By Marc Weisbrot
May 18, 2011

Countries in Latin America, like most of the developing world, have been recovering much faster than the United States and other high-income countries from the world recession. The Latin American and Caribbean region grew about 6.1 percent in 2010 and is expected to grow 4.7 percent this year–as opposed to just 2.8 percent growth (2010-11) for the United States. So the prognosis for the region is relatively good, although less than average (6.5 percent in 2011) for the low-and-middle income countries worldwide. But it is worth looking at the current economic situation in historical perspective for a moment, because some changes have taken place that hardly anyone has noticed.

By Olivier Kamanda
May 02, 2011

Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces on May 1st, 2011 in Abottabad, Pakistan.

By Sean Bartlett
Apr 01, 2011

Since the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010, the world’s attention has turned to the Caribbean country. In only fifteen months, what started as an environmental disaster morphed into a humanitarian nightmare with international ramifications of the first order.

By Dr. José Azel
Mar 01, 2011

A Freedom House assessment of “Freedom on the Net” reports that Cuba remains one of
the world’s most repressive environments for the internet and information and
communication technologies (ICTs).

By Sean Bartlett
Feb 01, 2011

In advance of a United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) conference in Mexico last October, ITU Secretary General Hamadoun Touré said his goal was to have a “cyber peace treaty.” This followed up on his stated desire to achieve an international agreement in which nations pledged not to cyber-attack each other.

By Adam Isacson
Jan 01, 2011

Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, the former union leader turned center-left president of Brazil, left power on New Year’s Day after 8 years in office, his approval ratings over 80 percent. Many officials who served under the popular president will stay on in the government of Lula’s handpicked successor, Dilma Rousseff, his former chief of staff and the country’s first woman president.

By Salvador G. Sarmiento and Abel Barrera Hernández
Dec 01, 2010

The governments of the United States and Mexico established the Merida Initiative as a bilateral agreement designed to combat drug-trafficking, initially funding $1.6 billion USD for Mexico and Central America. Established in 2007, the agreement was fundamentally oriented toward supporting a process of militarization that allowed Mexican President Felipe Calderón to carry out a war against drug cartels operating in Mexico.

By Sean Bartlett
Dec 01, 2010

Abel Barrera Hernández, founder and director of the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of the Montaña, is the 2010 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award Laureate for his work on human rights and justice issues for the indigenous people of his home state of Guerrero, Mexico. Foreign Policy Digest Americas Regional Editor Sean Bartlett sat down with Mr. Barrera on November 13th to discuss his work, the Center, and the award. Salvador Sarmiento of the RFK Center provided translation assistance.