The start of 2015 finds Latin America turned into a leaderless region, in which the countries with the biggest political clout in recent years — Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico — have been significantly weakened by domestic troubles.
Brazil, the biggest Latin American country, is beset by economic and political problems. President Dilma Rousseff starts her second term Thursday as her country’s weakest president in recent memory. She faces a stagnant economy, a sizable opposition in the Brazilian Congress, and a growing political scandal surrounding Petrobras oil company bribes to ruling party officials.
While the nearly half of Brazil’s population that voted against her in the October 26 elections remain energized against her
