The geopolitics of China’s rise in Latin America (Ted Piccone, Brookings)

https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-geopolitics-of-chinas-rise-in-latin-america/

Latin America’s Populist Hangover (Shannon K. O'Neil, Council on Foreign Relations)

In my piece published in the November/December 2016 issue of Foreign Affairs, I lay out the economic and political characteristics of populism, analyze why it is receding in Latin America today, and describe what a next wave might look like. I also argue that Latin America’s historical experience with populism provides some bracing warnings to other countries now flirting with such politics. You can read the first three paragraphs of the article below:

http://blogs.cfr.org/oneil/2016/10/18/latin-americas-populist-hangover/

Where are Latin American economies headed? (Ernesto Talvi, Brookings)

For the better part of the past decade, close to 80 percent of countries in Latin America were ruled by center-left and populist governments. However, this hegemony seems to be coming to an end, with center-right parties recently rising to power in Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, Paraguay, and Peru. Should this come as a surprise? The short answer is no.

https://www.brookings.edu/research/where-are-latin-american-economies-headed-political-swings-and-paradigm-shifts-a-historical-perspective/

The case for disruption in Latin America’s classrooms (Susan Segal, WEF)

Many schools in Latin America – and in the U.S. and around the world – continue to use antiquated models for education that do not serve 21st century students. And students are paying the price. While there is now almost universal access to primary education in Latin America, the 40% that go on to graduate from the secondary level are not getting a quality education, and lag far behind their peers around the world. More than half of the students from the region did not achieve the minimum level of learning prescribed by the 2012 PISA. All eight Latin American countries that participated in the evaluation ranked in the bottom 20 of the 65 countries tested

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/05/a-case-for-disruption-in-latin-america-s-classrooms

L’America latina “pacifica” tra integrazione regionale e globalizzazione (Marco Mariano, Aspenia online)

Lo scorso 4 febbraio veniva firmato, a Auckland in Nuova Zelanda, il trattato istitutivo della Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) tra 12 paesi dell’Estremo Oriente, dell’Oceania e delle Americhe – compresi i tre membri del NAFTA (USA, Canada, Messico) ma anche Cile e Perù. Negli stessi giorni il presidente colombiano Manuel Santos, ricevuto alla Casa Bianca da Barack Obama, incassava elogi per la stabilizzazione politica, la crescita economica del paese e l’andamento dei negoziati con i guerriglieri delle FARC, uniti a un sostanzioso aumento del pacchetto di aiuti economici statunitensi previsti dal “Plan Colombia” (lanciato nel 1999 e ora ribattezzato Peace/Paz Colombia)

http://www.aspeninstitute.it/aspenia-online/article/l%E2%80%99america-latina-%E2%80%9Cpacifica%E2%80%9D-tra-integrazione-regionale-e-globalizzazione

What the TPP means for Latin America and the Caribbean (Antoni Estevadeordal, Brookings)

On February 4, 2016, after five years of negotiations, the members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) signed the trade pact, considered to be the highest standard trade agreement to date.[1] The TPP includes not only traditional measures such as the reduction or elimination of tariffs, but also provisions on contemporary topics like trade facilitation, support for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), telecommunications, trade in innovative services (including digital technologies), issues of regulatory coherence and competitiveness, as well as higher standards on labor and environmental rights, sanitary and phytosanitary standards, and on the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR). In addition to the high standards of the agreement, the TPP is remarkable in its membership; together, the member countries (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam) account for 40 percent of global GDP, 26 percent of international trade, and 10 percent of the global population. If ratified, the TPP will be most significant achievement in global trade since the conclusion of the Uruguay Round at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994.

http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2016/03/09-tpp-latin-america-caribbean-estevadeordal

A Latin American Spring? (Luis Alberto Moreno, Project-Syndicate)

As corruption scandals rattle Latin America, many observers are asking if the region will ever shake off its legacy of weak institutions. I believe the answer is yes.

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/latin-america-protests-corruption-by-luis-alberto-moreno-2016-03

The Long Arm of U.S. Law and Latin America’s Corruption Malaise (Matthew Taylor, CFR)

Latin America’s corruption scandals of the past two years are moving slowly toward resolution. As they move forward, it is interesting to note that in a region that has been particularly protective of its sovereignty, foreign cooperation has played a significant role, whether it is via bilateral exchanges between prosecutors, mutual legal assistance treaties, or even United Nations support, as in the case of Guatemala’s International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG). But these various forms of international cooperation may soon be joined by another international anti-corruption effort that is less well understood in Latin America: prosecution by U.S. attorneys.

http://blogs.cfr.org/oneil/2016/03/01/the-long-arm-of-u-s-law-and-latin-americas-corruption-malaise/

Three things to know about the impact of low oil prices on Latin America (Harold Trinkunas, Brookings)

Latin America contains some of the world’s largest reserves of oil, and key states supply an important part of the global oil market. Crude oil prices have fallen dramatically over the past two years—from over $100 per barrel to less than $30. That has focused attention on the hardest-hit large producers, such as Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Venezuela, where the economic, social, and even political consequences are most dramatic.

