Political Geography: South America

1. Evolution of Multidimensional Energy Poverty Risk in Bolivia from 2005 to 2019

Author:: Javier Aliaga Lordemann and Sergio Mansilla
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:: “Energy poverty” is a multidimensional concept that reflects the need to achieve a variety of wellbeing outcomes, which has been scarcely studied and used in public policy agendas. Considering that the literature on energy poverty is still incipient in Bolivia, this paper’s objective is to generate evidence about energy poverty evolution in the country, approximating measures of incidence (risk) and severity for the period 2005-2019. The methodological approach follows the one proposed by Alkire & Foster (2011), with five equally weighted dimensions (energy expenditure, lighting, cooking fuel and indoor pollution, food equipment, and education and communication) and using different cut-off options, at the urban and rural levels. Also, Multidimensional Energy Poverty results are compared with a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) based weight structure as a robustness exercise. Results show that the risk of being energy poor in Bolivia has decreased, but not structurally. Also, intensity has decreased in both urban and rural areas, but rural energy poor households continue to show at least 50% of deprivation in all dimensions evaluated.
Topic:: Development, Poverty, Rural, and Energy
Political Geography:: South America and Bolivia

2. Deadly Rio de Janeiro: Armed Violence and the Civilian Burden

Author:: Bhavani Castro and Julia Links Franciotti
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
Abstract:: The public security situation in Brazil is complicated, and particularly in Rio de Janeiro state, which has high levels of violence and criminality. The presence of multiple different criminal groups fighting for territory, coupled with abusive government measures to tackle criminal activity, has created a deadly, high-risk environment for civilians in the state. In 2021, Rio de Janeiro registered 27 violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, a rate lower than states like Bahia and Ceará but significantly higher than the national average of 22. Rio de Janeiro also ranked first among Brazilian states in the number of deaths recorded during police interventions, with at least 1,356 people reportedly killed.1 In May 2021, for example, a police operation against drug traffickers in the Jacarezinho community in Rio de Janeiro city resulted in 29 reported fatalities. While authorities claimed that all those killed in the operation were linked to criminal groups, witnesses reported that police officers entered civilian houses and carried out extrajudicial executions.2 The Jacarezinho operation was the deadliest single event recorded by ACLED in Brazil in 2021. A year later, in May 2022, military and federal police forces clashed with the Red Command (CV) in the Vila Cruzeiro community in the Penha Complex, resulting in at least 26 reported fatalities, including civilians. These are not isolated incidents, but rather indicative of the increasing lethality of violence in Rio de Janeiro in 2021 and 2022, and the rising threat to civilians.
Topic:: Crime, Elections, Violence, Civilians, Militias, Gangs, and Public Security
Political Geography:: Brazil, South America, and Rio de Janeiro

3. The Belt and Road Initiative: Dynamics for Latin America and the Caribbean Region

Author:: Anurag Tripathi, Abhishek R.L., and Arun Teja
Publication Date:: 03-2023
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: To examine the challenges and risks arising from the Belt and Road Initiative, this article, in its initial section undertakes a case study of Venezuela in explaining the probable debt-trap situation arising in the Latin American region. Following it, the next section examines the risks arising from BRI from the perspective of dependency theory. It is observed that the US has taken the Latin American region for granted. However, China appears to encroach into what the US considers as its backyard. With this hindsight, China’s increasing involvement in the region is dichotomously analyzed to ponder whether it is a strategy to gain influence or an extension of peaceful rise in the third section. China’s post-pandemic investments in LAC have been analyzed to enhance the argument of a tussle between the US and China. This provides a clear picture of how the two global economic giants are scrambling their money to sustain their influence over LAC. Finally, digital geopolitics has also been considered in explaining the risks and challenges of BRI. It is observed that without any data regulation regime currently across the world, would end up LAC states into what we call data-trap. As all the above is considered, it cannot be ignored that the future of geopolitics is no more validly explained through hegemonic stability theory or hierarchical structures. It is either going to be a horizontally varied power poles anchored to the regional institutions or going back to the idea of sovereignty as the main concept
Topic:: International Cooperation, Infrastructure, Hegemony, and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
Political Geography:: China, Asia, South America, and Venezuela

4. Follow the money: connecting anti-money laundering systems to disrupt environmental crime in the Amazon

Author:: Melina Risso, Carolina Andrade Quevedo, Lycia Brasil, Vivian Calderoni, and Maria Fe Vallejo
Publication Date:: 06-2023
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Igarapé Institute
Abstract:: Environmental crime became the world’s third most lucrative illicit economy after drug trafficking and smuggling, with estimates of $110 to $281 billion in annual profits. Between 2006 and 2016, environmental crimes grew at a rate of 5% to 7% per year, a pace two or three times faster than that of global GDP growth. Money laundering is part of the criminal machinery that plunders the Amazon Rainforest. The study “Follow the Money: connecting anti-money laundering systems to disrupt environmental crime in the amazon” reveals the need for systems, agencies, and institutions responsible for preventing money laundering to turn their attention to the connections between this illicit practice and environmental crimes. The Igarapé study shows that the money laundering cycle follows three stages before the laundered funds can enter the financial system: placement, layering, and integration. However, not all proceeds from criminal activity are directly laundered into the formal financial system. Thus, informal diversification constitutes the process of moving illegal flows into the informal economy. It is estimated that 30% of the money to be laundered is used to pay the operating expenses of illicit economies. Cash transactions, divided into small amounts and deposited by “money mules,” are used to finance the hiring of precarious labor, accommodations, food, security, transportation, health services, leisure, and machinery, for example. The remaining 70% of illicit proceeds are formally inserted into the financial system. The study also recalls that the World Bank estimated in 2019 that governments lose between 6 and 9 billion dollars in tax revenue each year due to illegal logging. Similarly, other environmental crimes such as illegal mining, especially of gold and diamonds, generate between 12 and 48 billion dollars in revenue. In 2018, Interpol’s Global Illicit Flows Atlas found that illegal logging accounted for a percentage between 15% and 30% of the global timber trade, calculated between 51 billion and 152 billion dollars per year. The illegal logging industry is responsible for up to 90% of deforestation of tropical forests in African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. Combating illicit financial flows is a powerful tool for dismantling illegal economies. It becomes even more relevant when it is identified that illicit financial flows fuel an ecosystem of environmental crime composed of a convergence of environmental and non-environmental crimes, such as corruption, fraud, tax evasion, and others.
Topic:: Security, Environment, Financial Crimes, Money Laundering, and Illicit Financial Flows
Political Geography:: Brazil, South America, and Amazon Basin

5. Trade Shocks and Social Mobility: The Intergenerational Effect of Import Competition in Brazil

Author:: Andrés César, Matias Ciaschi, Guillermo Falcone, and Guido Neidhöfer
Publication Date:: 07-2023
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:: This paper investigates whether the impact of trade shocks on employment and wages persists across generations. Using an instrumental variable strategy on survey data with retrospective information on parental employment, we study the consequences of increased Chinese import competition in Brazilian industries on individuals with differently exposed fathers. Results show that several years after the shock, children of more exposed fathers have lower education and earnings, lower chances of formal jobs, and are more likely to rely on social assistance. These effects are substantial for children from disadvantaged background, indicating that the shock had a negative impact on intergenerational mobility.
Topic:: Trade, Imports, Economic Competition, and Social Mobility
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

6. Transgressive Notes from Ecuador’s Prisons

Author:: Luis Barrios
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: President Guillermo Lasso’s Commission for Penitentiary Dialogue and Pacification was a failure. Now, a new Prison Observatory seeks to generate broad-based solutions to Ecuador’s prison crisis.
Topic:: Human Rights, Prisons/Penal Systems, and Crisis Management
Political Geography:: South America, Latin America, and Ecuador

7. The Pursuit of Memory and Justice in Bojayá

Author:: Marlon Londoño
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Twenty-one years after the Bojayá Massacre destroyed their town, survivors in the community of Bellavista Nueva in northwestern Colombia recount their story on their own terms.
Topic:: Transitional Justice, Conflict, Memory, Justice, and Extrajudicial Killings
Political Geography:: Colombia, South America, and Latin America

8. Communal Resistance and Land Theft Mark Lead up to Guatemala Elections

Author:: Gladys Tzul Tzul and Simón Antonio Ramón
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Mass protests against taxation measures and the forced displacement of Indigenous communities set the backdrop for Guatemala’s upcoming presidential elections.
Topic:: Elections, Displacement, Protests, Land Rights, and Indigenous
Political Geography:: South America, Latin America, and Guatemala

9. Ecuador Headed for Early Elections After President Dissolves Legislature

Author:: Diana Guarnizo Peralta
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: To head off an impeachment vote, Guillermo Lasso chose the nuclear option. Amid polarization and a protracted political stalemate, what comes next remains uncertain.
Topic:: Government, Elections, Domestic Politics, Political Crisis, Impeachment, and Guillermo Lasso
Political Geography:: South America, Latin America, and Ecuador

10. Far Right Holds Chile Hostage

Author:: Carole Concha Bell
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: The ultra-conservative Republican Party won a majority on Chile’s new Constitutional Council, delivering a major blow to President Gabriel Boric’s transformative platform.
Topic:: Elections, Constitution, Far Right, and Political Parties
Political Geography:: South America, Latin America, and Chile

