Mexico will hold federal elections in 2018. These elections are considered historically significant because they are the first to allow independent candidates not affiliated with an existing political party to run for office. The country amended its constitution in… Continue Reading
President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of Peru In late December, just three days after narrowly avoiding impeachment on corruption charges, President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of Peru pardoned Alberto Fujimori, the authoritarian leader who presided over the country from 1990 to 2000.… Continue Reading
This blog was updated on March 2, 2018. Costa Rica is facing a corruption scandal — el Cementazo (from the Spanish word for cement) — unlike any other in the country’s history. The situation will have serious repercussions for the… Continue Reading
If President Trump decertifies the Iran nuclear deal, we will move into yet more uncertainty about its future. Even if Congress does not resort to a wholesale re-imposition of sanctions, we can expect heightened advocacy for containing what some believe to be Iran’s expansionist regional policy. Continue Reading
The nomination of Nahua healer María de Jesús Patricio Martínez as a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections in Mexico indicates that supporters of indigenous causes are moving toward an increasingly open electoral process in an effort to influence public discourse. Continue Reading
Senate Bill 4 (SB 4), signed into law by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on May 7, 2017, is legislation crafted to ban so-called “sanctuary cities.” The controversial legislation would deputize all Texas law enforcement officers to ask a person’s… Continue Reading
President Donald Trump announced on Sept. 5 that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program would be phased out. This Obama-era program gave temporary resident status, including permits to work and study, to individuals between the ages of 12… Continue Reading