Guest expert Tony Payan provides deep insights into the complex web of politics, crime, and international pressure. Tony Payan, PhD, is the Claudio X. Gonzalez Fellow in US-Mexico Studies, the Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies, and the executive director of the Claudio X. González Center for the US and Mexico at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. He is also a professor of social sciences at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

We look at events rapidly unfolding in Mexico and put them into context for President Sheinbaum as the country approaches elections in 2027 and amid signs of strain within the Morena party.

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Understanding these dynamics is crucial for predicting the outcomes of the elections and the future of Brazilian governance. As developments unfold, it will be essential for voters to critically assess the narratives surrounding the candidates and the implications for the country.

And, polls suggest a tight race, indicating that Flávio Bolsonaro - son of former president Jair Bolsonaro - is neck and neck with Lula as they head into the October elections.

This week on The LatinNews Podcast, we talk to André Borges, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Brasilia and one of the editors of: "The Recasting of the Latin American Right: Polarization and Conservative reactions."

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Join Richard McColl for an in-depth discussion with Dr. Julio Carrión - specialist in Latin American and Comparative Politics and Professor at the University of Delaware - on the political instability, history, and economic dynamics of Peru, including the legacy of Fujimori, recent elections, and international influences.

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Phil Gunson provides a unique perspective on the atmosphere in Caracas after the leadership change. While many celebrate Maduro's departure, the existing power structures remain largely intact, leading to a cautious optimism among the populace. The release of political prisoners and reforms in the oil industry are significant steps, but the question remains: can these changes lead to a genuine political transition?

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The grinding strategy targeting oil supplies has sharply reduced fuel availability, paralysed transport and worsened daily life on the island. Yet despite visible deterioration, public order remains intact and the Cuban state continues to function.

Joining us is Dr Jorge Domínguez, retired professor at Harvard University and a leading expert on Cuba, who has just returned from Havana. Drawing on first-hand observations, he examines the gap between economic collapse narratives and the resilience of the Cuban state.

We discuss the evolving nature of US pressure, the distinction between embargo and blockade, China and Russia’s limited roles, the political durability of the regime under President Miguel Díaz-Canel, and the possible short-term scenarios ahead.

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We ask, how does the US government justify working with a Venezuelan regime that so profoundly espouses the idea of 21st century socialism? Is there any move towards a restoration of democracy in Venezuela? How will President Trump's relationship with President Sheinbaum in Mexico develop and evolve? Will the US intervene in elections in Brazil, Colombia and Peru? And what of Cuba?

Joining us this week is Jon Bonfiglio, an analyst and journalist based in Latin America and specialising in the region.

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On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we sit down with Ronald Alfaro Redondo, Professor of Political Science at the University of Costa Rica and researcher at the State of the Nation program, to discuss the upcoming elections and the legacy of outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves.

We talk about the strength of Costa Rica's democracy, the homicide crisis affecting the country, security, the state of the traditional political parties, foreign policy and relations with the United States and the environment.

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Joining us on The LatinNews Podcast this week is Lucia Dammert, Professor of International Relations at the Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

We discuss how Kast won the elections so convincingly and what were the failures of President Gabriel Boric. Will Kast open lithium to private investors, what are his solutions to rising crime in Chile and will he carry out mass expulsions of immigrants, as promised during the campaign trail.

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Joining us is Lucas Perelló, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University.

This episode was recorded before the final vote tally was completed but explores the topics of corruption, drug trafficking, migration, declining remittances and security issues that Honduras continues to face and that the new president will be obliged to address.

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Joining us is Carlos Gervasoni, Associate Professor and chair of Political Science and International Studies at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. We discuss Milei's role as a stereotypical outsider, Argentina's disastrous macroeconomic legacy and the political and institutional weaknesses in the country in addition to Argentina's role as a spoiler at major multilateral negotiations in order to align itself with the Trump government in the United States.

We ask, can President Milei solve Argentina's frustrating political economy pendulum and break the country's long tradition of institutional weakness?

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And then in November 2025, the island was struck by Hurricane Melissa, leaving the country in tatters. The two main industries of tourism and agriculture have been severely damaged and the outlook appears bleak.

However, on The LatinNews Podcast this week, we speak to Caribbean economist Marla Dukharan who believes, in spite of the tragedy that befell Jamaica, that there are reasons to remain positive, as the platform for growth and recovery remain intact for the island nation.

For Dukharan, Jamaica's human capital, economic know-how, strong diaspora, resilience fund and CRIFF agreement will help the recovery. Questions remain, of course, as to how to mitigate climate events of this nature in the future and how to reform the nature of international aid donations.

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Can this pragmatic leader respond creatively to tests including, a contracting economy, the current decline in the MAS party, the revisitation of diplomatic ties between the country and the United States, the Lithium question and regional relationships.

In a far-reaching conversation with Martín Mendoza-Botelho, Professor of Political Science at Eastern Connecticut State University, we discuss Bolivia's immediate needs and how for the first time in a long time, the Paz presidency is one of pragmatism over ideology, for now.