11. Amazonia on the Brink

Author:: Carlos Andrés Baquero Díaz
Publication Date:: 05-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Our Summer 2023 issue of the NACLA Report brings movement voices together with research and analysis to lay out what’s at stake in the Amazon and how to avert a deeper crisis.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, Human Rights, and Indigenous
Political Geography:: Brazil, South America, and Amazon Basin

12. Peru: Infinite Protest and Indolent Elites

Author:: Nicolás Lynch
Publication Date:: 03-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: The anti-government protests that erupted in December have a clear political agenda: new elections and the convening of a constituent assembly.
Topic:: Elections, Protests, and Elites
Political Geography:: South America, Latin America, and Peru

13. Transnational Guarani Land Defense and Solidarity

Author:: William Costa
Publication Date:: 03-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Guarani community leaders from Brazil and Paraguay come together to strengthen alliances and share experiences of fighting for their ancestral territories.
Topic:: Solidarity, Land Rights, Indigenous, and Guarani
Political Geography:: Brazil, South America, Latin America, and Paraguay

14. A Conversation with ELN Commander and Peace Negotiator Aureliano Carbonell

Author:: Jerano Abraham
Publication Date:: 03-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: National Liberation Army Commander Aureliano Carbonell speaks about prospects for peace in the guerrilla organization’s second round of dialogues with the Colombian government.
Topic:: Non State Actors, Armed Forces, Peace, and Guerrillas
Political Geography:: Colombia and South America

15. International Feminist Strike in Argentina

Author:: Virginia Tognola
Publication Date:: 03-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: A chronicle of International Women’s Day in Buenos Aires, focused on the demands of sexual dissidences
Topic:: Women, Feminism, Protests, LGBT+, Justice, and Gender
Political Geography:: Argentina and South America

16. Peru's Media Faces a Crisis Within a Crisis

Author:: Brunella Tipismana
Publication Date:: 04-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: With Peru's mainstream media concentrated in a few hands, citizens turn to the internet to challenge hegemonic narratives. The results are not always utopian.
Topic:: Human Rights, Media, Protests, Crisis Management, and Bias
Political Geography:: South America, Latin America, and Peru

17. Navigating Apathy and Attacks in the Struggle for Migrant Rights in Chile

Author:: Pablo Seward Delaporte
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: For one activist, Chile’s proposed constitution missed a historic opportunity to defend migrant rights amid a right-wing backlash that ultimately defeated the new progressive charter.
Topic:: Human Rights, Constitution, Domestic Politics, Right-Wing Politics, and Migrants
Political Geography:: South America, Latin America, and Chile

18. Anti-Abortion Organizing in Colombia

Author:: Radha Sarkar
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Colombia now has one of the most liberal abortion regimes in the Americas, but with conservative groups rallying in opposition, the future of the country’s abortion rights is far from secure.
Topic:: Conservatism, Reproductive Rights, Abortion, and Community Organizing
Political Geography:: Colombia, South America, and Latin America

19. Peru: The Country of Failed Transitions

Author:: Roger Merino
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Peru’s latest political crisis is rooted in the failure of key transitions to consolidate democracy and basic social coexistence.
Topic:: Democracy, Transition, Political Crisis, and Society
Political Geography:: South America, Latin America, and Peru

20. What’s Next for Bolivia After Camacho’s Arrest?

Author:: Pablo Solon
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: A controversial, high-profile detention reveals deep divides within the MAS and an uncertain path forward amid an ongoing conservative backlash.
Topic:: Politics, Domestic Politics, Conservatism, Protests, and Right-Wing Politics
Political Geography:: South America, Latin America, and Bolivia

21. Popular Organizing is the Only Way to Stop Bolsonarismo

Author:: Sabrina Fernandes
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: The essence of the phenomenon tied to Jair Bolsonaro’s rise is extreme, and it is a potent force for radicalizing people towards authoritarian and violent positions.
Topic:: Authoritarianism, Radicalization, Violence, Jair Bolsonaro, and Community Organizing
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

22. “The Major Challenge to Brazilian Democracy Today Is Bolsonarismo”

Author:: Michael Fox
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: In the wake of the attack on Brasília, both the Lula administration and civil society have a major role to play in combatting the forces propelling Brazil’s far right.
Topic:: Civil Society, Domestic Politics, Far Right, Jair Bolsonaro, and Lula da Silva
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

23. Brasília and Washington

Author:: Chris N. Lesser
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Beyond the parallels with the U.S. Capitol riot, the latest assault on Brazil’s democracy is marked by Washington’s long history of anti-democratic foreign policy.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Democracy, Jair Bolsonaro, January 6, and Democratic Backsliding
Political Geography:: Brazil, South America, North America, and United States of America

24. Indigenous Protesters Campaign to Make "Chineo" A Hate Crime in Argentina

Author:: Carole Concha Bell
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Women and Indigenous groups denounce widespread sexual violence perpetrated against Indigenous girls and women in northern Argentina.
Topic:: Women, Protests, Sexual Violence, Indigenous, Girls, and Hate Crimes
Political Geography:: Argentina, South America, and Latin America

25. Is Colombia One Step Away from a Fracking Ban?

Author:: César Rodríguez
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: While lawmakers debate a proposed fracking prohibition, deepening struggles over the social and environmental impacts of oil and gas extraction loom.
Topic:: Environment, Oil, Gas, Legislation, Wealth Extraction, and Fracking
Political Geography:: Colombia, South America, and Latin America

26. Chile’s New Constitutional Process Shifts to the Right

Author:: Cathy Schneider and Sofía Williamson-García
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Hollowed-out political parties and the legacy of dictatorship once again leave Chile’s constitutional process hindered by a crisis of representation.
Topic:: Constitution, Domestic Politics, Representation, and Dictatorship
Political Geography:: South America and Chile

27. Brazil’s First-Ever Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Launched Amid a State of Emergency

Author:: Daniela Rebello
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Among the historic ministry's first challenges are a large-scale gold mining crackdown and an investigation of genocide against the Yanomami people.
Topic:: Genocide, Domestic Politics, Mining, Indigenous, and State of Emergency
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

28. North Korea-Guyana Relations in the Burnham Era

Author:: Moe Taylor
Publication Date:: 03-2023
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: East-West Center
Abstract:: During the reign of Forbes Burnham (1923-85), the South American republic of Guyana (formerly British Guiana) became one of North Korea’s greatest foreign policy success stories. Pyongyang not only acquired a new trading partner in the Americas but also gained a vocal advocate for its position on Korean unification on the international stage. These close ties grew in large part from Burnham’s admiration for North Korea, where he saw a highly disciplined citizenry united around the Great Leader, willing to work hard and sacrifice for the collective good. Guyana perhaps did more than any other single actor to help North Korea become viewed as an economic model for developing countries. First elected Premier of the colony of British Guiana in 1964, Burnham became Prime Minister upon independence in 1966 and ruled until his death in 1985. A lawyer and trade unionist from the capital’s Afro-Guyanese middle class, his rise to power was backed by the United States, which viewed him as the only realistic alternative to the communists. While Burnham veered to the Left once in power and frequently irritated Washington, he was more or less tolerated because his pro-Soviet opposition would almost certainly fill his absence.
Topic:: International Relations, Foreign Policy, Politics, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:: Asia, North Korea, South America, and Guyana

29. Indigenous People’s Food Sovereignty in Ecuadorian Amazon

Author:: India Belgharbi
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Public and International Affairs (JPIA)
Institution:: School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Princeton University
Abstract:: Accessing healthy and affordable food is highly intertwined with the biggest challenges of our century, such as climate change or conflict resolution. The United Nations has established eliminating hunger as one of the seventeen goals of the international community to achieve sustainable development. The largest part of the food the world consumes is produced by smallholders, peasants and Indigenous communities, but their own food sovereignty is not always practically implemented. This paper explores the extent to which Indigenous Peoples in the Ecuadorian Amazon are able to practice food sovereignty, and traces colonialism’s continuous influence on the application of international law to this marginalized community. Though the Indigenous concept of Buen Vivir is linked to food sovereignty and was integrated into the Ecuadorian constitution since 2008, post-neoliberalism, land ownership issues, access to seeds, the use of chemical fertilizers within agriculture, and tourism in the Amazon are all elements impeding its realization.
Topic:: Sovereignty, Food, Economic Policy, and Indigenous
Political Geography:: South America, Ecuador, and Amazon Basin

30. Robbing Reproductive Autonomy: Forced Sterilizations in the Americas and the Inter-American Human Rights System’s Response

Author:: Meredith McCain
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Public and International Affairs (JPIA)
Institution:: School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Princeton University
Abstract:: Forced and coerced sterilizations, far from being a relic of the past, remain a widespread and troubling practice throughout the world. In the Americas, numerous countries have been accused of carrying out state-sponsored campaigns of forced sterilizations against indigenous, Afro-descendant, poor, and/or intellectually disabled women, in what amounts to an appalling act of violence and targeted erasure of marginalized communities. While international jurisprudence on forced sterilizations is limited, the Inter-American Human Rights System has been at the forefront of confronting this issue of reproductive justice. Through an analysis of two landmark cases at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, this paper explores the strides that have been made and the gaps that remain for survivors of forced sterilization to receive justice.
Topic:: Human Rights, Law, State Violence, Reproductive Rights, and Sterilization
Political Geography:: South America, Central America, and North America

