Blogs


Q&A with David Goldwyn: Will Maduro’s Electioneering Decrease Appetite for Guyanese Oil?

David Goldwyn ˙ ˙ Voces

Photo of Nicolas Maduro Federico Parra / Flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED
On December 3, President Nicolás Maduro held a referendum asking citizens whether the Essequibo region should be “reclaimed” as part of Venezuelan territory. Whether prompted by the 2015 discovery of abundant oil reserves, or the need to gain popularity before the 2024 presidential elections, Maduro ordered Petróleos de Venezuela, SA…Read more +

An Unprecedented Migration Crisis: Characterizing and Analyzing its Depth

Manuel Orozco, Patrick Springer ˙ ˙ Voces

Photo of migrants in Panama Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá / Twitter
This piece offers a look at the current migration trends and points to large differences that characterize this situation as a crisis: the scale, composition, nature, and management of migration is outside conventional or historical patterns. Aspects of this unprecedented migration pattern are not within the control of government authorities and policy makers. The recent migration wave to the US border has been referred to as a crisis. Media references point to the drama of people arriving and passing through the Darien, Central America, and Mexico to characterize the problem. Others have pointed out the increasing arrivals into US cities in numbers that are hard to manage by local communities.Read more +

Sustained Remittance Growth in 2022

Manuel Orozco, Asha Richards ˙ ˙ Migration, Remittances & Development

A man counts Somali shilling notes having just exchanged US Dollars with a money changer on the streets of the Somali capital Mogadishu. Stuart Price/ Flickr / CC0 1.0
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, remittances have become a much more important source of income for many people in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is projected that the growth rate will reach 14 percent in 2022 to nearly US$150 billion, equivalent to 5 percent of the gross domestic product in Latin American and the Caribbean countries...Read more +

Five inconvenient truths on Latin America’s digital transformation: from words to action

Karim Lesina, Ángel Melguizo ˙ ˙ Latin America Advisor

photo of telecommunications
Covid-19 has accelerated digitalization all over the world. Things that chief technology officers had planned to be implemented in years had to be put in place in weeks, or even days. E-commerce, e-payments, remote work, video calls and streaming are now essential parts of our social and productive lives. Indeed, some in-person activities are gradually coming back, but a significant part of our day-to-day activities will likely become digital forever.Read more +

¿Qué implica la visita del cardenal Sean Patrick O’Malley a Cuba?

Lenier González ˙ ˙ Voces

Iglesia Parroquial Mayor Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción en Sagua Lezumbalaberenjena / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Ha desatado polémica la reciente visita a Cuba del cardenal Sean Patrick O'Malley, arzobispo de Boston. La llegada del Cardenal a la Isla ocurre justamente a dos meses de las multitudinarias protestas ocurridas en Cuba los pasados días 11 y 12 de julio. Desde sectores del laicado católico, la oposición política, la sociedad civil, y el exilio de Miami, se afirma que se trata de una “operación” de “lavado rostro” al gobierno cubano -con la ayuda de la jerarquía católica local- luego de los acontecimientos de julio pasado, que arrojaron cientos de encarcelados, sobre todo jóvenes.Read more +

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