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/order-from-chaos/posts/2016/02/17-low-oil-prices-latin-america-trinkunas

Latin America’s Right Angle? (Deepak Bhojwani, Gateway House, Eurasia Review)

Despite major political change in Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela due to global economic tumult, it may be premature to speak of a rightward shift in Latin American politics. Yet, developments in these democracies need to be monitored carefully as India has a stake in their political stability.

http://www.eurasiareview.com/16022016-latin-americas-right-angle-analysis/

The Political Salience of Latin Americans’ Perceptions of Corruption (Matthew Taylor, CFR)

Once a year, policymakers and the press are forcibly reminded of the terrible costs of corruption. This year, it fell on January 27, when Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) was released, inciting the ritual gnashing of teeth and beating of chests about relative national corruption gains and losses.

http://blogs.cfr.org/development-channel/2016/02/09/the-political-salience-of-latin-americans-perceptions-of-corruption/

Zika Virus and Reproductive Health Access in Latin America (Catherine Powell, CFR)

In response to the rapid spread of the Zika virus and the increasing number of cases linking the virus to microcephaly—a birth defect frequently characterized by a small head and incomplete brain development—some Latin American and Caribbean governments are urging women to delay having children. In El Salvador, for example, the deputy health minister made headlines when he urged women to refrain from becoming pregnant until 2018. Yet throughout the region, women’s reproductive rights and access to health care are limited, and in 2014, more than half of the region’s pregnancies were unplanned. For instance, in El Salvador—which has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Latin America—one in three babies are born to girls between the ages of ten and nineteen, often as a result of unplanned pregnancies. These factors make calling for women to hold off on getting pregnant an impractical solution at best.

http://blogs.cfr.org/women-around-the-world/2016/02/08/zika-virus-and-reproductive-health-access-in-latin-america/

The Latin American Learning Barometer (Brookings)

http://www.brookings.edu/research/interactives/2015/latinamericanlearningbarometer

(Chile) Start-Up Chile: A “start-up for start-ups” in Chilecon Valley (Brookings)

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/techtank/posts/2015/08/19-startup-chile-chilecon-valley

(Istituto fondamentale - Global) Progress despite adversity: women's empowerment and conflict in Colombia (ODI)

http://www.odi.org/publications/9730-gender-equality

(Istituto fondamentale - Global) El Chapo Escape in Mexico Points to Intelligence Links with Narco-Traffickers (Wayne Madsen, Strategic Culture Foundation)

http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2015/07/26/el-chapo-escape-mexico-points-intelligence-links-with-narco-traffickers.html

(Istituto fondamentale - Global) Drug Trafficking In Bolivia: Combating Police Corruption Should Not Be The Only Solution (Eliza Davis, COHA)

http://www.eurasiareview.com/24072015-drug-trafficking-in-bolivia-combating-police-corruption-should-not-be-the-only-solution-analysis/

(Istituto fondamentale - Global) Argentina. UNIVERSITÀ PROMUOVE MEDICINA INDIGENA (Misna)

Un corso di medicina dei popoli nativi tenuto da medici e studenti presso la prestigiosa Facoltà di Medicina dell'Università di Buenos Aires (Uba) recupera il sapere millenario delle popolazioni indigene del territorio argentino. L'obiettivo è di introdurre i futuri medici a questo tipo di medicina, su cui pesano i pregiudizi di chi la considera superata, troppo blanda o “magica”.

Le lezioni di laboratorio prevedono l'uso di infusi, piante ed erbe essiccate, limoni, aglio, radici ed altri prodotti della terra. Partecipano in qualità di docenti anche farmacisti, infermieri, antropologi e studenti avanzati di queste discipline.

Uno dei responsabili del corso, lo studente dell'ultimo anno di Medicina Emiliano Molina, racconta di essere cresciuto curandosi con tinture, cataplasmi e infusioni preparate dalla madre, “curandera” del paese. A riguardo delle perplessità di cui è oggetto questo tipo di medicina, il suo compagno Rodrigo Bazzi afferma che “non si tratta di crederci o no. Il pregiudizio viene dal non sapere che molte medicine che i medici prescrivono derivano dalle piante” che gli indigeni usano da millenni.

(Istituto fondamentale - Global) Afro-Colombians face surge in racial violence (Hisham Aidi, Al Jazeera)

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/07/afro-colombians-face-surge-racial-violence-150707094927679.html

(Istituto fondamentale - Global) Combating Corruption For Sake Of Economy: The Afflictions Of Oil-Rich Latin America (Eliza Davis, COHA)

http://www.eurasiareview.com/18072015-combating-corruption-for-sake-of-economy-the-afflictions-of-oil-rich-latin-america/