31. From emergency to structure: ways to fight Covid-19 via international cooperation in health from Brazil

Author:: Andemar Pozzatti and Luiza Witzel Farias
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:: Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:: This article argues the need for complementarity between emergency and structuring international cooperation in scenarios of health crises in developing countries. Through a review of contemporary literature and document analysis, it analyzes some aspects of the performance of global and Latin American institutions in the Covid-19 pandemic in light of this argument. It also makes a brief survey of forms of international cooperation that emerge from Brazil, with BRICS and Latin American partners, to fight the pandemic, which have a local and sectoral character: paradiplomacy, structuring networks and the role of local agents and health experts.
Topic:: International Cooperation, Public Health, Humanitarian Crisis, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Health Crisis
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

32. Social Policy Expansion and Retrenchment After Latin America’s Commodity Boom

Author:: Sara Niedzwiecki and Jennifer Pribble
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:: The literature on social policy expansion and retrenchment in Latin America is vast, but scholars differ in how they explain the outcomes, arriving at different conclusions about the role of democracy, left parties, favorable economic conditions, and social movements in shaping reform. What can welfare state developments since the end of the commodity boom teach us about the theoretical power of these arguments? This paper engages this question, seeking to explain recent incidents of social policy reform in 10 presidential administrations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. Using a combination of crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (csQCA) and case studies, we identify multiple paths toward social policy expansion and retrenchment that involve the absence and presence of electoral competition, economic resources, party ideology and linkage mechanism, social movement pressure, international pressure, and legacies. The results show that while both parties of the left and right expanded social programs, only the right engaged in retrenchment, yet partisanship alone is insufficient for explaining reform outcomes, as the variable must appear in combination with other factors depending on the party’s linkage mechanism. The results provide new insight into the politics of social policy reform in Latin America, showing the relevance of complex forms of causality.
Topic:: Health, Poverty, Social Movement, Democracy, Inequality, Public Policy, and Political Parties
Political Geography:: Brazil, Argentina, South America, Uruguay, Latin America, and Chile

33. Anticompetitive practices on public procurement: Evidence from Brazilian electronic biddings

Author:: Antonio Sampaio, Paulo Figueiredo, and Klarizze Puzon
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Using big data from the Brazilian public procurement system, this research aims to investigate what factors are associated with the occurrence of anticompetitive practices in electronic bidding. Our analysis considers all services contracted between 2014 and 2017. The study uses the logit regression model with a dependent binary variable to model the probability of bidding fraud as a function of a vector of explanatory variables composed of the characteristics of the bidding process and of the supplier, in terms of firm size, thus quantifying the relationship between the explanatory variables and the probability of fraud occurrence. We find that firm size and the Apparent Overbilling Index which we propose are associated with the occurrence of fraud and anticompetitive practices in electronic auctions. This study contributes to the accumulation of empirical and theoretical knowledge, expanding safer bases for governments and society in the fight against corruption.
Topic:: Fraud, Economic Competition, and Public Procurement
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

34. Affirmative action with no major switching: Evidence from a top university in Brazil

Author:: Rodrigo C. Oliveira, Alei Santos, and Edson Severnini
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Affirmative action in higher education may lead to mismatch, a situation where students benefiting from preferential admission struggle with their college-level work because of poor precollege academic preparation. In the United States, those students can switch majors if they underperform in the originally intended major. Only in the extreme may they drop out. What happens when major switching is not allowed? In this paper, we examine the margins of adjustment for beneficiaries of affirmative action in a top university in Brazil, where prospective students must choose a major prior to the entrance test, and cannot switch it while in college. Surprisingly, we do not find a larger effect on dropout rates relative to the United States, and also provide evidence of strong catching up for students who remain in school. Because they fail more courses early on, to successfully graduate students benefiting from preferential admission end up reducing the number of credit hours taken in the first and second college years, but compensate by taking more credit hours in the final years.
Topic:: Higher Education, Students, and Affirmative Action
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

35. Sanctions, Economic Statecraft, and Venezuela’s Crisis

Author:: César Rodríguez
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:: This case study summarizes the evidence on the effect on Venezuela’s economic and social conditions of economic sanctions and other actions of economic statecraft taken by the United States and its allies in response to the country’s political crisis. The preponderance of evidence indicates that sanctions and other statecraft measures—including the formal recognition of a government with no de facto control over the territory—have had a strong and significant negative effect on the Venezuelan economy. These actions have made a sizable contribution to declining oil production, exacerbating the country’s fiscal crisis, and contributing to one of the largest documented peacetime economic contractions in modern history. Many arguments commonly voiced to dispute the effects of sanctions, such as those that appeal to temporal precedence of other causes of the country’s crisis, are either factually incorrect or premised on fallacious logic. Reforming the sanctions regime will be a complex task, given the interaction with other statecraft measures and a broader toxification of the country’s economic relations. Reform attempts should include the introduction of an oil-for-essentials program, support for political humanitarian agreements, issuance of clearer compliance guidelines, introducing an explicit differentiation between strategic and nonstrategic sanctions, and seeking multilateral alignment with international actors on key strategic issues including that of government recognition.
Topic:: Security, Diplomacy, Economics, Sanctions, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:: South America, Venezuela, and United States of America

36. El control social en Colombia: Un balance sobre las veedurías ciudadanas

Author:: Mariana Cepeda Villarreal and Luis Gilberto Murillo Urrutia
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Accountability Research Center (ARC), American University
Abstract:: En Colombia existen diferentes modalidades institucionales para hacer control social dentro de las cuales se encuentran las veedurías ciudadanas, reglamentadas a través de la Ley 805 de 2003. Si bien las veedurías ciudadanas son un mecanismo de participación ampliamente conocido, y pese a haber sido reglamentado hace casi dos décadas, existe poca información sobre las dinámicas de su funcionamiento, impactos alcanzados, y factores que llevan a su éxito. Este documento analiza los límites y potencialidades de las veedurías ciudadanas en Colombia como modalidad o mecanismo de control social, a partir de la revisión del marco institucional que promueve su desarrollo y formalización en el país. Para ilustrar estas dinámicas, también se presenta la experiencia de la Veeduría Tumaco Despierta, iniciativa ciudadana de control social formalmente constituida, cuyo objeto es hacer seguimiento a la implementación del proyecto de agua y saneamiento básico bajo el crédito IBRD 86490 (PID 156239) del Banco Mundial.
Topic:: Accountability, Participation, Oversight, and Civic Engagement
Political Geography:: Colombia and South America

37. Experimental Field Evidence of Common Pool Resources: The Water Judge in Bolivia

Author:: Gabriela Agafitei
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:: In 2019, the Bolivian government began implementation of the Universal Health Insurance (SUS) scheme, with critics claiming the unpreparedness of the healthcare system to provide universal and free services. To date, there is no research that assesses the effects of the reform and to what extent it is providing universal, free services. The objective of this study is to fill this research gap by providing a diagnosis on access to public healthcare services after the SUS’s adoption. In this study, access is operationalized according to a theoretical framework developed by the World Health Organization (2010). The study has been conducted according to a combined method that compares data from before and after the SUS approval. First, data from the National Household Survey has been analyzed to provide an overview of dimensions related to access at the macro level. Secondly, the macro perspective is integrated with data collected through semi-structured interviews that provide a detailed analysis of the qualitative dimensions of accessing healthcare at the micro level, which are often not reflected by quantitative indicators. The results showed that on the one hand access to public healthcare services has increased in the first year of the SUS’s implementation compared to previous years. However, despite the supply of additional human resources and physical infrastructure, the sufficiency in availability of human resources remains questionable, as the values disaggregated per 1,000 inhabitants remained roughly the same. Similarly, spending at the macroeconomic level did not reach recommended levels for universal coverage. Data from the case study deepens the understanding of the findings at the macro level. In fact, access appears as characterized by considerable challenges, such as long waiting times, lack of medicines and of beds, and low-quality services that overall restrain access to the public services. The study has concluded that despite the fact that access has increased, insufficiency of resources and the structural characteristics of the Bolivian healthcare system represent severe limitations for the universal outreach of SUS.
Topic:: Services, Insurance, Healthcare System, and Universal Healthcare
Political Geography:: South America and Bolivia

38. Why the Opposition Win in Barinas, Venezuela Matters

Author:: Ociel Alí López
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: The victory of opposition candidate Sergio Garrido in the governorship race in the state of Barinas on January 9 changes the symbolic map of Venezuela’s internal diatribe. The result barely affects the country’s political-territorial map; the governing party swept the regional elections on November 21 with 19 of 23 governorships and 210 of 335 mayoralties. However, it does mark a tremendous change in the sensibility with which the opposition and the government have participated in a political environment that is, if you will, hospitable—for the first time in many years.
Topic:: Government, Elections, Domestic Politics, and Opposition
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

39. Jogo de Bicho: Brazil’s Popular but Illegal Lottery Game

Author:: Constance Malleret
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Although the game is historically tied to criminal groups, Brazil’s Congress is debating a proposal to legalize it.
Topic:: Crime, Domestic Politics, Legislation, and Gambling
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

40. Peru: The Broken Dream of Transformative Government?

Author:: Alejandra Dinegro Martínez
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Though Pedro Castillo’s victory initially seemed like a glimmer of hope, the reality of the past eight months has been disappointing.
Topic:: Government, Elections, Domestic Politics, and Presidential Elections
Political Geography:: South America and Peru

41. Argentina 20 Years After La Crisis del 2001

Author:: María Félix Herrera and María Félix Herrera
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: As the government closed a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund, Argentine societyrevisited painful memories from its biggest financial crisis in recent history.
Topic:: Financial Crisis, Economy, and IMF
Political Geography:: Argentina and South America

