Episodes

Season 1 | Episode 42

Hundreds and thousands of Cubans have arrived in the US since 2022, power outages are becoming more frequent and the island does not generate enough from exports to pay for its imports, does anything remain of the "achievements of the Revolution" such as: health, education and social equality?

On the LatinNews podcast this week, we speak to William LeoGrande, Professor of Government and a specialist in Latin American politics and the US Foreign Policy toward Latin America and ask: what next for Cuba and the regime?

December 2024 is the 10th anniversary of Obama's decision to normalize relations with the nation, and now Cuba's Miguel Diaz Canel has declared that his country is now in a "wartime economy."

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Impact of U.S. Sanctions on Cuba

    • Cuba’s Wartime Economy and Resource Shortages

    • Mass Migration and Brain Drain in Cuba

    • Challenges in Economic Reforms and Foreign Relations

  • Professor William LeoGrande

    William M. LeoGrande is a Professor of Government at American University’s School of Public Affairs, specializing in Latin American politics and U.S. foreign policy toward the region. With a career spanning decades, he is a renowned expert on U.S.-Cuba relations, authoring numerous books and articles on the subject.

    His work has informed policymakers and the public on the complexities of bilateral ties, including during the historic rapprochement between the two nations in 2014. LeoGrande’s insights draw from extensive research and experience, making him a leading authority on the challenges and opportunities in U.S.-Latin America relations.

Season 1 | Episode 41

Specialists on Latin America are hopeful that the region will play a more central role in President Trump's foreign policy agenda. However, how does the importance of Latin America rank regarding the US pulling back from Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East? Can Trump's advisors have a unified view of US policy towards Latin America or can we expect a foreign policy forged through a prism of migration and drugs alone?

This week on the LatinNews podcast we speak to Tom Shannon, formerly undersecretary of state for political affairs in the US Department of State, US ambassador to Brazil, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs and special assistant to the president and senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs at the National Security Council.

In a conversation that gallops across Latin America addressing questions from migration to Lithium mines and autocrats to trade tariffs, Ambassador Shannon talks about the US's strategic partnerships, Donald Trump's desire to be a "prosperity president" over a "war president," and the pragmatism of various regional players.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Latin America’s Role in Trump’s Foreign Policy

    • China’s Influence in the Region

    • The Venezuela-Guyana Dispute

    • Migration and Drug Policy Challenges

  • Ambassador Tom Shannon

    Tom Shannon is a seasoned American diplomat with over 35 years of experience in U.S. foreign policy. He has served in pivotal roles, including Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil, and Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Shannon has worked under six presidents, both Republican and Democrat, shaping U.S. policy on Latin America and beyond.

    Renowned for his strategic insights, he has been a key player in addressing global challenges such as migration, trade, and regional security.

Season 1 | Episode 40

The tragedy in Haiti is growing exponentially: a security intervention against gangs is needed

There are approximately 150 gangs in Haiti and between them have killed ten thousand people over three years, they control 80 per cent of Port au Prince and recent massacres have stunned even the most hardened observers. Presently there are 400 security personnel from Kenya, deployed in the country as a UN mission to support Haiti's police force, with a further 600 more due in November. The Kenyan force is underfunded and understaffed and the humanitarian tragedy for the Haitian people is set to continue.

On the LatinNews podcast this week, we speak to Renata Segura, Program Director for Latin America and the Caribbean for Crisis Group and Diego Da Rin, Haiti Analyst for Crisis Group about their thoughts on the wide-scale gang violence, the former deep links between political and business elites and these gangs and the possibilities for the transitional government in controlling the situation. Will there be elections in Haiti in 2025?

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Background on Haiti's Gang Problem

    • Impact of President Jovenel Moïse’s Assassination

    • Political Elite and Gangs' Deep Ties

    • Prospects for Elections

  • Renata Segura

    Renata Segura started her career as a reporter on Colombian TV and a nationally-distributed magazine, before working at the Jesuit-led NGO CINEP in Bogotá. She got her Ph.D. in political science from the New School for Social Research in New York in 2007. Between 2002 and 2019, Renata worked at the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum, a program of the Social Science Research Council.

    Diego Da Rin

    Diego Da Rin is a social science researcher, journalist and consultant on Latin America and Caribbean for the International Crisis Group.

Season 1 | Episode 39

On this week's LatinNews podcast, we explore the themes of urban mobility, transport infrastructure, and social inequities in Latin American cities, and discover why cities in the region serve as creative urban incubators.

We speak with Dr. Daniel Oviedo, Associate Professor at UCL's Development Planning Unit and an expert on economic and spatial inequalities in urban environments, about what can be done to make Latin American cities more inclusive, provide better opportunities for vulnerable populations, and improve social policy.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Urban Inequality in Latin American Cities

    • Transport Infrastructure and Accessibility

    • Innovative Mobility Solutions

    • Social Policy Integration

  • Dr. Daniel Oviedo

    Dr. Oviedo is an Associate Professor at UCL's Development Planning Unit. With over fourteen years of international experience, he has focused on studying social, economic, and spatial inequalities in urban environments, emphasising the role of urban mobility in reproducing (in)equality and well-being. Dr. Oviedo possesses extensive experience in leading international, interdisciplinary research in the global south that engages with vulnerable and disadvantaged communities using participatory methods in low- and middle-income countries.

Season 1 | Episode 38

By all accounts, Bernardo Arévalo was not expected to win Guatemala's 2023 presidential election. The shock of his victory took the Guatemalan establishment by surprise, and his win has been described by Edgar Ortiz, an expert in constitutional law and political risk in Guatemala, and our guest this week, as "a glitch in the matrix."

In his efforts to address Guatemala's widespread institutional corruption, rampant extortion, and poverty reduction, Arévalo has faced stiff resistance from the Pacto de Corruptos and Consuelo Porras, the current Attorney General. Arévalo recognises the need to modernise and democratise the Guatemalan state, but with only 23 out of 160 seats in Congress, Ortiz argues that the president's democratic approach may be too idealistic. Simply acting democratically, Ortiz warns, will not bring about change in the face of an abusively legalistic regime determined to maintain the status quo.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Arévalo’s fight against institutional corruption

    • Challenges in Guatemala's judiciary and Attorney General’s power

    • The role of indigenous movements in supporting Arévalo

    • The influence and resistance of the Pacto de Corruptos

  • Edgar Ortiz Romero

    Edgar Ortiz Romero is an attorney specializing in constitutional law and political risk. Based in Guatemala City, he serves as a legal and political risk consultant while also lecturing in his field. Ortiz has been featured in media outlets for his expert commentary on democratic transitions and constitutional rulings, and he regularly publishes editorials on political and legal issues in Guatemala. His work focuses on analyzing the impact of legal frameworks on governance and political stability..

Season 1 | Episode 37

China's engagement with Latin America is a complex and multifaceted relationship that is both broad and substantial. The PRC's use of commercial tools and instruments of State to create a global economic order that functions to its benefit has not gone unnoticed.

So, this week on The LatinNews Podcast, we speak to Dr Evan Ellis, Latin American Research Professor at the US Army War College about China's goals, their support of illiberal regimes in the region, their ability to control risk and the APEC summit in Peru this November, before the G20 meeting in Brazil.

Tune in for a far-reaching look at China's interests and influences in Latin America from Mexico to Argentina.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • China's economic strategy in Latin America

    • APEC summit and China's influence in Peru

    • China's and Taiwan relations

    • Venezuela's debts and China's role

  • Dr. Evan Ellis

    Dr. Evan Ellis is a research professor of Latin American Studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, with a focus on the region’s relationships with China and other non-Western Hemisphere actors, as well as transnational organized crime and populism in the region.

