South America | LSE Latin America and Caribbean

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Climate change will intensify the spread of dengue fever in Brazil and beyond, and the poor will be worst hit

Climate change will intensify the spread of dengue fever in Brazil and beyond, and the poor will be worst hit

Dengue fever has made a resurgence since efforts to eradicate the disease in the 1970s, and future rises in temperatures and rainfall will only amplify this trend. Governments need to act now and adopt pre-emptive measures that will protect their citizens, especially the most vulnerable, writes Ana de Menezes (LSE Department of Geography and Environment), winner of the LSE-IDB Postgraduate Essay Prize 2018.

February 20th, 2019|Environment, resources, and climate change, Featured|0 Comments|

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Who is to blame for polarisation in Venezuela?

Who is to blame for polarisation in Venezuela?

While academic research recognises a number of potential drivers of Venezuela’s social and political polarisation, major English-language newspapers tend to depict Chavismo alone as responsible for tearing apart a supposedly peaceful and united nation, writes Alan MacLeod (Glasgow University Media Group).

February 12th, 2019|Featured, Society, security, and rights|1 Comment|

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Una paz violenta: el asesinato de líderes sociales como estrategia de control territorial en Colombia

Una paz violenta: el asesinato de líderes sociales como estrategia de control territorial en Colombia

Una consecuencia no intencionada del proceso de paz en Colombia ha sido el recrudecimiento de los asesinatos de líderes de comunidades locales, con más de 500 asesinatos ocurridos desde el 2011. Estos líderes han sido asesinados principalmente por grupos armados ilegales que no participaron del proceso de paz, con el objetivo de ejercer control en zonas previamente controladas por las […]

January 22nd, 2019|Featured, Peace in Colombia, Society, security, and rights|0 Comments|

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Where is our political turmoil headed? Look to Bolivia

Where is our political turmoil headed? Look to Bolivia

Bolivia’s recent history of political disintegration offers vital insights into how and why party systems across the West are losing their relevance. Everything points to a future where changes in the nature of work and political realignments along racial, religious, ethnic, linguistic, and territorial lines could mark the end of the liberal project, writes Jean-Paul Faguet (LSE International Development).

January 17th, 2019|Democracy, governance, and citizenship, Featured, LAC and the world|1 Comment|

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The Brazilian prison system is undermined by gaps in authority, incentives, and accountability

The Brazilian prison system is undermined by gaps in authority, incentives, and accountability

Crises in the management of Brazilian prisons tend to be neglected by state actors who see the problem as intractable. Institutional conflicts weaken state authority, political and financial incentives for change are weak, and accountability on this issue has rarely been a priority for civil society. But some novel programmes show that much progress can be made despite this difficult terrain, writes Débora Zampier.

January 15th, 2019|Featured, Society, security, and rights|0 Comments|

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A violent peace: killing social leaders for territorial control in Colombia

A violent peace: killing social leaders for territorial control in Colombia

One crucial unintended consequence of the Colombian peace process has been a surge in the targeted killing of local community leaders, with over 500 assassinated since 2011. Leaders tend to be killed by armed groups excluded from the peace process that aim to thwart civilian mobilisation in order to consolidate control over formerly FARC-held areas. Those areas with higher judicial inefficiency and where […]

January 9th, 2019|Featured, Peace in Colombia, Society, security, and rights|0 Comments|

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Big in 2018: our most popular articles in a turbulent year for Latin America and the Caribbean

Big in 2018: our most popular articles in a turbulent year for Latin America and the Caribbean

Taking a look at ten of our of most popular blogs from 2018, it’s clear that it has been a year of major upheaval in the region. Key issues have been the diverging populisms of AMLO’s Mexico and Bolsonaro’s Brazil, the crumbling of two-party politics in El Salvador, and the ongoing crisis in Venezuela.

But wider trends have also persisted, as reflected in China’s growing […]

January 2nd, 2019|Featured|0 Comments|

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Revolt of the peripheries in Brazil: why low-income voters in wealthy regions swung from the PT to Bolsonaro

Revolt of the peripheries in Brazil: why low-income voters in wealthy regions swung from the PT to Bolsonaro

Shifts in the social and institutional conditions of the urban peripheries of Brazil’s major cities have altered political subjectivities and weakened affinities with the once-dominant Workers’ Party of Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff. With a “revolt of the peripheries” brewing, Bolsonaro was able exploit his comparative rhetorical advantage and win the presidency despite making few real commitments to address the […]

December 13th, 2018|Democracy, governance, and citizenship, Featured|2 Comments|

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El Chile de Pinochet nos muestra que la represión puede ser el fin de los dictadores

El Chile de Pinochet nos muestra que la represión puede ser el fin de los dictadores

Las violaciones a los derechos humanos cometidas durante la dictadura militar de Augusto Pinochet en Chile contribuyeron a una derrota electoral que determinó su salida del poder. Sorprendentemente, esto ocurrió sin que cambiaran las preferencias políticas de los ciudadanos. Por María Angélica Bautista, Felipe González, Luis Martínez, Pablo Muñoz y Mounu Prem.

November 20th, 2018|Democracy, governance, and citizenship, Featured, Society, security, and rights|0 Comments|

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Pinochet’s Chile shows that repression can spell the end for dictators

Pinochet’s Chile shows that repression can spell the end for dictators

Human rights violations committed by Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship in Chile contributed to the electoral defeat that led to his downfall. Surprisingly, this happened without changing citizens’ political alignment, write María Angélica Bautista, Felipe González, Luis Martínez, Pablo Muñoz, and Mounu Prem.

November 7th, 2018|Democracy, governance, and citizenship, Featured, Society, security, and rights|0 Comments|