Voces

Voces, the official blog of the Inter-American Dialogue, provides timely analysis from Dialogue experts on the most pressing developments in hemispheric affairs.


Argentina: Back to Normal

Bruno Binetti ˙ ˙ Voces

Casa Rosada/ Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Mauricio Macri’s failure confirms that there seems to be no politically sustainable way to open up and reform Argentina’s economy. The long-term benefits of liberalizing, improving competitiveness and reducing fiscal spending might be clear in theory, but the immediate social costs of these policies are simply too high for Argentines to bear.Read more +

Can Colombia Make Peace with the JEP?

Tamar Ziff, Julia Searby ˙ ˙ Voces

Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz / Facebook
President Duque must confront a new test of his leadership rather than put the JEP controversy behind him. Duque has remained silent on the referendum thus far, but now must decide whether to accept the judgment of the Colombian Congress and Constitutional Court and allow the transitional justice process to move forward, or join his mentor Uribe’s continuing efforts to undermine the JEP. Read more +

Remaking US-Brazilian Relations: The Odyssey of Trump and Bolsonaro

Peter Hakim ˙ ˙ Voces

Palácio do Planalto / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
It is hard to imagine exactly what kind of deal Bolsonaro and Trump, both anomalous, unconventional leaders, drawn to one another mainly by temperament and ideology, could strike with another. Could they really end up accomplishing what previous governments in both countries had failed to achieve? Could they forge an alliance between two countries that have long maintained a rather distant and often distrustful relationship?Read more +

¿Una nueva Carta Magna para Cuba?

Roberto Veiga González ˙ ˙ Voces

El próximo 10 de abril entra en vigor, en Cuba, una nueva Constitución, que remplazará a la Carta Magna aprobada en 1976, de matriz soviética. Quizá esta no se diferencie mucho de la anterior, pero tal vez (sin demasiado entusiasmo) podamos encontrar, en ella, ciertas posibilidades.Read more +

Turning Back the Clock in Latin America

Tamar Ziff, Consuelo Benavente ˙ ˙ Voces

nefasth / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Even in more stable countries like Chile, disaffection with democracy pervades. Democracy in Latin America is and will always be an evolving issue. In November 2018, a Latinobarometro poll showed that only 48% of Latin Americans believed in democracy as the best form of government, the lowest percentage in decades. One of the more…Read more +

Preparing for a World of Disorder

Peter Hakim ˙ ˙ Voces

Kai Schreiber / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Recent global developments offer substantial evidence that the so-called liberal or rule-based international order, set in place in the aftermath of World War II, is fast eroding with no replacement in sight. The important question now is how governments across the globe should be adjusting to the systemic changes taking place in world politics and the new risks they pose. Read more +

George HW Bush and Latin America: An Overlooked Legacy

Michael Shifter ˙ ˙ Voces

Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0
What the Bush administration showed is how crucial “style” is in diplomacy. Genuine and regular consultations are key to building trust and a sense of community. This is true generally, but especially so in Latin America, where the asymmetry with the United States is so pronounced and has strongly shaped inter-American relations, often with unhappy results.Read more +

High Rates of Violence Against Women in Latin America Despite Femicide Legislation: Possible Steps Forward

Leonie Rauls, Tamar Ziff ˙ ˙ Voces

Sergio / Flickr / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
In Latin America, violence against women and girls is pervasive and practiced with relative impunity. According to a November 2017 United Nations Development Program Report, Latin America has the highest rate in the world of gender-based sexual violence against women, and in Central America two of every three women killed…Read more +

The High Cost of Tampering with NAFTA

Peter Hakim ˙ ˙ Voces

Presidencia de la República Mexicana / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
After little more than a year of tension-filled talks, US and Mexican negotiators have reached a preliminary agreement that would largely preserve, in both concept and content, the original NAFTA. But for both Mexico and Canada, the uncertain and painful renegotiation of NAFTA comes with high costs beyond the expected economic losses. Resolving the NAFTA dispute will not repair the damage Trump has inflicted on US relations with both Mexico and Canada. Read more +

Coordinating a Humane Response to the Influx of Haitian Migrants in Chile

Tamar Ziff, Camille Preel-Dumas, ˙ ˙ Voces

Felipe Salgado / CC BY 2.0 / Flickr
Chile, which has historically received fewer immigrants than its neighboring countries, partly due to its natural Andean “wall,” has recently seen an incredible influx of Haitian migrants. Chile’s migrant population is now 10% Haitian, in close competition with the 12% that is Venezuelan. Why are Haitians choosing Chile in such great numbers, and how has the host country responded?Read more +

Peru’s Slow Unwinding

Tamar Ziff, Ben Raderstorf ˙ ˙ Voces

Cesar Jose Honostroza Pariachi / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Peru’s inclination to growth over institutionalization could be seen as a sort of libertarian experiment—getting the state out of the way in a country where economic mismanagement has more than once led to disaster. But, while in the short term Peru has defied research that shows that institutional factors—such as corruption, bureaucratic inefficiency, and lack of trust and satisfaction in government—are consistent structural obstacles to prosperity, cracks are beginning to show. Read more +

El Salvador: Tackling Impunity Past and Present

Anna Egas, Michael Camilleri ˙ ˙ Voces

Presidencia El Salvador / Flickr / CC0 1.0
In the two years since the repeal of the amnesty law, El Salvador has taken tentative steps towards establishing accountability for the atrocities of the civil war. Are these nascent advances in transitional justice threatening political stability and exacerbating present-day challenges as critics feared? Alternatively, could seeking accountability for past abuses facilitate efforts to tackle widespread impunity for contemporary crimes?Read more +

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