Global efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change are ramping up ahead of the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as COP21, to be held in Paris later this year. Although Latin America accounts for only 5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, many countries in the region have taken leading roles in global mitigation efforts. Brazil was host to the initial 1992 Earth Summit that led to the framework convention, and continues to be a major participant in climate change mitigation efforts, most notably in reducing [...]
The good times are winding down in much of Latin America, and with them ends not only a period of economic growth but very possibly also one of relative political stability. As the global economy and financial markets strain to adjust to a slowdown in China, for years one of the world’s principal engines of growth, no region of the world will feel a more painful punch from the new reality. In fact, the International Monetary Fund’s growth projections show Latin America and the Caribbean with the slowest economies of any major region this year. Such a sharp deceleration inevitably [...]
The investigation of an elite police unit in Brazil for allegedly trying to cover up the disappearance of a Rio de Janeiro man may represent an opportunity to restore the public’s trust in the rule of law, and perhaps repair the reputation of a controversial program to pacify favelas. The disappearance of Amarildo da Souza, a 47-year-old bricklayer who was last seen by witnesses in July 2013 being led into a local police base in Rio’s Rocinha favela, provoked immediate outrage. Residents and civil society groups demanded justice; prosecutors soon launched an investigation that ultimately resulted in charges of murder, [...]
