Latin America Advisor

A Daily Publication of The Dialogue

Editor’s Picks: Top Content from the Latin America Advisor 2021

I am pleased to share this selection of issues that the Latin America Advisor's team felt covered especially important developments this year.

Led by editor Gene Kuleta, our reporters have produced 250 editions of the daily Advisor over the past 12 tumultuous months for subscribers at many of the world’s most innovative companies, including Apple, BMW, BlackRock, BP, Citigroup, Merck, Mitsubishi, Roche and Walmart, as well as the libraries at Berkeley, Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Notre Dame, among other leading universities, and government ministries on four continents.

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What Does Boric's Election Mean for the Future of Chile?


Dec 21  |  Latin America Advisor

Leftist millennial Gabriel Boric, 35, was elected Chile’s president on Sunday, defeating conservative José Antonio Kast, who conceded the race. What factors were most responsible for Boric’s victory? What are the biggest initiatives expected of his government, and how well will Boric be able to work with the country’s Congress? What will Boric’s presidency mean for Chile’s business climate and the country’s economic recovery?

 

What Are the Political Hot Spots to Watch in Latin America Next Year?

Dec 8  |  Latin America Advisor

With elections coming up in Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica, which countries in Latin America and the Caribbean will be the political hot spots to watch next year? What political trends will be the strongest in the coming year, and is authoritarianism and polarization likely to worsen in the region in 2022?
 

How Much Will The Region’s Economies Grow in 2022? 

Dec 13  |  Latin America Advisor

Which countries struggled to recover in 2021, and what will it take for them to return to pre-pandemic levels of growth? What is the outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean’s main economic indicators for 2022?
 

Why Is Vaccine Rollout So Uneven in Latin America? 

Oct 21  |  Latin America Advisor

What does the disparity in vaccination rates mean for the region’s efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19? Why are so many countries lagging behind the regional average? How is this affecting commercial and tourist relations between countries that have starkly different vaccination rates?
 

What Will the U.S.- Mexico Economic Talks Accomplish? 

Sep 27  |  Latin America Advisor

After a four-year hiatus, U.S. and Mexican officials on Sept. 9 relaunched the High-Level Economic Dialogue, or HLED, an initiative started in 2013 to advance strategic economic and commercial priorities for both countries. What does relaunching HLED indicate about the state of economic relations between the Biden and López Obrador administrations?
 

Will Brazil's Bolsonaro Try to Stay in Power if He Loses Next Year?

Sep 21  |  Latin America Advisor

Are there reasons for concern about the reliability of Brazil’s 2022 elections, or is Bolsonaro setting up an effort to challenge the results in the event that he loses next year? What will result from his allegations in terms of Brazilians’ acceptance of the eventual winner? Will Bolsonaro’s failed social media order have any lasting effects? 
 

What Is Being Done About Water Stress in Latin America? 

Aug 27  |  Latin America Advisor

What are governments and the private sector doing in order to mitigate the effects of droughts in Latin America and the Caribbean? What more should they be doing–both in the short-term and the long-term? How well have multinational efforts functioned in order to strengthen water security in the hemisphere?

 

What Initiatives Will Help Lower Youth Unemployment? 

Aug 26  |  Latin America Advisor

How much has youth employment suffered during the pandemic? What are the most important components of government and private-sector programs to lower unemployment levels among young people? How much growth will technology-industry jobs see in the coming years in Latin America, and what should governments be doing to provide young people with the skills to fill them?

 

Has the Mérida Initiative Failed the U.S. and Mexico? 

Aug 17  |  Latin America Advisor

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the initiative “doesn’t work” and is “dead.” What does the Mérida Initiative encompass exactly, and to what extent has it failed to reach its stated goals? Is the program likely to be reformed any time soon? What could a potential replacement of the Mérida Initiative look like, and what elements of the aid program need to be improved for U.S.-Mexico security cooperation to work more effectively?

 

Has Latin America Become a Foreign Policy Priority for the United States? 

Jul 19  |  Latin America Advisor

To what extent has there been a significant broadening of interests involving Latin America by the U.S. Congress, and what is driving this momentum? What role are U.S. legislators playing in positioning Latin America as a foreign policy priority, and which issues have taken center-stage? Is congressional pressure influencing the Biden administration’s strategy toward the region?

