Let's Talk About Latin America

A lot has happened in the world of Latin American politics since I last posted here in August of 2020. There is absolutely no feasible way for me to cover everything in the in-depth way that I would like to. Instead, here I will cover the highlights, writing a few sentences about each, as well as link an article about each one if you would like to read more about any particular event.  We'll start in Bolivia . Bolivians went to the polls in mid October to participate in a much anticipated presidential election. This was the first election since the ousting of long time president Evo Morales. Months before the election, Morales, who had held power since 2006, resigned the office of the presidency amid pressure from the armed forces and a growing mass protest movement. However, his party was still able to prevail at the polls as Bolivians chose Luis Arce to be their next president. Arce was a key member of the Morales Administration, and his victory signaled the continued prominence ...

Earlier this month Venezuelan opposition parties made it known that they are planning to boycott the legislative elections scheduled for December of this year. The announcement was not shocking, as the same parties boycotted the presidential elections two years ago. The opposition parties are led by Juan Guaido, the current president of the National Assembly and leader of the center right Popular Will party. The boycott comes at a great risk to Guaido's legitimacy as an alternative leader to current president Nicolas Maduro. If the opposition boycotts Guaido will not be reelected to his seat in the National Assembly, and therefore find himself outside the political institutions of his country. So why would he take that risk?  There are at least two theories as to why Guaido would willingly give up his seat in the National Assembly by boycotting the election. The first is that he no longer believes that his legitimacy as a politician, and possibly future leader of Venezuela, is tied...

  This week Brazil became the second nation to record over 100,000 deaths from Covid-19, the other being the United States. Brazil is Latin America's largest economy and is well developed by regional standards. Moreover, the nation has a history of dealing with public health crises. Only four years ago in 2016 Brazil was hit with an outbreak of Zika, a virus spread through mosquitoes that causes birth defects. Many at the time worried that Zika would spread throughout Latin America and cause harm to a generation of children. This did not happen, Brazil's health ministry worked diligently under the leadership of then President Dilma Rousseff to track outbreaks and administer care. So what's different this time around?  Almost all of Brazil's problems combating the coronavirus can be traced back to a singular event, the election of Jair Bolsonaro as President in October of 2018. Bolsonaro, a member of the far-right Social Liberal Party, defeated Fernando Haddad, a member ...

Costa Rica has become the first country in Latin America to begin reforestation. Unlike every other country in the region, the rainforests in Costa Rica are growing rather than shrinking. This is not a feat that happened overnight, in fact in the 1970's Costa Rica had the highest rate of deforestation in Latin America. So how did they get from cutting down the most trees to growing their forests in 50 years?  It all starts with Costa Rica's political stability and its Constitution. Costa Rica has been continuously classified as a democracy since 1949. This means that, unlike Mexico, they have had elections where 2 or more parties have been competitive, and that, unlike Argentina, Brazil, and many others, there has always been a peaceful transition of power. Additionally, Costa Rica has been able to keep the same Constitution in place this whole time. Costa Rica's 1949 Constitution is especially important in the narrative because it has key articles giving rights and protect...