World
Seven stories that shaped the Americas in 2024, beyond Trump’s return
The presidential election in the United States has dominated global headlines for much of the past year.
From opinion polls to rallies and the barbs traded on the campaign trail, all eyes were turned to the showdown between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump on November 5.
Since Trump’s decisive victory, much of the world has shifted its focus to analysing what the former US president has planned for his second term in office, set to begin in January.
But 2024 has not only been about Trump and American politics.
The past year saw a slew of critical developments in countries around the world, from Israel’s deadly bombardment of the Gaza Strip to the devastating war in Sudan and the recent ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In the Americas region, 2024 was marked by changing political landscapes, crackdowns on dissent, deadly violence and the effects of a worsening climate crisis.
Here’s a look at seven stories that shaped the Americas this year.
Venezuela’s disputed election
Mass protests broke out in Venezuela after longtime President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of a third term in the country’s July 28 presidential election.
With the government refusing to release the usual voting tallies, the opposition published its own documents that it said proved Maduro had claimed victory through fraud.
Public anger at the results spilled into the streets for weeks after the race was called. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse thousands of demonstrators in the capital, Caracas, and other cities.
Human Rights Watch reported that at least 23 protesters or bystanders, as well as one National Guard member, were killed in the government crackdown. Thousands of Venezuelans also were arrested.
Maduro blamed the protests on his political opponents and foreign powers, accusing them of seeking to destabilise the South American country. He has promised to release full vote tallies but has yet to do so.
In early September, a Venezuelan judge issued an arrest warrant for opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who had gone into hiding following the vote. Gonzalez has since fled to Spain, where he requested political asylum.
“We are witnessing an intensification of the state’s repressive machinery in response to what it perceives as critical views, opposition or dissent,” Marta Valinas, chair of a United Nations fact-finding mission on Venezuela, said in a report on September 17.
Haiti gang violence soars
Over the past 12 months, Haiti has experienced a deepening political, security and humanitarian crisis as authorities struggle to stem a wave of deadly gang violence.
In late February, the situation deteriorated when powerful armed groups launched coordinated attacks on prisons and other state institutions in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The gang leaders demanded the resignation of unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Henry stepped down in March, and a transitional presidential council was formed with the goal of leading Haiti’s political transition and organising elections. The council then named an interim prime minister, Garry Conille, in May.
But the violence continued across Port-au-Prince, forcing tens of thousands of Haitians to flee their homes in search of safety. Access to adequate food, healthcare and other services was severely restricted, and reports of massacres, rape and other violence were frequent.
The deployment of a UN-backed, Kenyan-led police mission has done little to halt the gangs, which are now believed to control about 85 percent of the Haitian capital. Observers say the deployment is understaffed and lacks resources.
Meanwhile, political infighting between the transitional presidential council and Conille’s interim government led to the prime minister’s ouster in November. An interim prime minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aime, was appointed in his stead.
Brazilian police say Bolsonaro involved in coup attempt
In November, police in Brazil announced bombshell allegations against former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
The case centres on an alleged conspiracy to overturn Bolsonaro’s narrow defeat in the 2022 election.
Police accused Bolsonaro of taking part in a failed scheme aimed at preventing his left-wing rival, current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, from taking office following their closely fought race in 2022.
They said in a statement that Bolsonaro and 36 other people, including some of the ex-president’s aides and former government ministers, had planned the “violent overthrow of the democratic state”.
Bolsonaro, a former Brazilian army captain who served as president from 2019 to 2022, has denied any wrongdoing and said he is the victim of a political witch hunt. He has promised to mount a legal “fight” in his defence.
Sinaloa violence surges after cartel boss’s arrest
It was a big year in Mexican politics, as the country held the largest election in its history and Claudia Sheinbaum became its first female president.
But the election was also one of Mexico’s bloodiest – in part because of the influence of the country’s prominent drug-smuggling cartels.
One state where the violence continues to rage is Sinaloa, in the northwestern part of the country. There, rivals within the Sinaloa Cartel have been battling to fill the power vacuum left after co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia’s arrest.
