Though Costa Rica has one of Latin America’s most successful education systems, challenges remain. AS/COA Online speaks to the education minister about strategies to improve the quality of education and to keep students in school.
News & Analysis
The two countries headed to the polls Sunday. Retired General Otto Pérez Molina won Guatemala’s runoff, while former rebel leader Daniel Ortega gained reelection in Nicaragua.
The Peruvian president enjoys high approval ratings as the country’s economy keeps booming and his administration steps up social inclusion programs. His next test involves facing lingering challenges, such as corruption and social conflicts.
The Brazilian Senate passed two landmark bills last week, one expanding freedom of information access and a second creating a truth commission to investigate dictatorship-era crimes.
In February, the opposition will choose its candidate to compete against President Hugo Chávez in the October 2012 presidential election. AS/COA looks at the candidates and some of the top issues.
Voters head to the polls October 30 for Colombia’s local elections. The country’s three biggest cities—Bogota, Medellin, and Cali—are holding fiercely fought mayoral competitions.
Roderick Royal talks with AS/COA about the effects of immigration law HB56 in Birmingham and beyond.
Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner accomplished what was widely expected on Sunday when she cruised to a reelection win.
"The nature of the relationship between the Iranian and Venezuelan autocrats undoubtedly warrants further inspection and close observation," write AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini and Ryan Berger in an op-ed for CNN Global Public Square.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced a record number of deportations for 2011—a fact which may have repercussions in next year’s election.
This Americas Society white paper provides the first comparative look at the average economic effects of how restrictive versus non-restrictive immigration-related city ordinances affect a business environment. Using statistical analysis, the report demonstrates that non-restrictive city ordinances are better for an overall jobs environment.
Early results from Bolivia's October 16 judicial elections indicate large-scale voiding of ballots. Observers say the vote amounts to the first electoral rebuff of President Evo Morales since he took office.
During his stop in Bogota, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas fell short of getting Colombia's support for Palestine's admission to the UN. But Abbas' Latin American outreach appears to fit into a global strategy to promote Palestinian recognition.
Peru’s President Ollanta Humala is tackling police corruption by purging two thirds of the force’s top generals—a move some see as an attempt to fill the ranks with allies.
"Recent developments in South America have upended the United States' historical—and often misguided—tendency to lump the region into a one-size-fits-all policy," writes AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini for World Politics Review.
Puerto Rico’s governor introduced legislation that will likely lead to a two-step referendum in 2012 on the island’s territorial status. But it remains to be seen whether the political will to back a status change exists in Puerto Rico or Washington.
The White House submitted trade deals with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea on Monday. Key legislators indicated the long-pending deals could win approval before Congress breaks for recess later this month.
"Simply put, Colombia has enjoyed an energy renaissance over the past decade," COA's Eric Farnsworth tells World Politics Review's Global Insider.
Violence has spiked and people are dying gruesome, preventable deaths in Central America, Mexico, and elsewhere as a result of U.S. consumer tastes. Blood diamonds? No, conflict drugs, writes COA's Eric Farnsworth for The Huffington Post.
El alcalde describe cómo ha convertido a Tarija en un modelo de buen gobierno durante sus 11 años de gobierno, así como el logro en construir un puente entre los sectores público y privado.