42. UK Must Engage with Argentina Over Future of Falkland Islands

Author:: Carole Concha Bell
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: For Argentina, it’s position in the decades-old dispute over the British Overseas Territory remains clear: Las Malvinas son Argentinas.
Topic:: International Relations, Politics, Territorial Disputes, Conflict, and Dialogue
Political Geography:: United Kingdom, Argentina, South America, and Falkland Islands

43. Quechua Sports Journalist Takes Language Revitalization to New Spaces

Author:: Jermani Ojeda Ludena
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: From Peru’s Andes, soccer commentator Qara Q’ompo’s broadcasts combat stigma while tapping intooral knowledge to expand Quechua’s reach.
Topic:: Sports, Language, Journalism, Soccer, and Quechua
Political Geography:: South America and Peru

44. Libel Conviction in Peru: A ‘Dagger’ for InvestigativeJournalism

Author:: Carlos Lauría
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: A recent defamation case against a Peruvian journalist and publisher has sparked concern about freedomof speech.
Topic:: Crime, Human Rights, Journalism, and Freedom of Press
Political Geography:: South America and Peru

45. Living Without Fear: Francia Márquez and Black Feminist Politics in Colombia

Author:: Nadia Mosquera Muriel
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: With her message of inclusion, the Afro-Colombian environmental activist—who earned the third most votes in the March primaries and a VP nomination—is making history.
Topic:: Environment, Elections, Feminism, Activism, and Black Feminism
Political Geography:: Colombia and South America

46. Progressive Politics Makes Gains in Colombia's Conservative Antioquia

Author:: Juliana Martínez
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: After a record-breaking presidential primary, the Colombian Left has a fighting chance at winning the top office and challenging the legacy of the country's most powerful politician.
Topic:: Politics, Conservatism, Leftist Politics, and Presidential Elections
Political Geography:: Colombia and South America

47. Brazilian Youth Fight to Decolonize Climate Justice

Author:: Anna Beatriz Anjos
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Activists from Brazil’s urban peripheries are among the hardest hit by the climate crisis, and they are becoming increasingly active in the fight against it.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, Inequality, Urban, Justice, and Political Movements
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

48. Gaining Ground in the Struggle Against Extractivism

Author:: Antulio Rosales and Claudia Rodríguez Gilly
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: From oil to mining, resource exploitation is the central battlefield for Venezuela’s land and environmental movements.
Topic:: Environment, Oil, Natural Resources, Social Movement, Mining, Land, and Extractive Industries
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

49. Will Popular Power Survive?

Author:: María Pilar García-Guadilla and Ulises Castro
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Popular power was a cornerstone of the Bolivarian Revolution. Facing co-optation, crisis, and decline, its future remains in question.
Topic:: Government, Social Movement, Community, Nicholas Maduro, and Political Crisis
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

50. Making Art Amid Mayhem

Author:: Carlos Egaña
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: For a Venezuelan artist, photography offers a democratic means of expression and experimentation from differing viewpoints.
Topic:: Arts, Culture, and Photography
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

51. Indigenous Groups Occupy Bogotá Park in Protest

Author:: Christoph Sponsel
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Members of Colombia's Emberá community, many of whom are victims of conflict, have camped for months in Colombia's capital to generate attention and demand change.
Topic:: Social Movement, Conflict, Protests, and Indigenous
Political Geography:: Colombia and South America

52. Campaigning for a More Dignified Colombia

Author:: Sita Bates
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: In Colombia, women candidates for the presidency are using their campaigns to advocate against violence.
Topic:: Women, Domestic Politics, Violence, and Presidential Elections
Political Geography:: Colombia and South America

53. In Bolivia, Ex-President Áñez’s Trial Sparks Debate About Justice

Author:: Amy Booth
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Critics say her prosecution on coup charges violates due process, but the Bolivian state has a responsibility to seek justice.
Topic:: Accountability, Coup, Justice, and Due Process
Political Geography:: South America and Bolivia

54. The Venezuelan Opposition’s Elusive Quest for Power

Author:: Maryhen Jiménez and Juan Manuel Trak
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Persistent internal conflicts have prevented Chavismo’s detractors from organizing a serious political proposal to successfully contest power. Can the opposition democratize?
Topic:: Democracy, Domestic Politics, and Opposition
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

55. The Rise and Fall of Barrio Adentro

Author:: Amy Cooper and Oscar Feo
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: With Hugo Chávez’s celebrated health care project progressively in ruins, the pandemic underlines the need to rebuild.
Topic:: Health Care Policy, Public Health, COVID-19, and Hugo Chavez
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

56. Breaking Through for LGBTQI Rights

Author:: Daniel Fermín, Paula Sevilla Núñez, and Yendri Velásquez
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Movements fighting homophobia and transphobia in Venezuela offer an example of organizing that successfully joins forces across ideological and partisan lines.
Topic:: Human Rights, Social Movement, Ideology, LGBT+, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

57. “I Left Venezuela to Defend the Constitution”: An Interview with Luisa Ortega Díaz

Author:: John Brown
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: The former Attorney General discusses how her country has changed since Chávez and what is required to restore democracy.
Topic:: Democracy, Domestic Politics, Interview, and Hugo Chavez
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

58. Fact Checking Power, April 11, 2002 and Beyond

Author:: David Smilde
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: In the face of a fraught conflict with missteps and misinformation on both sides, empirically informed analysis offers one tool to cut through the noise.
Topic:: Elections, Domestic Politics, Conflict, Protests, Misinformation, and Hugo Chavez
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

59. Chavismo in the World

Author:: Angelo Rivero Santos and Javier Morales Hernández
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: The Bolivarian Revolution shook up the geopolitical map. Rebuilding Venezuela’s fractured relations in the hemisphere remains its chief foreign policy challenge.
Topic:: International Relations, Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, and Hugo Chavez
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

60. Venezuela's Missing Center

Author:: Francisco Rodríguez
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: With the country caught in a pitched winner-take-all contest, it is unsurprising that voters feel apathetic. Solutions must come from the space between the extremes.
Topic:: Elections, Domestic Politics, Voting, and Centrism
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

61. The Feminist Revolution That Wasn't

Author:: Yoletty Bracho and Marisela Betancourt
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Chavismo co-opted women’s rights rhetoric but failed to deliver on core feminist demands. For grassroots movements, abortion access remains a key struggle.
Topic:: Politics, Women, Feminism, Abortion, and Grassroots Organizing
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

62. Displaced and Insecure: Understanding the Exodus and Its Effects

Author:: María Isabel Puerta Riera
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: From brain drain to mental health issues, the mass migration of millions of Venezuelans has far-reaching impacts at home and abroad.
Topic:: Migration, Brain Drain, Displacement, and Mental Health
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

63. Chavismo, Student Movements, and the Future of the Left

Author:: Fabrice Andreani and Damian Alifa
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Partisan polarization wiped out autonomous stances within Venezuela’s universities for more than 15years. Rebuilding a pluralist Left from the grassroots is key to reclaiming combative struggles.
Topic:: Social Movement, Leftist Politics, Students, Polarization, and Grassroots Organizing
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

64. Navigating Alternate Realities

Author:: Alexander Main
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: When political tensions run high and misinformation proliferates, there’s no better way to get a clear view than with your own eyes.
Topic:: Domestic Politics, Protests, Misinformation, and Political Crisis
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

65. Remembering María Elena Moyano: 30 Years Later

Author:: Néstor David Pastor
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Decades after her shocking murder, the Afro-Peruvian activist and organizer’s legacy for affirming life and collective dignity is more relevant than ever.
Topic:: Assassination, Activism, and Grassroots Organizing
Political Geography:: South America and Peru

66. Environmental Justice in the Age of Unnatural Disaster

Author:: Chris N. Lesser
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: The recent mudslides in Petrópolis are just the latest examples of the issues of unequal access to land and precarious housing in Brazil.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, Natural Disasters, Inequality, Justice, Land, and Housing
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

67. Colombia Joins the Green Wave

Author:: David Díaz Arias and Joshua Collins
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: In a historic win for reproductive rights, Colombia’s highest court strikes down law that made abortion a crime.
Topic:: Human Rights, Social Movement, Courts, and Abortion
Political Geography:: Colombia and South America

68. Cooking Revolutions in the Community Pot

Author:: Virginia Tognola
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: In Argentina, culinary cooperatives provide food and support for vulnerable communities.
Topic:: Food, Community, Community Engagement, and Cooperatives
Political Geography:: Argentina and South America

69. For Venezuelans in Colombia, the Long Path to Legal Residency

Author:: Liza Schmidt
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Although providing the 10-year residence permits promised last year has been a complicated process, many maintain hope for a more stable future.
Topic:: Migration, Immigration, Borders, Domestic Policy, and Social Stability
Political Geography:: Colombia, South America, and Venezuela

