Regional Organizations

In May 2026, the Central American Court of Justice (CACJ) quietly ceased operations following Honduras' withdrawal—a development that attracted little attention despite marking the end of one of the world's earliest permanent international courts. Although the CACJ never succeeded in consolidating itself, this post aims to draw attention to this overlooked event by exploring the institutional design, the…

Mexico’s effort to hold the gun industry to account has now encountered an institutional setback in San José. Its request for an advisory opinion raised six questions before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). This post examines, against a more expansive account of OC-30/25 offered here, whether laws granting public or private arms-industry companies…

Criminal organizations finance, procure, broker, transport, and illegally distribute U.S.‑made weapons throughout Latin America and the Caribbean to fuel political violence in the region. Latin America is experiencing a surge of violence that is neither spontaneous nor locally contained. It is engineered—manufactured, trafficked, and laundered through a hemispheric supply chain that begins overwhelmingly in the United States and…

On 17 January 2026, the EU and Mercosur signed an ambitious trade and cooperation package composed of two instruments: a Partnership Agreement (EMPA) and an Interim Trade Agreement (iTA). After more than 20 years of negotiations, this deal has been praised as a major stepping stone for extending the EU’s economic and geopolitical influence worldwide, particularly in…