The nearly 2,000 political prisoners in Venezuela includes 60 children.

Villains, including electoral officials and judges who rubber-stamped Nicolás Maduro’s fraudulent reelection, richly deserve this punishment. To move the needle, however, bad actors will need good reasons to give up power.

As climate change brings more frequent and powerful storms to the Caribbean, the toll is not only measured in damaged buildings. In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, for example, Hurricane Beryl wiped out 98% of the banana and plantain crop.

It oftentimes makes sense to bet against incumbents in Latin America, but Uruguay’s election will be a close-run thing and angst over crime, as well as a referendum on security policy, could help the conservative ruling party.

Given the heterogeneity, grand narratives about Latin American political trends are often misleading. Fortunately, the mixed bag of election results this year will reduce the temptation to declare regional trends, with a range of outcomes for ruling parties of all stripes.

La CIDH - IACHR “condena el exilio forzoso del candidato presidencial opositor Edmundo González.” “El Estado venezolano debe poner fin a la persecución política, respetar compromisos internacionales en materia de asilo diplomático y reestablecer el orden democrático”.

Bolivia, recovering from a failed coup attempt in June and struggling to avoid a balance of payments crisis, is now suffering wildfires that have destroyed 9 million acres of forests and grasslands. elpais.com/america/2024-0…

Sharp reductions in energy subsidies are a critical element in Milei’s fiscal efforts, “terapia de shock” once seen as a kamikaze mission, but that has hardly dented public support. The subsidies, originating in the 2001 economic crisis, are the ultimate sticky social spending.

Panama has shown strong leadership on the Venezuela crisis. Its role could be even more important next year, when it joins the UN Security Council.

“Shocking revelations about meetings between Honduran drug traffickers and senior members of the government have shaken the foundations of the country’s democracy. Sadly, this debacle is only the tip of the iceberg.” Subscribe to our newsletter, engage.wilsoncenter.org/a/weekly-asado

The historic Inter-American Democratic Charter, guaranteeing “a right to democracy” in this hemisphere, was signed in Lima in 2001. Sadly, it has not prevented elected leaders, from El Salvador to Venezuela, from following Fujimori’s autogolpe playbook.

Xiomara Castro won the presidency “riding a wave of public disgust” at her predecessor, whom she sent to the US to stand trial. Now, with her husband and brother-in-law under suspicion for ties to drug traffickers, she has suspended Honduras’s extradition treaty. Eric L Olson

Odd feuding between Milei and the International Monetary Fund. Milei’s annoyance is understandable; he is more Catholic than the pope in tightening the purse string and that should delight the “It’s Mostly Fiscal” IMF. On the other hand, Argentina needs Fund money, and advice.

Las sanciones económicas a Venezuela “no han producido los resultados esperados” y “han contribuido a agravar la crisis migratoria”, dije a Voice of America Voz de América. Las sanciones individuales, en cambio, “evitan impactos sobre la población”.

“Es poco probable que logren cambiar el comportamiento de las autoridades, pero al menos brindan cierto grado de justicia para las víctimas del régimen”, dije a Voice of America Voz de América respecto a las nuevas sanciones a Venezuela.

Spain has an important role to play here. 🇪🇸 Criticism by its PM, of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español, undermines Muduro’s image as a progressive martyr 🇪🇸 Spain drives EU engagement 🇪🇸 As a big investor in Latin America, Spain has outsized influence

In Honduras, the “public institutions are infected by corruption,” with party bosses negotiating their “cuotas de poder” amid systemic “democratic decay.” engage.wilsoncenter.org/a/weekly-asado

Glad to see Ecuador continues to experiment with green finance, in this case, a proposed debt swap to fund Amazon conservation. The last government engineered a historic “blue bond” to protect the Galápagos. finance.yahoo.com/news/goldman-s…

In Mexico, experts are developing policy recommendations “to accelerate the responsible development and deployment of AI technologies in Latin America’s second-biggest economy,” Claudia Del Pozo and daniela rojas, of the Eon Institute, write in our The Wilson Center newsletter.

The battle between X and Brazil’s Supreme Court has reignited debate over the court’s attempts to police political speech to fight disinformation and protect democracy, a topic our Brazil Institute discussed earlier this year with Oscar Vilhena, dean of the law school at FGV.