70. Venezuela Oil Sanctions: Not an Easy Fix

Author:: Luisa Palacios and Francisco J. Monaldi
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), Columbia University
Abstract:: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended global energy markets and brought energy security issues back to the forefront of global attention. The unexpected visit of a US government delegation to Caracas for talks with Nicolas Maduro on March 5th may be considered an example of official recognition of this imperative.[1] The visit led to speculation that sanctions on the Maduro regime could be lifted and that a rapid ramp up of Venezuelan oil production and export could result.[2] This commentary makes three arguments concerning these recent developments. First, rather than potentially leading to the lifting of US sanctions on the Maduro regime, the visit could result in – provided certain conditions are met – an easing or softening of existing oil sanctions via licenses for some of the international oil companies (IOCs) that still operate in Venezuela.[3] Second, in the short term, it is unlikely that this scenario, should it come to pass, would offer any meaningful relief to global oil markets, as substantial increments in oil production from Venezuela would require overcoming many obstacles and risks, even with a potential softening of oil sanctions. However, the latter would likely lead to the redirection of Venezuela’s existing oil exports to the US market. Third, Venezuela has already seen a recovery of oil production, albeit from historically low levels. In a context of no sanctions relief, continued recovery is not guaranteed and might depend on how geopolitical events impact Russian oil exports and the outcome of the Iranian nuclear negotiations.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Oil, Natural Resources, and Sanctions
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

71. Political Violence During Brazil’s 2022 General Elections

Author:: Sandra Pellegrini and Maria Puolakkainen
Publication Date:: 10-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
Abstract:: Following the first round of voting in Brazil’s general elections on 2 October, left-wing two-time former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – leader of the Workers’ Party (PT) and the ‘Brazil of Hope’ coalition – leads the race with 48.4% of the vote. He was followed closely by far-right incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL) and the ‘For the Good of Brazil’ coalition, who outperformed the polls by receiving 43.2% of the votes. Lula’s inability to exceed 50% has forced a runoff election between Lula and Bolsonaro scheduled for 30 October. The narrow margin between the two candidates came as a surprise, as many predicted a first-round victory for Lula (BBC, 3 October 2022). The close outcome underscores the deepening polarization of Brazil’s electorate, with both contenders garnering significant popular support with opposed electoral programs. Amid this polarization, antagonism between Bolsonaro’s administration and the opposition has fueled increased electoral violence, which continues to pose a threat ahead of the presidential runoff election. UN experts warned that threats, intimidation, and political violence “generate terror among the population and deter potential candidates from running for office,” urging Brazilian authorities to ensure the safety of candidates and most-at-risk communities (OHCHR, 22 September 2022).
Topic:: Political Violence, Elections, Domestic Politics, Jair Bolsonaro, and Lula da Silva
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

72. Political Violence During Brazil’s 2022 Presidential Runoff

Author:: Maria Puolakkainen and Sandra Pellegrini
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
Abstract:: Following his victory in the presidential runoff election on 30 October, President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva described Brazil as “one country, one people, one great nation.” While this speech may indicate the incoming president’s willingness to seek unity, it comes at a time of heightened political polarization in Brazil. Inflammatory rhetoric around the elections and spikes in political violence throughout the election period have raised concerns over the potential for further outbreaks of unrest, even beyond the aftermath of the runoff. The contestation of the election results and calls for military intervention by supporters of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro present an ongoing challenge to the “peace and unity” promoted by President-elect Lula in his victory speech (Folha de S.Paulo, 31 October 2022).
Topic:: Political Violence, Elections, Jair Bolsonaro, and Lula da Silva
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

73. Democracy and Urban Political Culture in Spanish South America, 1810-1860

Author:: Paula Alonso and Marcela Ternavasio
Publication Date:: 07-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:: “Democracy,” a word seldom used in public debate at the start of the nineteenth century and negatively associated with tumult, disorder, and direct rule, in a few decades became linked to representative government and increasingly employed with positive connotations. This paper argues that these conceptual changes should be explored in their political and social contexts, since the term “democracy” was invoked to (de)legitimate certain political practices and social sectors. Therefore, in exploring this non-linear process in Spanish America, these pages focus on the interactions between the emerging language of democracy and its varied meanings and uses in urban politics. These interactions were part of the factional disputes on how to implement the principle of popular sovereignty. Starting with an overview of selected emerging political practices during the Independence period, the paper then focuses on Lima and Buenos Aires, two regions with contrasting colonial pasts, responses to Spanish crises, and post-independence paths, showing how the concept of democracy could be put to varied uses according to different contexts and political objectives.
Topic:: Civil Society, Governance, Culture, Democracy, Citizenship, and Institutions
Political Geography:: Argentina, South America, Latin America, and Peru

74. Inclusion amid ethnic inequality: Insights from Brazil’s social protection system

Author:: Natasha Borges Sugiyama
Publication Date:: 07-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Policy frames in Brazil have long run up against conflicting visions and understandings about the causes and consequences of group-based inequality. This paper argues that a class-based lens has dominated the social protection framework. In recent years, political leaders have framed social policy measures along ‘universal’ class lines with the aim of improving poverty and wellbeing. This framing is reflective of Brazil’s national narrative on race relations and the idea that class and employment status have been the most salient barriers to social welfare protections. Brazil’s widely well-regarded anti-poverty conditional cash transfer programme, Bolsa Família (2003–21), is emblematic of the country’s universal and ‘race-blind’ approach to social policy. But given the strong correlation in Brazil between ethnicity and income, social protection policies such as the Bolsa Família have indirectly targeted vulnerable black and brown citizens. The analysis addresses how social policy has contributed advances to wellbeing in general and for Afro-Brazilians. A comparative perspective on social welfare systems offers important lessons on how poverty relief can further human development and enhance agency. Future reformers can learn from Brazil’s pursuit of poverty reduction alongside administrative procedures that identify vulnerable groups, as a strategy to address intersectional inequalities of ethnicity and class.
Topic:: Poverty, Race, Inequality, and Welfare
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

75. International Law and Order Enforcement: Police Assistance Programs and Politics in US-Brazil Relations

Author:: Priscila Villela
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:: Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:: Police Assistance programs have been a permanent part of US foreign policy towards Latin America, with Brazil being one of the most important beneficiaries. Throughout their history, they have been oriented according to changing agendas, from anticommunism to the war on drugs. Based on documentary sources and specialized literature, we analyze the politics of US policing in Brazil, reconstituting agendas and interests that motivated police assistance programs through the lens of critical police studies in IR. In doing so, we demonstrate that police cooperation is historically a crucial part of US-Brazil bilateral relations, despite the unfrequent prominence in the literature.
Topic:: International Cooperation, International Law, Bilateral Relations, and Police
Political Geography:: Brazil, South America, North America, and United States of America

76. “Brazilian Foreign Policy, Multilateral Institutions and Power Relations: an Interview with Ambassador Rubens Ricupero”

Author:: Alexandra de Mello e Silva, Flavia de Campos Mello, Leticia Pinheiro, and Monica Herz
Publication Date:: 10-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:: Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:: This interview stems from the interest of four Brazilian scholars in contributing to the study of foreign policy through dialogue with practitioners. As the study about foreign policy becomes more reflexive and critical, we turned to a Brazilian diplomat, Rubens Ricupero, who based on his vast and often difficult experience, has written about his interactions with the international world and strived to establish a dialogue with the academic world. Between May and July 2021, Ambassador Ricupero shared with us his views on the difficulties and possibilities of dialogue regarding multilateral agreements and institutions, such as the GATT and the UNCTAD
Topic:: Foreign Policy, International Cooperation, Strategic Interests, and Power
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

77. “One Single Agriculture”: Dismantling Policies and Silencing Peasant Family Farmers in Brazilian Foreign Policy (2016-2022)

Author:: Thiago Lima, Laura Trajber Waisbich, and Lizandra Serafim
Publication Date:: 10-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:: Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:: Brazil experienced the opening-up and democratization of its foreign policymaking in the last decades, but since 2016 a wave of bureaucratic reforms sought to reverse that process. This paper contributes to understanding this phenomenon by looking at the agri-food dimension of Brazilian foreign policy. Through the analysis of official documental and discursive data, we discuss successive symbolic-discursive, as well as policy-institutional governmental efforts to close-off foreign policymaking to peasant family farmers and their interests. The study reveals changing patterns in state-society interfaces, and contributes to bridging the fields of Foreign Policy Analysis, Policy Dismantling and Social Participation.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Agriculture, Farming, and Social Order
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

78. When only China wants to play: Institutional turmoil and Chinese investment in Brazil

Author:: Niels Sondergaard, Ana Flavia Barros-Platiau, and Hyeyoon Park
Publication Date:: 10-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:: Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:: The political and institutional crisis in Brazil from 2015, fueled largely by corruption probes and lawfare, had severe repercussions within the Brazilian construction and energy sectors. While many international investors withdrew from Brazil in this period, Chinese investment surged. This article accounts for the particular characteristics of Chinese investments, such as sectorial complementarities, risk assessment, market size attraction, and state-drivenness, which may explain this development.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Bilateral Relations, Hegemony, Investment, and Institutions
Political Geography:: China, Asia, Brazil, and South America

79. Marriage of convenience, love at first sight? A brief manual for teaching international relations in Brazil and beyond

Author:: Andrea Quirino Steiner, Elia Elisa Cia Alves, and Cristin a Carvalho Pacheco
Publication Date:: 10-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:: Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:: Professors may start teaching either out of love or out of convenience, with limited resources. This article provides a brief manual for planning, designing and implementing PS&IR courses. We discuss syllabi, from the basics to the inclusion of transversal topics, then present eight active learning strategies plus traditional lectures, and debate assessments. Although we consider the context of new teachers within Brazilian universities, we believe this is useful for professors from all countries and levels of experience. Thereby, we provide practical advice for teachers to live happily ever after in their pedagogical love story (even if it did not start that way).
Topic:: International Relations, Family, Marriage, and Social Order
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

80. BRICS and Global Health Diplomacy in the Covid-19 Pandemic: Situating BRICS’ diplomacy within the prevailing global health governance context

