Issue May 29-Jun 04 2024: On June 2, 2024, Claudia Sheinbaum, a Jewish environmental engineer and the former mayor of Mexico City, was elected as the first woman president of Mexico representing current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s left-wing Morena party and the Sigamos Haciendo Historia coalition. She defeated her main opponent, who was also

Issue May 22-28 2024: In early June 2024, Mexico approaches a truly historic election in which the two leading candidates are women: Claudia Sheinbaum of the ruling Morena Party and the opposition coalition hopeful, Xochitl Gálvez. Yet the contest has been plagued by a seemingly unending wave of violence, kidnappings, intimidation, and assassinated candidates. Political

Issue May 15-21 2024: On May 19, 2024, Dominicans went to the polls and confirmed what public opinion surveys had predicted, namely, that President Luis Abinader would be reelected. Yet, support was even stronger than many had expected, and he won handily in the first round with nearly 60% of the vote. Abinader’s popularity was

Issue May 08-14 2024: President Boluarte has been in the spotlight since she was photographed earlier this year wearing expensive Rolex watches that appeared to exceed her income as a civil servant before she was elected vice president as the running mate of Pedro Castillo Terrones. Castillo was ousted on December 7, 2022, after attempting

Issue Apr 24-May 07 2024: José Raúl Mulino, who won the May 5, 2024 presidential election in Panama, promised to take measures “without fear” to restore the economy and end the “political persecution” against his mentor, former President Ricardo Martinelli. A right-wing lawyer, Mulino also promised to stem the flow of migrants from the Darién

Issue Apr 17-23 2024: On April 21, Ecuador held a referendum. The eleven questions posed by President Daniel Noboa were aimed at two overall goals: first was to strengthen the government’s hand with security measures such as allowing the extradition of Ecuadorians, the toughening of sentences against organized crime, and the creation of specialized judiciaries;

Issue Apr 10-16 2024: In mid-April, 2024, the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro moved to tighten its control of Venezuelan society as the opposition promoted yet another unification candidate, and the United States decided to reimpose economic sanctions. The Maduro regime also faced growing criticism from the leftist governments of Colombia, Brazil, and Chile. Despite

Issue Apr 03-09 2024: In the evening of April 5, 2024, the Ecuadorian Policía Nacional stormed the Mexican Embassy in Quito and arrested former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas. Fleeing detention on corruption charges that many outside observers interpret as political persecution, Glas had been granted asylum in the embassy. Ecuador’s action outraged the international

Mar 27-Apr 02 2024: In late March 2024, President Dina Boluarte of Peru struggled once again to survive in office after being caught up in a controversy dubbed “Rolexgate” by the media. An investigation began after reporters noticed Boluarte’s Rolexes. The 61-year-old Boluarte was a lawyer and a middle-income civil servant before she was sworn

Issue Mar 20-26 2024: In mid-March 2024, hundreds of Cubans took to the streets to protest blackouts and shortages. The demonstrations took place in Santiago, the country’s second city, as well as other towns, at the end of a weekend with power outages that lasted more than 12 hours. The government pushed back, blaming “enemies