 

What Would China’s Membership Mean to the CPTPP Trade Bloc? 

Dec 10  |  Latin America Advisor

China in September applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, the 11-country trade agreement that counts countries including Chile, Mexico, Peru, Canada, Japan and Australia as signatories. What would China’s joining the agreement mean for the current member states in Latin America? How much is China willing to adhere to CPTPP standards, such as those on labor rights, tariff cuts and intellectual property?

 

Will This Year's 5G Auction Lead to Big Advances for Brazil? 

Nov 18  |  Latin America Advisor

How successful was the $8.5 billion 5G auction for Brazil, and what is the significance of which companies had winning bids? What benefits will the spectrum awards and investment bring to Brazilian consumers as the country it rolls out 5G, and what regulatory changes need to be in place in order for Brazil’s digital economy to make the most of new technologies and flourish?
 

What Challenges Await Honduras’ Next President?

Nov 30  |  Latin America Advisor

Leftist Honduran presidential candidate and former First Lady Xiomara Castro declared victory as preliminary vote totals showed her winning decisively against her opponent, conservative Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asfura. To what can Castro attribute her victory? What are the main challenges she faces as president, and what policy agenda will she pursue? What would Honduras establishing formal relations with China, as Castro has vowed to do, mean for the Central American nation?
 

Is Mexico Ensuring the Intended Use of ESG Investments?

Jan 19  |  Latin America Advisor

Mexico last year issued $910 million of sovereign sustainable bonds, also known as ESG bonds, amid some skepticism that investors’ money will actually be used with environmental, social and governance considerations in mind. Are there sufficient controls in place in Mexico to guarantee that such investments in effect go toward initiatives with intended positive results? To what extent is “greenwashing,” a term some employ to characterize the use of vague goals of improving the planet in order to raise money more cheaply, a concern for investors when deciding to buy ESG bonds in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America?
 

Where Does the Assassination of Moïse Leave Haiti?

Jul 9  |  Latin America Advisor

The assassination early Wednesday morning of President Jovenel Moïse has plunged Haiti, which was already dealing with political unrest, widespread insecurity and economic hardship, into a new and unexpected crisis. To what extent will Moïse’s assassination create a political vacuum and new unrest in Haiti? Will those responsible face justice?
 

What Will Sunday’s Election Mean for Nicaraguans?

Nov 5  |  Latin America Advisor

Nicaragua will hold its presidential elections on Sunday. The vote has been widely denounced as rigged as the government of President Daniel Ortega, who is seeking a fourth consecutive term, in recent months has imprisoned or pushed into exile virtually anyone who could mount a serious challenge against him. What will Ortega’s expected victory mean for Nicaraguans in the coming years, and how will the country be affected? How likely is the international community to respond with increased political and financial pressure on the Ortega administration following the elections?
 

How Difficult Will It Be for Peru’s New President to Govern?

Jul 22  |  Latin America Advisor

Peru’s National Elections Jury on Monday declared leftist school teacher Pedro Castillo the country’s president-elect. The action came six weeks after Peru’s June 6 runoff election, in which Castillo narrowly defeated conservative former lawmaker Keiko Fujimori, who claimed fraud and filed several challenges in the weeks following the vote. How have allegations of fraud and subsequent delays affected Peruvians’ trust in the country’s electoral process? To what extent has the uncertainty over the past month affected the next president’s mandate and legitimacy, and has the reputation of Fujimori’s Fuerza Popular party been tarnished because of the controversy? What are the biggest challenges that Castillo will have to overcome when he takes office on July 28?
 

What Are the Most Urgent Tasks Facing Ecuador’s Lasso?

Apr 12  |  Latin America Advisor

Voters in Ecuador elected conservative pro-business candidate Guillermo Lasso as the country’s president on Sunday. Lasso, who received more than 52 percent of the vote, defeated Andrés Arauz, a leftist economist and protégé of former President Rafael Correa. What are the most difficult tasks facing Ecuador’s new president? To what extent will Lasso continue the policies of current President Lenín Moreno, and what will be the most significant changes? How difficult will it be for Lasso to get his initiatives through Ecuador’s National Assembly, and what will he need to do to get support from leftist and centrist legislators?

 

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