Research Library

As President Obama prepares for a historic visit to Havana, thousands of the island’s residents are rushing to immigrate to the U.S., hoping to beat the rumored end of a policy that lets Cubans who reach American soil remain here. Read Erika de la Garza’s take on the unsought consequences of reestablishing U.S. ties to Cuba.

Baker Institute experts blog on opportunities for the U.S. and Mexico to jointly address the neglected tropical diseases found among the poorest people living in both countries.

In this commentary, the authors examine the roots of the United States’ reluctance to embrace universal health care, concluding that it "is neither sound nor ethical in a nation that promulgates fairness and equal opportunity" to deny coverage.

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.

Part 2 of a two-part blog on China’s economy. Part 1 can be found here.

At this point, projections indicate that a…

After more than half a century of a highly restrictive policy toward Cuba that ranged from an economic embargo to prohibiting most travel by U.S. citizens to the island, President Obama announced on Dec. 17, 2014, that Washington and Havana hope to restore diplomatic relations in the near future. While President Obama's new Cuba policy falls short of lifting the embargo, which can only be done through congressional action, it nonetheless represents a historic shift in U.S. relations and leadership in Latin America.

The United States and Cuba, it seems, are poised to resume diplomatic relations severed in 1961. Fellow Joe Barnes explains why normalization of relations between the two countries is simple "good sense." Read "Normalizing U.S.-Cuban relations: Long overdue" in the Dec. 18, 2014, Baker Institute Blog.

Erika de la Garza, program director of the Latin America Initiative, discusses the political fragmentation and need for coalition building in Costa Rica, where the recent presidential election resulted in a runoff.