Latin America in Focus
by AS/COA Online, Council of the Americas, Americas Society, Carin Zissis
Latin America in Focus is the leading English-language podcast on Latin American politics, economics, and policy.What does AI's tectonic change mean for Latin America? Are youth losing faith in democracy? Can the region power up its lithium and critical minerals prospects? Will security or foreign policy influence elections? Latin America in Focus (or LatAmFocus) takes on topics like these, giving context to the big issues affecting the Americas today. Twice a month, Americas Society / Council of the Americas Online team brings you in-depth interviews with top experts, journalists, artists, and entrepreneurs on the ground in and from countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, and more.Go in depth on the latest trends in Latin American politics, regional trade and economics, foreign policy, and culture in this podcast series by Americas Society/Council of the Americas.
Episodes
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What’s Testing Keiko Fujimori’s Presidential Honeymoon?
Peru's President Keiko Fujimori wasted no time defining the two immediate priorities of her administration: Rising insecurity and an impending El Niño were top themes in her July 28 inauguration address. Three months into her presidency, Fujimori's pledge to tackle these issues has run into a…
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The Shield of the Americas Cracks Open a Debate in Chile
In September, the government of President José Antonio Kast of Chile set off a firestorm back home when it opted to join the Shield of the Americas. But why would signing on to a security initiative, launched by the Trump administration, cause a domestic divide? After all, voters concerned about...
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As Brazil Faces a Familiar Rivalry, What's Changed for Voters?
“In general, Brazilians are not very happy with this competition,” says pollster Felipe Nunes ahead of the October 4 presidential first round. With voters again facing a choice between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the left and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro on the right, the Quaest CEO talks to…
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How Is a Changing World Reshaping Perspectives in the Americas?
A regional rightward tilt, tariff tensions, and a more muscular U.S. foreign policy: geopolitical dynamics in the Americas are witnessing tectonic shifts. As we kickstart a new season of Latin America in Focus, we’re delving deep into how these shifts are affecting U.S. and Latin American...
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Reissue: What's ahead for China's Latin America Ties in the Great Power Game?
This episode is a re-run of Ep.228, of January 29, 2026. Latin America in Focus is going on a Summer break and it will be back in September with more episodes. Stay tuned! The Trump’s administration national security strategy was the talk of the foreign policy world late last year, not least of…
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Financing Venezuela’s Future in the Aftermath of Disaster
The double earthquakes of June 24 accentuated a year of profound change in Venezuela. What was already a significant undertaking by the interim government in collaboration with the U.S. administration to address years of economic mismanagement and infrastructural deterioration, has become even…
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What Will Keiko Fujimori Face as President of Peru?
On her fourth attempt, Keiko Fujimori is set to finally become Peru’s president. The right-wing former congresswoman will enter the presidential palace having bested her opponent, leftist lawmaker Roberto Sánchez, with just 50.1 percent of valid votes in the June 7 second round. “Our country is...
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Sandra Borda on the Figures and Forces behind Colombia’s Presidential Race
The Colombian electorate sent a clear message with the two candidates they sent to the June 21 presidential runoff: they are no longer interested in politics as usual. With far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella and leftist Senator Iván Cepeda concentrating 85 percent of the first-round vote,...
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Jorge Castañeda on the Frictions Straining U.S.-Mexico Ties
From Mexico’s Cuba ties to Washington's persistent tariff pledges, points of friction keep coming up between Mexico and the United States, reaching a crescendo last month when the U.S. Department of Justice indicted 10 Mexican officials, including a sitting governor from President Claudia...
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What Trump and Lula Want from U.S.-Brazil Ties
After months of tensions, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and U.S. President Donald Trump emerged from a May meeting at the White House smiling for the cameras. The leaders, both facing critical elections, sought to project international strength during delicate domestic moments, as...
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Mercosur, EU, and the New Frontiers of Free Trade
On May 1, a transatlantic trade deal covering 31 countries and a quarter of global GDP comes into effect. Some thought it would never materialize, but after 25 years of off-and-on negotiations, Mercosur and the European Union committed to one of the largest free-trade deals in the world. So why…
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The Math Behind Cartel Recruitment in Mexico
After a February military operation led to the death of Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera, Mexican authorities searched the cartel leader’s cabin and uncovered logs showing that low-level members of El Mencho’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel earned as little as $140 per week. Many people were...
