Over the past years, Jair Bolsonaro has made significant and controversial changes to Brazilian politics. However, in the 2022 election, Brazil pivoted towards a more established leader as Luis Inacio “Lula” da Silva, who had previously served as President, was elected. Given Lula's contrasting leadership style compared to Bolsonaro and his experience serving as President in two different decades, it is crucial to examine Brazil's foreign policy and consider how Lula's foreign policy will differ or align with previous trajectories.

On June 5, 2021 history was made in El Salvador as president Nayib Bukele’s government passed the unprecedented Bitcoin Law that permanently adjusted the future of cryptocurrencies on an international scale. Beginning September 7, 2021 the new official currency of El Salvador was permitted for the sale and purchase of anything and everything including meals at restaurants, taxes, and even buying and selling property. Under this new law, all establishments in El Salvador are required to take Bitcoin as a form of payment for any and all transactions tendered within the country. This new law presents a fascinating opportunity to ponder the new standard for cryptocurrencies around the world and their status in the daily lives of many living around the world.

This paper explores three development models and their impact on Ecuador’s development over the past 20 years. COVID-19 presents a huge crisis for the developing country - but also a chance to change. The institutional development model provides middle-ground institutional incrementalism. In a region battered by crisis, will Moreno consider a shift in his neoliberal crusade, or will the country continue to be engulfed in social unrest?

U.S. justifications for increasing sanctions on Venezuela in recent months have been ideological as well as humanitarian. Venezuela, which has experienced a shocking descent into political and economic chaos over the past decade, has a history of emancipatory struggle and socialist revolution which informs every decision U.S. policy architects make when dealing with the turbulent country. Under President Trump’s administration, the strength of the United States’ capitalist and democratic convictions has collided with the authoritarian, centralized nature of the Maduro regime in a way that has exacerbated, rather than alleviated, the immense stress on the Venezuelan population. Combined with the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, these sanctions and ideological battles are proving deadly to the country’s citizens and its budding government opposition. The Critical Theory of International Relations demands that we as Americans re-evaluate our attitude towards Venezuela, keeping in mind the moral responsibilities we have to encourage freedom and justice. It is time to heed the call of a new moral expectation: to relieve Venezuelans’ suffering and rewrite our policies in a new era of global challenges.