How will Canada deal with Mexico’s new president? As long as she continues the Fourth Transformation, argues CD columnist Owen Schalk, readers can surely guess what Canada will do: apply diplomatic and legal pressure against the Mexican government on behalf of Canadian capital. These are measures Ottawa usually takes against progressive governments in Latin America.

Cuba is facing its worst crisis in more than 60 years. Given the tradition of solid bilateral relations between Canada and the island nation, Ottawa could gain by aiding Cuba at this critical moment. An imaginative approach would improve substantially the lives of hundreds of thousands of Cubans. The question is: do we have the political will to help the Cuban people?

It appears as though Fox Nation, a subscription-based video service and companion to Fox News Channel, is soon to present a documentary on Canada-Cuba relations, emphasizing the close ties between the Trudeau family and Fidel Castro—and in particular the theory that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is the illegitimate son of the late Cuban leader.

Ecuador has historically spurned investor-state dispute settlement, a provision that allows companies to sue countries for alleged violations of trade agreements. This means companies can take states to court if their profits are put at risk by government policies. Since 1986, Ecuador has been forced to pay $10 billion for alleged breaches of its obligations to foreign investors.

On February 29, the Shuar Arutam People (PSHA) of Ecuador filed a complaint against Vancouver-based Solaris Resources Inc. before the British Columbia Securities Commission over its repeated failure to disclose material information to shareholders regarding its Warintza mining project, a large-scale copper and gold mine which overlaps with PSHA’s titled territory.

In the final years of his presidency, AMLO has faced opposition from Canada and the US, weathering legal challenges and diplomatic pressures from Ottawa and Washington over his efforts to increase the state’s role in his country’s energy and agriculture sectors. Likewise, Canada has vocally opposed AMLO’s measures to strengthen the Mexican state’s hand in mineral extraction.

At a time when the Ecuadorian government’s social disinvestment has wrecked the country’s economy and security sector, Canada is arguing for its right to deprive Ecuador of even more public money. Ottawa’s main concern is Ecuador’s resources: how to access them, and how to ensure Canadians can bring home as much profit as possible while exploiting them.

While the administration of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte prioritizes the growth of the mining sector, with the full-throated support of the Canadian embassy, organizations like Red Muqui are clear: in a time of increasing environmental pressure, those who stand to gain the most from mining are not those who will pay the biggest price.

On November 28, Panama’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the 20-year contract granted to Canadian mining company First Quantum is unconstitutional. The decision came after weeks of nationwide protests forced the government to announce a referendum on First Quantum’s contract for December 17. Now, however, the court seems to have decided the fate of the mine.

Argentines weary of annual inflation soaring above 140 percent and a poverty rate that reached 40 percent have elected right-wing libertarian economist Javier Milei. He had campaigned on the promise to privatize state-owned enterprises, slash government spending, dollarize the economy, eliminate the central bank, and close key ministries, among them health and education.