The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
In the face of the femicide crisis in Colombia, a second crisis persists: hundreds of children are left orphaned each year and without support from the state.
Topic:
Crime, Children, Gender Based Violence, Femicide, and Orphans
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
Activists link the disappearance of land defender Julia Chuñil to the state’s militarization of the region and its deep ties to rapacious forestry companies.
Topic:
Disappearance, Land Rights, Indigenous, Deforestation, and Mapuche
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
The discovery in historic neighborhood Comuna 13, a neighborhood known for its art as much as its dark past, has reignited the debate over paramilitarism in the country.
Topic:
Arts, Tourism, Memory, Paramilitary, and Mass Grave
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
In 2022, Guyana became the first country in the world to issue carbon credits on a national scale. Indigenous people say they were excluded from the negotiations and criticize the loss of autonomy in their territories.
Topic:
Negotiation, Indigenous, Autonomy, Carbon Emissions, and Carbon Credits
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
Brazil’s highly militarized policing disproportionately impacts poor and racialized communities. By providing funding and training, the United States has helped exacerbate the crisis.
Topic:
Training, Police, Militarization, and Police Brutality
Political Geography:
Brazil, South America, North America, and United States of America
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
After a two-year investigation, a comprehensive report, BBC documentary, and whistleblower dossier reveal alleged widespread contamination, health impacts, and surveillance by Colombia’s state-owned Ecopetrol.
Topic:
Oil, Surveillance, Journalism, Investigations, State-Owned Enterprises, and Contamination
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
In the face of Javier Milei’s deepening attack on civil rights, massive mobilizations in Argentina honor the victims of state terrorism on the Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice.
Topic:
Protests, Memory, Civil Rights, Truth and Reconciliation, and Javier Milei
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
For transmasculine activists uprooted from the lands and waters they called home, embroidery and poetry become practices for expressing nostalgia and building community in Bogotá.
Topic:
Arts, LGBT+, Community, Transgender, Forced Displacement, and Embroidery
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
The Spring 2025 issue of the NACLA Report explores travesti-trans politics across the Americas, an antifascist and transversal politics with the power to reshape our world.
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
In the face of discriminatory narratives and laws in Argentina, activists advocate for anti-racist, transfeminist initiatives during this year’s International Women’s Day.
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
In the days after the Trump inauguration, Brazilian students gathered at the largest student congress in Latin America to debate the future of left resistance.
Topic:
Donald Trump, Leftist Politics, Students, and Activism
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Digital Silk Road (DSR), China’s ambitious initiative to shape critical digital infrastructure around the world to advance its geopolitical interests and technology leadership. A decade after its launch, digital infrastructure and emerging technologies have only grown more vital and contested as demand for connectivity, digital services, and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) expand. Against this backdrop, the DSR has become increasingly central to China’s broader strategy to challenge and ultimately supplant the U.S.-led digital order, and in doing so, reap potentially vast security, economic, and intelligence advantages. To assess the DSR’s impact 10 years after its inception—and explore how the United States and its allies can offer a more compelling and coherent alternative—the CNAS Technology and National Security team has undertaken a major research project that produces in-depth case studies of four diverse and geostrategically critical nations—Indonesia, Brazil, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia—and culminates in a full-length report.
The second case study focuses on Brazil. For the study, researchers from the CNAS Technology and National Security team spent a week in the country interviewing local policymakers, journalists, technology firms, civil society, and academics, along with U.S. diplomats, development experts, and companies. Drawing on these interviews and desk research, this case study seeks to shed light on the current dynamics and stakes of the U.S.-China competition to shape Brazil’s digital ecosystem.
Topic:
National Security, Geopolitics, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Silk Road (DSR)
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
Using the soft balancing concept and a comparative methodology, I analyze the diplomatic strategies mobilized by Brazil towards the US in South America from 2003 to 2022. The empirical results suggest that in the last two decades, Brazil moved away from the role of “soft balancer” during Lula’s and Rousseff’s mandates (2003–2016) to a “tactical convergence” in Temer's (2016–2018) to “bandwagoning” in Bolsonaro's (2019–2022). The main drivers for these different strategies are domestic and regional changes. Approaching this thematic contributes to a better understanding of Brazilian regional priorities and abilities to deal with the US in the region.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Competitive Balance, and Regional Politics
Political Geography:
Brazil, South America, and United States of America
Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:
Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:
This study proposes, based on scientific production carried out in Europe, the adaptation of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) method by Kaplan and Norton, for the analysis of the performance of Brazilian Strategic Defense Companies (SDC). The investigation is carried out in a comparative way, in two stages. In the first one, a bibliometric research was carried out to identify the characteristics of the European Defense Industrial Base. In the second stage of the research, the BSC-Defense indicators, developed based on the literature found, were empirically analyzed in a Strategic Defense Company in Brazil. The results indicate that the BSC-Defense instrument can serve as a guiding element for Strategic Defense Companies, as it includes an integrated and dynamic set of capabilities, processes and activities related to the strategic performance of the organization.
