As part of President Gustavo Petro’s ongoing “Total Peace” effort in Colombia, in late June 2024, government officials traveled to Caracas for the formal start of peace talks with the Segunda Marquetalia (SM) guerrilla group. Peace Commissioner Otty Patiño and government negotiators met with representatives of one of the former commanders of the now-defunct guerrilla

Issue Jun 12-18 2024: In late June 2024, in the runup to the July 28 elections in Venezuela, political experts, journalists, government officials, and regular Latin Americans who are worried about the health of democracy in the region all focused on the disturbing actions of the Nicolás Maduro regime’s ongoing attempt to undercut the opposition.

Issue Jun 05-11 2024: Halfway through his first year in office, President Javier Milei of Argentina presides over a self-generated recession (driven by his supposedly inflation killing “adjustment”) which he insists is medicine that Argentinians must swallow. For the moment, he retains significant popular support from an electorate hoping to arrive at his Libertarian Promised

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