Latin America and the Caribbean

On November 13, 2023, HKS Student Policy Review Senior Editor Jane Petersen spoke with former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. The conversation covered a range of topics including what other countries can learn from Colombia’s peace agreement, poverty alleviation efforts, and the fight against climate change.

How difficult is it to get a legal abortion in Bolivia? Well, as shown by a recent ordeal an 11-year-old child had to go through, it took weeks of mass national protests, government intervention, and international media attention. In October 2021, an 11-year-old Bolivian girl, unnamed due to privacy concerns, became pregnant after repeatedly being […]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming cities. It is redefining how governments plan, manage, and police them. It is also reshaping the circumstances under which citizens work, move, and engage in civic life. The long-term impacts of AI in urban environments are still uncertain. However, transformations will likely be profound and enduring as these technologies advance […]

Food systems play a crucial role in ensuring global food security and good nutrition. However, traditional protein sources such as beef, fish, and plant-based proteins require significant amounts of natural resources – particularly land and water – and contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for approximately 26% of global emissions. As a major food […]

In 2022, Naturgy — Mexico City’s natural gas monopoly — left me without service for three weeks. Working in the renewable energy sector, I knew what to do: end the gas contract and get both an electric stove and a water heater. That is the recipe I share in any energy transition report: “electrify” to […]

In this article, the authors explore the barriers that women face on the ground when accessing abortion, even when the procedure has been legalized. They look at the cases of Argentina and Colombia, in Latin America, and India and Nepal, in Asia, to highlight examples of barriers and how grassroots organizations are playing a key role in supporting safe access to abortions.

In the last decade, we have witnessed worldwide policy and law changes regarding sexual and reproductive rights. In some countries, such as the United States, federal and state-level legal decisions evidence a withdrawal of gender equality policies[i] regarding sexual and reproductive autonomy. At the same time, contentious politics and legal efforts have led to their […]

Argentina has a long tradition of women mobilizing for their own rights, human rights, and justice in their country. The 30-year-old struggle for abortion rights in Argentina was paved by local women’s organizations and by a constant persistence in guaranteeing women’s right to choose. Getting there was not a coincidence nor just luck. It took […]

I could feel the bass of the music thumping in my thoracic cavity. The soles of my shoes were sticky with the beer that had spilled on the floor when I saw Eva inhaling a line of white powder off the kitchen countertop.

Note: This article is featured in the Kennedy School Review’s 2022 print journal. The War on Drugs and Violence in Latin America: Time to Hit Reset Latin America is the most violent region in the world, with only 8 percent of the global population accounting for 38 percent of the global share of murder. That […]

Interview with Leopoldo Lopez, former Presidential Candidate and political prisoner. First, we would like to hear what initially got you into politics? What motivated you and has it changed over time? I’ve always been interested in politics. Not in the exercise of politics as such, but in the public; being useful to address deep inequality […]

Calls for a green industrial revolution and transition away from greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting forms of energy are anything but novel. The newest to make the call is the International Energy Agency (IEA), which calls in a 2021 report for immediately halting oil and gas development and achieving net-zero emissions from electricity generation by 2040.1 […]