South America Archive

This is the web version of our subscriber-only Weekly Wrap-Up newsletter, which gives a rundown of the week’s top stories on WPR. Subscribe to receive it by email every Saturday. If you’re already a subscriber, adjust your newsletter settings to receive it directly to your email inbox. By now, the shock of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has begun to wear off. But the outrage over the Biden administration’s handling of the evacuation of Western civilians and Afghan nationals at risk of Taliban retaliation seems to have only risen this week, even as the airlift gathered pace. That outrage turned to horror Thursday, when […]

At his swearing-in ceremony as Ecuador’s new president in late May, Guillermo Lasso promised to usher in a new political era in the South American nation ravaged by COVID-19, an economic slump and autocratic hyper-partisanship. “I have not come to satisfy the hate of a few but the hunger of many,” the conservative former banker and Coca-Cola executive told the National Assembly, in a message clearly aimed at healing and unifying the country. “My strength will not come from how much I raise my voice to shout but rather from how much I listen to the people before I speak.” Since then, Lasso, 65, […]

Last month, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called for the Organization of American States to be replaced “by a body that is truly autonomous, not anybody’s lackey.” AMLO, as Lopez Obrador is popularly known, delivered the remarks during a meeting in Mexico of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, or CELAC, a regional grouping that excludes the United States and Canada. His comments underscored the long-standing perception among many Latin American leaders that the OAS is too closely aligned with Washington, spurring many leaders to try to find alternatives over the years. Persistent mistrust of the OAS has also […]

One week after taking office, having won election by the thinnest margin imaginable, Peruvian President Pedro Castillo finds himself “between the sword and the wall,” to use the Spanish expression, as a result of the country’s complex political realities, made worse by his early stumbles. Peruvians are watching anxiously, uncertain about what direction he will try to take the country and how far he will get in his efforts. Castillo assumed the presidency last Thursday, in a day so filled with controversy that it seemed a continuation of the turbulent events that brought him to the top job. Obviously, it […]