Topic:
Defense Industry, Performance Evaluation, and Strategic Defense Companies (SDC)
Simón Lodato, Andrés Dockendorff Dockendorff, and Dorotea López
Publication Date:
04-2025
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:
Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:
This paper investigates how ideological polarization and constituency factors
influence legislators’ voting behaviour on Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
We explore the Chilean case, where trade policy has recently become highly
politicized, to test three key relationships. First, we argue that right-wing
legislators are more likely to champion FTAs when trade becomes a highly
politicized issue, as the ratification of the CPTPP shows. Conversely, when
trade is less politically salient, right-wing legislators are less likely to vote
favourably for FTAs. Second, legislators representing regions with a high
concentration of workers in tradable sectors are less likely to support trade
liberalization, as it can put jobs at risk in their districts. Our results show that
ideology explains legislators’ support to FTAs but only when the trade policy
is politicized. Also, the probability of voting in favour of FTAs decreases as the
proportion of workers in tradable sectors within the region increases. From a
comparative perspective, the results highlight how the effect of politicization,
observed mainly in European settings, is generalizable to a different set up:
a presidential developing democracy.
Geraldine Rosas Duarte, Letícia Carvalho, and Dawisson Belem Lopes
Publication Date:
04-2025
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:
Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:
The article investigates the trajectory and transformations of Brazil’s
involvement in UN peacekeeping operations, seeking to explain the recent
hesitation to assume a leadership role in contrast to previous periods,
particularly during the two initial presidential terms of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
(2003-2011). It highlights the influence of international and domestic factors
on Brazil’s new stance, including changes in the nature of UN peacekeeping
missions and the impact of the deep politico-economic crisis Brazil experienced
between 2013 and 2022. The shifts in foreign policy during the governments
of Michel Temer and Jair Bolsonaro resulted in a more isolationist view and a
significant reduction in Brazil’s participation in peacekeeping operations. The
article concludes by analyzing the need for a strategic reassessment by Brazil
of the dynamics of peacekeeping operations and the domestic challenges
faced by the new Lula da Silva government to realign its future participation
with its national interests and capabilities.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, United Nations, Peacekeeping, and Lula da Silva
Colombia and the United States have achieved a close, mutually beneficial partnership over several decades on migration, security, counternarcotics, and commerce—with the US trade surplus with Colombia totaling $1.3 billion in 2024.
The Colombian market is particularly important for US agricultural producers. Thanks to the US-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA), Colombia is the top destination for US agricultural exports in South America and the third main destination in the Western Hemisphere.
The United States is still Colombia’s largest trading partner in South America—with $36.7 billion in two-way trade in 2024—but January data showed Chinese products leading over US imports for the month. The TPA promotes both reciprocal trade and US influence; interpretative improvements to previously agreed-upon matters are possible,
Topic:
Economy, Business, Tariffs, Exports, Trade, and International Markets
Political Geography:
China, Colombia, South America, Latin America, and United States of America
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
This paper examines the relationship between energy subsidies and energy poverty (EP).
Understanding this relationship is important because subsidies are often justified from an equity perspective to protect the most vulnerable households. Argentina, which has subsidized
residential energy consumption since the early 2000s, is used as the case study. Since then,
the energy subsidy policy has experienced two well-defined phases: massive and universal subsidies until 2015, followed by an attempt at reduction and targeting. This context, combined
with notable regional disparities -including variations in income levels, climatic conditions,
energy prices, and residential energy consumption patterns (e.g., electricity vs. piped gas)-
makes this case study particularly compelling. EP is analyzed both unidimensionally and
multidimensionally. Under both measures, EP follows a U-shaped pattern that reflects the
phases of energy subsidies: a significant decrease between 2005 and 2013, followed by a considerable increase by 2018. The paper also highlights the key role of regional disparities which
is crucial for interpreting the results beyond the Argentine case. Based on the findings, the
paper contributes with globally relevant insights on the link between energy subsidy policies
and EP.