2020s in North American history
The pink tide (Spanish: marea rosa; Portuguese: onda rosa; French: marée rose), or the turn to the left (Spanish: giro a la izquierda; Portuguese: virada à esquerda; French: tournant à gauche), is a political wave and turn towards left-wing governments in Latin America throughout the 21st century.
[5] The Latin American countries viewed as part of this ideological trend have been referred to as pink tide nations,[6] with the term post-neoliberalism or socialism of the 21st century also being used to describe the movement.
[44] After winning a majority in the 2021 Salvadoran legislative election, President Bukele's party Nuevas Ideas voted to sack the country's Attorney General and the five judges of the Constitutional Court.
In September 2022, Henry announced that the government would be ending fuel subsidies and that the price of petroleum products would be increasing; this led to protests, including a demonstration in Port-au-Prince that escalated to a riot days later.
[57] On 11 October 2022, Henry and his cabinet requested the deployment of foreign troops to oppose the gangs and anti-government demonstrations in Port-au-Prince.
[61][62] On 4 March, armed gangs attacked the heavily fortified Toussaint Louverture International Airport, exchanging gunfire with police and the Haitian Armed Forces in an attempt to take control of the facility after rumors that Henry would return to the country,[63] fueling speculation that an alliance between rival gangs was forming to overthrow the Haitian government.
In 2021, a former cartel leader testified in a New York court that he had bribed President Juan Orlando Hernández with 250,000 US dollars to prevent extradition to the United States.
[71] As the Fourth Transformation enters its second year, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) faces challenges involving social violence (particularly drug-related and other killings),[72] corruption, major infrastructure development, universal health care,[73] and decentralization of the government.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Spanish: [anˈdɾes maˈnwel ˈlopes oβɾaˈðoɾ] ⓘ; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican politician who served as the 65th president of Mexico from 2018 to 2024.
[80] In 2004, his state immunity from prosecution was removed after he refused to cease construction on land allegedly expropriated by his predecessor, Rosario Robles.
While the Federal Electoral Tribunal noted some irregularities,[82] it denied López Obrador's request for a general recount, which sparked protests nationwide.
[92] On 8 June, the government arrested Félix Maradiaga, a leader of the Blue and White National Unity (UNAB) opposition group.
[101] On 15 June, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States put out a statement saying it "unequivocally condemns the arrest, harassment and arbitrary restriction imposed on potential presidential candidates, political parties and independent media outlets" and called for "the immediate release of potential candidates and all political prisoners.
"[102] A large majority of member states (26) endorsed the statement;[102] Following Mora's arrest, Mexico and Argentina jointly recalled their ambassadors from Nicaragua for consultation, citing "the worrying political-legal actions carried out by the Nicaraguan government in recent days that have put at risk the integrity and freedom of various opposition figures (including presidential candidates), Nicaraguan activists and businessmen".
A month before the election, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died unexpectedly, leading to the nomination and confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett as her replacement by the sitting President Trump and the Republican-held Senate.
The protests began in the United States in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020,[104] after George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer.
[109] At least 200 cities imposed curfews by 3 June, while at least 27 states and Washington, D.C, activated over 74,000 National Guard personnel due to the mass unrest.
Day one actions of his presidency included restoring U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement, revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and halting funding for the Mexico–United States border wall.
[122] Biden proposed a significant expansion of the U.S. social safety net through the Build Back Better Act, but those efforts, along with voting rights legislation, failed in Congress.
It included significant federal investment in climate and domestic clean energy production, tax credits for solar panels, electric cars and other home energy programs as well as a three-year extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, an insulin price cap, and a provision allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
In response to the debt-ceiling crisis of 2023, Biden negotiated and signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which restrains federal spending for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, implements minor changes to SNAP and TANF, includes energy permitting reform, claws back some IRS funding and unspent money for COVID-19, and suspends the debt ceiling to January 1, 2025.
[125] The foreign policy goal of the Biden administration is to restore the US to a "position of trusted leadership" among global democracies in order to address the challenges posed by Russia and China.
He completed the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan, declaring an end to nation-building efforts and shifting U.S. foreign policy toward strategic competition with China and, to a lesser extent, Russia.
[129][130] During the Israel–Hamas war, Biden condemned the actions of Hamas and other Palestinian militants as terrorism and announced American military support for Israel; he also sent humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and brokered a four-day temporary pause and hostage exchange in 2023 followed by a three-phase ceasefire in January 2025.
