South America

Several recent events have headlined the newspapers in regards to the international relations of South American countries. Brazil just finished hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup. However, this was not without controversy, as protesters took to the streets to speak out against this event on Brazilian soil. The issue–for many–was that Brazil spent hundreds of millions of dollars for the games, all the while, millions are in poverty and unemployed. The protesters took issue with the money spent on stadiums–many of which may not see significant use after these games.

Elsewhere, Honduras and the United States are dealing with immigration issues. Thousands of citizens from Honduras have been making their way to the United States, many of them children. The US government has also been sending many of the migrants back to Honduras. This has sparked a wider discussion on issues of border control, human rights, and immigration in the United States, as well as brought additional attention to the human rights of those living in Honduras.

In Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos won re-election in mid-June, narrowly beating out Oscar Ivan Zuelaga. Santos has been working on brokering a peace deal with the FARC rebel forces.

These are just some of the issues that we will be covering in the South America section of www.internationalrelations.org. Similar to all of the other regions, we will also be linking to books and articles on different international relations of the respective states in South America.