Latin America

February 2007
Ecuador’s Gamble: Can Correa Govern?
by CATHERINE M. CONAGHAN
"Rafael Correa faces his greatest challenge yet: how to deliver on his ambitious campaign promises to transform Ecuador, the most politically unstable country in the region."

February 2007
Nicaragua’s Turning Point
by SHELLEY A. MCCONNELL
"Will President Ortega live up to his democratic discourse, or will the state become a hybrid regime, combining procedural elements of democracy with deep wells of authoritarianism?"

February 2007
The Other Side of Immigration
by ANDRÉS ROZENTAL
The Other Side of Immigration

February 2006
The Divided States of the Americas
by MICHAEL SHIFTER and VINAY JAWAHAR
"While economic and technological ties may be bringing the Americas closer, at a national level there has been a marked breakdown of consensus, along with deepening disintegration."

February 2006
Politics on Edge: Managing the US-Mexico Border
by PETER ANDREAS
"The politically tricky challenge is to tap heightened attention and concern over border security in a manner that promotes rather than poisons cross-border cooperation."

February 2006
Mexico’s (Temporary) Turn to the Left
by ALLYSON LUCINDA BENTON
"The shift left during the presidential campaign does not mean that Mexican policy will also shift in that direction after a new administration takes office."

February 2006
Hopes Dashed? Lula’s Brazil
by JEFFREY CASON
"A corruption scandal and lackluster economic performance have put Lula's hopes for reelection later this year in doubt."

February 2006
Trouble Ahead: The Cocaleros of Peru
by VANDA FELBAB-BROWN
"Ironically, civil society, which the United States has been exporting as a means of democratization around the world, is precisely what is complicating its counternarcotics policies in the Andes."

February 2006
Reform and Corruption in Latin America
by KURT WEYLAND
"Some level of corruption is endemic to the region's states almost regardless of their economic policies."

January 2006
Chávez’s Venezuela
by PHIL GUNSON
"Is Chávez a democrat? And, whether he is or not, can he deliver social and economic justice to the mass of the Venezuelan population?"

February 2005
Latin America's Populist Turn
by Michael Shifter and Vinay Jawahar
"Latin America's political landscape, highly complex and variegated, defies easy categorization and raises fundamental questions-including whether it might be better to jettison the term 'left' altogether."

February 2005
Beyond Benign Neglect: Washington and Latin America
by Arturo Valenzuela
"Without clear and concerted engagement and a recognition that the consolidation of democracy in Latin America is far from a foregone conclusion, Washington will be unable to regain the momentum for progress lost over the past four years."

February 2005
Fox's Mexico: Democracy Paralyzed
by Denise Dresser
"Mexico appears to be speaking the vocabulary of disenchantment. The words 'failure,' 'disillusion,' 'lack of leadership' have become a daily part of national conversation. The consensus seems to be that [Vicente] Fox's presidency is over, that he is no longer a lame duck but a dead duck."

February 2005
Cuba after Fidel
by Javier Corrales
"Cuba's democratic transition will be choppy because it will be led by groups not necessarily known to prefer democracy: the armed forces and expatriate businesspeople."

February 2005
El Salvador's "Model" Democracy
by David Holiday
"In the immediate aftermath of the 1992 peace accords, El Salvador was cited frequently by the United Nations and even the World Bank as a country that, with the international community's help, effectively managed its transition from civil war to peace and reconciliation. Thirteen years later, only the US government views the Salvadoran model so favorably."

February 2005
Haiti after Aristide: Still on the Brink
by Daniel P. Erikson
"In the 1990s, Haiti was on the front lines of us efforts to help bind Latin America and the Caribbean into a 'community of democracies.' Today, the country is the closest example of a failed state this side of the Atlantic."

September 2004
The Latin Americanization of China?
by George J. Gilboy and Eric Heginbotham
Land reforms aimed at raising rural incomes and promoting urbanization could accelerate the crisis already building in China's cities. If urban legal and social reforms fail to keep pace, China could face intensifying conflict between a burgeoning class of have-nots and an entitled minority, a consolidated alliance between political leaders and business and social elites, and a host of other social and political ills familiar to many Latin American states.

February 2004
NAFTA at 10: A Plus or a Minus?
by Jorge G. Castaneda
"NAFTA has not been the win-win situation some of its supporters said it would be. Nor has it been the catastrophe its critics predicted."

February 2004
Scoring Free Trade: A Critique of the Critics
by Sidney Weintraub
"NAFTA's critics cite low growth and high poverty to blame Mexico's mediocre economic performance on free trade. Yet the trade agreement, in its designated area of impact, has been a clear success. The causes of Mexico's problems lie elsewhere."

February 2004
The US and Latin America Through the Lens of Empire
by Michael Shifter
"An unvarnished sense of superiority, displayed proudly on the regional and global stage, has revived the resentment and distrust of Latin Americans toward the United States that had recently shown signs of receding."