On October 28, 2018, Brazil held the second round of its presidential election, and as the polls had predicted, Jair Bolsonaro of the Partido Social Liberal (PSL) won handily. Bolsonaro, a retired army captain and undistinguished 27-year member of the lower house of the Brazilian congress, has repeatedly praised the Brazilian military dictatorship of 1964-1985,

In mid-October 2018, a so-called “caravan” of thousands of Hondurans began a trek through Guatemala towards Mexico, with the ultimate goal of seeking asylum in the United States. Along the way, they were joined by Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, and Guatemalans. Though many were held up at the Mexican border, others were able to cross (legally and

Archbishop Óscar Romero was assassinated in 1980 while celebrating Mass in San Salvador. On October 14, 2018, Pope Francis officially recognized him as a saint, three years after his beatification. Though originally recognized as a conservative cleric, Romero became an outspoken critic of the increasing political violence tolerated by El Salvador’s government at that time,

On October 7, 2018, Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s far-right presidential candidate, just missed winning the presidency outright in the first round. He also led his formerly obscure party, the Partido Social Liberal or PSL, to the front of a crowded field in the race for Congress to become a national juggernaut, as voters in Latin America’s

On October 1, 2018, the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, ruled that Chile cannot be forced to negotiate with Bolivia over “sovereign access” to the Pacific Ocean. The ICJ, the United Nations’ venue for resolving disputes between nations, found that despite a long history of talks, Chile has never bound

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