The week at a glance...Americas

Havana

Life after the Castros: Raúl Castro said he would step down as Cuban leader in 2018, when he will be 86. The National Assembly this week elected Castro to a second five-year term as Cuba’s president, and he said it will be his last. The country has been governed by a Castro since Raúl’s brother Fidel led the Communist revolution in 1959, but Raúl now says that he will use his remaining time in office to pass a two-term limit and an age cap for all political offices. But don’t expect free markets and multi-party democracy. “I was not chosen to be president to restore capitalism to Cuba,” he said. “I was elected to defend, maintain, and continue to perfect socialism, not destroy it.”

Mexico City

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Teachers get schooled: Defying the powerful teachers union, President Enrique Peña Nieto’s government has passed Mexico’s biggest education reform in over half a century. Teachers will now be hired by the government, and they may no longer inherit or buy their posts. “Professional merit must be the only way to be hired, remain, and advance as a teacher,” Peña Nieto said. Under the old, corrupt system, the union had complete control over hiring teachers and administering schools. The payroll includes thousands of “phantom” teachers; at one point, a major drug lord was getting a salary. Right after the law passed, union boss Elba Esther Gordillo was arrested for allegedly stealing millions of dollars in union funds.

Bogotá, Colombia

‘Juan Valdez’ on strike: Colombian coffee farmers are striking for higher subsidies from the government. The price of arabica beans has dropped by more than 50 percent over the past two years, and farmers say they can’t pay their bills. But Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said the $1.65 million the government gives coffee farmers each month is more than any other coffee-producing country subsidizes its farmers. “This strike is not only inconvenient and unnecessary, it is also unjust,” Santos said. Colombia is the world’s largest producer of premium arabica beans, prized by coffee lovers.

Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Dengue fever cases triple: A new strain of dengue fever is sweeping across southern Brazil. More than 200,000 people have been infected so far this year, compared with 70,000 by this time last year. Dengue is transmitted by mosquitoes, and officials said the number of cases was likely to rise further as the rainy season continues. The excruciatingly painful flu-like disease has four strains, and a person who has contracted one becomes immune to that strain. But type 4, which is responsible for the current outbreak, is new to Brazil. That means “the whole country is susceptible,” said Health Minister Alexandre Padilha.