New Americas Quarterly Released on Cuba and Colombia

What does the future hold for Cuba and Colombia? The Fall 2014 issue of Americas Quarterly, released on November 5, explores the promising but difficult roads ahead for two Latin American countries potentially on the verge of historic change. Will the Colombian government's progress in forging a negotiated peace with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—FARC) bring a just and sustainable end to the country’s deadly 50-year-old armed conflict? What major challenges must Cuba overcome to jump-start its economy and improve life on the island—and how can the U.S. facilitate this process?

In this issue, Juanita León examines the legal and political obstacles that Colombia faces in its quest to secure a lasting peace, Marcela Prieto dispels common misperceptions about the peace process, and Rodrigo Uprimny and Nelson Camilo Sánchez discuss how to best achieve justice for victims of the decades-long violence. Meanwhile, journalists Jenny Manrique and Ramón Campos Iriarte interview the FARC's delegates in Havana and ELN guerrillas in Chocó, and Alejandro Eder explains how disarmed ex-combatants are being re-integrated into Colombian society.

In our section on Cuba, Carmelo Mesa-Lago describes the political resistance and red tape that must be resolved to ensure that Cuba’s recent economic reforms are successful. Robert Muse lays out a roadmap for improving U.S.-Cuba relations, and Richard Feinberg argues that the U.S. must rethink its policy toward the island well before next year’s Summit of the Americas in Panama. AS/COA CEO and President Susan Segal finds inspiration and promise in the island’s pioneering entrepreneurs, and Alana Tummino and Allie Fleder take a trip across the island to meet with Cuban cuentapropistas to document their successes and struggles.

AQ also looks at the surge of unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico border, as Sam Quinones urges politicians in Washington to take quick action to resolve the humanitarian crisis. Eduardo Guerrero and Alejandro Hope debate the merits of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s security policy, and Daniel H. Levine asks whether Latin America’s first pope, Francis I, will change the future of Catholicism in the region.

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In This Issue:

FEATURE SECTION: Cuba and Colombia

A Skeptic's View on the "Peace Dividend"
ALBERTO BERNAL
The economic benefits are neither direct nor certain.

The Obstacles to Political Integration Post-Peace
JUANITA LEÓN
The obstacles to political integration.

Law and Reconciliation in Colombia
RODRIGO UPRIMNY AND NELSON CAMILO SÁNCHEZ
How to achieve both justice and reconciliation.

Colombia and the War in the Eyes of the FARC
JENNY MANRIQUE
The FARC's negotiators emerge from the jungle.

The ELN's War
RAMÓN CAMPOS IRIARTE
Life on Colombia's western war front: a photo essay.

Constructing Peace: What We've Learned and How the Private Sector Can Help
ALEJANDRO EDER
What the past 10 years of disarmament have taught policy makers.

Post-Conflict Campesinos: Recovering Rural Colombia
RICARDO ARGÜELLO
The state needs to play a bigger role in the post-conflict countryside.

The Myths of the Colombian Peace Process
MARCELA PRIETO
An agreement won't end endemic problems of poverty and narco-crime—but it will certainly help.

Why Entrepreneurship Matters in Cuba
SUSAN SEGAL
Cuba's rising entrepreneurs face special challenges, but their energies and creativity are recognizable the world over.

Can Cuba's Economic Reforms Succeed?
CARMELO MESA-LAGO
The non-state sector has expanded, but the red tape and bottlenecks haven't changed.

Cuba: The New Leaders
Portraits and essays of the island's emerging leadership generation.

Double Trouble: Currency Unification in Cuba
YAIMA DOIMEADIOS AND VILMA HIDALGO
The plan to unify Cuba's dual currencies will produce winners—and losers.

Cuba and the Summits of the Americas
RICHARD E. FEINBERG
The U.S. can save the upcoming Summit of the Americas—and update its anachronistic Cuba policy—in one fell swoop.

Cuba's New Business Class
ALANA TUMMINO AND ALLIE FLEDER
Cuba's rising entrepreneurs face special challenges, but their energies and creativity are recognizable the world over.

U.S. Presidential Action on Cuba: The New Normalization?
ROBERT MUSE
A roadmap for genuine normalization.

ASK THE EXPERTS
What can Colombia learn from other countries that have ended conflict and achieved peace? Clem McCartney, Joydeep Mukherji, Aldo Civico, and Álvaro de Soto respond.

AQ UPFRONT

The Francis Effect
DANIEL H. LEVINE
Latin America's first pope, Argentine-born Francis I, has staked out a new, inclusive approach, but he also reflects hopes and anxieties about the future of Catholicism in the region.

Unaccompanied Kids and Unintended Consequences: Our Failed Immigration System
SAM QUINONES
Washington's broken immigration system was brought into sharp relief by the crisis at the U.S. border, but the political reaction doesn't help matters.

DEPARTMENTS

Panorama: Tucson’s All Souls Procession, bottling your own wine in Argentina, Manos Sucias explores Colombia’s seamy drug trade on film, 10 Things to Do in Nashville, and more.

Hard Talk: Is Mexico’s security situation improving? Eduardo Guerrero and Alejandro Hope debate.

Innovators: Carlos Menchaca empowers immigrants in Brooklyn. Matika Wilbur photographs Native Americans. Diego Saez-Gil helps budget-conscious travelers. Alessandra Orofino channels community activism in Rio.

Policy Updates: Katerina Valdivieso on COP20 in Peru and striking the balance between environmental responsibility and economic growth.

Policy Advocacy: Jennifer McCoy on why keeping elections competitive is the new challenge. It’s up to NGOs, multilateral organizations and citizens to improve standards.

Fresh Look Reviews: Marcos Troyjo examines Brazil’s emergence as a global power. Timothy J. Power probes the resilience of the Latin American right.

Just the Numbers: The highest paid athletes in the hemisphere—and the world.