US authorities detained Zambada on July 25 along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of the sons of another co-founder of the cartel, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Zambada has said he was kidnapped and taken against his will to the US, where he pleaded not guilty to a slew of criminal charges, including murder and drug trafficking.
The deteriorating situation in Sinaloa has posed one of the first major challenges to Sheinbaum since she took office in early October, succeeding her mentor and fellow Morena Party leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Jacobo Quintero, a restaurant owner in Culiacan, the state capital, told Al Jazeera in September that the city had been brought to a standstill as residents were afraid to leave their homes amid the violence.
“We’ve got about 15 percent of our usual customers,” he said. “People don’t want to come out because there are risks. They’re scared.”
Energy crises hit Ecuador, Cuba
Ecuador, which has long grappled with a surge in violence linked to drug trafficking, faced another dangerous threat this year: the effects of climate change.
A regional drought worsened by the El Nino weather phenomenon forced Colombia to cut off electricity exports to the country in April, spurring a crisis for Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa.
The situation further deteriorated as record wildfires broke out near the capital, Quito, as well as in other parts of the country. In November, Ecuador declared a 60-day state of emergency to help mobilise funds to respond to the blazes.
The drought — widely viewed as the worst to hit Ecuador in decades — has hampered water levels at the hydroelectric dams that power much of the country. The authorities have ordered hours-long daily power cuts as they urge residents to conserve electricity.
A similar crisis has unfolded in Cuba, where authorities have imposed rolling daily blackouts in an effort to shore up dwindling supplies of electricity on the Caribbean island.
Cuba’s national power grid collapsed several times in 2024, leading to a number of nationwide blackouts over several weeks between October and early December.
The country’s power plants are ageing, and the Cuban authorities have struggled to get enough oil to keep them running amid shrinking imports from Russia, Venezuela and Mexico.
Powerful storms also knocked out the grid in October and November as they lashed Cuba with strong winds and storm surges.
Canada accuses Indian agents of being involved in Sikh activist’s killing
A simmering diplomat row between Canada and India reignited in October when Canadian officials said they had evidence showing Indian government agents took part in activities that threatened Canadian national security.
The federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it had found evidence Indian agents participated “in serious criminal activity in Canada”, with links “to homicides and violent acts” and interference in democratic processes, among other things.
Ties between Ottawa and New Delhi soured in 2023 after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada was investigating possible ties between India and the killing of a prominent Canadian Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The allegations sent shockwaves across the country and spurred an angry response from New Delhi, which rejected them outright.
After the latest accusations were made public in October, Canada ordered the expulsion of six Indian diplomatic and consular staff. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said the individuals were considered “persons of interest” in Nijjar’s case.
In a tit-for-tat move, the Indian government also ordered six Canadian consular staff to leave.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs vehemently rejected Canada’s allegations, saying in a statement that “on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains”.
Argentina’s poverty rate soars
Poverty has soared in Argentina over the past year as far-right President Javier Milei — sworn in at the end of 2023 — pursued his libertarian economic agenda and slashed government programmes.
“This is very hard. Before, we had a home. We had access to subsidies. But [the government] suddenly took everything away,” Marianela Abasto, 24, recently told Al Jazeera at a soup kitchen in the capital, Buenos Aires. “I don’t know what we are going to do.”
Milei’s hardline reforms have drawn major protests nationally, with thousands taking to the streets in June over planned austerity measures.
Yet despite the pushback, the Argentinian president has retained his supporters, and he continues to be held up as a success symbol for the global far right.
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A massive ruby unearthed in Burma is being hailed as the second-largest ever discovered in the conflict-ridden country.
The ruby weighs about 11,000 carats — about 4.8 pounds — and was unearthed near Mogok in the Mandalay region, the center of Burma’s gem industry and an area affected by ongoing conflict, according to The Associated Press, citing state media.
The stone was found in mid-April, shortly after the country’s traditional New Year celebrations.
