latin america

A decade of violence and insecurity has deeply marked Colombia's society, politics and institutions. For Colombia to move on, its beleaguered yet independent justice system will have a vital role to play, says Adam Isacson.

Costa Rica is renowned for its excellent environmental record, but with the construction of a 150km road beside the San Juan river it appears to be going against that reputation by causing enormous damage to the environment.

The first year of Brazil's first female president has seen Dilma Rousseff build on the achievement of her predecessor, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. But she is also having to cope with the more difficult parts of his legacy, says Arthur Ituassu.

The official results in Nicaragua's election on 6 November 2011 found that Daniel Ortega was re-elected president by a clear margin. But the procedures surrounding the vote leave Sergio Ramírez in no doubt that a great fraud - and a great farce - was perpetrated.

The recent assassination of Colombian marxist insurgent group leader Alfonso Cano has been hailed internationally as an advance towards peace, giving Colombia a boost down the path to becoming the latest emerging market of Latin America. A closer look at the history and nature of Colombia's nearly 50 year-long armed struggle, however, tells us otherwise.

Across Latin America, violence is becoming a perverse ‘normality’, undermining social relations and endangering the prospects for democracy. Reproduced by a complex web of influences, violence is reshaping everyday life, religion, politics and architecture, and has thoroughly outstripped the responses of vulnerable governments and the international community. A fundamental shift is required in the way we understand this phenomenon.

An escalation of violent crime in Venezuela exposes both social fractures and institutional failures in Hugo Chávez's domain, says Silke Pfeiffer.

The coup of 1973 and the attacks of 2001 were very different in character. But the contrast in the responses of Chile and America to their respective national traumas is instructive, says Patricio Navia.

The student movement convulsing Chile is aiming for social inclusion and reform of the model that improved the lives of millions in the 1990s. It should be seen in its own terms and not as a mere outpost of a global trend, says Patricio Navia.

The United States armed forces have played a leading role in the “war on drugs” across much of Latin America. The results are damaging and counterproductive, says Juan Gabriel Tokatlian.

Hugo Chávez’s leadership of Venezuela has survived many challenges during his twelve years in power. Now, a cancer diagnosis poses grave doubts over his political future as well as his health. Julia Buxton assesses a delicate phase in the “Bolivarian revolution”.

The successive presidencies of Néstor and Cristina Kirchner are marked by a determined effort to put the state and its capacity for co-option and patronage at the centre of Argentina’s political landscape. The fate of the human-rights group the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo casts light on how this ambition is being realised, says Celia Szusterman   

Where is Cuba heading more than a half-century after the revolution, and how is Raúl Castro's political strategy balancing the forces around and imperatives of reform? The long-postponed sixth congress of the governing party makes the answers clearer, says Antoni Kapcia.

The divergence between rhetoric and reality in the environmental policies of President Juan Manuel Santos points to real tensions between development and environment, between the desire to lead by example but not to sacrifice opportunities. But plain old corruption gets in the way too

The first months of Brazil's new president show both Dilma Rousseff and Brazilian democracy in a fresh light, says Arthur Ituassu.

Obama’s trip to the stable democracies of Brazil, Chile and El Salvador beginning on March 19 is a sign of maturing relations between the US and Latin America. Nevertheless, a toughening approach towards security issues and the hard-headed calculation of US national interests will be a dominant theme.

The neat division we assume between the well-regulated economy and the informal, underground economy is not the neoliberal way. Today our laws, norms, regulations and above all our ‘beliefs’ are no longer viable.

A year after the earthquake in Haiti, the tasks of reconstruction remain vast. A shadowy election and blocked political process reinforce the sense of drift. Yet a coherent international effort can still make a real difference, says Johanna Mendelson Forman.

Haiti is in political stale-mate; the return of Baby Doc and the possible return of Aristide will not help focus attention on the nation's real and pressing problems

The election of Dilma Rousseff is a landmark moment in Brazil’s political history. But the challenges ahead promise to make the task as hard as her victory proved to be, says Arthur Ituassu.