Latin America & the Caribbean

Photo: Researchers aim at mitigating environmental issues in Cerrón Grande, the largest water body in El Salvador. Credit: UCA.

University Scientists in El Salvador Research to Protect Biodiversity

By J. Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) — The Cerrón Grande reservoir, the largest water body in El Salvador—and home to over fifteen species of fish and a wide variety of submerged and floating flora—is currently threatened by the accumulation of solid waste, erosion, eutrophication, pollution, and the presence of invasive species. To mitigate these environmental issues, a multidisciplinary group of scientists from the “José Simeón Cañas” Central American University, a member institution of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in El Salvador, has stepped in.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 28 September 2022

Photo: Former President Lula at a campaign rally in Nova Iguaçu on September 8,2022. Ricardo Stuckert/Reproduction, Lula campaign website. Source: Americas Quarterly.

Brazil Has the Potential to Moving to the First World

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Brazil has long lived out its personal fantasy as the archetypal relaxed, tolerant and gregarious country with Copacabana beach, the samba, the carnival and a great deal of sexual freedom. But, as it was often said when Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva came to power in 2003, it had yet to live its societal dream, an economic-cum-social revolution.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 27 September 2022

Photo: Opponents of the proposed constitution celebrate its rejection. Credit: EFE

Chile's New Constitution Rejected in a Bewildering Vote

Viewpoint by Taroa Zúñiga Silva* and Vijay Prashad**

This article was produced by Globetrotter.

SANTIAGO DE CHILE | NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) — On September 4, 2022, more than 13 million Chileans—out of a voting-eligible population of approximately 15 million—voted on a proposal to introduce a new constitution in the country. As early as March, polls began to suggest that the constitution would not be able to pass.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 09 September 2022

Photo: Inauguration of Gustavo Petro as president of Colombia in 2022. Source: Twitter Samantha Power, USAID.

Gustavo Petro's Election Promises a Major Change in Colombia

By Shastri Ramachandaran

NEW DELHI (IDN) — The leftward shift in South America that gained momentum in 2021, with right-wing politicians being worsted in presidential elections in Peru, Chile and Honduras, continues its sweep in 2022.

Colombia, famous for its coffee and the novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, has long remained under right-wing regimes that enjoyed a cosy equation with Washington. Some of these regimes were terrible dictatorships which forced people like Marquez, best known for his One Hundred Years of Solitude, to live in exile out of fear of being killed by state-sponsored mafia elements.

: Shastri Ramachandaran; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 14 August 2022

Photo: (Left) Álvaro Alberto, Brazil's first nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) concept, courtesy of Serviços e Informações do Brasil; (Right): US Navy Virginia-class SSN, courtesy of General Dynamics Electric Boat Public Affairs, Creative Commons Licence 040730-N-1234E-002)

Nuclear Submarines and The Non-Proliferation Treaty: Brazil Gets a Jump on Australia?

By Tariq Rauf*

VIENNA (IDN) — Originally scheduled for April-May 2020, due to postponements because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tenth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) finally convened in these turbulent times at the United Nations in New York on 1 August and will conclude its deliberations on 26 August.

NPT review conferences are held every five years to assess the implementation of the NPT across its three "pillars": nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, and cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 08 August 2022

Photo: Floods in Ilheus, Bahia, Brazil in December 2021. Credit: Camila-Souza-GOVBA / WMO Report

Climate Change and COVID-19 Playing Havoc in Latin America and the Caribbean

Viewpoint by Mario Cimoli

The writer is the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

SANTIAGO, Chile (IDN) — The Latin America and the Caribbean region is home to some of the widest biodiversity on the planet. From Caribbean marine and coastal oases to the Amazon rainforest and down to the southern-most reaches of Patagonia, the region is filled with natural wealth.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 29 July 2022

Image: Flags of CARICOM countries. Credit: TELESUR

CARICOM’s Policy “Coordination”: Successes, Failures and Limitations

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) — The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Secretary-General Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti has called for unified positions by the 79-member grouping ahead of several international meetings, namely, the 77th United Nations General Assembly in September, the World Health Summit 2022 in Germany in October as well as the UN Climate Change Conference 2022 (UNFCCC COP 27) to be staged in Egypt in November and the Convention on biological diversity COP 15 in Montreal, Canada in December.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; UN INSIDER; 28 July 2022

Photo: Submarino Nuclear Brasileiro (SNB) "Alvaro Alberto" SN10, the future SSN of the Brazilian Navy. Source: Navy Recognition.

Safeguards — Brazilian Nuclear Submarine

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is an Ambassador, former United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affair, and President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The public curiosity about the Brazilian nuclear-powered submarine, named “Alvaro Alberto” in honour of a nuclear research pioneer in Brazil, has raised interest in the special verification procedures applicable to the project. This is the first time that a country that does not possess nuclear weapons, such as Brazil, decides to activate such procedures for the fuel to be used in a conventionally armed submarine powered by a nuclear reactor. It is thus important to review the legal provisions of the relevant international instruments, as well as the obligations assumed by Brazil in this field.