Most international coverage of Panama’s drought focuses on shipping delays through the Panama Canal. Locals are more worried about its impact on potable water. More worrying is the fact that Panama is not the only Latin American country currently facing water scarcity. To the contrary, the entire region is in the grips of a dry spell.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro knew some of the candidates he had backed were faltering ahead of Sunday’s local elections. But when the votes were counted, the results were much worse for the president than almost anyone expected. The outcome was such a decisive setback that the elections looked like a rebuke of his presidency.
On Oct. 15th, Daniel Noboa, a 35-year-old business executive, won the race to be Ecuador’s next president, although due to the circumstances of the election, he will only get a shortened 18-month term. To subsequently win a full term in office for himself, Noboa needs to learn from outgoing President Guillermo Lasso’s failures.
