Beyond the US elections: seven stories that shaped the Americas in 2024 | Political news

The presidential election in the United States has dominated global news for much of the last year.

From opinion polls to rallies to barbs exchanged during the election campaign, all eyes were on the showdown between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump on November 5.

Since Trump's decisive victory, much of the world has been focused on analyzing what the former US president has planned for his second term, which is set to begin in January.

But 2024 hasn't just been about Trump and American politics.

The past year has seen a series of critical developments in countries around the world, from Israel's deadly bombing 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, repression of 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 contested elections

Mass protests erupted in Venezuela after longtime President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of a third term in the July 28 presidential election.

With the government refusing to release the usual vote tallies, the opposition released its own documents that it said proved Maduro had claimed victory through fraud.

Public anger over the results spilled into the streets for weeks after the race was announced. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse thousands of protesters in the capital, Caracas, and other cities.

Human Rights Watch reported that at least 23 protesters or bystanders, as well as a member of the National Guard, were killed during the government crackdown. Thousands of Venezuelans have also been arrested.

Maduro has blamed the protests on his political opponents and foreign powers, accusing them of seeking to destabilize the South American country. He promised to release the full vote count, 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 after 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 opinions, opposition or dissent, said Marta Valinas, president of a United Nations fact-finding mission on the Venezuela, in a report dated September 17.

Protesters in Maracaibo, Venezuela, display the Venezuelan flag following the disputed July 30 elections. [Isaac Urrutia/Reuters]
Gang violence in Haiti explodes

Over the past 12 months, Haiti has experienced an increasingly serious 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. Gang leaders have demanded the resignation of unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Henry resigned in March and a presidential transition council was formed with the aim of leading Haiti's political transition and organizing elections. The council then appointed an interim prime minister, Garry Conille, in May.

But violence continued in Port-au-Prince, forcing tens of thousands of Haitians to flee their homes in search of safety. Access to adequate food, health care, and other services was severely restricted, and reports of massacres, rape, and other violence were common.

The deployment of a U.N.-backed police mission led by Kenya has done little to stop the gangs, who now reportedly control about 85 percent of the Haitian capital. Observers say the deployment is understaffed and under-resourced.

Meanwhile, political infighting between the transitional presidential council and Conilles' interim government led to the prime minister's ouster in November. An interim Prime Minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, was appointed in his place.

Brazilian police say Bolsonaro is involved in attempted coup

In November, Brazilian police announced explosive allegations against far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The case centers on an alleged plot to overturn Bolsonaro's narrow defeat in the 2022 election.

Police accused Bolsonaro of participating in a failed scheme to prevent his left-wing rival, current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, from taking office after a hotly contested 2022 race.

They said in a statement that Bolsonaro and 36 others, including some former aides to the president and former government ministers, 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 declared himself the victim of a political witch hunt. He promised to fight a legal battle in his defense.

Jair Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to launch a legal battle to defend his reputation. [File: Adriano Machado/Reuters]
Violence in Sinaloa increases after cartel leaders arrested

It was an important year for Mexican politics, as the country held the largest elections in its history and Claudia Sheinbaum became the first female president.

But the election was also one of Mexico's bloodiest, in part due to the influence of the country's major drug trafficking cartels.

One state where violence continues to rage is Sinaloa, in the northwest of the country. There, Sinaloa Cartel rivals are fighting to fill the power vacuum left after the arrest of Ismael El Mayo co-founder Zambada Garcia.

U.S. authorities arrested Zambada on July 25 along with Joaquín Guzman Lopez, one of the sons of another cartel co-founder, Joaquín El Chapo Guzman.

Zambada said he was kidnapped and taken against his will to the United States, where he has pleaded not guilty to numerous criminal charges, including murder and drug trafficking.

The deteriorating situation in Sinaloa posed one of the first major challenges for 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 paralyzed because residents were afraid to leave their homes due to the violence.

We have about 15 percent of our regular customers, he said. People don't want to go out because there are risks. They are afraid.

Energy crises hit Ecuador and Cuba

Ecuador, which has long grappled with a surge in violence linked to drug trafficking, faces 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, triggering a crisis for Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa.

The situation further deteriorated when record wildfires broke out near the capital, Quito, as well as in other parts of the country. In November, Ecuador declared a state of emergency for 60 days to help mobilize funds to respond to the fires.

The drought widely considered Ecuador's worst in decades has hampered water levels at hydroelectric dams that power much of the country. Authorities ordered daily power cuts for several hours, urging residents to conserve electricity.

A similar crisis occurred in Cuba, where authorities imposed daily power cuts in an effort to prop up the Caribbean island's electricity supply.

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 aging and Cuban authorities are struggling to obtain enough oil to keep them running amid declining imports from Russia, Venezuela and Mexico.

Powerful storms also destroyed the grid in October and November, hitting Cuba with high winds and storm surges.

Canada accuses Indian agents of involvement in killing of Sikh activists

A simmering diplomatic feud between Canada and India reignited in October when Canadian officials said they had evidence showing Indian government agents had participated in activities threatening Canada's national security.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it found evidence of the involvement of Indian agents in serious criminal activities in Canada, including homicides and acts of violence and interference in democratic processes.

Ties between Ottawa and New Delhi deteriorated in 2023 after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada was investigating possible links between India and the killing of a prominent Canadian Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The allegations sent shockwaves across the country and sparked an angry response from New Delhi, which categorically rejected them.

After the latest accusations were made public in October, Canada ordered the expulsion of six Indian diplomatic and consular staff. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said these individuals were considered persons of interest in Nijjar's case.

In a retaliatory measure, the Indian government also ordered the departure of six Canadian consular employees.

India's foreign ministry vehemently rejected Canada's allegations, saying in a statement that, under the pretext of investigation, there was a deliberate strategy to defame India for political purposes.

Poverty rate in Argentina explodes

Poverty has soared in Argentina over the past year as far-right President Javier Milei, who is sworn in at the end of 2023, has pursued his libertarian economic agenda and cut government programs.

It's very difficult. Before, we had a house. We had access to subsidies. But [the government] suddenly everything took away, Marianela Abasto, 24, told Al Jazeera recently at a soup kitchen in the capital, Buenos Aires. I don't know what we're going to do.

Milei's radical reforms sparked major nationwide protests, with thousands taking to the streets in June against planned austerity measures.

Yet despite misgivings, the Argentine president has retained his supporters and he continues to be presented as a symbol of success for the global far right.

Javier Milei, a far-right libertarian, has cut public spending and imposed austerity measures. [File: Juan Mabromata/AFP]

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