MAN STUMBLES ONTO RARE DIAMOND TREASURE DURING ARKANSAS PARK TRIP WITH FAMILY: ‘KNEW IT WAS DIFFERENT’
Burma’s newly discovered ruby is displayed at the president’s office in Naypyitaw on May 7, 2026. (Myanmar Military True News Information Team/AP)
Although it is roughly half the size of a 21,450-carat ruby discovered in 1996, experts say the new find could be more valuable because of its higher quality, the outlet reported.
It has a purplish-red color with slight yellow tones, moderate transparency and a highly reflective surface.
Burmese President Min Aung Hlaing and his cabinet have already inspected the stone in the country’s capital of Naypyidaw.
ONCE-IN-A-CENTURY TREASURES DATING BACK 4,500 YEARS UNEARTHED IN LEGENDARY CITY
Burmese officials inspect a newly discovered ruby at the president’s office in Naypyidaw on May 7, 2026. (Myanmar Military True News Information Team/AP)
Burma produces up to 90% of the world’s rubies, mostly from Mogok and nearby Mong Hsu.
The gem trade — both legal and illegal — is a major source of income in the country.
However, rights groups, including Global Witness, have long urged jewelers to avoid buying Burmese gemstones, saying the trade helps fund the country’s military governments, according to The Associated Press.
RARE 10-CARAT BLUE DIAMOND AMONG $100M WORTH OF GEMS GOING UP FOR AUCTION
This photo taken on May 16, 2019, shows miners working in a ruby mine in Mogok, north of Mandalay. (Ye Aung Thu/AFP via Getty Images)
Gem mining also finances ethnic armed groups fighting for autonomy, contributing to Burma’s long-running conflicts.
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The mining regions remain unstable.
Mogok was seized in July 2024 by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an ethnic armed group. Control later returned to the military under a ceasefire deal brokered by China late last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The European Union is still struggling to decide if, how, and when it wants to talk directly with Russia to advance negotiations towards a lasting peace in Ukraine, as member states remain split on whether the benefits would outweigh the risks.
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The absence of political unity, an indispensable precondition for such a significant undertaking, was laid bare on Monday during a meeting of foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, where several representatives urged fresh sanctions rather than dialogue.
“(Vladimir) Putin is really not interested in real peace talks yet. So we need to put more pressure on Russia in order to change the calculus and make him interested,” Sweden’s Maria Malmer Stenergard said upon arrival.
“What will we discuss? What will be our demands? Can we agree on our demands on Russia?” said Lithuania’s Kęstutis Budrys. “What is our strategy and agenda, and what’s the goal? What’s the end state? It’s not dialogue as dialogue per se.”
Italy’s Antonio Tajani said the EU was “not at war” with Russia and it was “important” to be part of the ongoing negotiations, while Austria’s Beate Meinl-Reisinger noted it was time for Europeans to become active participants through their own team.
“We need to make up our mind,” said Finland’s Elina Valtonen.
The only point on which ministers agreed was that Europeans themselves should pick their envoy. The Kremlin’s suggestion to nominate Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor who has worked for Russian energy firms, was unequivocally dismissed.
At the end of the meeting, High Representative Kaja Kallas acknowledged that the topic was not yet mature and required further reflection among governments.
“The EU has always supported attempts to achieve a just and lasting peace,” Kallas said.
“For Europe to take a more active role, we must agree amongst ourselves what we want to talk to Russia about and what our red lines are.”
The High Representative, who previously said the EU should not “humiliate” itself by seeking direct talks with Russia, has been trying to bridge gaps among capitals with a draft document outlining the concessions Moscow should make.
The confidential document will be discussed later this month when foreign ministers meet again for an informal gathering in Cyprus. However, given the considerable divergences, a unified position is unlikely to emerge any time soon.
“We are not there entering the negotiations in any way,” Kallas cautioned. “Right now, we don’t see that Russia is really negotiating in good faith.”
If, how and when
The question of whether the EU should engage directly with Russia to end its war of aggression has been popping up in and out of the conversation since US President Donald Trump unilaterally launched a diplomatic process to end the war in Ukraine.
Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron, who last spoke with Putin in July 2025, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni publicly called on the bloc to change policy, arguing the fate of European security could not be left in American hands.
