 2024: On Sunday, October 27, 2024, Uruguayans went to the polls to elect the president and vice president for the 2025-2030 period, as well as the 30 seats in the Senate and the 99 in the House of Representatives. The contest witnessed high turnout, with over 90% of Uruguay’s 2.7 million eligible

Issue Oct 16-22 2024: On October 18, 2024, Cuba’s electrical system completely collapsed as the country’s main thermoelectric plant failed. The country was largely without power for more than four days. Cuban authorities attributed the current crisis to a collection of factors well-known to most Cubans, namely the deterioration of the electrical energy infrastructure, fuel

Issue Oct 09-15 2024: Colombian electoral authorities of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) launched an inquiry into President Gustavo Petro’s 2022 campaign for allegedly overstepping financing caps en route to the Casa de Nariño. Petro responded, as he has in the past, that a “soft” coup d’état is afoot. The president maintains that such investigations

Issue Oct 02-08 2024: On October 6, 2024, Brazil held municipal elections nationwide, after which many cities must still hold runoffs to determine their next mayors, including fifteen state capitals, and some 103 district capitals. These contests were expected to indicate, once again, the relative political weight of both President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s

Issue Sep 25-Oct 01 2024: On October 1, 2024, Claudia Sheinbaum took the oath of office as Mexico’s first female president, replacing her popular predecessor and political mentor Andrés Manuel López Obrador as head of state for the world’s largest Spanish-speaking country. Sheinbaum, a leftist and former Mayor of Mexico City, has a PhD in

Issue Sep 18-24 2024: Tensions between competing factions of Bolivia’s ruling Movimiento al Socialismo Party (MAS) boiled over in late September 2024. One faction, led by former President Evo Morales, alleged that he has been illegally prohibited from running for reelection, among other complaints. The other, headed by current President Luis Arce, claims that Morales

Issue Sep 11-17 2024: On September 11, 2024, former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori died at the age of 86. The controversial leader of Japanese origin had a massive impact on the recent history of Peru in the years after he was elected president in 1990. Fujimori is remembered as a symbol of 1990s absolutism and