    Dr. Ellis has published over 400 works, including five books: the 2009 book China in Latin America: The Whats and Wherefores, the 2013 book The Strategic Dimension of Chinese Engagement with Latin America, the 2014 book, China on the Ground in Latin America, the 2018 book, Transnational Organized Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the 2022 book, China Engages Latin America: Distorting Development and Democracy?

    He has given testimony on Latin America security issues to the US Congress on various occasions, has discussed his work regarding China and other external actors in Latin America on a broad range of radio and television programs, and is cited regularly in the print media in both the US and Latin America for his work in this area.

    Dr. Ellis has also been awarded the Order of Military Merit José María Córdova by the Colombian government for his scholarship on security issues in the region.

Season 1 | Episode 36

How did Mexico get here? While all eyes are on the growing civil war within the Sinaloa Cartel, between those loyal to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who was arrested on July 25, and the Chapitos, accused of betraying him, in order to understand current events in Mexico's fluid drugs trade, it's necessary to step back and take all of the information in careful context.

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we speak to Benjamin Smith, Professor of Latin American History at the University of Warwick and author of: "The Dope: the Real Story of the Mexican Drugs Trade," about the reasons behind the fragmentation of the entities in the drugs trade, inefficient government policy, what we can expect going forwards under President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum and how she might fare with a Trump or Harris presidency in the United States.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Fragmentation of Mexico's drug trade

    • Government corruption and cartel influence

    • Peña Nieto's failed kingpin strategy

    • Future challenges for President Sheinbaum

  • Professor Benjamin Smith

    Benjamin Smith is a Professor of Latin American History at the University of Warwick and a Fulbright All-Disciplines Scholar at the University of California, San Diego. Over the past 16 years, he has published four monographs, four edited collections, and numerous academic articles, focusing on Mexico’s political history. His recent work centers on the Mexican drug trade, with his latest book, The Dope: The History of the Mexican Drug Trade, published in 2021. Benjamin also provides expert testimonies for Mexicans fleeing violence.

Season 1 | Episode 35

Bolivians go to the polls on 1 December 2024 in a referendum to decide on the removal of fuel subsidies and to define whether to admit continuous or discontinuous presidential re-election. As if this weren't enough, on the same date, there are also judicial elections and another challenge to be clarified in the referendum is the shortage of dollars in the country.

Everything points to a significant clash of politics and personalities between the current embattled President Luis Arce and former president Evo Morales as we gear up for the first round of presidential elections in August 2025.

On the LatinNews podcast this week, we talk to Dr John Crabtree, research associate at the Latin American Centre at the University of Oxford, associate of the Politics Department at Brookes University in Oxford, region head for Latin America at Oxford Analytica Ltd. and author of: "Business Power and the State in the Central Andes. Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru in Comparison," published by University of Pittsburgh Press.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Bolivia's Upcoming Elections

    • Referendum on Fuel Subsidies

    • Judicial Elections and Challenges

    • Economic Instability in Bolivia

  • Dr. John Crabtree

    Dr. John Crabtree is a distinguished Research Associate at the Latin American Centre at the University of Oxford and a Senior Member of Saint Antony's College. With an MA from Liverpool University and a PhD from Oxford Brookes University, where he also serves as a visiting researcher, Dr. Crabtree is a leading expert on the politics of the Andean countries.

    His extensive research and publications include notable works such as "Peru under Garcia: An Opportunity Lost," "Fujimori’s Peru: The Political Economy," and "Business Power and the State in the Central Andes: Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru in Comparison," published by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Dr. Crabtree also holds the position of Region Head for Latin America at Oxford Analytica Ltd., bringing deep insights into Latin American political dynamics.

Season 1 | Episode 34

In theory, sanctions are designed to force governments to defend business interests, restore or seek democracy, respect human rights, protect the environment, fight corruption and tackle international crime and Latin America - according to a new report - is disproportionately targeted.

"Sanctions in Latin America: the Regrettable Rise of a World of Prohibitions," a new report authored by Andrew Thompson a Latin America Analyst addresses the types of sanctions placed on countries and individuals or companies and groups in the region and the increasingly complex manners by which they are evaded.

Tune in to hear from Andrew Thompson, his thoughts on the long-running sanctions placed on Cuba, those on Nicaragua and Venezuela and the reasons why they are mainly US-imposed.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • US-imposed sanctions in Latin America

    • Sanctions on Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela

    • Evasion tactics by sanctioned entities

    • Insights from Andrew Thompson's report
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  • Andrew Thompson

    Andrew Thompson is a journalist and political risk analyst who covers Latin America.

    He was previously a foreign correspondent in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, and head of the BBC’s Latin American Service.

    He is currently focusing on journalism, economic analysis and political risk on a number of projects with different organizations, including Oxford Business Group, EIU, LatinNews, and Canning House.

Season 1 | Episode 33

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we look at what is being done to resolve the long standing conflict between the Chilean government and the Mapuche indigenous people, inhabitants of parts of south-central Chile, who have suffered from a policy of "pacification" which resulted in a tragic history of exterminations and displacement. 

 Tracing its roots back to the time of Chile's independence from Spain in 1810, the Mapuche conflict has evolved over time and there is now an increase in violent acts as militant Mapuche groups seek greater recognition and rights to ancestral lands. 

 The magnitude of the challenge is not lost on President Boric who launched a commission in 2023 to find a solution. So, how can Chile address this long standing historical debt to the Mapuche? 

Joining us on the podcast is Dr Pablo Policzer, Associate Professor of Political Science and former director of the Latin American Research Centre at the University of Calgary in Canada who provides us with contexts from the very beginning of the conflict to the current day. 

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Origins and evolution of the Mapuche conflict

    • Impact of Chile's "pacification" policy

    • Rise of militant Mapuche groups

    • Chilean government's current efforts

  • Dr. Pablo Policzer

    Pablo Policzer is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Calgary and the Canada Research Chair in Latin American Politics. With a specialization in comparative politics, he examines how both democratic and authoritarian regimes manage armed actors, including militaries, police forces, and non-state armed groups.

    His acclaimed book, “The Rise and Fall of Repression in Chile” (Notre Dame, 2009), won the Canadian Political Science Association’s prize for best book in Comparative Politics in 2010 and was recognized by Choice Magazine as an “Outstanding Academic Title” for 2009.

    Policzer earned his PhD in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his BA (Honours, First Class) from the University of British Columbia.

    Currently, at Oxford, he is investigating the ongoing conflict in the Mapuche territory in Chile post-military dictatorship.

Season 1 | Episode 32

Venezuela will vote for a new president on 28 July in what will not be free and fair elections, that much is certain. But, which way will it go?

On The LatinNews Podcast this week we explore some of the worst case scenarios facing Venezuela including the possibility of increased repression and massive voter fraud. Or, will Nicolas Maduro seek a negotiated exit for himself and his entourage?

Joining us is Dr Javier Corrales, the Dwight W. Morrow 1895 professor of Political Science at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts to share his thoughts on the elections, the influence of external actors and discuss all possible outcomes.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Venezuelan Election Overview

    • Worst Case Scenarios for Venezuela

    • Nicolas Maduro's Possible Exit

    • External Influences To Be Considered

  • Dr. Javier Corrales

    Javier Corrales is a distinguished Political Science professor at Amherst College, holding a Ph.D. from Harvard University. His research encompasses democratization, presidential powers, populism, and political economy. Notable works include "Autocracy Rising," analyzing Venezuela's authoritarian turn, and "Fixing Democracy," on constitutional impacts on presidential power. He has contributed to prominent journals and media like The New York Times and NPR. A twice-awarded Fulbright scholar, Corrales has taught globally and consulted for major international organizations. Currently, he researches populism, polarization, and democratic backsliding.

