Research Library

Political science fellow Mark Jones blogs on the results of the recent gubernatorial election.

In the short term, Guatemala requires the consolidation of a strong state and a political-social pact based not only on holding new elections, but also grounded in laws that promote institutional strengthening and an effective response to its citizens' most heartfelt demands, in a context of freedom, justice and inclusion.

Mexico’s Senate is currently deliberating an amendment to the constitution that aims to eliminate corruption — an endemic problem in Mexico. However, the National Anti-Corruption System Act is not as the government and its allies would have the public believe. Instead, it is full of contradictions.

Research scholar A.Kadir Yildirim analyzes the dynamics — and perils — of a Nov. 1 repeat election called by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Tunisia is widely regarded as having one of the most liberal approaches to family law and women’s rights in the region. Yet for nearly 60 years of authoritarian rule — as women’s rights were championed in public discourse, in national legislation and on the international scene — the government did not hesitate to brutalize women through torture and other gross human rights violations, according to more than 15,000 testimonies recently collected by a Tunisian state commission.

Although the hemisphere is keen to insulate itself from Venezuela’s political and economic problems, the country constantly challenges regional capabilities in crisis management. The latest victim of the turmoil in Venezuela is the Brazilian government.

Nonresident fellow Gary Hale, former chief of intelligence in the Houston Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, pulls no punches in a blog on the escape of Mexican drug lord Chapo Guzman.

Recent gubernatorial elections in five of seven Argentine provinces with significant energy reserves took place amid the current presidential campaign to replace the term-limited Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Fellow Mark Jones analyzes the likely relationship between the five provincial governors — who, like other Argentine governors, have a profound impact on the energy industry — and a new president.