Central America and Caribbean

Daily power cuts, fuel shortages and empty shop shelves are part of everyday life for Cubans as they struggle with the worst economic crisis in decades. Photographer Daniel Desormais visited an island bracing itself for America’s next move.

Sustaining the force is essential. But so too are funding commitments to restore the health and education services Haitians desperately need.

The Caribbean nation is the smallest country ever to qualify for the Fifa World Cup. Photojournalist Mario Heller visited the island to hear how post-colonial reality complicates national pride in the ‘Blue Wave’.

From Taiwan to Panama, here is how threats to four shipping hotspots could add to global economic disruption, warns Nitya Labh.

When ‘maximum’ economic pressure fails to bring regime change, and rhetoric has made diplomacy politically impossible, momentum towards military solutions will grow.

Carefully calibrated involvement in the Middle East amplifies Moscow’s leverage from Havana to the frontlines in Ukraine.

The US-Israel war on Iran is straining Trump’s alliances, at home and abroad.

The Shield seeks to address serious security and narcotics issues. But a detail-light, ‘Trumpista-only’ alliance repeats past mistakes in Latin America. 

Cuban-American voters and US law will hinder the president’s freedom of action. But if Trump pushes too hard, he may create a serious problem.

After the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, our analysts discuss where in the Western Hemisphere US President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio may turn their attention to next.

Beyond restoring security, a push to rebuild Haiti’s society and create jobs is vital to any lasting solution. But who will fund such an effort, as the cycle of violence continues?

US actions in Venezuela and its identification of the Western Hemisphere as a US sphere of influence presents a complex set of challenges for China.

The Gang Suppression Force will be more than 5,500 strong. But as another power vacuum looms in February, the international community is ignoring Haiti’s deeper problems, writes Jacqueline Charles.

The dual objective is to prevent migration and impose US domination in the ‘Western Hemisphere’. But Latin American leaders will still wish to work with China.

A new UN Security Council resolution provides hope for Haitians and the multilateral system. But the February 2026 deadline for the dissolution of Haiti’s temporary government looms. 

Failed states and criminality are driving record numbers of people to the US border. The resulting crisis of polarization may be regional, but the response should be global, writes Christopher Sabatini.

The region’s right-wing populists are ready to cooperate based on mutual admiration for the MAGA project. But their effectiveness as supporters of Donald Trump’s policy is uncertain.

As US public opinion hardens, the Democratic party takes a tougher stance, and Donald Trump proposes mass deportations, Latin American leaders note a lack of long-term policy.

However painful previous interventions have been, Haitians cannot be abandoned to the rule of criminal gangs.

It may now be in neighbouring Costa Rica, but Nicaraguan newspaper ‘Confidencial’ can still investigate Daniel Ortega’s regime, writes its editor Carlos Chamorro.

While President Daniel Ortega’s repression has heated up over the past few years, he has been destroying Nicaragua’s democracy for decades, writes Christopher Sabatini.

The poet tells Gary Younge about the power of reggae, the neglected contribution of Caribbean migrants to Britain and how the Illegal Immigration Bill recalls slavery.

On April 24, 2011, leaked details of prisoners at the US base were published. The story, with others, transformed the news media, writes James Ball.

On a continent where integration is often discussed, but never achieved, a group of political scientists and former diplomats propose ‘active non-alignment’.

In the third of a series of interviews with the Queen Elizabeth II Academy faculty, Alex Cooley examines the challenges of reigning in kleptocratic networks.

The July issue of International Affairs includes eight articles on the global nuclear order and eight more covering Chinese lending, abortion rights, and global security.

J. Luis Rodriguez and Elizabeth Mendenhall outline how Latin American states worked with Cold War superpowers to create a nuclear weapon-free zone.

Concerns about British dominance of the organization may have prompted an early challenge to Secretary-General Baroness Scotland

In honour of International Women’s Day on March 8, The World Today celebrates women who have had made a lasting impact on international affairs.

The human rights campaigner on why she called for a boycott of the Nicaraguan election and why the international community needs to do more

Gang violence and state weakness continue to undermine security in Haiti, and the expiry of the transitional government’s mandate in February 2026 could bring further instability. This paper proposes a programme of reforms that could start to restore security and public services.

Lower-income countries that are banking on their fossil fuels lack the capacity to assess carbon risks, and may be left behind by shifts in investment and credit.