Author:: Candice Moore
Publication Date:: 10-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:: Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:: BRICS have been cast as a bloc with the potential to make significant changes in Global Health. The management of the Covid-19 pandemic has shown divisions in the bloc and the limits of its ability to formulate policies or even act upon previously agreed positions. This paper employs an examination of BRICS Health Ministerial declarations and an analysis of power in International Relations to reflect on BRICS’ Global Health diplomacy during the Covid-19 pandemic, covering the key questions of vaccine research and development, vaccine nationalism, and travel bans. It finds that multiple dimensions of power matter in Global Health leadership.
Topic:: Health, International Cooperation, Governance, Pandemic, COVID-19, and BRICS
Political Geography:: Africa, Russia, China, Europe, India, Asia, South Africa, Brazil, and South America

81. South America at the core of Brazilian foreign policy during Bolsonaro’s administration (2019-2022)

Author:: Miriam Gomes Saraiva
Publication Date:: 10-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:: Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:: The arrival of Jair Bolsonaro to the Brazilian presidency brought many changes to foreign policy. Based on new ideas in a new foreign policymaking format, several patterns of international behavior were questioned and replaced by new guidelines and actions that created friction with international partners. Brazil’s behavior towards South America was one of the areas most impacted by this shift. This paper reflects upon Bolsonaro’s foreign policy for the region, influenced by these changes and marked by disinterest on policymakers’ part, highlighting how ideational factors underpinned behaviors, actors, and actions.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Governance, Strategic Interests, and Stabilization
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

82. Going Against the Tide: Towards Binding Environmental Regulation of Mining in Chile

Author:: Johanna Jarvela and Lotta Aho
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Business and Development Studies (CBDS), Copenhagen Business School
Abstract:: Mining industry is one of the only industries not subjected to any international environmental agreement. Thus, only national laws, Corporate Social Responsibility, industry standards, and other forms of self-regulation govern the mining industry. However, there are increasing concerns about the sustainability and social responsibility of this business. In Chile, neoliberal policies were implemented to a great extent during ϭϵϳϬ’s and ϴϬ’s and the legacy of these policies was an almost absent environmental regulation until 2010. This makes Chile an interesting case to investigate the workings and consequences of voluntary environmental regulation based on neoliberal paradigm. Whereas multinational corporations largely influence the current development of environmental regulation, and hence it is increasingly based on voluntary measures and industry guidelines, the socio-environmental conflicts have forced Chile to go against the current and move from soft law towards binding regulation. A situation where a country needs to move from non-regulation or fully privatized regulation back towards hard law and command and control has been less investigated than deregulation and different forms of capitalist influence on governance. We wish to address this gap in literature with this study. Based on our findings, we argue that following neoliberal theory in environmental regulation leads to increasing socio-environmental conflicts.
Topic:: Environment, Regulation, Neoliberalism, Mining, and Industry
Political Geography:: South America and Chile

83. Migration and Decent Work: Challenges for the Global South

Author:: Lucía Ramírez Bolívar and Jessica Corredor Villamil
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: Dejusticia
Abstract:: Migration and Decent Work: Challenges for the Global South features nine chapters written by sixteen activists, academics, and members of civil society who have worked on the issue of migration from different angles and who address the challenge of migrants’ labor inclusion from an interdisciplinary and rights-based perspective. Their contributions offer an overview of migrants’ and refugees’ right to work in a range of countries in the global South—from Mexico to India to Argentina to Turkey—based on an analysis of local contexts, public policies, and the everyday realities faced by these workers.
Topic:: Migration, Labor Issues, Refugees, Trafficking, Asylum, Inclusion, Domestic Work, and Sex Work
Political Geography:: South Asia, Middle East, South America, and Global South

84. Reimagining the Future of Human Rights: Social Justice, Environmental Justice and Democracy in the Global South

Author:: Jessica Corredor Villamil
Publication Date:: 06-2022
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: Dejusticia
Abstract:: This book is the collective effort of participants from the 2018 Global Action-Research Workshop for Young Human Rights Advocates, which Dejusticia has been organizing annually since 2013. These workshops aim to strengthen the abilities of young activists from the global South to achieve a greater impact in their human rights work and to reach a wider audience through new forms of narration. This book is just one of the many outcomes of the 2018 workshop. The talented and committed authors of this volume—all contributors to previous editions as well—hail from countries as diverse as Brazil, Ghana, Russia, and Venezuela. They came together again in 2018 to think about the intersection between research and activism and what it holds for the future of human rights. That is why our selection process for the 2018 workshop participants sought to ensure that two people from each cohort were working from a transnational perspective. The specific goal of this particular workshop was to reflect on the future of human rights, for we sensed that we were at a crossroads. With the recent rise in populist authoritarian governments, the global increase in inequality, and the worsening climate crisis, a number of thought leaders have wondered whether we have reached “the endtimes of human rights” (Hopgood 2013). We thus wished to use this workshop as an opportunity to respond to some of the most frequent criticisms of the efficacy and legitimacy of the human rights movement by drawing on historical and empirical arguments and responding to the reflections of Kathryn Sikkink—one of the workshop’s instructors—in her book Evidence for Hope (2017). Human rights defenders and activists are working in a world that is constantly changing. It’s a more multipolar world; powerful voices have emerged from the global South, which has reshaped the way that human rights work is being done across the globe. Furthermore, the Arab Spring and other social mobilizations that have since taken place have put the spotlight on civil society’s ability to act and its convening 12 Jessica Corredor-Villamil authority. Nonetheless, despite the fairly positive outlook for civil society participation and the emergence of new voices, it is necessary to review the strategies that we have been using thus far and explore how to make them more effective. This book is extremely relevant today, three years after the workshop, as we are living in a transformative time. The COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented socioeconomic and political impacts, including increases in inequality, unemployment, states’ abuses of their emergency powers, and the concentration of presidential power. Moreover, social networks have played a critical role in the sociopolitical arena, not only in light of their capacity to massively mobilize but also due to their propensity to foster political polarization and the use of misinformation for political ends. Thus, although we face a different context from the one in 2018, this volume serves as a guide of sorts to help us reconsider the effectiveness of our strategies as a human rights movement as we look toward the challenges being posed by the third century of this decade. The contributors to this book question traditional methods and explore new ways and visions of advancing human rights in the troubled context in which we live. Do the struggles of small-scale miners in Ghana, the use of strategic litigation in Lebanon, and the recognition of the rights of nature in India represent evidence for hope? Or is the opposite true, and, as shown in the chapters on martial law in the Philippines, the treatment of wastewater in Argentina, and in the internal conflict in Yemen, human rights have failed to deliver on their promises?
Topic:: Human Rights, Water, Authoritarianism, Democracy, Social Justice, Surveillance, Indigenous, COVID-19, Armed Conflict, and Environmental Justice
Political Geography:: Africa, South Asia, Middle East, India, Argentina, Philippines, Yemen, South America, Hungary, Lebanon, Venezuela, Ghana, and Global South

85. Fiscal Policy in the Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis in Colombia: Executive Summary

Author:: César Rodríguez-Garavito, Luis Felipe Cruz-Oliveira, and Isabel Pereira-Arana
Publication Date:: 07-2022
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Dejusticia
Abstract:: In Colombia today, discussing a legal framework for marijuana is not a hypothetical matter – it’s a real political possibility. In fact, in the 2018-2022 legislative period, three bills were introduced that proposed regulating cannabis for adult use as well as coca-leaf derivatives. This regulatory boom is not exclusive to Colombia; to date, 19 states in the United States and two countries – Uruguay and Canada – have approved a legal framework for adult-use marijuana. This marks a significant change from the hardhanded laws that have shaped the war on drugs from the time of former U.S. President Richard Nixon to the present. In Colombia, cannabis is the most widely used substance that has been declared illicit. According to the National Survey of Psychoactive Substance Use (Encuesta Nacional de Consumo de Sustancias Psicoactivas), published in 2019 by the country’s Ministry of Justice and the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística, DANE), more than 637,000 people used marijuana within the last year (2019, p. 66), which corresponds to 2.7% of the population between 12 and 65 years of age2 . Seventy-two percent (72%) of these people were between 18 and 34 years of age and lived in Bogotá, Cali, the coffee belt or Medellín (Ministerio de Justicia & DANE, 2019, p. 68). According to the National Planning Department (Departamento Nacional de Planeación, DNP), the geographical distribution of marijuana use tends to be concentrated in urban areas that are attractive for selling the cannabis produced in the Northern Cauca subregion (DNP, 2017, p. 105). Although that is not the only region with marijuana crops, the country is currently experiencing a boom in so-called “creepy” marijuana3 (as a result of the extent of this substance and dependence on the income from it), which is produced in the Northern Cauca municipalities of Caloto, Corinto, Miranda, Toribío and Santander de Quilichao. In this context, two sensitive factors arise in debating cannabis regulation in Colombia. One is that the areas that supply the illegal market have significant gaps in terms of socioeconomic well-being and continue to experience conflict dynamics partly associated with the substance’s prohibition. The other is that the regulation of marijuana, as the most widely consumed illicit substance in the country, must address the protection of public health and the health of those who use it. The majority of regulation proposals put little emphasis on the potential revenue coming from the market, or the allocation of those resources. If we agree that marijuana has played a central role in the origins of drug trafficking in Colombia, and that the regions where it is grown today lag significantly in socioeconomic terms, the transition to a legal market would be an opportunity to improve the peasant farmer and indigenous population’s living conditions, while also protecting public health by controlling the quality and potency of the cannabis that is bought and sold. All of these public policy actions require resources. While those who promote business interests in marijuana regulation insist on stressing the economic benefits for the overall economy, along with the amount of resources it would contribute to state coffers, they fail to mention specific measures that the State should delineate so the market can be based on rules that would finance the actions needed to address the regional problems that predate the regulations, or actually gave rise to the illegal trade. With the goal of illuminating this discussion, based on comparative experiences and on the Principles and Guidelines for Human Rights in Fiscal Policy, this document addresses three dimensions of the problem: (i) explaining, based on available evidence and conceptual debates, why regulation is necessary and what role the fiscal framework plays in this policy; and (ii) providing, based on comparative experiences, elements for designing the regulations’ fiscal frameworks. Finally, contemplating these two aspects, we present a proposal for cannabis fiscal principles.
Topic:: Regulation, Fiscal Policy, and Cannabis
Political Geography:: Canada, Colombia, South America, Uruguay, and United States of America

