When Haiti was struck by a devastating earthquake, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama quickly absorbed the depth of the tragedy and necessity of a robust U.S. response. Unless the U.S. adopts a proactive role, Haiti’s fragmented political landscape threatens to deteriorate into a political vacuum that will compound the current crisis.
Will the leaders of our democracies rise to the demands of this exasperated citizenry, ready to set fire to the temple? Perhaps, but the prospects are not bright.
Kevin Casas-Zamora
Articles & Op-Eds ˙
˙ Latin America Goes Global
By all accounts, Spain wants to bring change to the European Union’s Cuba policy. In so doing, it is tackling a foreign policy challenge that often sheds more heat than light.
In the early 1980s, when the Inter-American Dialogue was born, the U.S. was actively supporting right-wing governments from El Salvador to Nicaragua. There were “tremendous misunderstandings between Latin America and the United States,” says Michael Shifter, longtime president of the D.C.-based think tank. These days, it seems those tremendous misunderstandings have returned with a vengeance, making the Dialogue’s work even more relevant.
Larry Luxner
Articles & Op-Eds ˙
˙ The Washington Diplomat
On June 4, the Inter-American Dialogue, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation co-sponsored an event titled “The Crisis of Democracy and Women’s Rights in the Americas.”
It is now becoming increasingly clear that recent protests reflect the anger of the Nicaraguan people towards what many describe as an environment of systematic corruption and abuse of authority that has spanned almost 30 years.
On October 17, The Inter-American Dialogue in conjunction with the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Latin American Program hosted a panel event titled “Nicaragua Crisis: New Paths Forward?”
Michael Camilleri, director del programa de leyes Peter D. Bell de Diálogo Interamericano participo en CNN Dinero donde analizo junto a Xavier Serbiá, los posibles escenarios contenidos en el reporte “Transición Interrumpida” publicado por el Diálogo.
Latin American countries have some of the most restrictive reproductive health laws and policies in the world, particularly with regard to abortion. In part this stems from not recognizing reproductive freedom as a fundamental human right. However, imposing legal restrictions on abortion does not reduce the likelihood that women will seek this reproductive health service. Instead, harsh laws compel women to risk their lives and health by seeking out unsafe abortions.
Inter-American Dialogue, Center for Reproductive Rights
On September 26 and 27, 2019, the 2nd Annual Global Forum on Latin America and the Caribbean took place at the Union League Club in New York City, concomitantly with the United Nations General Assembly. Dialogue Members Leonel Fernández and Laura Chinchilla participated in this year’s forum.
In this working paper, Arturo J. Cruz-Sequeira, offers a fresh and original assessment of the state of democratic governance in five Central American nations: Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Using economic and political data, Cruz shows how the interplay between each country’s civil society, political society, and government shapes its democratic development in the context of intensified citizen demands coupled with diminished US assistance.