On August 13, 2023, Argentina held its Primarias Abiertas Simultáneas y Obligatorias, or PASO primary elections. The contest jolted the entire Argentine political system from left to right as far-right Libertarian candidate Javier Milei of La Libertad Avanza emerged as the top vote getter, out-pacing both the opposition candidate of Juntos por el Cambio, Patricia

Issue Aug 01-08 2023: In the week before August 13, 2023, Argentines were preparing to vote in the PASO primaries, in preparation for the General Elections on October 22, in a context of surging inflation, economic stagnation, and poverty touching an ever-growing portion of the population. Political experience seems to indicate that the ruling Peronista

Issue Jul 01-31 2023: The third European Union (EU) – Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (CELAC) Summit was held on July 17-18, 2023, in Brussels. Anticipated with optimism and hope and ending with European pledges of significant investment in the region, the meeting stumbled on the obstacles of the war in Ukraine and the

On June 25, 2023, Guatemalans went to the polls in a tense environment of uncertainty and political crisis for a general election that would also winnow down the presidential field. Unsurprisingly, former First Lady Sandra Torres Casanova came in first with over 15% of the vote and will head to the second-round runoff on August

Issue Jun 14-20 2023: On June 14, 2023, a Guatemalan court handed down a 6-year prison sentence to José Rubén Zamora, founder of El Periódico, a newspaper critical of Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei. El Periódico went out of business on May 15 after 27 years of publication. Known as one of the founding fathers of

Issue Jun 07-13 2023: In mid-June 2023, Colombian President Gustavo Petro argued that his political opponents hope that he will face the same fate as Peru’s ousted President Pedro Castillo if Colombia’s Congress attempts to remove him from office. He lamented that they were moving to thwart his reforms and destroy him with accusations. Petro

Issue May 31-Jun 06 2023: On June 4, 2023, the state of Coahuila, along with the Estado de Mexico (commonly known as “Edomex,” Mexico’s most populous state which borders Mexico City on three sides), held gubernatorial elections. Delfina Gómez, the candidate of MORENA (El Movimiento de Renovación Nacional), the party of President Andrés Manuel López

Issue May 24-30 2023: On May 30, 2023, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gathered South American heads of state for a “retreat” to discuss their mutual interests and seek “integration.” It was attended by the presidents of Argentina, Alberto Fernández; Bolivia, Luis Arce; Chile, Gabriel Boric; Colombia, Gustavo Petro; Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso; Guyana,

Issue May 17-23 2023: On May 17, 2023, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso used a procedure outlined in Ecuador’s constitution that allowed him to dissolve his country’s legislature, the Asamblea Nacional, which at that moment was on the verge of impeaching him. The measure, known in Ecuador as the “Muerte Cruzada,” is translated into English as

Issue May 10-16 2023: On May 7, 2023, Chile’s far-right Partido Republicano, led by conservative lawyer José Antonio Kast (former candidate for president and an apologist for the regime of military dictator Augusto Pinochet), took 23 of 51 seats on the council that will draft a new constitution for Chile after last year’s reformed text