The Obama administration announced the intention to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba the same week that Congress approved sanctions against Venezuela for human rights violations. The timing was coincidental…
A harbinger of things to come? VP Joe BIden up close and personal with Brazil’s President Rousseff
Ricardo Moraes/Reuters
The New Year always provides an opportunity for both introspection and speculation. So it seems a good time to consider what the big stories are likely to be this year. Some of the five major stories I…
Venezuala criticised Hollywood of saying president Nicolas Maduro wants a biological bomb.
EPA/Miraflores Palace
Cultural imperialism is alive and well. The desire of successive governments of the United States to destabilise governments in Latin America that are too far left for Washington’s taste is well and truly…
Xi Jinping’s tour through Latin American countries signals the time is right to reassess Chinese investment in Australia.
AAP/EPA/Cubadebate
Chinese President Xi Jinping has just returned from his second state visit to Latin America, having achieved what no other leader could. His dash through Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, and Cuba has breathed…
The United Nations Human Rights Council is tasked with the universal protection and promotion of human rights, and is the UN’s principal human rights body. Yet it is being used by known rights abusers…
Demonstrators clash with police in Caracas, Venezuela, where violent street protests have raged for weeks.
EPA/Santi Donaire
A wave of street protests, some violent, has been sweeping Venezuela. These attracted international media coverage, which often presented protests as the expression of a national crisis that anticipated…
Venezuelans deeply divided over the way their country is managed.
EPA/JORGE CASTELLANOS
Protests continue unabated in Venezuela over inequality and abuses of power, with even the anniversary of Hugo Chavez’s death unable to restore calm to the country. Despite sitting on the world’s largest…
Dictatorship or direct democracy? Depends who you ask.
EPA/Miguel Gutierrez
Opposition protests against Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro over crime, inflation, and shortages show no sign of abating, and the March 5 anniversary of Hugo Chavez’s death will only add to the sense…
Hugo Chávez still looms over Venezuela.
Rodrigo Abd/AP
Matthew Bishop, The University of the West Indies: St. Augustine Campus
Venezuela has seen waves of protest against the government of Nicolas Maduro. At least 13 people are dead, a prominent opposition member, Leopoldo Lopez, is now in custody having surrendered and three…
Venezuela’s oil reserves, inflation rate, and the handling of its currency are shaping up to be central issues in the lead-up to the election, which will be held on Sunday.
AAP
Elections in most Latin American countries are extremely polarised and emotionally charged events. They are highly contested and controversial affairs, characterised by massive political rallies, clever…
Mourners accompany the remains of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez through the streets of Caracas.
EPA/David Fernandez
The recent death of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez from cancer comes as no great surprise. The former military leader had rarely been seen in the public eye since December last year when he travelled…
Hugo Chávez was public persona was crafted over years of domestic revolution and international rebellion.
Boris Vergara/EPA
In Hugo Chávez, Venezuela has lost the most iconic leader the country has seen since Simón Bolívar fought for independence from Spain. The rest of the world has lost one of the most polarising leaders…
Hugo Chavez was a problematic poster boy for the international left.
David Fernandez/EPA
So Hugo Chávez is dead. After rumour upon rumour swirling over past months, including a claim last week from the former ambassador of Panama that Chavez had actually died on 30 December, this morning Venezuelan…
The political tumult in Paraguay will have significant ramifications for future economic engagement between South American countries and Australia.
AAP
World Cup qualifiers in South America are renowned for their ferocity. For Uruguayans, there is more at stake than national pride. Even a “friendly” against Argentina or Brazil is a chance for revenge…
As Hugo Chávez’s health deteriorates, how will he guarantee his political future?
EPA/Marcelo Garcia
Just eight months after being treated in Cuba for cancer, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was back in Cuba again last month to have another tumor removed from the same area. Despite his illness, Chávez…
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