A court decision securing last year’s peace deal and a new ceasefire have invigorated Colombia’s peace process, but there are plenty of ways it could still go wrong.
Christo Venter, University of Pretoria and Gary Hayes, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
South Africa needs to review its approach to rolling out Bus Rapid Transit systems as the current model is proving to be too expensive and unsustainable.
A brigade of migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala have interrupted their trek north to stay in Mexico and support earthquake recovery efforts.
Gilles Pison, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)
There’s no reason why small families shouldn’t become the norm in Africa. But this will depend on improving education opportunities for women and improving birth control policies.
Seventy-five percent of all abortions in Latin America are illicit. In Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador, where abortion is totally illegal, the bans correlate with a generalized failure of the rule of law.
Bogota’s mayor wants to make the city ‘better for all,’ but repeated police crackdowns have displaced thousands of homeless Colombians. Are clean streets really more important than human rights?
Marcia Tiburi, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO)
Artists, free speech advocates and gay rights activists in Brazil are dismayed after an LGBTQ-centric exhibit was closed because the subject matter offended evangelical Christians.
Levi Gahman, The University of the West Indies: St. Augustine Campus and Gabrielle Thongs, The University of the West Indies: St. Augustine Campus
The Caribbean is facing its second deadly hurricane in as many weeks. This isn’t just bad luck: the region’s extreme vulnerability to disaster also reflects entrenched social inequalities.
Shattered by powerful back-to-back earthquakes, Mexico is facing daunting damages across six states. Now Chiapas and Oaxaca, the country’s two poorest states, which were hit first, fear neglect.
The Tehuantepec gap in southeastern Mexico, where this month’s massive earthquake originated, was long thought to be ‘aseismic.’ On September 7, scientists learned otherwise.
For a century, Brazil’s Catholic Church has sent holy statues out to parishioners’ homes. A new study finds that these visits create a local subeconomy, benefitting families and the church.
Meet the Commoners’ Alternative Revolutionary Force, Colombia’s newest political party. To move beyond its violent past, the new FARC will need a charismatic leader who can win over voters.
From south of the border, Trump seems to be using DACA as a diplomatic weapon in his ongoing power struggle with the Mexican government. That just hurts 800,000 people and helps President Peña Nieto.
Up to 25% of Ecuadorian children suffer from malnutrition, and the country’s sugary school snacks aren’t helping. Kids need healthful, fresh food — not high-calorie humanitarian aid.
Visiting Scholar, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University; Director of Studies at the Changing Character of War Centre, and Senior Research Fellow, Dept. of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford