Americas Quarterly

17/10/2025

As satellite imagery and geospatial data have become more sophisticated, they have made clear that Indigenous territories play an outsized role in holding back the advance of deforestation.

https://americasquarterly.org/article/battle-over-brazils-isolated-tribes/

16/10/2025

Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum has hit the one-year mark of her presidency. In that time, she faced skepticism, but has surprised many. In our podacst this week, Brenda Estefan assesses Sheinbaum's first year in office and what lies ahead.

After a year of balancing Trump, AMLO, and public expectations, Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum is quite popular, but uncertainties lie ahead.

16/10/2025

Military diplomacy can accrue significant power advantages. China has always regarded its importance as critical in engaging with other countries. Its ambition to extend military cooperation to Latin America has been growing since 2008.

To counter China’s deepening relations with Latin America’s militaries, the U.S. needs to rethink its approach.

15/10/2025

Latin America’s biggest economies are moving in opposite directions under Trump: Mexico edges closer to Washington, while Brazil takes greater distance. Meanwhile, China is benefiting as U.S. pressure reshapes trade and public opinion.
https://americasquarterly.org/article/how-latin-america-is-realigning/

14/10/2025

China has entered a new phase in its engagement with Latin America. The relationship is now evolving into a more targeted, strategic approach.

Beijing is shifting from an era of large loans and infrastructure initiatives toward more targeted, strategic engagement.

08/10/2025

Four years ago, Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados, walked onto the stage at COP26 in Glasgow and delivered the speech that would consolidate her as a global leader in climate justice.

In the lead-up to COP30 in Brazil in November, much of the world is looking to her leadership to accelerate the global fight against climate change. The Trump administration seems likely to boycott COP30, and with climate becoming a back-burner issue in the U.S. and elsewhere, Mottley is a prominent voice pushing in the other direction.

Barbados’ prime minister is pushing for urgent climate action to protect small island states and the rest of the developing world.

07/10/2025

On November 30, Hondurans will vote in a single-round contest to elect their next president. Yet the contest will take place amid lingering doubts about the integrity of the electoral system. What's next for the Central American country?

Jobs, security and corruption are top of mind ahead of the November 30 election.

06/10/2025

President Claudia Sheinbaum has said people disappearing in Mexico is “a national priority” and announced new government actions to address it. However, since she took office a year ago, more than 14,800 people have disappeared—about 40 per day.

That daily rate is almost double Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s average of 23.5 per day between 2018 and 2024, nearly three times Enrique Peña Nieto’s 14.3, and more than five times Felipe Calderón’s 7.2. While part of the increase may reflect more rigorous reporting of the cases, the figures underscore that the crisis has accelerated rather than slowed under Sheinbaum’s government. As she ends her first year in office, the pressure mounts to turn justice into more than a symbolic promise.

More than 125,000 people have gone missing in the country. President Sheinbaum has called the problem "a national priority."

03/10/2025

On November 16, Chileans will vote for president. If no candidate secures an absolute majority, the two leading contenders will head to a runoff on December 14.

The new president will take office on March 11. Who are the candidates?

Security, immigration and the economy are top of mind for voters ahead of the November 16 presidential election.

02/10/2025

Despite his penchant for political theater, Noboa will not turn the Ecuadorian state into a one-man show, says Theodore Kahn. Instead, he will most likely preserve solid governability—especially compared to the recent past—giving him the necessary leeway to implement at least part of his reform agenda.

After successfully lifting a diesel subsidy, Ecuador’s President Noboa risks overplaying his hand by pushing to rewrite the constitution.

01/10/2025

In less than a month, U.S. forces have carried out three lethal maritime strikes and one boarding in the Caribbean Sea targeting vessels allegedly tied to Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles and its ally, the Tren de Aragua. The campaign marks the arrival of a new U.S. doctrine that may have a broad impact in Latin America: traffickers linked to designated terrorist organizations are no longer treated as criminals for prosecution, but as enemy combatants who can be neutralized without legal proceedings.

The use of deadly force against Venezuelan traffickers marks the beginning of a new strategy. Will it work?

22/04/2025

Guatemala is absolutely critical to many issues facing Latin America. Read our new special report on President Bernardo Arévalo’s challenges—and resilience.
https://americasquarterly.org/article/new-aq-reasons-for-hope-in-guatemala/