Latin America Policy Journal

The Government of the Dominican Republic (DR) recently created the Presidential Commission on Road Safety (“Comisión Presidencial para la Seguridad Vial”) as a coordination table for improving the road safety and traffic education in the country. These are two problems that need immediate public attention. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), using 2013 data, […]

A month has passed since the majority of Colombians voted ‘No’ in a national plebiscite on the peace agreement that the Colombian government had signed with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Cartagena (50.21% -6.43 million votes- to 49,78% -6.38 million votes-). That night, President Juan Manuel Santos addressed the country on TV […]

Last Monday, October 10th, will be remembered as the day the electronic judicial process was formally introduced within the Paraguayan legal system, which unquestionably constituted an unprecedented breakthrough for the judiciary in this country. Alberto Martínez Simón Judge of the Civil and Commercial Upper Chamber of Asunción, Paraguay. Source: ABC Color, Paraguay The HKS Latin American Policy […]

Every year, National Hispanic Heritage Month is observed in the United States between September 15 and October 15. This 30-day period is symbolic because it encompasses the independence days of several Latin American countries –Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Chile. During this time, Americans honor and celebrate the cultures, histories, and […]

In the last decade, Medellin made a decision that will mark its future: it changed its economic vocation. The city, known in the twentieth century as the “Industrial Capital of Colombia,” decided to move from a traditional industrial operation to a knowledge economy. Corporation Ruta N is articulating these efforts and boosting a true ecosystem […]

Abstract In this article, the core events that allowed the “truce” in El Salvador are described and briefly explained. There are three stages in this process: “pre-truce”, “truce” and “post-truce”. The stage of “truce” began in March 2012 with the government’s decision of moving thirty gang leaders to lower security level prisons. The “truce” process […]

An interview with Diego Molano Vega, Minister of Information Technologies and Communications of Colombia. Diego Molano Vega has been the Minister of Information Technologies and Communications of Colombia since 2010. In this interview, he reveals his perspective on one of the most challenging issues for the development of Latin America: keeping pace with the changes […]

Abstract This article advocates for the daily reaffirmation of democracy and protection of human rights in Latin America by politicians and civil society alike. Through the remembrance of the Chilean transition to democracy, the article highlights the tremendous costs that Chileans assumed to move Chile towards a consolidated democracy and the many years it has […]

Commentary All the heads of state or government who participated in the last three Summits of the Americas were democratically elected. This situation was unprecedented in the hemisphere; the past twenty-five years have become the most prolonged period of democracy in the Western hemisphere since independence. Democracy begins with free and fair elections. However, there […]

Abstract Democracy is deepening across much of Latin America, especially in Mexico and Brazil, the two major countries. In a region once plagued by bloody coups and military interventionism, free and fair elections are now the norm. Significant economic and social advances, including a sharp decline in poverty levels and even in inequality in some […]

Commentary When my administration began in 2002, many analysts said that Colombia was a failed state. Every year, the country faced thirty-thousand homicides and almost three-thousand kidnappings, and more than three-hundred municipalities lacked the presence of their mayors due threats made against their lives. Investment rates were low, unemployment was climbing, and poverty levels were […]

Commentary Mexico’s future is full of potential. The past decade brought important changes. A fortified democracy saw the first peaceful rotation of government in generations. Today, freedoms of press, assembly, and speech are hardly an issue of debate; indeed, Mexico’s civil society is thriving as never before. Business reforms liberated the private sector from its […]