Season 1 | Episode 31

Colombia’s cluster of armed conflicts seem interminable on the surface but President Gustavo Petro, the country’s first leftwing premier and a former guerrilla himself, has made Total Peace (Paz Total) a cornerstone policy of his government in an attempt to pull the nation from continual asymmetrical conflicts scattered all about the territory.

And while Petro’s approval rating sits at a perilous 32% at the half-way point of his tenure, behind the scenes, Total Peace, a sequence of parallel dialogues conducted with each warring faction, from left wing guerrillas to organized crime syndicates, may just yield some positive results.

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we talk to Andrei Gómez Súarez, a Senior Researcher at the University of Winchester and General Director of Rodeemos el Dialogo, the Anglo Colombian peacebuilding organizing association and hear his take on Total Peace and how this policy may be showing some significant advances despite press reports to the contrary.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Total Peace (Paz Total)

    • Petro's Policy Overview

    • Public Perception vs. Progress

    • Future Directions

  • Dr. Andrei Gomez-Suarez

    Andrei Gomez-Suarez, based in Oxford, specializes in conflict resolution and peace negotiations. He co-founded Rodeemos el Diálogo (ReD) and works as a Senior Consultant at Positive Negatives. His academic work includes books like "Genocide, Geopolitics and Transnational Networks" (Routledge, 2015) and "El Triunfo del No" (Icono, 2016). Andrei is also known for creative projects like "Jessica" and "La Confianza," focused on Colombian issues. Currently, he's writing a memoir about growing up amidst political violence in 1980s southern Colombia.

Season 1 | Episode 30

The Mexican electorate made history on 2 June by electing the country's first woman president in Claudia Sheinbaum, former Mexico City mayor, scientist, academic and protege of outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). Much has been reported about Sheinbaum's possible difficulty in distancing herself from AMLO's influence, but ironically, rather than giving her some freedom to pursue her own policies, her supermajority in Congress will mean that she is almost obliged to continue her predecessor's reform agenda.

On the LatinNews podcast this week, we discuss the relevance of the election results and what these mean for the country's short and medium-term outlooks. We ask Mónica Serrano, PhD in International Relations from Oxford University, Professor of International Studies at the Colegio de México, and Member of the Board of the United Nations University, about President-elect Sheinbaum and her policies regarding security, health, education and economic opportunities in the country.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Claudia Sheinbaum's Historic Election

    • AMLO's Influence on Sheinbaum

    • Economic and Political Impact of Sheinbaum’s Supermajority

    • Future of Mexico's Security, Health, Education, and Economy

  • Dr. Mónica Serrano

    Dr. Mónica Serrano is a Professor of International Relations at El Colegio de México and an Associate Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). Her research focuses on security, drug trafficking, organized crime, and human rights. She was the founding Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and has held senior positions at CUNY and Oxford University.

    Dr. Serrano has taught at Oxford, the Institute of Latin American Studies, and the Università degli Studi di Milano. Her publications include "Human Rights Regimes in the Americas" (2009), "Mexico’s Security Failure" (2012), and "Verdad, Justicia y Memoria" (2023). She serves on editorial boards for Conflict, Security and Development, and Global Responsibility to Protect.

Season 1 | Episode 29

On this week's LatinNews Podcast, we discuss the reach and main characteristics of the Tren de Aragua criminal group, from its beginnings in the Tocorón prison in Venezuela, to its spread through South America.

We speak to Chris Dalby, director of the World of Crime media company and publishing and expert on organized crime, about the reasons for the Tren de Aragua's startling growth, adaptability and violence.

The Tren de Aragua currently control a broad criminal portfolio of crimes including drug trafficking, illegal mining, extortion, migrant smuggling, trafficking of women for sexual exploitation and kidnapping, among others.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Tren de Aragua's Origins and Growth:

    • Criminal Network and Diaspora:

    • Criminal Activities and Influence

    • State Collusion and Recent Crackdown

  • Chris Dalby

    Chris Dalby is the author of "CJNG - A Quick Guide to Mexico's Deadliest Cartel", the first in a series of guides to the most dangerous organized crime groups in the world.

    Chris is the founder of World of Crime, a think tank investigating organized crime. As a journalist, he has reported from over twenty countries on five continents. As a consultant, he has helped governments and non-profits make sense of urgent criminal challenges. He has worked in Mexico, Brazil, China, Malaysia and now resides in the Netherlands with his wife and two sons.

Season 1 | Episode 28

On the LatinNews podcast this week, we take a look at how Jamaica has turned its economy around to start enjoying strong growth, low unemployment, reductions in debt burdens and attracting investors.

Marla Dukharan, a renowned economist and advisor on the Caribbean provides us with an impartial analysis of Jamaica's success story. And, while we can celebrate these advances, there are looming challenges for the island, in climate change and security, ahead.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Economic Reforms and Growth in Jamaica

    • Institutional Reforms

    • Tourism and Security

    • Impact of Climate Change

  • Marla Dukharan

    Recognized as a top economist and advisor on the Caribbean, Marla has led discussions and published reports on the Caribbean implications of EU Blacklisting, COVID-19, BREXIT, and changing US and Chinese policies, among other geopolitical developments. Marla has taken a firm stance on resolving the constraints and the injustices that the Caribbean faces that directly hinder growth and constrain the region from achieving its socio-economic potential. Her monthly Caribbean Economic Report has become a critical input for regional monitoring, closely following risks, vulnerabilities, and opportunities for growth. As a highly sought-after keynote speaker internationally on Caribbean issues, she regularly advises private sector executives and multinationals to support their strategic decisions in the region. Marla served on the Government of Barbados Jobs and Investment Council, is a Member of the Advisory Board to the UNDP's Regional Bureau for Latin America, and Board member for the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI). She sits on the Board of Directors of RF Holdings and of Goddard Enterprises Limited.

Season 1 | Episode 27

Murders are falling, yet insecurity fears in Brazil increase, what can President Lula do?

Murder rates in Brazil have fallen under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, but surveys show that people believe violence to have increased in the country. There is little trust in the police and judicial system, 64,2 million live in households with food insecurity, there have been more than 4 million cases of dengue in the first four months of 2024 alone, so how can Lula reduce the massive inequalities in Brazilian society, combat organized crime run from prisons and address poverty?

On The LatinNews Podcast this week we speak to Graham Denyer Willis, Professor of Global Politics and Society in the department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge, how can Brazil address its historical condition to violence and poverty?

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Inequality and security in Brazil

    • Rise of organized crime groups

    • Public perception of security:

    • Brazil as a consumer country for narcotics

  • Graham Denyer Willis

    Graham Denyer Willis is Professor of Global Politics and Society in the Department of Politics and International Studies, and a Fellow of Queens’ College.

    A political ethnographer, Graham's research and teaching is concerned with practices and assumptions of power amidst inequality, as they work through cities, institutions and informality. He approaches these questions from historical and contemporary Brazil, to question how direct and indirect forms of violence and social organisation matter in the production and maintenance of political authority.

    He is the author of two books, both published by the University of California Press. His first book, The Killing Consensus: Police, Organized Crime, and the Regulation of Life and Death in Urban Brazil (2015), accompanies homicide detectives in São Paulo as they negotiate an incipient organised crime group and police who kill 2.3 times per day.

