South America

FICTION         Nilang squatted beneath the umbrous shade of an ancient baliti tree. It was high noon and she still had a four-kilometer walk ahead of her to Santa Elena and the parish priest’s house. She carried…

By Marcos Arruda* Why have a Central Bank? Central banks are by nature public because they formulate and administer the MONETARY POLICY. And the objective of this policy is, by nature, investment in the “real economy”, i.e. the part of…

The forest is the main resource in the Chaco, a vast plain shared by Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. And how to use it sustainably is the most difficult question. Two recently inaugurated power plants fired by forest biomass provide a…

By Vijay Prashad and Pilar Troya In Ecuador’s presidential election held on February 7, 2021, Andrés Arauz won the largest number of votes but could not prevail in the first round against 15 other candidates; he won 32.71 percent of…

TALE         by Liz Medina There was once a little girl born on a faraway island kingdom, in a small hut, all by herself. No one could tell her who her parents were. In fact, no one in…

The migrants will receive a 10-year protection status after which they can apply for a residence visa. The decision affects about 950,000 undocumented Venezuelans. Colombia’s president Ivan Duque announced on Monday that the country would grant temporary protection status to…

Around midnight, Quito time,  the candidate of the Citizen Revolution,  Andrés Arauz and the candidate of Pachakutik,  Yaku Pérez, were leading the presidential elections that took place on Sunday, February 7. A 30.90% for Arauz and a 20.98% for Pérez…

A little over 13 million Ecuadorans are electing this Sunday a new President, renewing the 137-seat National Assembly and choosing lawmakers for the Andean Parliament. There are 16 presidential candidates in the ballots, though according to recent polls, there are…

By Javier Tolcachier In the midst of the anxiety caused by the dramatic health and socio-economic situation, Ecuadorians will have a new date with the ballot box on 7 February. The more than 13 million registered voters will have to…

Control bodies, such as the Attorney General’s Office, the Ombudsman’s Office and the Prosecutor General’s Office, all of which are now headed by officials of the government coalition, have taken two decisions that go against democracy and the Human Rights…