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For the Venezuelan people, the importance of restoring Venezuelan democracy, and it’s likely that Venezuelans have never had a better opportunity than Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado to reunite a deeply divided country. How can this regime change take place?

The sense is that the way that the current administration is looking at this challenge is that it's more through the lens of a threat that is generating harm against the United States. Drugs are the first little piece of that, but it's about those harms more than about democracy.

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Guyana’s offshore oil fields, discovered by ExxonMobil in 2015, have transformed the country into a burgeoning energy powerhouse. The country, which is estimated to have the world’s highest crude oil reserves per capita, has been one of the fastest growing economies globally since oil production began in 2019 and yet the wealth disparity is starkly evident.

This week on The LatinNews Podcast, we welcome back Anand Persaud, Editor-in-chief of Stabroek News, to discuss the challenges facing President Ali and Guyana including, the Dutch Disease, massive infrastructure expenditure, the on-going dispute with Venezuela over the Essequibo, the US military build-up in the southern Caribbean and climate change.

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On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we take a look at the results of the first round and explore some of the reason for the total collapse of the MAS party, we discuss the legacy of former president Evo Morales, who ruled Bolivia from 2006-2019, and his current predicament in Chapare.

And what of the potential winner? Whoever wins in October will be faced with Bolivia's precarious economic situation, legal and political disorders and the always unpredictable subnational elections in 2026.

Our guest this week is Dr Angus McNelly, lecturer in International Development at Kings College London and author of: " Now We Are in Power: The Politics of Passive Revolution in 21st Century Bolivia."

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A primary concern is that the reform weakens judicial independence, reducing checks and balances on the government. There are fears the election process could be open to political influence, reducing the judiciary’s autonomy from government and strengthening the Morena party's dominance. There are also concerns that organized crime groups could interfere in the election of judges, threatening access to justice for victims and further inflating impunity levels.

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we speak to Julio Ríos-Figueroa, Associate Professor at the Department of Law at ITAM in Mexico City. His research focuses on comparative judicial politics, the rule of law, and empirical legal studies with a focus on the Latin American region.

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And, while this is impressive and cause for celebration, analysts are asking what the Paraguayan government is doing to combat corruption?

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we speak to Andrew Nickson, Honorary Reader in Public Management and Latin American Studies at the University of Birmingham and ask about Peña's successes and his shortcomings over the first two years of his government, and what we can predict for the remaining three years.

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It's clear that Noboa stands and falls on security and voters gave him the benefit of the doubt that he needed more time and that his rival González would be too soft on crime. But, he has to deliver on this as well as addressing an increasingly fraught situation due to massive energy outages, the state of economy and keeping the all-important indigenous voters onside.

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we hear from Walter Spurrier in Guayaquil. Spurrier is the president of Grupo Spurrier, a columnist for the Diario El Universo newspaper, and the director of the political economic publication Analisis Semanal or Weekly Analysis.

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Many use a temporary registration process called REINFO, which allows them to operate while going through the formal process. The program is set to expire at the end of 2025, but the industry generally opposes it, arguing that these licenses serve as a cover for illegal activities.

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we discuss the complexities shrouding Peru's mining industry and what the government is and isn't doing to correct it with special guest 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, and region head for Latin America at Oxford Analytica Ltd.

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We discuss the broader trends in the region regarding the elections, Costa Rica's strong identity, Chaves' open admiration for President Bukele in El Salvador and the country's foreign policy plans.

Joining us is Mary Fran T Malone, Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of New Hampshire where she teaches classes on democratization, comparative politics, and Latin American politics.

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On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we ask whether Pope Leo's deep connections to Latin America will ensure a continuation of Pope Francis' policies of diplomacy and solidarity with the region. As an advocate for human rights and the church's role in mediating social conflicts, will this put the pope at odds with the government of President Trump in the United States regarding their treatment of migrants and more?

We speak to Mario I. Aguilar, Professor of Religion & Politics and Director of the Centre for the Study of Religion & Politics at the University of St Andrews. He is also a poet, an eremitic Camaldolese Benedictine Oblate, and has published widely in his interests in the theology of contemplation, the history of religion and issues of interfaith dialogue.

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In this episode of the LatinNews podcast we look at this theme and hear from Scott Mainwaring, the Eugene P. and Helen Conley Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame who specialises in political parties, democratic and authoritarian regimes and political institutions in Latin America.

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Chile has always seemed like the Switzerland of Latin America, routinely topping regionally adjusted league tables, but obviously it was massively inequitable and the pension system bred particular resentment over time.

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we speak to Nicholas Barr, Professor of Public Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science and author of numerous books and papers on the welfare state including pensions and higher education finance.

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With the surge in gang-driven crime due to transnational drugs, arms and people trafficking, Trinidad and Tobago finds itself negotiating a precarious balancing act in managing the challenges of being located alongside Venezuela and adhering to demands from the United States.