    His second, Keep the Bones Alive: Missing People and the Search for Life in Brazil (2022), examines how and why 20,000 - 25,000 people go missing, per year, in São Paulo.

    He is now at work on a third ethnographic monograph, which examines the practices and logics of 'trust and safety' in Silicon Valley as vital to a global regime of security and accumulation rooted in platform capitalism.

    Professor Willis is also a 2021 Philip Leverhulme Prize recipient for his work on everyday patterns of political order with attention to policing and inequality, via ethnography and a focus on Brazil.

Season 1 | Episode 26

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we discuss the myriad of challenges facing a new government in Panama. Outgoing president Laurentino Cortizo is immensely unpopular and the victorious candidate in May's presidential elections will have to face up to growing public unrest due to corruption, the stuttering economy, climate change and its effects on the Panama Canal, mass migrations and the urgent need to find new resources for the country.

We speak to Carlos Guevara-Mann, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Master of Science in International Affairs at Florida State University at the Republic of Panama, to provide us with an in-depth look at the challenges ahead for Panama.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Challenges facing Panama's new government

    • Public unrest due to corruption

    • Economic issues and climate change impacts

    • Panama Canal and resource management

  • Carlos Guevara Mann

    Carlos Guevara Mann is Professor of Political Science and Director of FSU Panama’s graduate program in International Affairs, offering a Master of Science degree. Dr. Guevara Mann received his Ph.D. in Government and International Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. He has a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Earlier, he majored in Finance at Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua, Panama.

    Dr. Guevara Mann specializes in International Relations, especially U.S.-Latin American Relations; Comparative Politics, with a focus on authoritarian and democratic regimes; and political history, with a focus on Latin America. He is the author of Panamanian Militarism: A Historical Interpretation (Ohio University Press, 1996) and Political Careers, Corruption, and Impunity: Panama’s Assembly, 1984-2009 (University of Notre Dame Press, 2011), as well as several journal articles on his topics of expertise and nearly 1,600 newspaper editorials.

Season 1 | Episode 25

Speculation about a potential early election call in Belize has been dismissed by Prime Minister John Briceño. The Prime Minister’s comments follow the People’s United Party’s (PUP) recent victory in municipal elections, in which they secured a significant majority over the United Democratic Party (UPD). The PUP’s strong showing had led some observers to believe that the party might capitalize on its momentum and seek an early mandate from the people.

This week on The LatinNews Podcast, we speak to Victor Bulmer-Thomas, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of London and Honorary Professor with the Institute of of the Americas at University College London about the challenges facing Belize in the immediate future.

As Briceño’s statements underscore a different strategy, suggesting that the government intends to focus on delivering on its promises and solidifying its track record before the general election there are pending issues, such as clarifying the location of a deep water port, the multidimensional poverty suffered by much of the population, border disputes with Guatemala, and where does Lord Aschroft of Chichester fit into ‘s elections?

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Recent Municipal Elections in Belize

    • Border Dispute with Guatemala

    • Deep Water Port Development in Belize

    • Climate Change Impact on Tourism

  • Victor Bulmer-Thomas

    Victor Bulmer-Thomas is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of London and Honorary Professor with the Institute of the Americas, University College London. He is also a Senior Distinguished Fellow of the School of Advanced Study at the University of London; an Associate Fellow in the Americas Program at Chatham House, where he was the Director from 2001 to 2006; and was Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London, from 1992 to 1998. His publications include The Economic History of the Caribbean Since the Napoleonic Wars (2012), The Political Economy of Central America Since 1920 (1987) and Input-Output Analysis for Developing Countries (1982). He is also co-editor of The Cambridge Economic History of Latin America (2006).

Season 1 | Episode 24

On The LatinNews Podcast we discuss the Environmental and Social History of Deforestation in the Amazon and the Latin American region. In a far-reaching episode, we take a look at the tenurial structure, technologies and political regimes in understanding rapid forest conversions, and the complex dynamics of forest resurgence now found throughout the tropical world.

Our guest, Professor Susanna Hecht is a specialist on tropical development in Latin America, especially the Amazon Basin and Central America. Her research focuses on the political economies of development ranging from corporate frontiers of cattle and export commodity agriculture (like soy, oil palm) to populist land occupation. She also studies their comparative environmental and social impacts. She also explores alternatives to destructive development, and analyzes the forms of conservation in inhabited landscapes whether through indigenous technologies, non timber extractive products, niche markets, social movements and globalization, including the role of remittances and migratory networks in reshaping rural land uses. The impacts of emerging green markets and greenhouse gas offsets for smaller scale farmers also form part of her research concerns.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • The history of the Amazon

    • Political regimes and insurgencies affecting the Amazon

    • Regulations and conservation efforts

    • The role the international community plays in preserving/destroying the Amazon

  • Professor Susanna Hecht

    Professor Hecht is a specialist on tropical development in Latin America, especially the Amazon Basin and Central America. Her research focuses on the political economies of development. She also writes environmental and social history of the tropics, and about large scale concepts, such as Tropicality, through which we understand and represent them. She recently completed a study published by the University of Chicago Press on the Brazilian writer and Amazon explorer, Euclides da Cunha, and the imperial ambitions pertaining to the Amazon Scramble, when European powers and hemispheric aspirants (and Brazil itself) clashed in the remote regions as well as adjudication courts over the immense rubber wealth during the first modern globalization impulse in Amazonia.

    Dr. Hecht’s work has been influential in development as well as academic circles. She has worked for many international multilateral agencies, US granting agencies (NSF, NASA), as well as a range of non government organizations, as well as the governments of Brazil, Bolivia and El Salvador. She has received numerous prestigious grants including research funding from the MacArthur Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ford Foundation among many, many others. She is also a member of the Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton.

Season 1 | Episode 23

The combination of a weak state and strong criminal forces has led to a near-doubling of homicides each year in Ecuador since 2020 and the nation's murder rate for 2023 was around 40 per 100,000 people, making it the highest in Ecuador's history and therefore one of the most violent in Latin America.

In this episode of The LatinNews Podcast, we ask Ivan Briscoe, Program Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at Crisis Group and Glaeldys Gonzalez Calanche, a Fellow at Crisis Group, are President Noboa's new measures working for Ecuador?

We cover details leading up to the crisis in Ecuador, the main players behind the violence, President Noboa's actions and the issue of forthcoming presidential elections.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Ecuador’s alarming murder rate

    • President Daniel Noboa

    • Following President Nayib Bukele’s example

    • How criminal groups infiltrated Ecuador?

  • Ivan Briscoe

    Ivan Briscoe joined Crisis Group in June 2016 as Program Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. He has worked on Latin American politics, conflict and crime since 1996. Before joining Crisis Group, Ivan worked as a senior research fellow in the Clingendael Institute of the Netherlands and in the Foundation for International Relations and Foreign Dialogue (FRIDE) in Spain, where he specialised in the study of illicit networks in Latin America, new forms of armed violence and the effects of inequality.

    As Crisis Group’s Giustra Fellow for the Latin America and Caribbean Program, Glaeldys conducts field research, formulates policy recommendations and assists in the Program’s advocacy activities related to conflict prevention and mitigation in the region.

    Glaeldys Gonzalez Calanche

    Glaeldys studied at the Central University of Venezuela where she obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Political and Administrative Sciences with an emphasis on International Relations. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Salamanca.

Season 1 | Episode 22

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we ask Dr Jacqueline Jimenez Polanco, Associate Professor of Sociology at the Bronx Community College of the City University of New York, to what can we attribute the success of the anti-corruption and anti-impunity politics in the Dominican Republic?