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What's on the Trade Menu? Beef
When the United States and Argentina signed a bilateral trade deal in February, one part of the agreement turned heads: Washington would be quadrupling the amount of tariff-free beef it would allow to be imported from the South American country. Historically, the United States, like countries...
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What Will It Take to Secure Haiti’s 2026 Elections?
Haiti has been without an elected leader since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and a spiraling security crisis threatens to derail plans to hold elections this August. In this episode, Romain Le Cour-Grandmaison, director of the Haiti and Caribbean Observatory at the Global...
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After IEEPA, What Tariff Tools Will Trump Turn to Next?
Close followers of trade news were waiting for this moment: On February 20, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 against President Donald Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to slap tariffs on trade partners around the world. Trump first used IEEPA, a…
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Why the Right Hasn’t Risen in Mexico — Yet
Across Latin America, the political right has been on the march. From El Salvador to Argentina, we’ve seen the pink tide recede as voters back right-wing leaders who are oftentimes allied with the MAGA movement in the United States. Then there’s Mexico. The largest Spanish-speaking country in the...
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What's ahead for China's Latin America Ties in the Great Power Game?
The Trump’s administration national security strategy was the talk of the foreign policy world late last year, not least of all because it renewed Washington’s focus on the Americas. But a few days later, China released its own policy paper focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean. But then…
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What’s on the Table for Brazil’s Security Issues ahead of 2026 Elections?
Organized crime continues to drive murder rates in Latin America and the Caribbean to levels well above global averages. Now in a context in which the United States has shown itself willing to flex its military muscle in the region in its battle against narcoterrorism, Latin American governments...
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Latin America in the Spotlight in 2026
From the Donroe Doctrine to tariff turmoil a rightward electoral tilt, 2025 was a year of shifts for Latin America. Now, with Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Haiti, and Peru gearing up for presidential votes in 2026, more change is on the way.To make sense of what's to come, this episode of Latin...
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Andrés Velasco on How Latin America Can Reboot Its Economic Rules
Thirty-five years after the Washington Consensus, a group of the world’s leading economists have assembled a new book formulating an alternative road map for developing economies, The London Consensus: Economic Principles for the 21st Century. One of the books co-editors, prominent Chilean...
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Can Rodrigo Paz Unearth Bolivia’s Lithium Potential?
For decades, Bolivia’s abundant reserves of lithium, thought to be the largest in the world, have been touted as the country’s ticket to economic prosperity. But time and again, the sector has run into political hurdles, social resistance, technical issues, and a lack of investment. As newly...
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Will Chileans Pivot at the Polls?
After two failed constitutional rewrites, Chileans return to the polls to pick their new president. And like those referendums, this year’s vote will be compulsory. In this episode, international lawyer and columnist Paz Zárate covers what the mandatory vote could mean for the outcome of the...
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A Crack in U.S.-Colombia Cooperation
Colombia has long been considered Washington’s greatest ally in Latin America. But the Trump administration’s decertification of Colombia as a partner in the war on drugs and its revocation of the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro have brought tension to the once ironclad relationship. On...
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Energy and Security Go Hand in Hand in the Caribbean
Things are heating up in the southern Caribbean. Recent U.S. military strikes on alleged drug trafficking vessels from Venezuela have compounded escalating tensions between Venezuela and its much smaller neighbor, Guyana, an emerging energy powerhouse, over the oil-rich Essequibo region. In this...
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Navigating Trump’s Tariff Tests—The Brazil Edition
On July 9, President Donald Trump threw 200 years of diplomatic relations with Brazil for a loop. Latin America’s largest economy got hit with the highest tariff in the region—a whopping 50 percent. But what truly got President Lula’s administration riled up was the U.S. government’s…
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Navigating Trump’s Tariff Tests—The Mexico Edition
On the one hand, Mexico’s President Sheinbaum has won praise for artfully handling relations with Trump administration, as well as standing out among global leaders for winning a 90-day tariff delay. On the other, more is at stake for Mexico than most countries, given that over 80 percent of its...
