On April 19 and 20, 2017 massive opposition protest marches filled the streets of Venezuelan cities, where they faced off counter marchers in support of President Nicolás Maduro, as well as state security forces and armed Chavista militias. Over twenty protesters were killed. As the administration comes to rely ever more on police actions, commentators

The Brazilian Supreme Court announced the launch of additional corruption investigations of nine ministers, three governors, 24 senators, 39 members of the Lower House, and various other elected officials. The Court’s actions were driven by testimony generated through the plea bargains of 78 former officials of Odebrecht, Latin America’s largest construction group. The ongoing corruption

On April 4, 2017 the Organization of American States called on Venezuela to restore its democratic order after the Venezuelan Supreme Court attempted to undercut the standing of the Venezuelan national legislature, though the process in the OAS Permanent Council was hampered by questions of legal standing. As a consequence, some member states objected and

Lenín Moreno, of the ruling socialist Alianza País, or AP, amassed a bit more than 51% of the vote over Guillermo Lasso, of the center-right Creando Oportunidades movement, or CREO, who garnered just shy of 49%. Moreno won the first-round vote with 39% to Lasso’s 28%, but fell short of the necessary 40% to avoid

In recent weeks, Latin Americans have marched in massive protests in various countries (though for different reasons). In Chile, millions of people went into the streets in cities throughout the country to demand changes to the privatized pension system, which was imposed on Chileans by the Pinochet dictatorship in the 1980s. In Argentina, marchers continued

President Mauricio Macri took office fifteen months ago while promising to spur economic growth through his investor-friendly, market-oriented programs. Until recently, organized labor had generally acquiesced to his efforts to cut labor costs, lower interest rates, and reduce the budget deficit. But that honeymoon of patience is apparently over. Striking teachers in Buenos Aires Province

Brazil’s GDP for 2016 contracted 3.6%, after falling 3.8% in 2015, confirming that the current downturn is the country’s worst recession since 1947, when the government began systematically compiling data on the economy, and probably the worst in its history. Indeed, it represents a bigger downturn than Brazil experienced during the Great Depression. While the

Venezuelans marked the fourth anniversary of the death of President Hugo Chávez, leader of the so-called “Bolivarian Revolution.” Chávez was president from 1999 to when he died on March 5, 2013, at the age of 58, after battling cancer for nearly two years. Some Venezuelans marched in parades and listened to speeches, while others protested.

For almost two decades, left-wing coalitions have dominated political power in many Latin American countries. Yet of late they have been faltering at the polls. While primary commodity prices were high, left-leaning leaders successfully wielded redistributive policies to raise living standards and decrease inequality, thereby sustaining their hold on office. But now that the region’s

The anointed successor to President Rafael Correa, Former Vice President Lenín Moreno, led in the voting on Sunday, February 19, 2017, but fell less than a percentage point shy of the 40% necessary to avoid a runoff election in April. Moreno, a left-leaning advocate for the disabled, served as vice president from 2007 to 2013.