With elections on the horizon for May 2024, will the victor continue in the same vein of combating official corruption, addressing tensions with Haiti and protecting the country's all-important tourism revenue? We explore these topics and the historical background to current politics in the Dominican Republic.

Dr Jimenez Polanco is the author of numerous books and articles including, "Dominican Politics in the 21st Century: Continuity and Change," "Divagaciones II, An Anthology by Dominican Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Women," and the forthcoming, "Dominican American Politics: Immigrants, Activists and Politicians."

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Luis Abinader

    • Tourism

    • Relations with Haiti

    • Preservation of democracy

  • Dr. Jacqueline Jiménez Polanco

    Dr. Jacqueline Jiménez Polanco holds a degree in law and a Ph.D. in political Science. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences at Bronx Community College, CUNY. Dr. Jiménez Polanco’s research interests range from Dominican politics and women’s political representation to the LGBTIQ movement, both in the Dominican Republic and in the U.S. Her latest research project, “Dominican Americans and the Politics of Empowerment,” will examine the emergence and maturation of Dominican political representation in the U.S. This project will rely on archival collections housed in the CUNY DSI Dominican Archives—the Anthony Stevens-Acevedo Collection, the Bienvenido Lara Flores Collection, and the Dominicans 2000 Collection. These will allow Jiménez Polanco to examine the early participation of Dominicans in U.S. politics, their links with political organizations in the Dominican Republic, and the effects of grassroot activism in the formation of the traditional and contemporary Dominican political leadership in the U.S. Jiménez Polanco will also interview Dominican political leaders and campaign advisors and examine data collected by Dominicanos USA (DUSA). Jiménez Polanco’s research will be the first to tackle the incursion of Dominicans into U.S. electoral politics by examining archival materials produced by community and cultural activists.

Season 1 | Episode 21

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we speak to Martin Weinstein, Emeritus Professor of Political Science at William Paterson University in New Jersey and author of dozens of books on Uruguay, his opinions on the upcoming presidential elections in Uruguay in October 2024.

Uruguay is unlikely to lose its reputation as the "Switzerland of Latin America," however there are challenges ahead for the successful candidate in the elections, be they from the leftist Frente Amplio or right-of-centre Partido Nacional. These include the issues of security and narco-trafficking, continued tensions with Mercosur and an urgent need to reform the primary and secondary education systems.

Tune in for this far-reaching conversation on the LatinNews podcast.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Presidential elections

    • Tensions with Mercosur

    • Education systems

    • Narco-trafficking

  • Martin Weinstein

    Martin Weinstein was a member of the Political Science Department from 1971-2010. An internationally recognized expert on the politics of Uruguay, Dr. Weinstein did his undergraduate work at Columbia College, and received his M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University.

    The recipient of two Fulbright awards, he authored two books and dozens of articles on Uruguayan politics, U.S.-Latin American relations and human rights in the hemisphere. In 2003, his former student, Michael Perry, established the Martin Weinstein Scholarship to honor his role as a teacher and mentor.

    Dr. Weinstein continues to travel frequently to Uruguay and Argentina and is currently working on a biography/festschrift of his mentor, Dr. Kalman Silvert. His most recent publication is a review of Intellectuals and Leftist Parties in Uruguay, 1958-2006: Frustrated Dialogue by Stephen Gregory which appeared in the May 2011 issue of Hispanic American Historical Review. He will be teaching a course on Latin America for the Osher Institute for Lifelong Learning (OLLI) in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts in the fall of 2012.

Season 1 | Episode 20

On this episode of The LatinNews Podcast, we ask Rosemary Joyce, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, how governable is Honduras considering the challenges facing the country and President Xiomara Castro?

In reality, Hondurans can point to the 2009 coup against President Zelaya (current President Xiomara Castro's husband) as a pivotal moment of seismic proportions and consequences in Honduras' political landscape. After that moment, the country endured 12 years or three presidential terms of mismanagement under President Porfirio Lobo (now charged by the US with having taken bribes from narco-trafficking organizations) and President Juan Orlando Hernández, who has been extradited to the US on corruption charges.

How can President Castro govern a country and address the three main issues affecting the Central American nation? 1. Corruption, 2. Improving the Economy, 3. Safety and Security. We look at these issues and address the current state of Honduras.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • 2009 Coup

    • Is Honduras a narco-state?

    • President Castro’s progress in fighting corruption?

    • Congress, legislation and parliament

  • Rosemary Joyce

    Rosemary Joyce participated in field research in northern Honduras from 1977 to 2009, in the Ulua and Cuyumapa valleys, Lake Yojoa, and the Caribbean coast. The sites where she conducted research date as early as before 1500 BCE to the Spanish colonial period. She employs multi-scalar approaches that consider regional patterns and detailed household archaeology together.

    Since 2010, she has been developing collaborations with colleagues in Mexico that bring the household scale approaches we developed in Honduras into a regional scale project in the hinterland of Classic Maya Palenque, in Chiapas.

    As a museum anthropologist, Joyce works with curated collections, including photographs and historical archives, in museums in North America, Europe, and Honduras. She has engaged in collections management and exhibition work at Harvard's Peabody Museum, the Wellesley College Museum and Cultural Center, the Heritage Plantation at Sandwich, Massachusetts, the Museo de Antropología e Historia in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution.

    Her work with museum collections inspired an interest in disciplinary history. She has published work about women who were early archaeologists in Honduras, and more broadly on the history and sociopolitics of archaeology, using Honduras as a case study. This led to her current work on cultural policy and histories of collecting.

Season 1 | Episode 19

On the first LatinNews podcast episode for 2024, we welcome back Jon Farmer, Editor in Chief of Latin News to provide us with an in-depth look at Argentina's President Javier Milei, his election, his domestic policies, plans for the troubled economy, foreign policies and the relationship with the IMF. 

Milei was voted in as an indictment of the political class in Argentina, but can he pull off the economic miracle required to turn the country around, for how long can the people survive his austerity measures and finally is there a possibility that he may not see out his term? 

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Who is Javier Milei?

    • The economy in Argentina

    • How has the international investors received President Milei?

    • Will the proposed shock therapy work?

  • Jon Farmer

    Jon Farmer is Editor-in-chief at LatinNews and editor of our Latin American Weekly Report, the company’s flagship publication. Just as comfortable sitting in front of a camera as a computer, he has made numerous media appearances on news networks such as the BBC and CNN. He has participated in panel discussions for Canning House on key political developments in Latin America (the Honduran coup d’état in June 2009 produced a particularly lively debate).

    Jon has also worked in Central America, covering elections in Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama, and has travelled extensively across the entire region. A prodigious reader on and off topic, Jon’s special interests include governance and democracy; caudillismo and political leadership; and the challenge of national and indigenous identities.

    He holds an MA in Latin American Studies from the Institute for the Study of the Americas, School of Advanced Studies, University of London, where he majored in the International Politics of Latin America and Economics of Latin America.

Season 1 | Episode 18

Can Costa Rica's straight talking President Rodrigo Chaves stand up to the country's political elites?

On the final episode of The LatinNews Podcast for 2023, we ask Ronald Alfaro-Redondo, a researcher in Political Science at the University of Costa Rica and at the State of the Nation Program, how Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves can build on popular discontent with the country's long-established political elites?

