South America Archive

Venezuela’s embattled socialist government is steadily moving the country toward the abyss, and the escalating crisis is taking on more ominous tones. Venezuelans are caught in a fast-spinning economic spiral that has already devastated living standards and created a large-scale humanitarian crisis. But as Venezuelans take to the streets, so far the government has responded with measures that exacerbate tensions and make a peaceful political solution increasingly difficult. President Nicolas Maduro, the heir to the late President Hugo Chavez, was elected by popular vote in 2013. But the Venezuelan system of government can no longer be called a democracy. The […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on a range of countries’ space priorities and programs. Brazil’s space agency recently announced plans to develop a microsatellite launch vehicle that would take satellites weighing up to 1 kilogram into orbit. The first test launch is scheduled for late 2018. In an email interview, Robert Harding, the head of the political science department at Valdosta State University, discusses Brazil’s space program. WPR: What are Brazil’s space capabilities, in terms of its domestic public and private space-industrial complex, and who are its major international partners, in terms of space […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the legal status and socio-economic conditions of indigenous peoples in a range of countries. Last month, police forcibly evicted a group of indigenous Ava Guarani people from their native land in eastern Paraguay, demolishing houses, schools, places of worship and crops. In an email interview, René Harder Horst, a history professor at Appalachian State University, discusses indigenous rights in Paraguay. WPR: What is the legal status of Paraguay’s indigenous peoples, and what are the key issues facing Paraguay’s indigenous communities? René Harder Horst: In 2015 there were an […]

Bolivia was shaken in late August when Deputy Interior Minister Rodolfo Illanes was killed by striking miners from Bolivia’s informal, self-governing cooperatives, his body dumped by the side of the road 80 miles south of the capital, La Paz. Llanes had been sent to Bolivia’s mining region by President Evo Morales in an effort to reduce tensions among those frustrated with falling commodities prices and chafing at the government’s unwillingness to loosen restrictions they see as limiting their economic prospects. Among their repeated demands has been an expanded ability to contract with private companies—they are currently restricted to doing business […]

LIMA, Peru—Like many Peruvians, Augusto Correa has done well over the past two decades. In the 1990s, he and his siblings converted their grandfather’s former home in Lima’s upscale Miraflores district into a small bed-and-breakfast. Customers were scarce at first, but the business grew, and the siblings slowly expanded Hostal Buena Vista, as the bed-and-breakfast is called, from three rooms to 19, adding annexes and a third floor. In the process, Augusto’s brother Jorge opened a second Hostal Buena Vista in the highland city of Cusco, the former capital of the Incan empire, and Augusto recently inaugurated a third one […]

The international community got ahead of itself when it celebrated the peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC insurgency before it was a done deal. It is now making the same mistake again, grieving the death of peace after Sunday’s failed referendum. In fact, the chances for a peace deal in Colombia still look promising after voters rejected the agreement that had produced a premature popping of the champagne. Reaching another deal will not be easy. But there is a real possibility that Colombia could go through a process that would help it tackle not only the half-century-old […]

On Sunday, Colombians narrowly rejected in a referendum a peace deal with the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, raising questions about what the future holds for a country that has been fighting the guerrilla movement for 52 years. The insurgency—the longest war in the Americas—has left over 200,000 people dead and over 8 million displaced. Polls ahead of Sunday’s referendum predicted a two-to-one margin of victory for the peace deal, but the final tally showed 49.8 percent in favor of the deal and 50.2 against it. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leaders have said they […]