We speak to Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, an expert on Caribbean affairs, a scholar turned writer and author of ten books, a retired political scientist who has served as President of Fort Valley State University and Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana amongst other accolades.

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It's a sign of the times that we have to seriously consider the possibility of President Trump ordering an invasion of a democratic ally. So, we put Panama's diplomatic tensions with the US into a historical context and deconstruct many of the baseless fallacies being repeated.

Explaining in great depth and clarifying many of the complexities in the relationship between Panama and the US and the issues of the canal and Chinese involvement is John Feeley, former US ambassador to Panama, former political consultant for Univision, an officer and helicopter pilot in the Marine corps and a senior western hemisphere official.

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The weakness of Brazil's currency, the rising cost of living, the disastrous municipal elections in October 2024, the fiscal deficit and investor concerns are all issues which Lula needs to face up to but, as yet, has been unable to address.

This week on The LatinNews Podcast, we speak to Richard Lapper, author and journalist and expert on Latin America. Lapper speaks about the potential consequences of Lula's failure to encourage his Partido dos Trabalhadores, Workers' Party in moving beyond its core politics, which were developed in 1970s and 1980s, to the new national reality in which poorer Brazilians are increasingly individualistic in their economic opportunities and therefore more detached from decisions in Brasilia.

We also look ahead at the presidential elections tabled for October 2026 and ask: is there an anointed successor to Lula or opposition figure and former president Jair Bolsonaro and how Brazil's judiciary and congress are gaining more power at the expense of the executive.

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Presently, there are 15 to 17 parties registered and in this episode of The LatinNews Podcast we provide an explainer of the main parties and political players, the most pressing concerns of the electorate such as the economy, healthcare and relations with Guyana.

Joining us is journalist Ank Kuipers who provides us with insightful considerations of current events in Suriname. We delve into how the electoral process works in Suriname, the issues of corruption and clientelism, the protests of 2023 and the impact of the death of the controversial if charismatic figure of Desi Bouterse in December 2024.

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Does this new look deal being negotiated differ at all from the original one, what can we expect during this era of new international contexts with the government of President Trump in the USA, will Mercosur expand and will there be an agreement so that individual member states achieve bilateral trade deals with third parties?

We speak to Ignacio Bartesaghi, PhD in International Relations, Director of the Instituto de Negocios Internacionales at the Universidad Católica del Uruguay and expert on Mercosur.

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Can President Milei consolidate stability, avoid problems with the exchange rate and maintain fiscal discipline in 2025 all in the lead up to mid-term elections in October?

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we speak to Jorge Morgenstern, chief economist at Galicia Más and formerly chief economist for HSBC in Latin America and explore how the Argentine public has largely bought in to the Milei experiment and looking ahead, with elections in Chile in 2025 and then in Colombia and Peru in 2026, could this model from Argentina - formerly a byword for economic instability in the region - be exported across the region.

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Firstly, President Bukele's proposal to walk back his country's 2017 total ban on metal mining in El Salvador and encourage multinational firms to exploit gold deposits, meanwhile, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves submitted a bill to the unicameral National Assembly to reverse the ban on open-pit mining in that country.

And, despite massive social protests in Panama in 2023, due to allegations of serious environmental contamination surrounding a copper mine there, President Mulino looks set to revisit the question of this closure.

We ask Paul Harris about the possible outcomes of each circumstance, whether this may shake up attitudes to mining in Mexico and also extend our conversation to include the probabilities of a new mining code being released in Colombia in 2025.

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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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?

Show Notes:

• Gustavo Petro’s background

• Fighting drug-related criminal gangs

• Corruption allegations

• Where to from here for Colombia?

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.

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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. 

Show Notes:

• Pact of the Corrupt

• Corporate Authoritarian System

• Backgrounds of Bernardo Arevalo & Sandra Torres

• Guatamalan illicit trade

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.

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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?

Show Notes:

• The current situation in Haiti?

• The Haitian humanitarian crisis

• Assassination of President Jovenel Moïse

• Criminal militant groups

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

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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.

Show Notes:

• Upcoming elections

• Former interim president Juan Guaidó

• Illegal mining in Venezuela

• The ELN and illegal military groups

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.

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Show Notes: 

• How is the law limiting development?

• Will Evo Morales run for election in 2025?

• US/Bolivia Relations

• Foreign investment in Bolivia

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.

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Show Notes:

• The Morena Party

• Lopez Obrador’s most likely successor

• Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)

• The Fourth Transformation

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.

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Show Notes:

• What is the dual-currency system?

• Impact of the dual-currency on the economy

• 2021 Cuban Protests

• Cuban foreign policy

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.

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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.

Show Notes:

• 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 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.

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Show Notes:

• Brazil, China and Russia

• Brazil's stance on the Ukraine invasion

• Where will the economy growth come from?

• Protection of the Amazon

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.

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Show Notes:

• Chilean democracy - post Pinochet era

• The emergence of Gabriel Boric 

• Why did the constitution reform fail? 

• Can President Boric claw back support?

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.

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