January 23 –Venezuela
Anti-government protests
In the midst of Venezuela’s economic crisis and ongoing widespread mass anti-government protests, the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, declares himself the country’s interim president next elections can be held. President Nicolás Maduro, however, refuses to step down and says he has the backing of the military. Maduro won a second term as president in an election marred by widespread claims that it was rigged. Guaidó is immediately recognized by the United States, Canada, and several countries in Latin America, including Brazil, as well as the Organization of American States (OAS).[1] Maduro retaliates by breaking off relations with the United States and orders its diplomats to leave within 72 hours. The U.S. responds that it does not recognize Maduro as a legitimate president.[2]
More on Venezuela crisis: How the political situation escalated
February 4 – Venezuela
Recognition of Guaido as president
Some European countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and France officially recognize the leader of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, as the interim president of Venezuela after President Nicolas Maduro rejected their calls for a snap election. Guaidó says the constitution allows him to take over the leadership of the country temporarily when the president is deemed illegitimate. Under Maduro, Venezuela has been in serious economic crisis, with severe shortages of basic everyday necessities and inflation reaching 1,300,000 percent in 2018.[3]
Venezuela’s crisis in nine charts
February 12 – Mexico
Sentencing of El Chapo
Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, who operated the murderous Sinaloa drug cartel, the world’s largest drug trafficking organization, is found guilty on all ten counts during his federal trial in the United States. The charges included the distribution of cocaine and heroin, illegal firearms possession, and money laundering. He pocketed nearly $14 billion as the decades-long head of the cartel. Guzmán twice escaped from Mexican prisons in the last two decades, was extradited to the U.S. and is the highest profile Mexican drug cartel boss so far to stand trial in the US. He faces spending the rest of his life in prison in the U.S. It is believed that the conviction will not influence the operations of the Sinaloa drug cartel. The drug war in Mexico has killed about 100,000 people over more than a decade.[4]
Who is ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán?
March 8 – Venezuela
Electricity blackout
Venezuela is hit by an electricity blackout for two days. First it happens in the capital, Caracas, and then spreads to the country’s other 15 states. Although blackouts are not unusual in Venezuela as a way to control power shortages, up to six hours at a time, this one is unplanned and widespread. President Nicolas Maduro blames the opposition for the blackout, accusing them of sabotage. The opposition, on the other hand, under the leadership of Juan Guaido, accuses the government of incompetence and inefficiency. Venezuela gets its electricity from its vast hydroelectric infrastructure, but decades of underinvestment and neglect have damaged the major dams, causing blackouts.[5]
In pictures: Venezuelans search for water amid power cut
Living without power (video 02:33 min)
April 10 – Honduras / Guatemala / El Salvador / Costa Rica / Mexico
Migrant caravan
Hundreds of Hondurans form a new migrant caravan and set off on a 2,500 mile-long journey to reach the United States. They will join thousands of other migrants from Central America, mainly El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, who have been fleeing persecution, poverty and violence in their countries. They are travelling in caravans, large groups, that include many women and children for safety reasons and to avoid paying high fees to smugglers known as “coyotes.” Some of these migrants will ask for asylum in Costa Rica, others will receive humanitarian visas in Mexico, but some will be deported. The US government has limited the number of people allowed to apply for asylum each day and many are sent back to the Mexican side of the border until their papers are processed.[6]
U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressuring Mexico to stop the flow of people heading north to the US border and has threatened to close the border with Mexico. He also orders the suspension of US aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to put pressure on these governments to do more to prevent people from migrating. The critics of his decision say his decision is counterproductive as the aid stimulates economic development and finances programs that encourage people to stay in their countries.[7]
Migrant desperation at the U.S. border (NYT video: 05:09 min)
May 11 – Cuba
Economic problems
Despite the already difficult situation with shortages of food and other essentials, the Cuban government adds more products to its rationing scheme. People will be restricted to prescribed amounts of certain products they can buy in a store, such as chicken or soup, while other products, such as rice, beans, eggs and rice will be only available on the government-issued ration cards.