The debate lost traction after Macron’s advisor, Emmanuel Bonne, travelled to the Kremlin for exploratory talks and was given the cold shoulder.
But it has once again risen to prominence as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, which has shifted Washington’s focus and slowed down the mediation in Ukraine.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who seems increasingly frustrated with the White House’s course of action, asked Europeans to take a more active role.
“We need to find a workable diplomatic format, and Europe must be at the table in any talks with Russia,” Zelenskyy said at a summit in Armenia. “It would be good to develop one common European voice for talks with Russia.”
A few days later, European Council President António Costa said there was “potential” for the bloc to negotiate one-on-one with the Kremlin.
“I’m talking with the 27 national leaders to see the best way to organise ourselves and to identify what we need effectively to discuss with Russia when it comes to the right moment to do this,” Costa said in Florence, Italy.
The European Commission also weighed in. “We can see the merit of having one single figure speaking on behalf of the 27,” a spokesperson said.
Both Costa and the Commission were quick to note that direct talks would only make sense once the Kremlin showed willingness to compromise and make concessions. Putin insists that Kyiv give up the entire Donbas region and that the West recognise the occupied territories aslegally Russian — both demands that Zelenskyy firmly rejects.
Brussels is keen to avoid creating the impression that it is attempting to replace Washington, which might give Trump a reason to walk away for good.
On Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the EU should not pursue “alternative peace talks” but rather play a “complementary” role in the ongoing process.
Russia’s relentless bombardment of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, including a kindergarten last week, is another factor that makes officials and diplomats think twice.
Instead, some capitals prefer to wait and weaken Russia’s hand at the negotiating table. The country has begun to show signs of economic strain after 20 rounds of sanctions and was forced to pare down its Victory Day parade over fears of Ukraine’s strikes.
At the same time, Kyiv’s standing has been reinforced by the approval of the EU’s €90 billion assistance loan and the signing of multiple defence deals with Gulf countries.
“Russia must be pushed back to Russia,” Estonia’s Margus Tsahkna said. “Putin is not ready to talk about a lasting and just peace at all.”
Poland will soon host production lines for South Korean tanks. Australia is buying warships from Japan. Canada will send uranium to India, while India offers cruise missiles to Vietnam, and Brazil builds military transport planes for the United Arab Emirates.
All of these deals were sealed in the past few weeks. Each one represents an attempt by middle powers to protect themselves as the conflict in Iran throttles global energy supplies, and as a high-stakes summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping of China looms.
Global polls show the world has little trust in the United States and China. Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi have both used their enormous leverage over trade and security to coerce or punish. And in response, smaller nations are behaving as if they are stuck in “Godzilla” or “Dune” — moving quietly in small groups, trying not to provoke the wrath of petulant giants.
“It’s fifty shades of hedging,” said Richard Heydarian, a Filipino political scientist at Oxford University. Or, as Ja Ian Chong, a security analyst in Singapore put it, “No party wants to cross Beijing and now Washington, too.”
For countries watching from afar, dread and hope hover over the Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, which is scheduled for this week. In Asia, which has been hit hardest and fastest by oil shortages caused by the war and China’s tight control of oil-product exports, the mood is particularly grim. Interviews with officials, and statements from leaders traveling the globe to secure trade and defense deals, suggest that most middle powers feel overwhelmed by the deteriorating world order.
Many believe the summit carries more potential for harm than help. And Mr. Trump’s gut-driven approach to complex issues is the main source of anxiety.
For months, officials in Asia have worried that the president might be too eager to make a deal with Mr. Xi, ending weapons sales to Taiwan or agreeing to softened policy language that could make it easier for China to undermine the democratic island.
“That would be the biggest nightmare,” said one Taiwanese official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal government matters. He insisted that reduced support from the U.S. was unlikely.
But any concession on Taiwan could lead other American partners to fear abandonment. Beijing’s push for compliance on contested territory elsewhere would be bolstered, from the border with India to the South China Sea.
