Trending Now
We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
Latin America & Caribbean
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Cuban American leaders in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 30, 2021.
Biden also pledged to lift financial restrictions and suspended claims on confiscated Cuban property, policies imposed during the first presidency of Donald Trump. The general economic embargo of Cuba, however, still stands.
What was the response? Biden’s move drew mixed reactions. In Havana, families of prisoners expressed cautious hope of seeing their loved ones, while Cuban officials hailed the decision as ending “coercive measures” that damaged the country’s economy. But incoming US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz dismissed the action, warning, “Anything they are doing now we can undo.”
Why now? Biden made his announcement on the eve of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio confirmation hearing as Trump’s nominee for secretary of state. Rubio, son of Cuban immigrants, is a fierce critic of Havana who helped craft Trump’s Cuba sanctions in 2017. Biden’s office said the timing was a “coincidence.”
Will Cuba stay off the list? Likely not. US President Barack Obama had also removed Cuba from the SST list, but Trump reinstated Cuba in the last week of his presidency in 2021, citing “support for acts of international terrorism,” including harboring US fugitives and Colombian rebels. We’ll be watching whether Trump’s first flurry of executive orders reverses Biden’s decision, or whether the president-elect takes any action further down the road.Mexico and Canada mull trade maneuvers as Trump proposes “External Revenue Service”
President Donald Trump talks with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization Plenary Session at the NATO summit back in 2019.
Incoming US President Donald Trumpposted on Tuesday that he will create an “External Revenue Service” to oversee his planned trade tariffs, underlining his commitment to these policies – much to the chagrin of America’s neighbors.
“We will begin charging those that make money off of us with Trade, and they will start paying, FINALLY, their fair share,” wrote Trump.
The news came a day after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaumlaid out a plan to decrease Mexico’s trade deficit with China in what was widely seen as an olive branch to Trump.
By aligning more closely with Trump against China, Sheinbaum hopes she can carve out a special exception for Mexico, and a stronger hand in renegotiations of the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. Her administration has already cracked down on the import of counterfeit goods from Asia and placed tariffs on Chinese e-commerce platforms Shein and Temu. She also plans to cut down on reliance on imports for textile and auto manufacturers based in Mexico — but whether that will spare her the wrath of the ERS is yet to be seen.
North of the border, meanwhile, outgoing PM Justin Trudeau is also working on a plan to defend Canada’s trade interests with the US. He will hold a cabinet retreat next week to hammer out a potential response to Trump’s tariffs.HARD NUMBERS: Spain jacks taxes for foreigners, North Korea blasts off again, Haitian displacements soar, Red Note noted by TikTok users
A housing activist holds a sign outside a building whose residents fear they will be evicted after its purchase by a real estate investment fund, in the neighborhood of Lavapies, in Madrid, Spain, on Dec. 14, 2024. The sign reads, "My motherland is my neighborhood."
2: The new year is off to an explosive start in North Korea, where the regime has already conducted its second large-scale missile test of 2025, firing a barrage of short-range ballistic weapons into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Last week, Pyongyang let fly a hypersonic medium-range missile, after spending much of 2024 testing missiles of all kinds. Over the past year, Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un has severely hardened his policy toward the US, South Korea, and Japan, which he accused of forming a bloc of “aggression.”
1, 041,000 million: The number of Haitians displaced by gang violence has tripled over the past year, reaching at least 1,041,000 people, according to a new UN assessment. The forced return of about 200,000 Haitians from the neighboring Dominican Republic had made the problem even worse. Last week, Guatemala was the latest country to join a Kenyan-led international mission in Haiti that is struggling to quash the powerful gangs that control much of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
300 million: With just days before TikTok’s ban in the US is set to go into effect, thousands of the popular app’s users are reportedly flocking – in both irony and protest – to another Chinese-owned video platform called Xiaohongshu, or “little red book,” which English speakers simply call “Red Note.” The app has 300 million users already and is mostly in Chinese, meaning most of the new users have to use translation tools to navigate it.
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 07: A wind-driven fire burns on January 7, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Santa Ana wind is fueling wildfires in Los Angeles that have destroyed homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of people.
As California’s most destructive wildfires continue to blaze across Los Angeles County, having killed 16 and displaced more than 166,000 residents, emergency response effortshave become politicized, both at home and abroad.
