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Q&A with David Goldwyn: Will Maduro’s Electioneering Decrease Appetite for Guyanese Oil?

David Goldwyn ˙ ˙ Voces

Photo of Nicolas Maduro Federico Parra / Flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED
On December 3, President Nicolás Maduro held a referendum asking citizens whether the Essequibo region should be “reclaimed” as part of Venezuelan territory. Whether prompted by the 2015 discovery of abundant oil reserves, or the need to gain popularity before the 2024 presidential elections, Maduro ordered Petróleos de Venezuela, SA…Read more +

China’s Renewable Energy Investment in Latin America

Ignacio Albe, Sarah Phillips ˙ ˙

Windmills on a cloudy day Pexels / Pixabay / CC0
Over the last few decades, China has become a major player in Latin America’s energy sector. As one of the world’s largest oil consumers, the Asian giant has provided oil-backed loans and equity investments in numerous countries with large oil reserves like Venezuela and Brazil. Yet increasingly, China has been expanding its footprint in the region’s renewable energy sector as well. Read more +

Chile’s Coal Phase-Out: Opportunities for a Just Transition

Sarah Phillips, Ignacio Albe ˙ ˙ Voces

Smokestacks at a power plant Nick Humphries / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Chile’s initiative to fully phase out coal generation by 2040 will be critical for the Southern Cone country to comply with its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. However, despite the urgency of slashing Chile’s emissions, ensuring that coal workers are not economically abandoned in the process exemplifies one of the main challenges for policymakers surrounding the just transition.Read more +

Colombia: To Frack or Not to Frack?

Lisa Viscidi, Sarah Phillips ˙ ˙ Voces

March against fracking in San Martín, Cesar. Esperanza Proxima/Flickr/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
For over a decade Colombians have been debating whether or not to allow oil companies to use hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to produce oil and gas from shale rock, a technique that has been controversial in many countries. The high court’s decision last week to uphold a moratorium on fracking suggests the increasingly polarized debate is far from over.Read more +

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