Latin America and the Caribbean is in the midst of a crime epidemic. With 43 of the world's 50 most murderous cities and a homicide rate four times the global average, it is being battered on an epic scale. Crime and the fear of it affect each of us every day: it changes investment decisions, the allocation of private and public resources and even when and where we go. Crime … [Read more...] about When Poor Crime Statistics Feed an Epidemic
Social Issues
Can Latin America’s Engagement with China Deepen?
In November 2016, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a white paper to guide its relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean through the end of 2019. The paper, encompassing the full spectrum of relationships between the two regions, emphasized that China had entered a "new phase of comprehensive collaboration" with Latin America and the Caribbean and sought to … [Read more...] about Can Latin America’s Engagement with China Deepen?
IDB Offers MOOC on Social Policy
The Inter-American Development Bank is offering a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on social policy in Latin America and the Caribbean, including poverty and inequality, early childhood development, education, health, social protection and employment. Entitled Latin American Social Reality, the free, seven-week, introductory course is intended to give journalists, … [Read more...] about IDB Offers MOOC on Social Policy
Do Parents Really Know Best?
The tragic case of Charlie Gard, a blind and deaf infant, incapable of breathing on his own and wracked by epileptic seizures, seized the world's attention this month. His British parents held out desperate hope for an experimental treatment in the United States. His doctors, the British courts and the European Court of Human Rights argued that there was no cure for his rare … [Read more...] about Do Parents Really Know Best?
The Truth About Judicial Reform
Not since Italy's Mani pulite ("clean hands") investigations into political corruption has there been anything like it in Europe or the Americas. In Latin America, it is unprecedented. A sitting president is under indictment; a former president has been convicted, and dozens of lawmakers and their corporate allies have gone to jail. A few decades ago, Brazilians might have … [Read more...] about The Truth About Judicial Reform