Alfaro-Redondo leads us through a complex weave of issues facing President Chaves, not least regarding the political class in Costa Rica but also, the rise of populism in the region, his approval ratings, press attacks, the future of the welfare state and the presence of drugs gangs in Costa Rica affecting the nation's security.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Populism in Cost Rica

    • Rodrigo Chaves’ administration thus far

    • Freedom of press

    • Drug and gang activity

  • Ronald Alfaro-Redondo

    Ronald Alfaro-Redondo is a Costa Rican Political Scientist. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences from Columbia University. He is a Professor in the Political Science Department of the University of Costa Rica, a researcher at the Programa Estado de la Nacion, and the Principal researcher of the Costa Rican chapter of the Americas Barometer, Latin American Public Opinion Project. His research interests include political participation, electoral behaviour, political parties and local politics.

Season 1 | Episode 17

Is the Latin American Illicit Drug Business Changing?

The illicit drug business continues to be profitable, violent and deeply embedded in the economies and political systems in Latin America and so, on the LatinNews podcast this week, we discuss the eight main headlines as explained in a new report written by Andrew Thompson, a journalist and political risk analyst covering the region. 

Thompson describes new factors in the drugs trade, including the evolution of the opioids market in the United States, the Chinese and Mexican role in the fentanyl supply chain, potential signs of weakness in the Colombian cocaine market, the importance of the triple frontier region between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay and the crisis in the region's prison systems. 

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Biden’s dilemma

    • Colombia’s new place in the drug trade

    • Fentanyl and the US-China-Mexico triangle

    • Watch the pharmacists

  • Andrew Thompson

    Andrew Thompson is a journalist and political risk analyst.

    He is a former foreign correspondent (Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Rio) and a broadcaster for the BBC’s Latin American Service.

    He is also an Associate Fellow at Canning House in London. Working through La Rambla Research Ltd he writes about economics, political risk, and business in Latin America.

(Join our two-week free trial to download the report)

Season 1 | Episode 16

Can Panama cope with trends affecting international trade?

The post-war era of growth has been replaced by a much more uncertain, nationalistic and dangerous world and nowhere is this more evident when it comes to the current trend of repositioning in the global supply chain network which therefore directly affects Panama and the Panama Canal.

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we ask Andrew Thomas PhD, Professor of International Business at the College of Business at the University of Akron and author of "The Canal of Panama and Globalization: Growth and Challenges in the 21st Century," can Panama effectively respond to issues such as climate change and extended drought, supply chain security, population growth and global events such as the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East?

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Post-War growth era

    • Climate change (drought crisis)

    • Panama Canal and Global Supply Chains

    • Upcoming elections

  • Dr. Andrew R Thomas

    Dr. Andrew R Thomas teaches Customer Relationship Management in the doctoral programs at ISM. Thomas is Associate Professor of Marketing and International Business at the University of Akron.

    He has traveled to and conducted business in 120 countries on all seven continents. Thomas is founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Transportation Security, contributing editor at Industry Week, and a regularly featured analyst for media outlets around the world.

    Thomas received a PhD in International Business at the University of Bucharest, Academia de Studii Economice, an MA in International Political Economy from the University of Akron and a BA in Political Science and History from the University of Akron.

Season 1 | Episode 15

Nicaragua's Tropical Taliban under Ortega and Murillo

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we look at the regime of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua and discuss his likely successor and how the country arrived at this aggravated stage of repression.

Dr Manuel Orozco, a Nicaraguan political scientist at the Inter American Dialogue, joins us to discuss how the regime has further dismantled democratic institutions and pursued a policy of systemic repression in behaviour akin to that of a "Tropical Taliban."

In recent years more than 12 per cent of Nicaragua's population has left the country, nine out of ten citizens are in opposition to the regime, yet the culture of fear pervades. We ask for how long Ortega can hold on to power, how he manages to do so and who is the likely successor?

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • President Daniel Ortega and First Lady Rosario Murillo

    • Nicaraguan military and security forces

    • Civil unrest

    • Where does Nicaragua and its citizens go from here?

  • Dr. Manuel Orozco

    Manuel Orozco is the director of the Migration, Remittances, and Development Program at the Inter-American Dialogue. He also serves as a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Center for International Development and as a senior adviser with the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

    Orozco has conducted extensive research, policy analysis and advocacy on issues relating to global flows of remittances as well as migration and development worldwide. He is chair of Central America and the Caribbean at the US Foreign Service Institute and senior researcher at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University.

    Orozco frequently testifies before Congress and has spoken before the United Nations. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of Texas at Austin, a MA in public administration and Latin American studies, and a BA in international relations from the National University of Costa Rica.

Season 1 | Episode 14

Who is the real Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador?

Weaponizing social media with his own brand of populist authoritarianism, promoting cryptocurrency and imprisoning 70 thousand of his countrymen in order to pacify El Salvador's gang warfare, we ask, who is the real Nayib Bukele?

Manuel Melendez-Sanchez, a PhD candidate in political science at Harvard University, joins us on the LatinNews podcast to discuss, not only Bukele's security policy - admired by some and abhorred by others - , but also his economic policy and concentration of power in El Salvador.

Is El Salvador really the safest country in Latin America as President Bukele often claims?

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Bukele's start in politics

    • Cryptocurrency

    • Gang-warfare & mass incarceration

    • Upcoming election

  • Manuel Melendez-Sanchez

    Manuel is a PhD student in the Harvard Government Department. He studies the comparative political economy of development, with an emphasis on political parties, the politics of violence, and how the two interact.

    His regional focus is on Latin America. His writing has appeared in the Journal of Democracy, Slate, and the Washington Post. At Harvard, He has taught and helped design courses on formal theory, research methods, organized crime, and comparative politics. In 2021, Manuel received the Derek C. Bok Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching of Undergraduates.

    Originally from El Salvador, Manuel has an AB from Harvard (2016) and an MSc from Oxford.

Season 1 | Episode 13

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we look at what could go wrong with the administration of Guyana's oil wealth and whether such a tremendous windfall will be used to transform the economic and political landscape in the country.

Incredibly, Guyana is set to quadruple its GDP by 2025, the same year as the next elections, so will the estimated 40 per cent of the population that lives in poverty see anything of this income?

Anand Persaud, the Editor in Chief of the Starbroek News in Georgetown, Guyana discusses the possibilities, from a concentration of political power, corruption, the Dutch disease and ethnic polarization and how all of these issues come into play.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • 2015 oil discovery

    • The Dutch-disease

    • Foreign investment in Guyana

    • How will this impact citizens?

  • Anand Persaud

    Anand Persaud is Editor-in-chief of Stabroek News, an independent daily newspaper in Guyana founded in 1986. Mr. Persaud joined the newspaper in 1989 and became Editor in 1993. He has been editor-in-chief since 2008.

    In 2022 he was awarded the European Union Delegation Human Rights Award in Guyana in recognition of his work in promoting the values of the EU and playing a role in highlighting international issues through his publications. He continues to advocate for independent journalism, urging the government to facilitate easy access to information for journalists and the need to revise the current Access to Information Act.

Season 1 | Episode 12

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we ask Carmen Martínez Novo, Professor at the University of Florida's Center for Latin American Studies: where do Ecuador's presidential candidates stand on the issue of extractive industries and national security? 

Bringing an expertise in indigenous rights and politics in Ecuador, Martínez Novo discusses the current spiral of violence in this electoral cycle in the country, the powerful and influential indigenous role in elections and the priorities of both presidential hopefuls, Luisa González and Daniel Noboa. 

Will the "correista" candidate González pursue an aggressive pro-extractives policy, or will the outwardly business-minded Noboa combine a pro-extractives policy with pragmatic environmentalism, and how will either address Ecuador's rapidly deteriorating security situation?

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • The upcoming elections

    • Infantile environmentalism

    • Economic exploitation

    • The issue of security in Ecuador

  • Dr. Carmen Martinez Novo

    Dr. Carmen Martinez Novo received a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the New School for Social Research, New York. She has taught at Northeastern University, The Latin American Faculty for the Social Sciences (FLACSO) in Quito, Ecuador, and the University of Kentucky amongst others. Her research focuses on indigenous identities, politics and rights. She has also studied racism, paternalism, the anthropology of the state and Latin American elites.

    Her previous research at the Mexico-U.S. border focused on the formation of ethnic identities through intercultural interactions. On this topic, Martinez published Who Defines Indigenous? Identities, Development, Intellectuals, and the State in Northern Mexico (Rutgers University Press, 2006). The book studied the impact of non-indigenous government officials, non-governmental organizations, intellectuals, and economic elites in processes identity formation among Mixtec migrants at the Mexico-U.S. border.

Season 1 | Episode 11

One thing is winning a presidential election and another is actually governing. President Gustavo Petro's approval ratings continue to fall, his coalition no longer has a majority, there are local elections ahead in Colombia in October and things do not look good.

This week on The LatinNews podcast, we ask Jenny Pearce, Research Professor at the Latin America and Caribbean Centre at the London School of Economics, how can President Petro face up to the barrage of challenges hurled at him by a strengthening opposition and at the same time commit to his "government of change" in the coming three years of his presidency?

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Gustavo Petro’s history

    • Fighting drug-related criminal gangs

    • Corruption allegations

    • Where to from here for Colombia?

  • Jenny Pearce

    Jenny Pearce is a political scientist who specialises in Latin America. She works with anthropological and participatory research methodologies on social change, violence, security, power and participation in the region and beyond. She considers herself a peace scholar, committed to theoretical development of the field of peace, power and violence as well as empirical study.

    She has conducted fieldwork since the 1970s in Uruguay, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and Venezuela. Professor Pearce has also developed a body of work around participation and exclusion in the global North, bringing learning from Latin America (South North learning) to the realities of urban conflict and tensions in the de-industrialised north of England.

Season 1 | Episode 10

On Episode 10 of The LatinNews Podcast, we ask Jo-Marie Burt, professor of political science and Latin American studies at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University about Guatemala's presidential elections.

Guatemalans will vote on 20 August in the second round of the presidential elections in which establishment candidate Sandra Torres is pitted against outsider Bernardo Arevalo. We discuss the complex tangle of Guatemala's political landscape, the symbolic significance of Arevalo's surprise success in the first round and how the corporate authoritarian elites might swing the elections to their favoured candidate.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Pact of the Corrupt

    • Corporate Authoritarian System

    • Backgrounds of Bernardo Arevalo & Sandra Torres

    • Guatamalan illicit trade

  • Jo-Marie Burt

    Jo-Marie Burt is associate professor of political science and Latin American studies at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. At Mason, she has served as director of Latin American studies, co-director of the Center for Global Studies, and associate chair for undergraduate studies. She is an affiliate faculty in global affairs, Latin American studies, conflict analysis and resolution, and women and gender studies. Burt is also a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a leading human rights research and advocacy organization.

Season 1 | Episode 9

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we ask Renata Segura, Deputy Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the International Crisis Group and Diego Da Rín, Haiti expert at International Crisis Group, what is going on in Haiti?

The prolongation of a series of corrupt governments has created an untenable situation consisting of three crises, economic, security and humanitarian.

How can the cycle be broken to provide for the people of Haiti?

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • The current situation in Haiti?

    • The Haitian humanitarian crisis

    • Assassination of President Jovenel Moïse

    • Criminal militant groups

  • Renata Segura

    Renata Segura started her career as a reporter on Colombian TV and a nationally-distributed magazine, before working at the Jesuit-led NGO CINEP in Bogotá. She got her Ph.D. in political science from the New School for Social Research in New York in 2007. Between 2002 and 2019, Renata worked at the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum, a program of the Social Science Research Council.

    Diego Da Rin

    Diego Da Rin is a social science researcher, journalist and consultant on Latin America and Caribbean for the International Crisis Group.

Season 1 | Episode 8

On Episode 8 of The LatinNews Podcast we ask Ana Milagros Parra, political scientist and consultant based in Caracas, for her insights from on the ground in Venezuela where doubts abound about whether there will be Primary elections in the short term in 2023 and how President Nicolás Maduro’s government is manipulating the political landscape to ensure total victory in 2024.

Tune in for this and reflections on the mass migration from the country and the deep permeation of illegal armed groups from Colombia into illegal mining in Venezuela.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Upcoming elections

    • Former interim president Juan Guaidó

    • Illegal mining in Venezuela

    • The ELN and illegal military groups

  • Ana Milagros Parra

    Ana Milagros Parra is a Venezuelan political scientist. She has worked both as a researcher and interviewer in human rights organizations, later specializing in political risk analysis. Ana Milagros obtained her degree in political science at Rafael Urdaneta University and has been head of political analysis in the strategic risk analysis department at IURISCORP, a corporate legal consulting firm. She has been quoted in media such as El Mundo, elDiario.es, El Pitazo, Runrunes, Caraota Digital, Newsy, and Diario de Cuba, among others.

    On November 5, 2019 she headed the conference "International Sanctions: Assertive Recommendations to the Entrepreneur's Environment", held at Impact Hub Caracas, together with Rafael Álvarez Loscher. On January 24, 2020 she led the conference "2020: The year of evolution of business models in hostile scenarios" at the offices of IURISCORP, again with Loscher.

Season 1 | Episode 7

On Episode 7 of The LatinNews Podcast, we ask Diego Von Vacano, Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University: "How can Bolivia industrialize its Lithium reserves?" Can Bolivia position itself as the world leader for lithium extraction with a coherent and transparent policy and where do China, Russia and the USA fit into this puzzle? President Luis Arce would like to boost development in Bolivia - reaching out to the IDB, World Bank and others - but a political paranoia brought on by strong criticism from the outspoken former president Evo Morales is unsettling the political landscape. Tune in for this and more.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • How is the law limiting development?

    • Will Evo Morales run for election in 2025?

    • US/Bolivia Relations

    • Foreign investment in Bolivia

  • Diego von Vacano

    Dr. Diego von Vacano is the author of The Color of Citizenship: Race, Modernity and Latin American/Hispanic Political Thought (Oxford University Press, 2012) and The Art of Power: Machiavelli, Nietzsche and the Making of Aesthetic Political Theory (Lexington Books, 2006). He is Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University. He has been a Visiting Professor and Presidential Fellow at Yale University.

    He received his doctorate in Politics from Princeton University in 2003, where he played for Princeton United FC. He received his master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University. He also studied in the College of Social Studies at Wesleyan University.

Season 1 | Episode 6

On Episode 6 of The LatinNews Podcast, Pamela K Starr, Professor of International Relations at USC, Los Angeles, joins us to discuss President Lopez Obrador's legacy in Mexico. We look at the defining features of his tenure, the increase in the role of the military, resource nationalism, political polarization, threats to journalists and an assault on autonomous institutions such as the electoral authority. Additionally, we discuss Lopez Obrador's chosen successor for the 2024 elections: Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • The Morena Party

    • Lopez Obrador’s most likely successor

    • Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)

    • The Fourth Transformation

  • Pamela K Starr

    Pamela Starr is a professor of the practice of international relations and public diplomacy, a senior advisor at Monarch Global Strategies, and a global fellow at the Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

    Prior to USC, Starr was the senior analyst responsible for Mexico at the Eurasia Group, one of the world's leading global political risk advisory and consulting firms, and a professor at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) in Mexico City.

    Starr has briefed American and Mexican officials on the bilateral relationship, including former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade, as well as ambassadors, diplomats, intelligence officials, legislators, and staffers from both countries. She has testified before the U.S. Congress and is an active speaker and author.

    Starr has been quoted in over 50 newspapers, news magazines, and wire services in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Europe, and Asia including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and the Financial Times. She has opinion articles in over a dozen outlets.

Image of Cuban money on podcast poster

Season 1 | Episode 5

Described as "hapless and stolid but hardworking" by Dr Emily Morris, President Diaz-Canel was re-elected to his post in April 2023 as life for ordinary Cubans remains increasingly difficult. On this episode of the Latin News podcast, Dr Morris discusses the political and economic effects of the nation's dual currency system and its end, if there are any possibilities of meaningful political reform there on the horizon and finally, the overwhelming sense of despair being felt by the Cuban population.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • What is the dual-currency system?

    • Impact of the dual-currency on the economy

    • 2021 Cuban Protests

    • Cuban foreign policy

  • Dr Emily Morris

    Dr Emily Morris is a Research Fellow at University College London’s Institute of the Americas (UCLIA). For 13 years she worked for the Economist Intelligence Unit, where she was a Senior Editor/Economist covering the economies of Latin America, and in 2011 she completed her doctoral thesis on Cuban economic policy and outcomes since 1990. As well as lecturing Masters level students, she is now doing consultancy work on Cuban and Latin American economics.

    Dr Morris's current research includes studies of Cuban macroeconomic management and performance, climate change mitigation and transport strategies, and emerging currents in Latin American Political Economy. She is lead researcher for a collaboration project between UCL and the Cuban ministry of transport, helping to formulate an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable transport strategy for the city of Havana.

    Dr Morris lectures in the Political Economy of Development in Latin America, Latin American Economics, and Economic and Social Transformation in Cuba.

    Ten years ago she wrote an article for LatinNews, covering Cuba's dual-currency system. On the latest episode of The LatinNews Podcast she joins Richard McColl to discuss current developments in Cuba.

Image of Santiago Pena on Podcast Poster

Season 1 | Episode 4

Andrew Nickson, Honourary Reader in Public Management and Latin American Studies at the University of Birmingham and expert in Paraguay's politics joins The LatinNews Podcast on Episode 4 to provide an overview of the recent elections and some of the serious dilemmas facing the Colorado Party's president-elect Santiago Peña. On the home-front, can Peña combat the rampant corruption, drug-related violence, poor education levels and increase trust in government institutions - including accusations of fraud in the recent elections? And internationally, how will his government negotiate the terms of energy sales from the Itaipu dam with Brazil, continue to recognise Taiwan, snubbing China, and move the Paraguayan embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem without angering key trade partners in the Arab world? The outlook for one of the most unequal countries in the Americas, in terms of income and wealth, isn't positive.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Overview of the elections in Paraguay

    • The origins of President-elect Santiago Pena

    • Horacio Cartes' influence in Paraguay

    • The re-negotiation of the Itaipu dam

  • Andrew Nickson

    Andrew Nickson has four decades' experience of teaching, research and consultancy on public administration reform, local governance, decentralization and urban water supply. He has a particular interest in Sierra Leone, Nepal and Paraguay, countries where he has had long-term work assignments. He is currently lead trainer on ‘Decentralised Governance and Peacebuilding’ and ‘Acting Locally: Citizen Participation for Resilient Institutions’ for the Turin-based United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC), delivered both through distance learning and face-to-face courses.

    He writes regularly for the Economist Intelligence Unit, Oxford Analytica and HIS Markit.

Image of Lula Da Silva on podcast poster.

Season 1 | Episode 3

On Episode 3 of the Latin News Podcast we take a look at Lula 3.0 in Brazil and discuss the challenges facing the president. Richard Lapper, author of "Beef, Bible and Bullets, Brazil in the Age of Bolsonaro," joins us to discuss four main talking points, Brazil's relationship with China and Russia, the economy, the political difficulties within Brazil and finally, the environment and protection of the Amazon.

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Brazil, China and Russia

    • Brazil's stance on the Ukraine invasion

    • Where will the economy growth come from?

    • Protection of the Amazon

  • Richard Lapper

    Richard Lapper is a writer and consultant, specializing in Latin America. He has extensive experience as a journalist in the region and is a research affiliate at King’s College, London.

    Richard is author of ‘Beef, Bullets and Bible: Brazil in The Age of Bolsonaro’ published in June 2021 by Manchester University Press.

    He worked for the Financial Times for 25 years, occupying the post of Latin America editor between 1998 and 2008. He was a principal at FT Confidential between 2010 and 2015, an FT information service for investors.

    He has written and broadcast widely on Latin America and Southern Africa and spoken at a range of international conferences.

Image of Boric, Chile president on podcast poster.

Season 1 | Episode 2

On Episode 2 of The LatinNews Podcast, we discuss the challenges facing President Gabriel Boric as he seeks to regain the political initiative which has swung considerably in favour of the rightwing opposition. Freelance journalist and expert analyst on Chile, Andrew Thompson joins The LatinNews Podcast to share his thoughts on the issues most affecting Boric from protests by militant Mapuche groups, Chile's worsening security situation, economic inequality and his need to score a quick and effective win, soon. Can Boric succeed in getting his government's second attempt at a constitutional reform passed through a referendum in December 2023?

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • Chilean democracy - post Pinochet era

    • The emergence of Gabriel Boric

    • Why did the constitution reform fail?

    • Can President Boric claw back support?

  • Andrew Thompson

    Andrew Thompson is a journalist and political risk analyst who covers Latin America.

    He was previously a foreign correspondent in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, and head of the BBC’s Latin American Service.

    He is currently focusing on journalism, economic analysis and political risk on a number of projects with different organizations, including Oxford Business Group, EIU, LatinNews, and Canning House.

Various Peru Presidents from the previous 6 years

Season 1 | Episode 1

On this, the first episode of the all-new LatinNews podcast, Jon Farmer, analyst and journalist, takes us through the reasons for Peru's current political crisis. We discuss several contemporary Peruvian presidents and their roles in today's unrest, beginning with current president Dina Boluarte and finishing with the Fujimori regime, taking in events along the way such as the Odebrecht scandal and the absence of any trust in the political class. Having seen six presidents in seven years, we ask, can the "Peruvian Paradox" continue, what does this mean for investment and tourism in the country and where can Peru go from here?

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  • In this episode we discuss:

    • The lasting impact of the Alberto Fujimori era

    • Peru's current political climate

    • Pedro Castillo's presidential campaign

    • Article 113 of the Peruvian constitution

    • Economic outlook for Peru

  • Jon Farmer

    Jon Farmer is Editor-in-chief at LatinNews and editor of our Latin American Weekly Report, the company’s flagship publication. Just as comfortable sitting in front of a camera as a computer, he has made numerous media appearances on news networks such as the BBC and CNN. He has participated in panel discussions for Canning House on key political developments in Latin America (the Honduran coup d’état in June 2009 produced a particularly lively debate).

    Jon has also worked in Central America, covering elections in Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama, and has travelled extensively across the entire region. A prodigious reader on and off topic, Jon’s special interests include governance and democracy; caudillismo and political leadership; and the challenge of national and indigenous identities.

    He holds an MA in Latin American Studies from the Institute for the Study of the Americas, School of Advanced Studies, University of London, where he majored in the International Politics of Latin America and Economics of Latin America.

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About Latinnews

LatinNews was founded in London in 1967 to provide expert political, economic, and security analysis on Latin America and the Caribbean. LatinNews was acquired by Intelligence Research Ltd in 2003.