Actor James Woods, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and right-wing political commentators have accused Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley of prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives over firefighting essentials. In response, Crowley citeda $17.4 million budget reduction to the LAFD in 2025, affecting overtime staffing and essential programs. Los Angeles Fire Commission President Genethia Hudley-Hayes defended Crowley, arguing that the scale of the fires, high winds, and an empty reservoir that was under repair would have overwhelmed even a fully funded department. Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for an independent investigation into water supply failures.
While domestic politics is bitterly divided, on the international front the story is one of unity. Mexico and Canadahave sent firefighting equipment, including water bombers and personnel, despite President-elect Donald Trump’s promises of punitive tariffs against both countries.
Will the goodwill effort change hearts and minds in the Trump administration? Alberta Premier Danielle Smithposted to X that “Good neighbours are always there for each other in times of need, and we will assist our American friends in any way they need during this crisis.” She laterposted photos of herself meeting with Trump at Mar-A-Lago at the weekend, along with Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado greets supporters at a protest ahead of the Friday inauguration of President Nicolas Maduro for his third term, in Caracas, Venezuela January 9, 2025.
Regime forces violently detained Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado as she left a rally in Caracas on Thursday, just one day before strongman President Nicolás Maduro was set to begin his third term. She was released hours later.
Machado had been in hiding for over 100 days but came out to galvanize protesters risking their lives to demonstrate against the illegitimate, autocratic government. Despite soldiers loyal to the regime manning checkpoints across the capital, thousands of citizens marched in response to the opposition’s calls for resistance. Moments before her motorcycle convoy came under gunfire, Machado led a crowd of supporters chanting, “We are not afraid!”
Her short detention could lead to further protests, but Maduro is determined to retain power for another six-year term and is set to be sworn in today. He has met past unrest with brutal violence, and we are watching for more clashes between authorities and protesters, though the government has detained many activists and opposition politicians in recent days. The government says it will also arrestEdmundo González, the man who independent audits show actually won last year’s election, if he attempts to return from exile in the Dominican Republic — which he has sworn to do today.
Hard Numbers: Ring of “América Mexicana,” Canada to the fire rescue, Students’ stingy stipends, Ghost crimes soar
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum shows a 1661 world map showing the Americas and the Gulf of Mexico in response to US President-elect Donald Trump's comments about renaming the body of water, during a press conference at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, on Jan. 8, 2025.
418: What was the United States called before it was the United States? “Mexican America,” according to a 418-year-old map shown by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at a press conference on Wednesday. “It sounds nice,” she said, “no?” The display was meant as a clapback to US President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal a day earlier to rename the Gulf of Mexico “the Gulf of America.”
2: Two Canadian planes are helping California to battle the massive wildfires currently raging near Los Angeles. The two Canadair CL-415s are specialized bombers that can fill their bellies with fresh or salt water to dump on fires. Canada has been sending firefighter aircraft to California seasonally for three decades.
9,500: If you want to do a PhD in biology or physics in Canada, you’d best be financially secure before you start. The average stipend for Canadian graduate students studying those subjects leaves them CA$9,500 (US$11,900) below the poverty line, according to a new study in the journal Nature. To keep pace with the cost of living, stipends would have to increase by 150%.
1,600: The United States is becoming a “ghost” town, at least when it comes to firearms. The number of privately made, untraceable “ghost guns” found at crime scenes each year surged from about 1,600 in 2017 to more than 27,000 in 2023, an increase of some 1,600%. Later this year, the US Supreme Court will rule on the legality of a Biden administration effort to crack down on these weapons.
A contingent of security forces from Guatemala holds a Guatemala flag as they arrive in Haiti for a security mission, at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-Au-Prince Haiti January 4, 2025.
A total of150 Guatemalan soldiers landed in Haiti on Friday and Saturday to join a United Nations-backed mission led by Kenya aimed at curbing rampant gang violence.
The troops, drawn from Guatemala’s military police, were welcomed ata ceremony Friday at Port-au-Prince’s international airport by Haitian leaders, including Transitional Presidential Council head Leslie Voltaire and Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. US Ambassador Dennis Hankins also attended.
The 400 Kenyan police officers leading the mission have struggled to restore order in Haiti, where armed gangs control much of the capital. Despite international efforts, violence has escalated, with gangs storming prisons, targeting diplomatic vehicles, and conducting murderous rampages such as thevoodoo-fueled massacre of nearly 200 people in the capital last month.
In a statement, Normil Rameau, the acting director general of the National Police, said a “marriage” of the police with the people of Haiti remains “the most effective way to facilitate the total restoration of security and the establishment of lasting peace.” We’re watching whether this latest military contingent can help cement that union in the war-torn country.