Hello and welcome to the intelligence on Economist Radio. I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Latin America was once a region dominated by dictatorship.

Democracy spread in the 1980s, but thanks to stagnating economies, many in the region have become disenchanted.

Yet for democracy to succeed elsewhere, it must be preserved and defended in Latin America.

And in Bulgaria, there's a splashy apartment building that's ended up at the

center of a corruption row. It seems that if you're influential in the country's politics,

you might be able to get a place on the cheap.

First up, though.

Today, representatives of warring sides in the conflict in Yemen are due to meet in Jordan for the latest round of talks aimed at ending the violence.

They come as Yemen's war stretches into its fifth year. Across the country, the rebel group known as

the Houthis is battling the forces of a Western-backed government, that government's also supported

by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The people of the Arab world's poorest country

have suffered extraordinary famine and disease as the violence has dragged on.

At the end of last year, there came a whisper of hope

as the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez announced an agreement

between Yemeni factions that were meeting in Sweden.

I sincerely hope that we are living the beginning of the end of one of the biggest

tragedies of the 21st century, the conflict in Yemen.

The deal focused on ending a standoff between Houthis and government forces at the

vital port city of Houdada.

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