After the low turnout of the plebiscite in October 2016 produced a razor thin margin of defeat for the Colombian peace deal with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia or FARC, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the guerrillas quickly hammered out a new deal. Santos, who in December was awarded the Nobel

On November 25, 2016 Fidel Castro died at the age of 90. The supreme leader of the Cuban Revolution, and the last of the great Cold War protagonists, he survived through the generally hostile atmosphere of eleven U.S. presidencies, weathered the collapse of the Soviet Union (his long-time benefactor), and lived to see the beginnings

As in the rest of the world, Donald Trump’s unexpected election on November 8, 2016, sent shockwaves throughout Latin America. Reactions ranged from incredulity, to horror, to recommendations to wait and see what happens.

On Sunday, November 6, 2016, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega won a fourth term, taking just over 72% of the vote, with his wife and first lady, Rosario Murillo, as his running mate. Observers noted that Murillo has long functioned as Ortega’s unofficial co-president. Yet the legitimacy of the entire election was called into question, given

The 25th Ibero-American summit took place in Cartagena, Colombia on October 28 and 29, 2016. It was the yearly meeting of the heads of state and government of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries of Latin America, along with Spain and Portugal, as members of the Organization of Ibero-American States. Many of the heads of state

In recent weeks the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has short circuited the drive for a recall election, and passed a budget without the participation of the Venezuelan Asamblea Nacional, or AN. The Maduro government did these things in ways that many observers both inside and outside the country say do not pass constitutional

President Nicolás Maduro, in alliance with the Venezuelan Supreme Court, passed the country’s Budget for 2017 without going through the opposition-controlled Asamblea Nacional. The maneuver was declared unconstitutional by opposition lawmakers as tempers continue to flare over the administration’s stalling tactics toward the recall referendum.  Though the opposition launched its recall campaign months ago, Venezuela’s

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has brought one of the longest civil wars in modern times considerably closer to a peaceful resolution, but warned that there is still danger that the peace process could collapse. The Nobel gave Santos and his peace process a tremendous boost, and undercut Former President

President Juan Manual Santos said that, following Colombians’ narrow rejection of his peace deal with the FARC rebels, his ceasefire with the guerrillas would remain in place.  (Voters split 50.22% against and 49.79% for the agreement, with just over 13 million votes cast.) Santos also said he would meet with representatives of the victorious “No”

Latin American leaders set aside their disagreements to gather in Colombia on September 26, 2016 to lend support for and witness the signing ceremony of the peace deal hammered out by President Juan Manuel Santos and guerrilla chief Rodrigo “Timochenko” Londoño, along with other leaders of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces