From the late-1980s and throughout the 90s, Eastern Europe and Latin America were in a period of democratization. The once-powerful Soviet Empire was on the verge of collapse, the Solidarity movement in Communist Poland continued to gain momentum and by 1988, Brazil had adopted a new constitution. However, Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency has sparked concerns about democratic backsliding in Brazil. For six years, the country’s been involved in a major corruption scandal called Operação Lava Jato (which translates to Operation Car Wash). Which has allowed Bolsonaro, a far-right populist, to become president. The outcome of Brazil’s presidential election, in 2018, symbolizes…
In 2014, Nicaraguans took to the streets to protest a proposed plan to build a canal cutting directly across Nicaragua and Lake Nicaragua, the biggest freshwater lake in Central America. President Daniel Ortega and Wang Jing, Chinese businessman and chairman of the Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment (HKND), came to an agreement to construct a $50 billion canal stretching 173 miles from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. This plan, however, was incredibly unpopular amongst many Nicaraguans due to: talks of widespread land confiscation, environmental degradation, and minimal transparency. Ortega, the once-popular revolutionary leader, has been labeled as a…
Jackson Bewley
Foreign Affairs & Louisiana
