On September 19, 2018, the Peruvian Congress, controlled by the Fujimorista opposition, bowed to President Martín Vizcarra’s demands for a vote on his package of reforms and constitutional changes. After months of congressional stonewalling, Vizcarra had threatened to dissolve congress and call elections if they refused any longer. Vizcarra took over as president in March

On September 15, 2018, Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), traveled to the Colombian city of Cúcuta, on the border with Venezuela. He went there to meet with some of the thousands of Venezuelans who emigrate daily in search for better living conditions. While there, Almagro affirmed that he would

As Argentina’s currency drops dramatically in value, the administration of President Mauricio Macri has turned to the International Monetary Fund for assistance yet again in early September 2018. In return for its aid, the IMF has called on him to implement a tough austerity program. The peso has collapsed over the course of 2018, losing

On August 31, 2018, Brazil’s Electoral Court voted to reject Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s candidacy because of his corruption conviction, upheld on appeal. Lula and his Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) are appealing both the conviction and the electoral court ruling, but the decision had been widely expected. Lula left office in January 2011 with

Millions of Venezuelans have poured over their neighbors’ borders during the last few years, fleeing economic and political turmoil in their country. In fact, the Venezuelan exodus dwarfs the numbers of refugees entering Europe. More than 2 million people have left Venezuela since 2016, headed mostly to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. In late August

Four months after the beginning of the protests by university students on April 18, 2018, against the government of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, thousands of Nicaraguans returned to the streets of Managua on August 18, despite police and paramilitary intimidation. Protesters also gave the lie to the Ortega administration’s insistence that things in Nicaragua are,

After months of intense debate, churning societal tension, and successful passage of the Chamber of Deputies, legislation that would have decriminalized abortion during the first 14 weeks of gestation failed when a majority of Argentina’s senators voted against it in the early morning hours of August 9, 2018. Thousands of Argentinians, divided into the “green”

The Brazilian Workers Party, Partido dos Trabalhadores or PT, held its national convention on Saturday, August 4, 2018. As expected, the PT nominated its jailed founder, former President Lula, as its candidate for the October 2018 presidential election. They willfully ignored the fact that since he is serving a 12-year sentence for corruption, he will

On Sunday, July 1, 2018, Mexicans elected Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO as he is known, as their next president. AMLO is universally viewed as the most left-leaning candidate to be elected president since Lázaro Cárdenas in the 1930s. Throughout July, commentators, analysts, and partisans wrestled with what his election means and what it

During the final weeks of June 2018, repression of demonstrations against the government of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua (ongoing since April 19) took a bloody turn when paramilitary groups loyal to Ortega opened fire on protesters. Church-backed talks about political transition also collapsed. Ortega sympathizers and police units moved to dismantle roadblocks by protesters