In the News, 2020: SOUTH AMERICA

After years of deteriorating economic conditions, Venezuela now faces both a political and a humanitarian crisis. The authoritarian rule of Nicolás Maduro has been challenged by an opposition lawmaker named Juan Guaidó, who claims to be the country’s rightful president. Despite massive protests and international pressure, Maduro remains in power with support of the army. As the fight for control of the country goes on, food is so scarce that increasing numbers of children are starving to death and millions of Venezuelans are now refugees in neighboring Colombia, Brazil, and beyond.   

Three years after a peace deal ended five decades of civil war between the government and a rebel group known as the FARC, the agreement seems to be falling apart. As many as 3,000 militants have resumed fighting, and ongoing instability has forced more than 200,000 people to flee their homes. The violence could compromise Colombia’s ability to fight cocaine production, which is controlled by dangerous cartels that sell much of the drug to buyers in the U.S.    

While this vast rainforest stretches across parts of nine countries, the bulk of the Amazon is in Brazil. And because Brazil has recently scaled back efforts to fight illegal logging, ranching, and mining, the destruction of the Amazon is increasing rapidly. In August 2019, thousands of fires—many of them set by people illegally clearing land—prompted global outrage and highlighted the threats facing the world’s largest tropical rainforest. Its destruction is a major concern to environmentalists because the rainforest plays a key role in soaking up carbon dioxide and mitigating the effects of climate change.