In The News

How US Policy Responses Are Helping, Hurting and Can Be Improved

Cristina Eguizábal, Karise M. Curtis, Matthew C. Ingram, Aaron Korthuis, Eric L. Olson and Nicholas Phillips January 30, 2015
The unprecedented number of migrants fleeing Central America’s so-called Northern Triangle – El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras – highlights regional challenges: unparalleled levels of organized crime, gang violence, and corruption – problems all fueling and being fueled by lack of economic opportunity. The public generally assumes that drug trafficking is behind the violence, but rampant...

Costly Cures

July 9, 2014
New drug regimens that can cost $100,000 or more are frustrating insurers, employers, physicians and patients who cannot afford rising prices, suggests an article from the Economist. The release of new and expensive medicines has spurred “a coalition ranging from doctors to labor unions to launch a campaign against ‘unsustainable and abusive’ prices.” Many within the industry defend high US...

Colombia Polls Give President Santos “Mandate for Peace”

June 16, 2014
Reelected for a second term Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos claims to have a mandate for wrapping up a peace process with FARC after five deades of war. Santos’ opponent Oscar Ivan Zuluaga criticized methods of peace negotiations and failure to levy sanctions against rebel groups. The opponent promised stricter conditions on the peace talks, threatening to break them off unless the rebels...

Let Colombia End Its Civil War

Washington Office on Latin America June 5, 2014
The illicit drug trade in Colombia has left hundreds of thousands dead and displaced millions, even though the United States has spent $9 billion since 2000, mostly on security. The government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are engaged in peace talks in Cuba and have signed a preliminary accord: “The agreement offers a viable plan for the FARC to end its involvement in the...

Antibiotic Resistance Threatens Everyone, WHO Warns

May 5, 2014
Bacteria adapt quickly and resist antibiotic treatments for common diseases like urinary tract and skin infections, pneumonia, tuberculosis, malaria and MRSA. The resistance is a global phenomenon, but the resistant diseases vary from nation to nation. “Some countries have been aggressive in terms of surveillance for antibiotic resistance, which the WHO says is important for early detection of...

US FDA Chief: If You Want Our Market, Meet Our Standards

March 4, 2014
US regulators seek cooperation on quality control from its supplier of foods and medicines. "If Indian pharmaceutical companies want to sell in the US, they need to comply with our standards, practices and expectations,” said Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, according to a report in the Times of India. She offered the comments during a trip to India and...

End of Silk Road as FBI Shuts Down Illicit Website

Stuart Pfeifer, Shan Li, Walter Hamilton October 7, 2013
Since the days of the Roman Empire, traders traveled a network of routes winding from China and India to the Mediterranean Sea, known as the Silk Road. A young entrepreneur relied on the name in launching an internet site in 2011 that peddled illegal drugs, and other products and services. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation closed the site and arrested Ross William Ulbricht. The Los Angeles...