Many of Latin America’s leftist ‘revolutions’ are now in crisis. But the left is resurging in some countries.
The Conversation / Photo Claudia Daut/Reuters
Progressives are leading in the presidential elections of Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia, bucking the region’s recent rightward trend. But there are lessons in the failures of leftists past.
Sanctions are mounting against the government of Nicolás Maduro.
Rayner Pena/EPA
When the Rio Treaty was signed in 1947, an opportunity was missed to promote democracy in Latin America.
Alejandro Giammattei is a former prison official whose tenure was tainted by the 2006 mass killing of seven prisoners. He was accused but never indicted on conspiracy charges in those deaths.
AP Photo/ Santiago Billy
Naomi Roht-Arriaza, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco
Conservative Alejandro Giammattei beat former first lady Sandra Torres with 60% of the vote. But turnout was the lowest in Guatemala’s modern history, in apparent protest of both candidates.
Pedo Pablo Kuczynski, a former president of Peru, was arrested in April 2019 on charges relating to the Odebrecht scandal.
EPA-EFE/Geraldo Caso
Four former presidents have been accused of corruption after Operation Carwash.
Police protect a judicial complex where former FARC rebel leader Seuxis Hernandez was standing trial on May 20, 2019. The former peace negotiator has been arrested on drug charges and is now fighting extradition to the United States.
AP Photo/Ivan Valencia
Colombia’s new president opposes the 2016 peace deal with the FARC guerrillas. As trust between the government and militants erodes, at least 1,700 former insurgents have returned to armed struggle.
Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López has been freed by his captors from house arrest and is backing a coup attempt against the Maduro government.
AFP/YouTube
Bolsonaro was elected to bring Brazil a ‘better future.’ Instead, his first months in office have been marked by mismanagement, legislative gridlock and protest.
Riot police at an anti-government march in Managua, Nicaragua, Oct. 14, 2018.
Reuters/Oswaldo Rivas
A massive protest movement exploded across Nicaragua in April 2018, threatening to topple the country’s authoritarian regime. What happened to Central America’s ‘tropical spring?’
‘Laugh so you don’t cry’: Venezuelan students crack up as they stand near a damaged mural of Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 7, 2019.
AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd
As rival factions vie for control over Venezuela, many of the country’s 31 million people are suffering prolonged power outages, food and water shortages, and limited access to medicine.
Venezuelans carry buckets filled with water. A power outage that began on March 7 left much of the capital, Caracas, without electricity, running water or public transportation for days.
Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Robert Muggah, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)
Citing security concerns, the US is evacuating its embassy in Caracas, where President Maduro blames the US for a calamitous power outage. Venezuela’s relations with Brazil are eroding quickly, too.
An officer from Venezuela’s National Guard lobs tear gas toward demonstrators during a standoff over humanitarian aid at the Colombian border on Feb. 23, 2019. Four protesters were killed.
AP Photo/Fernando Llano
The Trump administration says President Maduro’s ‘days are numbered’ after Venezuelan security forces killed four protesters. But any US-led operation to oust him is likely to be extremely unpopular.
Can 37-year-old Nayib Bukele get El Salvador back on track?
Reuters/Jose Cabezas
Thirty-seven-year-old Nayib Bukele is the first modern president who doesn’t represent either of El Salvador’s two mainstream parties. Can he fix what ails this troubled Central American country?
Nicolás Mauro supporters beneath a Hugo Chávez mural.
Cristian Hernández/EPA
Mexico’s new president has reduced his own salary and demanded that all federal workers
– including lawmakers and judges – take a massive pay cut, too. That may be illegal.
Can one country really have two presidents?
AP Photo/Boris Vergara
At least a dozen countries are supporting the Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Juan Guaidó, who has declared himself Venezuela’s legitimate leader while President Maduro rejects calls to resign.
Jair Bolsonaro at his inauguration on Jan 1, 2019.
EPA-EFE/Marcelo Sayao
The Brazilian president used WhatsApp and other social media to smear his opponents and sow division in the electorate.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at his swearing-in ceremony at the Supreme Court in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019.
AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos
Maduro, who was sworn in for his second term on Jan. 10, has rigged elections, jailed rivals and plunged Venezuela into crisis. But Trump’s proposed ‘military option’ to remove him remains unpopular.
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro after his swearing-in on Jan. 1, 2019, in the capital of Brasilia.
AP Photo/Andre Penner
Brazil’s new president – often called the ‘Trump of the tropics’ for his inflammatory, right-wing rhetoric – won over poorer voters by stoking fear and resentment. Can he make them happy?
University students ask for a higher budget for public higher education.
AP Photo/Fernando Vergara
Strikes and rallies have gripped Colombia for months. That’s bad news for its new government but a sign of progress in a country that had little tolerance for dissent during its 52-year civil war.