Residents of Hamburg, Germany may have been shocked by the violent protests that erupted July 6 and July 7 during the meeting of the G-20, as protesters armed with rocks and incendiary devices blockaded streets, set cars ablaze and battled with police officers. But for the inhabitants of many Latin American cities, such scenes are commonplace. They are common because ordinary … [Read more...] about Weak Institutions, Fiery Protests
Politics and Institutions
Can Mandatory Voting Improve Democracy?
A healthy democracy requires widespread voting and an informed electorate. But by those standards many, if not most, democracies are ailing. In the United States, less than 60% of the voting age population turned out to vote in the 2016 presidential elections. Even so, many voters have little idea of the basics of the U.S. system and fewer than a quarter know who their senators … [Read more...] about Can Mandatory Voting Improve Democracy?
Slavery, Inequality and Crime
In 1851, two years before the official abolition of slavery in New Granada (now Colombia), authorities there conducted a census that was to provide the 19th century's most accurate picture of the slaveholding economy. This was a snapshot of sugar, cotton, and tobacco plantations, gold mines and numerous slaves. Today, in a testimony to the lingering effects of slavery, that … [Read more...] about Slavery, Inequality and Crime
The Cost of Murder in Latin America and the Caribbean
The most recent ranking of the world's deadliest cities makes for depressing reading. The report, released April 5 by the Citizen's Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice, a Mexican non-governmental organization, finds that 43 of the 50 most murderous cities in 2016 are in Latin America and the Caribbean. To top that, the region encompasses all of the world's ten … [Read more...] about The Cost of Murder in Latin America and the Caribbean
Tackling the Vulnerability to Economic Crisis
For Latin Americans, there are few memories as nightmarish as the "lost decade" of the 1980s, with its flagging growth and soaring levels of foreign debt, inflation and unemployment. Today, those days are gone. Dictatorships are no longer the norm. In most of the region, governing institutions have improved, and economic policymaking is generally more responsible, with stricter … [Read more...] about Tackling the Vulnerability to Economic Crisis