Vietnamese officials said that if President Trump makes a conciliatory gesture or flatters Xi, even without bigger compromises, China will gain leeway to press harder on smaller countries.
Another concern being discussed across the region: that Mr. Trump might alter long-term security plans in exchange for better economic terms with China.
Mr. Trump’s decision to redirect a carrier strike group from the Pacific and munitions from South Korea for the war in Iran may have created momentum for broader redeployments. When the Pentagon announced it would pull at least 5,000 troops from Germany after Mr. Trump expressed annoyance with the German chancellor, allies in Asia were again reminded how quickly collective deterrence can be weakened.
Mr. Trump has threatened in the past to make troop withdrawals from Japan, which hosts around 53,000 American military personnel — more than any other country — and South Korea, where another 24,000 Americans are stationed. If he could get something big from Mr. Xi for a drawdown, would he turn down the deal?
Analysts noted that plans opposed by China, such as AUKUS, a pact between Australia, England and the U.S. designed to counter Beijing’s influence by equipping Australia with nuclear-powered submarines and advanced technology, could also be suddenly canceled.
“The sense that U.S. allies have to look to one another because they can no longer look to America is very real,” said Hugh White, a former Australian intelligence official who teaches strategic studies at the Australia National University.
That sentiment is much stronger than “the cautious public language” of national leaders might suggest, he added.
European and Asian officials often talk privately in frank terms about giving up their faith in America, prompting a no-turning-back effort to diversify away from the United States. In casual discussions with reporters, they can sound a lot like Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, who received a standing ovation in Davos this year for a speech that declared, “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.”
But in public, they’re more circumspect. Some officials admit their countries are trying to buy time and evade Mr. Trump’s fits of pique, while continuing the performance of imperial fealty.
South Korean officials have simply expressed resignation over American military diversions, after making clear they felt betrayed in 2004, when President George W. Bush announced plans to move troops from Asia to the war in Iraq. Australia, Taiwan and Japan publicly and repeatedly stress the value of American leadership without caveats — even as U.S. tariffs and the war Mr. Trump started with Iran kneecap their economies.
Walking with Caution
No one wants to be seen stepping out of line.
Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has been bolder than most in trying to foster stronger relationships with other countries. Yet even as she crisscrossed the region promoting military cooperation, officials in Tokyo worried about how Washington would view her efforts.
“The Japanese don’t want Takaichi’s security cooperation and tour, especially to Australia, to be seen as a version of Mark Carney,” said Michael J. Green, the author of several books on Japan, and chief executive of the United States Study Centre at the University of Sydney.
Others have apparently reached the same conclusion. Mr. Carney’s recent visits to India and Australia did not yield strong statements from their leaders echoing his criticism of great power rivalry or his warning that if middle powers are “not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
At the same time, many countries — including some that are benefiting from the thickening of middle-power bonds — have been careful not to anger the world’s other hegemon, China.
Nations managing their own disputes with Beijing, such as Indonesia, have done less to rally around Japan than some in Tokyo would have liked, since Ms. Takaichi became embroiled in a diplomatic crisis after telling her Parliament that if China attacked Taiwan, Japan could respond militarily.
Vietnamese officials even pressed Ms. Takaichi to avoid directly criticizing China in her speech at a university on May 2 in Hanoi, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions. It is not clear if adjustments were made. Chinese officials later condemned her diplomatic efforts as “war preparation.”
And yet, in a sign of how middle powers are still doing more while saying less, the two countries signed six cooperation agreements, including one on satellite data sharing and another to secure deliveries for Vietnam’s largest oil refinery, potentially easing shortages.
“The U.S. has become more unreliable, so it makes sense to try to develop alternatives,” said Robert O. Keohane, an international relations professor at Princeton University. Even if what’s been formed so far is insufficient, he added, “having a weak alternative is better than having no alternative at all.”
Reporting was contributed by Tung Ngo from Hanoi, Vietnam; Javier C. Hernández from Tokyo; Amy Chang Chien from Taipei, Taiwan; Jim Tankersley from Berlin; Ian Austen from Ottawa; and Matina Stevis-Gridneff from Toronto.
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