86. Fiscal Policy in the Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis in Colombia

Author:: Anníbal Ramírez Rodrígues, Luis Felipe Cruz-Oliveira, and Isabel Pereira-Arana
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: Dejusticia
Abstract:: The document is divided into five sections. The first is an introduction, where we describe the background of the regulatory debate and the goals we propose for marijuana regulation in Colombia. In the second section, we present the theoretical framework for explaining why it is necessary to create a legal space for marijuana and what fiscal policy and human rights principles would be applicable to that process. In the third section, we explore comparative experiences, focusing on measures to raise revenue and resource allocation, and analyze lessons learned for the Colombian case. After that, in the fourth section, we home in on the Colombian context, considering how marijuana production and use has evolved in the country, and describing the places where production takes place and their needs. Finally, in the fifth section, we unveil our proposal: the cannabis fiscal principles.
Topic:: Markets, Regulation, Fiscal Policy, Drugs, and Cannabis
Political Geography:: Colombia and South America

87. Inventory of data on economic activity and deforestation in the Amazon Basin

Author:: Igarapé Institute
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Igarapé Institute
Abstract:: Multiple factors shape land change and land use patterns in the Amazon Basin.This note aims to identify data sources for two specific phenomena: changes in land cover and GHG emissions. It also considers key economic sectors that accelerate deforestation including livestock and agricultural development. To this end, the focus is on available data sources across three countries with an analysis of their geographic scope, depth of detail, and the frequency and periodicity with which they are reported.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, Environment, Economy, Carbon Emissions, and Deforestation
Political Geography:: Brazil, South America, and Amazon Basin

88. Connecting the Dots: Territories and Trajectories of Environmental Crime in the Brazilian Amazon and Beyond

Author:: Laura Trajber Waisbich and Terine Husek
Publication Date:: 07-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Igarapé Institute
Abstract:: A new study by the Igarapé institute analyzing more than 300 Federal Police operations between 2016 and 2021 found that environmental crime in the Amazon region is not only organized but far more than a local problem. Indeed, this vertibable criminal ecosystem behind Amazon plunder has expanded nationwide, reaching 24 of Brazil’s 27 states as well as neighboring nations. According to the study “Connecting the Dots: Territories and Trajectories of Environmental Crime in the Brazilian Amazon and Beyond”, published Wednesday July 20, the federal operations flagged criminal networks in 846 venues across Brazil and the region. This article is the latest in our series “Mapping Environmental Crime in the Amazon Basin.” The police ops focused largely on the nine states comprising Brazil’s Legal Amazon region, where spreading criminal activities took investigators to 197 municipalities, representing 75% of total interventions. Police also targeted environmental crimes in 57 Brazilian municipalities outside the Amazon region, and another eight cities in neighboring countries. The Federal Police interventions were triggered by unchecked deforestation associated with a variety of unlawful economic activities, from outright crimes to nominally licit market activity tainted by crime. These include illegal timber extraction, illicit mining (especially gold), land grabbing and predatory farming and ranching. This criminal network was first explored in Igarapé’s strategic paper, published earlier this year, “The Ecosystem of Environmental Crime in Amazonia: An Analysis of Illicit Economies in the Forest.” The current study takes a deeper dive into the widening criminal nexus that undergirds environmental crimes and related offenses, including illegal money flows, tax evasion, corruption, fraud and criminal violence.
Topic:: Crime, Environment, Law Enforcement, Deforestation, and Illicit Financial Flows
Political Geography:: Brazil, South America, and Amazon Basin

89. The Short-Term Labor Market Impact of Venezuelan Immigration in Peru

Author:: Celia P. Vera and Juan Pablo Jiménez
Publication Date:: 10-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:: Peru is the second-largest recipient of Venezuelans worldwide. We combine newly available data on Venezuelans living in Peru and the Peruvian Household Survey to assess the impact of Venezuelan migration on natives’ wages and employment. The initial regression analysis exploits the variation in supply shifts across education-experience groups over time. It indicates that immigration in Peru had no adverse impact on native wages. However, the paper highlights that in Peru immigrants and natives with similar education and experience are likely to work in different occupations. The subsequent analysis based on occupational clustering confirms the null effect on wages and indicates that a 20% increase in immigrants decreases formal employment by 6%. We do not find evidence for changes in employment composition toward informality so that migration operates through the extensive margin of employment. We report evidence in favor of immigrants being a close substitute to the least productive natives, suggesting that firms substitute native formal labor for low-cost immigrant informal labor.
Topic:: Education, Immigration, Labor Market, and Informal Economy
Political Geography:: South America, Venezuela, and Peru

90. Does the Minimum Wage Affect Wage Inequality? A Study for the Six Largest Latin American Economies

Author:: Carlo Lombardo, Lucía Ramírez-Leira, and Leonardo Gasparini
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:: Minimum wage (MW) policies are widespread in the developing world and yet their effects are still unclear. In this paper we explore the effect of national MW policies in Latin America’s six largest economies by exploiting the heterogeneity in the bite of the national minimum wage across local labor markets and over time. We find evidence that the MW has a compression effect on the wage distribution of formal workers. The effect was particularly large during the 2000s, a decade of sustained growth and strong labor markets. In contrast, the effect seems to vanish in the 2010s, a decade of much weaker labor markets. We also find suggestive evidence of a lighthouse effect: the MW seems to have an equalizing effect also on the wage distribution of informal workers.
Topic:: Income Inequality, Economy, Labor Market, Minimum Wage, and Informal Economy
Political Geography:: South America and Latin America

91. Going Green: Estimating the Potential of Green Jobs in Argentina

Author:: Natalia Porto, Pablo de la Vega, and Manuela Cerimelo
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:: This paper aims to identify and characterize the potential of green jobs in Argentina, i.e., those that would benefit from a transition to a green economy, using occupational green potential scores calculated in US O*NET data. We apply the greenness scores to Argentine household survey data and estimate that 25% of workers are in green jobs, i.e., have a high green potential. However, when taking into account the informality dimension, we find that 15% of workers and 12% of wage earners are in formal green jobs. We then analyze the relationship between the greenness scores (with emphasis on the nexus with decent work) and various labor and demographic variables at the individual level. We find that for the full sample of workers the green potential is relatively greater for men, the elderly, those with very high qualifications, those in formal positions, and those in specific sectors such as construction, transportation, mining, and industry. These are the groups that are likely to be the most benefited by the greening of the Argentine economy. When we restrict the sample to wage earners, the green potential score is positively associated with informality.
Topic:: Labor Market, Green Jobs, and Green Economy
Political Geography:: Argentina and South America

92. Addressing Human Mobility in National Climate Policy: Insights from Updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in South America

Author:: Diogo Andreola Serraglio, Benjamin Schraven, and Natalia Burgos Cuevas
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Abstract:: Whereas South American countries are experiencing increased population movements in the context of climate change, the international climate governance agenda calls for the adoption of specialised legislation and for enhanced cooperation among different policy frameworks. The revision and update of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) provide a window of opportunity to mainstream human mobility discussions in climate policy frameworks and, thus, support the uptake of effective measures to address the topic. This briefing paper provides an overview of how the climate change–human mobility nexus has been addressed in the NDCs submitted thus far by South American countries and identifies pathways towards improved management of population movements in revised NDCs. To date, a partial integration of the human mobility perspective prevails: References to the topic indicate a slow – but progressive – acknowledgment of the impacts of a changing climate in vulnerable communities, which may include human displacement. Given the urgent need to move forward from the recognition of the topic to the establishment of effective measures to tackle forced population movements associated with the impacts of climate change, the updating of NDCs – currently under way in the region – entails an opportunity to incorporate strategies aimed at enhancing the management of human mobility. Ongoing discussions linked to the inclusion of the human mobility dimension should happen in a holistic manner, taking socio-environmental approaches into consideration. Human displacement and adaptation to climate change are akin processes that need to be aligned with mitigation and related measures. An improved adaptation component of NDCs depends on the participation of distinct actors (such as national departments and agencies, as well as non-governmental and civil society organisations focussed on climate adaptation) at the national level, and not only those dealing with mitigation strategies. Likewise, it should take the incorporation of practical and evidence-based measures into account. These include, for instance, methods to promote the consultation and effective participation of affected communities and strategies to strengthen their resilience. Furthermore, revised NDCs should call for governance and legal frameworks that include a clear definition of roles and the establishment of effective measures, rooted in the commitment to protect the human rights of affected and vulnerable populations. Revised NDCs should set up policy options to prepare for and respond to human displacement, aiming to reduce communities’ vulnerability and exposure. The recognition of human mobility in the context of climate change as a common challenge faced by South American countries entails a window of opportunity to enhance the development of effective measures to address the topic, as well as to foster the implementation of coherent long-term strategies that go beyond short-term political priorities.
Topic:: Climate Change, Migration, Governance, and Mobility
Political Geography:: South America

