All Americas
- Long a state monopoly, Mexico's oil sector moves to embrace outside world
Analysts say Pemex – which has long been a symbol of national sovereignty – needs tens of billions of dollars in private investment to stay competitive.
- Drug lord walks free, and spotlight turns on Mexico's troubled legal system
The US sharply protested the release on procedural grounds of Rafael Caro Quintero, whose sentence for the killing of a US drug enforcement agent was overturned.
- It's 'for or against' Kirchner in Argentina - and its primary elections
As Argentines go to the polls today, the campaigns are laying bare a widening fissure that could become increasingly entrenched.
- Easy credit, big debt: Peru tackles financial ed for its growing middle class
Peru's economy has expanded over 10 years of sustained growth, stoking access to credit and higher risks of debt across the rising middle class.
- Bolivia reduces coca crop for second year: UN report
The results may surprise some in the US government who say that Bolivia is not complying with its commitments to lower drug production and trafficking.
- Nicaragua's canal controversy builds
The proposal was agreed to in record time. Now Nicaragua's opposition is saying 'wait just a minute.'
- Gun control: Can Venezuela regulate the flow of arms?
Estimates on gun ownership in Venezuela range from 1 million to 6 million, and circulation was unregulated until last year. President Maduro recently signed a law that would create a strict gun permitting process.
- BRICS: Myth of the eternal economic boom?
Many investors saw the BRICS as the next big economic project that would never fall to the same boom and bust cycles that are at the heart of Western economic models.
- Is Peru's history of terrorism coming back to haunt it?
A political organization tracing its beliefs to the Shining Path has some worried that Peru still needs to resolve the conditions that gave rise to the guerrilla movement in the first place.
- Freedom of information in Venezuela: How hard is it to collect data?
Unlike many countries where national statistics agencies make household surveys public, Venezuelan researchers find even the most basic data is restricted.
- Global trendsetter? Uruguay moves to legalize marijuana.
Marijuana legalization: Uruguay's lower house of parliament set a global first last night by voting to give the state control of marijuana production, distribution, and sales.
- Peru's secret gardens reap benefits
In a Lima, Peru slum, an oasis of urban agriculture blooms beneath high-tension electric wires.
- How socially inclusive is Latin America? For the second year, Americas Quarterly has ranked Latin American countries and the United States based on social inclusion, sifting through multiple data sets for 16 nations, including variables like access to education, housing, and employment, as well as basic political, civil, and human rights. Here are some of the highest and lowest ranking countries and emerging trends:
- FARC peace talks stoke hope - and unrest - in Colombia
During a recent recess from peace talks, FARC guerrillas offered to support peasant protests with arms and troops, and government forces suffered one of the heaviest blows since talks began.
- On Chávez's birthday, Venezuela's new leader still lives in his shadows
The late Hugo Chávez's birthday coincided with President Maduro's 100th day in office, which has been marred by a stumbling economy and allegations of fraud.
- Save Caribbean snorkeling and 'eat a lion,' conservationists say.
Red lionfish have invaded the Caribbean and threaten to devastate the marine ecosystem in a region renowned for diving and snorkeling.
- Pope calls for social change in Brazil but are politicians listening?
Pope Francis has frequently been lauded for his humility and regard for the poor, but after criticizing Brazil's slum pacification policy he may be moving beyond rhetoric.
- Date night in the cemetery? A Mexican film festival screens beyond movie theaters.
The 16-year-old international film festival in Guanajuato attracts thousands of people to its nearly 400 free feature films, shorts, and documentaries.
- The human toll of Colombia's conflict: 220,000 lives and counting
Colombia's National Center for Historical Memory released its report on a six-year study of the deaths resulting from five decades of internal conflict.
- Can China finally make the Nicaragua canal dream happen?
Chinese businessman Wang Jing has promised to finance, build, and privately operate Nicaragua’s $40 billion interoceanic canal megaproject.