Our present volume offers a comprehensive and multilayered analysis of the structural, political, and economic shifts currently redefining Latin America and the Caribbean. From the persistent shadows of institutional fragility to the burgeoning opportunities of the global energy transition, these works collectively map a region in profound transformation. The volume opens with a sobering examination by Luiz Felipe Lacerda, Valentina Campos Cabral, Raúl Gutiérrez Patiño, Silvia Fontana, Lelia Imhof, and Elvin Hernández Rivera, who explore the intersection of socio-environmental corruption and climate urgency. Their research exposes how systemic impunity and state capture not only undermine governance but also exacerbate the vulnerability of populations facing ecological crises, calling for a shift toward “ecological citizenship” as a countermeasure to extractivist models. Moving from territorial governance to the management of people, Luicy Pedroza and Pau Palop-Garcia provide a sophisticated mixed-methods study on emigrant policymaking. By moving beyond simple economic explanations, the authors demonstrate how political culture and bureaucratic practices shape the way states maintain ties with their citizens abroad, offering a stable yet adaptable framework for understanding migration institutions across the region. The focus then shifts to the formal architectures of regional integration. Irma Liliana Vasquez-Merchan and Nicolas De la Peña delve into the depth of labor provisions within preferential trade agreements. Their cross-sectional analysis reveals that the strength of labor standards is determined less by a government's stated political orientation and more by the complex interplay of regime stability, trade union participation, and intra-industrial competition. The challenges of the “Green Transition” are analyzed through two distinct Brazilian lenses. First, Fernando Inti Leal, Erik Eduardo Rego, and Virginia Parente critique the paradox of fossil fuel subsidies in a net-zero context. They argue that current tax wavers for the oil and gas industry conflict with energy justice and suggest a strategic pivot toward direct financial transfers to combat fuel poverty. This piece is complemented by the work of Juliane Santos Lumertz, Edegar Luís Tomazzoni, Juarez Velozo-Silva, and Rina Ricci Cagnacci, who investigate “city diplomacy” in São Paulo. They find that while the metropolis has immense soft power potential through tourism and international events, a lack of institutional cohesion prevents it from fully leveraging these assets on the global stage. Continuing the focus on Brazil but expanding the horizon of social equity, Marcio Giannini Pereira, Harriet Thomson, Neilton Fidelis da Silva, Maria Luiza de M. Galvão, Dannyelle de Souza Nunes Vasconcelo, and Jamila Lorena de Freitas Pereira Brasil propose a novel regulatory framework to accelerate a “just” energy transition. Through field research at wind farms, they demonstrate how targeted social contributions can drastically reduce extreme poverty while advancing renewable energy goals. Moving the focus toward the Caribbean, Kempe Ronald Hope traces Guyana's transition from a state-planned socialist orientation to a market-oriented economy. Set against the backdrop of newfound oil wealth, the author explores how this liberalization has propelled Guyana to become the world's fastest-growing emerging economy, providing a blueprint for sustaining growth in a high-income emerging market. Finally, the collection concludes with an opinion analysis by Armando Chaguaceda, whose essay explains the flexibility and continuity of Cuba's foreign policy toward the Americas. Together, these authors provide an essential toolkit for understanding a region that is simultaneously grappling with the ghosts of institutional malfunctioning and the high stakes demands of a globalized, decarbonized future.
Isidro Morales (Sun,) studied this question.