93. Partnerships for Policy Transfer: How Brazil and China Engage in Triangular Cooperation with the United Nations

Author:: Laura Trajber Waisbich and Sebastian Haug
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Abstract:: This paper offers a comparative analysis of Brazilian and Chinese partnerships with the United Nations (UN) as a mechanism and channel for policy transfer. In international policy travel flows, China and Brazil currently hold privileged places as hubs from which development-related policies travel and through which they circulate. Both countries have invested in systematising their development experience and transferring development policies within their regions and beyond – often through triangular cooperation, i.e. South–South cooperation supported by third actors such as UN entities. So far, however, this variegated engagement has remained under the radar of scholarly attention. To address this gap, we examine 35 policy transfer partnerships – 17 for Brazil and 18 for China – forged with different parts of the UN system over the last two decades. In order to offer a first systematic account of partnership trajectories, we provide an overview of partnership types (namely projects, programmes and policy centres) and transfer dimensions (including the policies themselves, transfer agents and governance arrangements). Our comparative mapping presents an evolving landscape: while Brazil was first in institutionalising robust policy transfer partnerships with numerous UN entities and then slowed down, China started more cautiously but has significantly expanded its collaboration with the UN system since 2015. The partnerships analysed cover a substantial range of sectors, with a particular focus – for both Brazil and China – on agricultural policies. While Brazilian partnerships with the UN primarily engage with linkages between agriculture and social protection, however, China–UN partnerships focus more on productivity and market linkages. As the first comprehensive mapping and comparative analysis of Brazilian and Chinese policy transfer partnerships with the UN, this paper contributes to a better understanding of (triangular) cooperation schemes between international organisations and their member states, as well as debates about how policies deemed as successful travel around the globe.
Topic:: Development, International Cooperation, United Nations, and Partnerships
Political Geography:: China, Asia, Brazil, and South America

94. Venezuela's 2024 Elections: Understanding Participation under Unfree and Unfair Conditions

Author:: Ryan C. Berg and Henry Ziemer
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: For many observers, the upcoming presidential elections in Venezuela serve as a focal point on which to pin hopes for a democratic transition. However, the challenges faced by the opposition—from internal divisions to an ongoing humanitarian crisis, captured electoral institutions, and persistent human rights abuses—cannot be understated. While there is potential for elections in 2024 to generate momentum and re-galvanize resistance to the Maduro regime, the balance sheet of risks and rewards remains indecisive. This report breaks down the positive and negative aspects of elections in Venezuela and outlines three likely scenarios for policymakers to consider as Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election approaches.
Topic:: Authoritarianism, Elections, Democracy, and Leadership
Political Geography:: South America and Venezuela

95. Brazil: Five Phenomena and Three Scenarios

Author:: Lauri Tahtinen
Publication Date:: 10-2022
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: Brazil heads into the second round of its general election on Sunday, October 30. This will include runoffs for the governorships in 12 of Brazil’s 26 states, including São Paulo, the most populous and wealthy state. However, most eyes are on the presidential race in which incumbent Jair Bolsonaro is seeking his second term in office and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is seeking his third. In the first round on Sunday, October 2, Lula received 48.4 percent of the vote and Bolsonaro received 43.2 percent. This analysis paints three scenarios for Brazil’s election. The baseline for these scenarios is Lula’s narrow win, and a narrow win for Lula remains the most plausible outcome. If the trends prevalent in September have accelerated through October, Bolsonaro could win narrowly. Conversely, if the trends of September decelerate or even reverse in October, Lula could win handsomely. Based on the first-round results, earlier runoffs, and simple election math, a major Bolsonaro victory is not a realistic outcome.
Topic:: Elections, Democracy, Leadership, Voting, and Partisanship
Political Geography:: Brazil and South America

96. Colombia’s Relationship with the PRC

Author:: Evan Ellis
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: From October 6 to 16, the author traveled throughout Colombia to speak with businesspeople, academics, and other professionals about the country’s security panorama, its commercial and other relationships with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and prospects for evolving those relationships under the new government of Gustavo Petro. This white paper, the first of two on those interactions, addresses the country’s important and deepening relationship with the PRC and its companies. In recent years, Colombia’s political and security relationship with the PRC has been limited. This arguably reflects Bogotá’s perception that deepening political and security ties with the PRC might damage its close and important relationship with the United States. Nonetheless, despite perceptions that the PRC is more of a threat than an opportunity in the commercial arena, the presence of Chinese companies and their representatives in the country has expanded remarkably. Under the Petro government, all dimensions of Colombia’s relationship with the PRC, from political and security affairs to economic ones, are poised to expand and shift in ways that may cause unease in Washington.
Topic:: International Cooperation, Bilateral Relations, Hegemony, and Rivalry
Political Geography:: China, Asia, Colombia, and South America

97. Lending to Defaulters: The IMF Updates Its Lending into Arrears Policy

Author:: Gregory Makoff
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) “lending into arrears” policy outlines the criteria used by the IMF in deciding whether to loan to a country in default. This policy brief focuses on one of the conditions a country must meet when seeking debt relief from the IMF: it must engage in good faith negotiations with its creditors (known as the good faith criterion). The country must also implement significant financial reforms and provide assurances that it will be able to meet its financial obligations. This policy brief looks at the history of the lending into arrears policy, the controversy surrounding its use during Argentina’s 2005 debt restructuring and the May 2022 update to the policy.
Topic:: Economics, International Cooperation, Finance, and IMF
Political Geography:: Argentina and South America

98. Why Brazil Sought Chinese Investments to Diversify Its Manufacturing Economy

Author:: Celo Hiratuka
Publication Date:: 10-2022
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, economic relations between Brazil and China have grown significantly. The main driver of this process has been China’s enormous demand for agricultural, energy, and mineral commodities. On the one hand, Brazil’s strong competitiveness in these products has helped the country consolidate its role as an important supplier to China, increasing exports and turning China into the main destination for Brazilian exports since 2009.1 On the other hand, China, by virtue of its status as the “factory of the world,” has established itself as the main supplier of manufactured products to Brazil.2 Nonetheless, Brazilian scholars, think tanks, and private manufacturing firms have raised concerns. They have done so despite the great boost in bilateral trade flows; the favorable trade balance for Brazil; and the leveraging of businesses in several Brazilian sectors such as soybeans, iron ore, and oil. These concerns are related to the excessive concentration of Brazilian exports in a few products, the environmental impacts of these exporting activities, and the effects of strong Chinese manufacturing competition on Brazil’s domestic market. These worries have become more significant when one considers the growing importance of manufacturing changes with the diffusion of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and the search for new renewable energy sources and environmental sustainability. For Brazil, this matter reflects a need to advance bilateral relations beyond existing export trade volumes and toward new drivers of more diversified economic growth that will help the country escape a specialization in commodities. The fortunes of the Chinese company BYD in Brazil are highly relevant to these trends. BYD is a company that has diversified from the production of batteries into different innovative industrial sectors, such as renewable energy and electric vehicles. BYD has also been expanding rapidly in international markets, and in that process it chose Brazil as an important market, where it has built factories to produce electric bus chassis, photovoltaic panels, and batteries for electric buses. BYD’s trajectory in Brazil certainly has not been smooth. On the contrary, the firm has had to adapt to market fluctuations and, above all, to changes in the Brazilian government’s economic policies, which have made the company’s experience in the country quite turbulent. Despite this, BYD survived its first years in Brazil and more recently has been showing signs of continuing to invest in the Brazilian market. Analysis of BYD’s experience in Brazil shows, on the one hand, that there are important possibilities for new economic relations with China that go beyond trade in commodities, with productive investments that can potentially help Brazil simultaneously incorporate more knowledge-intensive activities and drive positive environmental impacts by generating renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions. On the other hand, the story of BYD also shows that the transformation of these possibilities into effective benefits requires coordinated actions on the part of Brazilian policymakers to offer a long-term horizon for Chinese investments. In that spirit, Brazil must craft a long-term strategy for its economic relationship with China to increase the odds that bilateral engagement can advance in a new and more sustainable, mutually beneficial direction.
Topic:: Bilateral Relations, Economy, Investment, Manufacturing, and Engagement
Political Geography:: China, Asia, Brazil, and South America

99. Untangling Elite Opposition to Indigenous Rights in Chile

Author:: Kelly Bauer
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: Throughout Chile’s constitutional process, right-wing rhetoric has rejected Indigenous recognitions and representation in defense of the status quo.
Topic:: Human Rights, Constitution, Domestic Politics, Representation, Indigenous, Elites, and Right-Wing Politics
Political Geography:: South America, Latin America, and Chile

100. The Importance of Lula’s Presidency in an Increasingly Multipolar World

Author:: Sean T. Mitchell
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:: The inauguration of the leftist two-time former leader as Brazil’s president is a source of hope for social and environmental movements worldwide.
Topic:: Environment, Social Movement, Leftist Politics, Political Movements, Multipolarity, and Lula da Silva
Political Geography:: Brazil, South America, and Latin America

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS