Issue Feb 21-27 2024: On February 25, 2024, former President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil held a rally in São Paulo at which he defended himself against accusations of plotting a coup. He gathered around 200,000 supporters from all over Brazil and called on his political allies to vote through an “amnesty” for him and others.

Issue Feb 14-20 2024: Despite recent agreements with the United States and many of its neighbors in the region to move toward free and fair elections, in February 2024, the Maduro regime in Venezuela carried out a wave of repression and arrests. The Venezuelan government’s efforts to suppress dissent and political challenges in the runup

Argentine President Javier Milei’s La Libertad Avanza party (LLA) experienced a painful smackdown in Congress with the collapse of its ambitious “Omnibus Law.” As it faced certain turbulence and casualties in item-by-item voting, LLA congressional leader Óscar Zago sent it back for further negotiation in the various committees of the Cámara de Diputados, resetting the

Issue Jan 31-Feb 06 2024: On February 4, 2024, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele went on social media and declared himself reelected “with more than 85% of the votes” even before the official election results were released. Bukele, at 42 years of age, was the first head of state to run for re-election since the

Issue Jan 24-30 2024: On January 26, 2024, the Venezuelan Tribunal Supremo de Justicia (TSJ), to no one’s great surprise, upheld a 15-year ban on María Corina Machado from holding public office and also confirmed the ineligibility of a possible alternative opposition candidate, two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles. The TSJ is widely seen as controlled

Issue Jan 17-23 2024: On January 20, 2024, Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba died in her apartment in her hometown of Medellín from an apparent heart attack. She was 68 years old. Córdoba had recently been hospitalized in 2023. The grandniece of a prominent Afro-Colombian politician, she had a long career as an activist and politician

Issue Jan 10-16 2024: A crisis exploded in Ecuador after José Adolfo Macías Villamar, known as “Fito,” escaped from prison on January 8, 2024. Macías, the leader the country’s largest drug gang, Los Choneros, had carried on control of his criminal empire for 12 years from his jail cell in the port city of Guayaquil.

Issue Jan 01-09 2024: On January 8, 2024, Brazilians marked one year since the storming of their Congress and other government buildings by supporters of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro, one week after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office for a historic third term. The rioters looted and vandalized the iconic structures, with clear

Issue Dec 01-31 2023: On Sunday, December 10, 2023, Javier Milei took office as president of Argentina. He claimed that he had inherited the nastiest situation ever bestowed on an Argentine president. He told Argentines that there is “no money,” and that they should expect lots of pain to rectify the horrible situation caused by

Issue Nov 15-30 2023: On November 19, 2023, Argentines voted in a run-off election for president between the Peronista Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, and the flamboyant Javier Milei, candidate of Libertad Avanza, a newly formed “Libertarian” party. The contest took place in an atmosphere of intense agitation over Argentina’s high rate of inflation. What