From October 4 to October 13, 2019, indigenous groups from communities in the Amazon and the Andes led demonstrations demanding that Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno reinstate fuel subsidies he had slashed at the behest of the International Monetary Fund. They were joined by unionized workers and students in a series of major protests that often

On September 30, 2019, Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra dissolved Congress, as was his constitutional prerogative, after they had declared no confidence a second time. His Fujimorista opponents who control Congress tried to counterpunch by declaring Vice President Mercedes Aráoz Interim President, but she demurred, resigning her post after declining the opposition’s nomination, saying she hoped

On September 26, 2014, students from the Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, headed for the traditional October 2nd march in Mexico City, which annually brings together students from all over the country. Their commandeered buses were stopped by police, and in the resulting incident, three students were killed and forty-three went

Protests that began in Nicaragua in April 2018 against a social security reform, and evolved into a movement demanding the resignation of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and Vice President, Rosario Murillo, continued to be savagely repressed in late September 2019. Human rights organizations estimated that the repression has left 325 dead, 2,000 injured,

The chaos of Venezuela’s crisis deepened in mid-September, 2019, after Colombian police confirmed alleged ties between Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó and the drug trafficking group “Los Rastrojos.” The police department of Cúcuta, Colombia’s largest border city, stated that Guaidó posed for pictures with two leaders of the group from Cali, which manages drug trafficking

Analysts are pessimistic about Argentina’s economic and financial future on the eve of the country’s presidential election in late October, 2019. Despite a massive and historic bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by incumbent President Mauricio Macri, Argentina continues to endure economic contraction, inflation, and credit worries. Polls show Macri running well behind

On August 28, 2019, senior FARC leaders, including “Iván Marquez,” “Jesús Santrich,” “Romaña,” and “El Paisa,” appeared in a Youtube video during which they brandished weapons and announced a “new stage of armed struggle.” Márquez, the FARC’s political chief, standing with the leaders and other guerrillas, read a manifesto explaining that, “while there is still

In late August 2019, a large number of wildfires in the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil kindled a firestorm of media coverage worldwide. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro initially seemed to ignore the emergency, and then switched to blaming environmental groups for starting the fires to discredit him. His environmental minister blamed seasonal natural causes. Satellite

Anonymous U.S. officials said that Diosdado Cabello, first vice president of the Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV), attended a meeting in July in Caracas with negotiators for the president of the United States, Donald Trump. These meetings were reportedly unknown to President Nicolás Maduro. While Cabello passionately denied that he met with the Gringos,

As polls predicted, in Guatemala’s second-round presidential election on August 11, 2019, medical doctor, businessman, and perennial candidate Alejandro Giammattei defeated Sandra Torres, former first lady and ex-wife of former President Álvaro Colom. Now begins the countdown to the exit of President Jimmy Morales, who will leave power on January 14, 2020. Giammattei, candidate of