January 12 – Cuba
Cuba releases 53 political prisoners. The move is part of the agreement between Cuba and the United States during the last month’s negotiations on reestablishing bilateral relations.
February 24 – Brazil
Brazil’s Environmental Minister Izabella Teixeira says southeastern Brazil is experiencing the worst drought in 80 years. With the rainy season ending in March, the region’s biggest city, São Paulo, with 20 million inhabitants in the metro area, faces an unprecedented critical situation, with possible severe water rationing. The extreme climate conditions, combined with misguided development policies, destructive land use and wasteful water practices, as well as political negligence have created a perfect storm of conditions for disaster. The Sao Paulo state government has offered discounts for those who limit water usage.
March 4 – Brazil
Brazil’s Supreme Court approves the chief prosecutor’s request to investigate 54 people for their involvement in a massive corruption scheme in the state-run oil company Petrobras. It is alleged that high-profile politicians and others took huge bribes in exchange for lucrative contracts for the firm. Officials under investigation include Senate President Renan Calheiros, former Energy Minister Edison Lobao and Brazil’s former President Fernando Collor de Mello.
March 8 – Colombia
The Colombian government and the armed group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) reach a groundbreaking agreement to work together to remove landmines. According to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), almost 10,000 Colombians have been killed or injured by mines and explosive remnants of war. However, it might take decades to complete this complicated project; many FARC mine specialists who would know where the mines have been planted are gone. Also, over time, the mines have shifted away from their original spots.
April 11 – Cuba
U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro meet for formal talks during the Summit of the Americas, the first ones between the two countries in more than 50 years. Both leaders aim at normalizing the strained relations between the two countries. After the talks, President Obama announces he will officially remove Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.
May 6 – Cuba
The United States approves passenger ferry services to Cuba, 55 years after it was stopped as a result of a trade embargo imposed on Cuba in 1960.
May 15 – Guyana
A former army general David Granger wins Guyana’s presidential poll, bringing his Afro-Guyanese National Unity and Alliance for Change coalition to power. His coalition defeats the Indian-dominated People’s Progressive Party, which was in power for the last 23 years. Guyana’s politics is dominated by the fierce competition between these two main parties organized along the racial lines.
July 16 – Mexico
Joaquín Guzmán, nicknamed ‘El Chapo’, the boss of the Mexican drug-trafficking Sinaloa cartel and one of the most powerful drug-trafficker in the world, escapes from a Mexican maximum-security prison for the second time. The escape route was an elaborately prepared tunnel leading from the shower in Guzmán’s cell to a house recently constructed about a mile away from the prison. The tunnel was equipped with lights, ventilation, and a motorcycle. The sophistication of the tunnel points out that Guzmán must have had help from the prison employees. His second escape is a major embarrassment for the Mexican authorities. Guzmán’s Sinaloa Cartel smuggles tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, and ecstasy (MDMA) to the United States and Europe.
August 4 – Puerto Rico
The self-governing United States territory of Puerto Rico defaults on its debt payment as it is going through an economic crisis. Puerto Rico has a $70 billion public debt and an unemployment rate of more than 14 percent. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s report “Puerto Rico Economic Analysis Report 2013-2014,” approximately 75,000 Puerto Ricans migrated to the United States in 2012, of whom 45,707 were under 35. The report also estimates that the population of Puerto Rico will gradually decrease over the next forty years to 2.3 million in 2050.
September 3 – Guatemala
Guatemala’s former president, Otto Perez Molina, is arrested after the country’s parliament stripped him of his immunity. He is accused of corruption and masterminding a bribery scheme called The Line, under which companies paid bribes to government officials to evade import duties. Another 100 people are also investigated for taking part in this scheme. Vice President Alejandro Maldonado takes over as president until the elections in January 2016.
October 26 – Guatemala
Jimmy Morales, a well-known television comic actor with no previous experience in government wins Guatemala’s presidential election. He overwhelmingly defeats his opponent, the former presidential ex-wife, Sandra Torres, gathering 67 percent of the vote. To many voters, Sandra Torres, who ran government social programs during her husband, Alvaro Colom’s presidency (2008-2012), represents unpopular corrupt political elites. Voters preferred Jimmy Morales because he promised a fresh start and to fight corruption.
November 17 – Argentina
China sign a $15 billion deal with Argentina to finance and build two nuclear power plants there. The deal shows China’s continued interest in maintaining its presence in Latin America. Since 2007, China has invested $19 billion in Argentina’s infrastructure projects and made more investments in other Latin American countries.
November 23 – Argentina
Argentina’s conservative center-right opposition candidate, Mayor of Buenos Aires Mauricio Macri, defeats Peronist Daniel Scioli in the country’s run-off presidential election ending the 32-year-rule of the center-left Peronist party. Economic reforms will be the priority on his agenda as president, followed by rebuilding Argentina’s ties with its allies and neighbors in Latin America.
December 3 – Brazil
Brazil’s parliament launches impeachment proceedings against the country’s president, Dilma Rousseff, on allegations that she broke fiscal laws and misused public money. The proceedings were initiated by her political opponent – the lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha, who is accused by the ruling Workers Party of plotting a coup. He himself is accused of the involvement in the Petrobras corruption. President Rousseff denies any wrongdoing. In March and April 2015 millions of Brazilians took to the streets to protest the Petrobras scandal which involved kickbacks and corruption. When information surfaced that corruption scheme at Petrobras took place while President Rousseff was on the company’s board of directors, people called for Rousseff’s impeachment. There is no evidence, however, that Rousseff was involved in the scheme, or that she had prior knowledge about it. To proceed with impeachment, the proposal needs the support of at least two-thirds of the members in the lower house.
December 6 – Venezuela
Venezuela’s opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition wins two-thirds majority in parliamentary elections, ending 16-year-rule by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which will allow it to block legislation proposed by President Nicolas Maduro. The campaign issues focused on economic crisis that includes chronic shortages of basic foods, high inflation, and shrinking GDP. The MUD will be able to call a referendum on President Maduro and pass laws to release political prisoners. The outcome of the election is a serious blow to the Socialists, who for the first time in 16 years will not be in control of the parliament.