The government blames the situation on the embargo re-imposed on Cuba by the U.S. President Donald Trump’s Administration for the situation. Another problem for Cuba is political turmoil in Venezuela, Cuba’s ally and its main destination of exports a drop in which leaves Cuba unable to pay for imports, that amount to 70 percent of food.[8]
Background: Cuba has a centrally planned economy where the government controls wages and prices, and enforces quota systems. A universal rationing system began after the revolution in 1959. As of 2011, the Cuban government introduced some economic reforms such as permitting the private ownership, allowing private farmers to sell agricultural goods to other buyers than just the state. It also encourages the creation of small businesses. But the reforms do not go far enough to fix the economic problems.[9]
August 22 – Brazil
Wildfires in the Amazon
Satellites spot a significant spike in wildfires in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. According to Brazil’s Institute of Space, so far there have been more than 74,000 fires this year, which is 80 percent more than last year. A lot of these fires are in the Amazon. Many of these fires are set to clear the forestland by cattle ranchers and illegal loggers. The environmentalists blame Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro for encouraging the fires by weakening government environmental enforcement agencies. The fires in the Amazon are a global concern. As the lungs of the world, the Amazon rainforest stores vast amounts of carbon, crucial for slowing climate change.[10]
Photos showing the devastation by fires in the Amazon rainforest
Why the rainforest helps fight climate change, (video: 01:36 min)
October 27: Chile
Anti-government protests
Under the pressure of weeks-long anti-government protests, Chile’s president, Sebastian Piñera, dismisses his entire cabinet and promises to form a new government, which would address the protesters’ demands. He also says he will end the state of emergency and a curfew imposed during the protests.[11]
Background: The protests began in response to a now-suspended increase of the city metro fare, which quickly grew into mass demonstrations over low wages and high costs of living, high-income inequality, with economic policies favoring the rich, and corruption. More than a million people took to the streets, the most serious unrest since the fall of Augusto Pinochet. The government deployed the military and thousands of police, which clashed with the protesters. At least 19 people have been killed, hundreds injured, and thousands arrested.[12]
What You Need to Know About the Unrest in Chile from NYT
November 10 – Bolivia
Protests in Bolivia and resignation of Evo Morales
Following weeks of widespread and deadly protests in Bolivia, President Evo Morales announces his resignation after close to 14 years in power. When the Organization of American States (OAS) reported that the October election were manipulated, calling for the election to be annulled, the military stepped in and pressured Morales to resign. His supporters call it a coup, while his opponents celebrate.[13]
(Nov 12): Morales flees to Mexico where he is granted asylum. The deputy head of the Senate, Jeanine Áñez, declares herself Acting President of Bolivia, which sparks more protests. She does so after Vice-President, Senate leader, and House of Deputies’ leader resigned. Under Bolivia’s constitution, she has 90 days to call new elections.[14]
Background: Evo Morales is a former coca farmer and Bolivia’s first president from the country’s indigenous majority. He came to power in 2006 and introduced radical social program to address extreme poverty, social divisions, and inequalities. Under his leadership, the country’s GDP grew an average of 4.8 percent each year from 2004 to 2017, while the percentage of the population living in extreme poverty was more than halved from about 36 percent to 17 percent during that time. But eventually, he went back on commitments to safeguard the environment, giving priority to economic growth over the well being of protected lands and the people who live there. He also undermined the rule of law to seek reelection.[15]
Further reading on the rise and fall of Evo Morales
November 13 – Chile
Protests in Chile
Angered by inequalities in the country, people in Chile continue mass anti-government protests and widespread strikes.
Demonstrations and clashes in Chile in pictures
November 18 – Brazil
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon
Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) reports that deforestation in Brazilian Amazon rainforest increased by 29.5 percent in 12 months from August 2018 to July 2019, the highest rate since 2008. During this period of time, the rainforest lost 3,769 square miles of its vegetation.[16] Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsenaro, who supports development over environmental preservation, has questioned the INPE’s findings in the past. As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is a vital carbon store that slows down global warming.
Climate change: How important is the rainforest in limiting global warming? (Video: 03:00 min.)
December 19 – Mexico
NAFTA vs. USMCA Trade Deal
With an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, the House of Representatives approves the renegotiated by the House version of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) signed by United States President Donald Trump, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on November 30, 2018. The USMCA replaces the NAFTA trade deal of 1994.
The USMCA modernizes trade rules and includes a number of changes. It gives incentives for more domestic production of cars and trucks, and their parts, and ensures higher labor standards in Mexico. It increases environmental standards, provides updated intellectual property protections, and creates new safeguards against currency manipulation. The new deal also provides for quicker dispute resolution and stronger enforcement of all elements of the deal, as well as it creates new rules for e-commerce, an area of trade that has boomed since NAFTA was enacted in 1994.[17]
Detailed provisions of the USMCA