In the News, 2019: SOUTH AMERICA

This formerly prosperous country has been descending deeper and deeper into crisis and chaos. The rule of President Nicolás Maduro has become increasingly authoritarian, and the economy has collapsed. The government can’t afford to import enough food, medicine, and other basics, and many Venezuelans are becoming more desperate. Millions have fled the country, and others have taken to the streets in protest. In August 2018, an assassination attempt on Maduro failed, and the government has used that as an excuse for further crackdowns.

Stretching across parts of nine countries and covering some 2 million square miles—equivalent to about two-thirds of the continental U.S.—the Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest in the world. It’s home to 2.5 million different kinds of insects and 20 percent of the world’s bird species. But in the past 40 years, at least 20 percent of the Amazon has been destroyed as more and more of it has been cut down to plant crops like soybeans. This is a major concern to environmentalists because the rainforest plays a key role in soaking up carbon dioxide and mitigating the effects of global warming.

Colombia is still struggling to recover from five decades of civil war against a terrorist group known as the FARC, which killed more than 220,000 people and drove some 7 million Colombians from their homes. A peace treaty officially ended the conflict in 2016, but many say the deal was much too easy on the FARC rebels. In addition to figuring out how to keep the fragile peace, the Colombian government faces the ongoing problem of cocaine production, which is controlled by dangerous drug cartels that sell much of the cocaine to buyers in the U.S.