El Salvador: US aid conditions threaten FMLN’s precarious victory
Washington is threatening to withhold aid unless he new government redoubles privatizations.
Brazil — Congress poised to pass bill that sweeps away environmental...
Despite the severity of the recent mining disaster in Minas Gerais, the government could pass today (25 November) a bill further weakening environmental licensing legislation.
MEXICO: VIGILANTES — FRIEND OR FOE?
Self-defence units are springing up all over Mexico.The Peña Nieto government has signed a pact legalizing many of them, but will it be able to control their activities?
Nicaragua: Ortega wants a submissive church
The persecution of the Church in Nicaragua intensified in the small hours of Friday 19 August when police broke into the residence of Mgr Rolando Álvarez, Bishop of Matagalpa in northern Nicaragua, and took him away with the other clergy and laity who had been blockaded with him for two weeks.
Mexico: journalists still an endangered species
Since the PRI returned to power, journalists continue to be targeted with threats, attacks and killings. Self-censorship by the survivors and their media outlets means that the most important stories don't get covered.
Amazon fires at record level — again
Fires in the Amazon rage at record levels, while Michel Temer government prepares to sign Paris agreement on climate change next week.
Brasil feliz de novo
Lula took office on 2 January, greeted by a sea of enthusiastic supporters who had travelled from all over Brazil. Former president Jair Bolsonaro fled to Miami and the new administration lost no time in undoing some of his most harmful measures
Bolivia: huge MAS majority confirmed
LAB is publishing this second special bulletin from Bolivia Information Forum. Written on 28 October, it contains details of the final results of the...
Haiti: A Beginner’s Guide to Fixing Elections
The run-off for the presidential elections are set for January 24 2016 but many observers are questioning their democratic validity. This article by the UK based Haiti Support Group highlights the many ways in which Haitian elections can be manipulated.
Nicaragua: no contest
The result of the Sunday 7 November presidential and congressional elections in Nicaragua is a foregone conclusion. Current president Daniel Ortega and his vice-president wife Rosario Murillo are certain to win a landslide victory, and the Sandinistas will continue to dominate the National Assembly. Yet this result comes with a substantial cost: the arrest of opposition leaders and outlawing of many NGOs.