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Mafalda, Argentina’s Feisty Heroine, Now Speaks English
Mafalda, Quino’s beloved comic strip from Argentina—first published in 1964—has conquered the world, appearing in at least 25 languages. Six decades on, she is finally reaching Anglophone audiences, translated into English for the first time. Award-winning translator Frank Wynne speaks on his...
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How a U.S. Tax Could Hit Latin American Remittances
Tucked inside the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill is a proposed tax of 3.5 percent on remittances that could have major consequences for how much money Latin American immigrants can send home to their loved ones—and how they send it. “Immigrants are going to absorb that tax in order...
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What's Behind Brazil's International Game?
“Brazil has historically been a driving force of regional integration,” points out Laura Trajber Waisbich, Deputy Director of Programs at the Igarapé Institute. And under the administrations of President Lula da Silva, the country has leveraged its size and diplomatic credibility to not only…
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The New Era of U.S.-China Competition in Latin America
Competing engagement between Washington and Beijing is nothing new in Latin America, where both countries have sought out economic partnerships. But with a new U.S. administration and shifting macroeconomic conditions in China, has the U.S.-China calculus shifted for governments across the…
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Could the 2026 Vote Be Peru’s Political Reset?
Peru has cycled through seven presidents in the last 10 years. Four of them were impeached or resigned before they could be. The country’s current president, Dina Boluarte, even with a 4 percent approval rating, has been able to finish her term with elections scheduled for April 12, 2026. With…
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Bonus Episode: Remembering Mario Vargas Llosa
On April 14, Latin American letters lost a giant. Mario Vargas Llosa, the prolific Peruvian writer, passed away in Lima at the age of 89. Vargas Llosa was a frequent visitor to Americas Society over the years and even served on Americas Society’s Literature Advisory Board. This bonus episode…
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Top Mexican CEOs on the Depth of U.S.-Mexico Integration
In 2024, more than $800 billion dollars worth of goods were traded between Mexico and the United States, making the two countries each other’s largest trade partners. But beyond the goods moving across the border, there’s also investment running in both directions. In this episode, top Mexican…
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Trade and Tensions—Latin America Braces for Trump's Tariffs
April 2 is a date that looms large for Latin America. It’s the day that the Trump administration will initiate reciprocal tariffs globally and tariffs on automobiles. This is after the application of 25% tariffs on many goods coming from Mexico and Canada in March. What will this changing trade...
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Drugs, Guns, and Dollars: Unpacking the Implications of Cartels' FTO Designation
The Trump administration recently named six of Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, or FTOs. The new designation widens who can be charged for supporting these groups. What effect might this have? Pablo Zárate of FTI Consulting looks at how business operating in Mexico will…
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What Brazil Can Teach the Americas About Immigration
Migration management has surged to the top of the policy agenda in the region due to unprecedented numbers of Latin Americans on the move in recent years. With the new administration in the United States—the Western Hemisphere’s leading destination for migrants—cracking down on immigration, how...
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The Durability of Mano Dura in Ecuador
Ecuador, once among the safest countries in Latin America, now faces an insecurity crisis with the incursion of international criminal groups. President Daniel Noboa, now facing a reelection fight, is attempting to convince voters his hardline mano dura approach is one of the reasons to stay the...
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Borders, Bargains, and Bluster: Did Trump's Day One Set the Tone for Latin America?
President Donald Trump broke tradition at his second inauguration, inviting world leaders, including from Latin America, to attend. But his day-one executive orders initiated a bumpy ride for the region in 2025. What can Latin American countries expect of "America First?" On this episode, three...
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The Soft Power of Latin American Music
For many Latin America enthusiasts, music serves as a gateway for understanding the cultural contours of the region. Sebastián Zubieta, Music Director at Americas Society, understands this profoundly. In conversation with Luisa Leme, Zubieta outlines his approach to striking an emotional chord…
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Lula, Sheinbaum, and Milei on a Shifting Global Stage
It’s been a stuffed season of summits. October and November saw BRICS in Russia, APEC in Peru, and the G20 in Brazil. But with Trump’s reelection, leaders are adjusting their strategies and outlooks for the future of global forums. What does this mean for Latin America? We’ve convened a G3 of...
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Latin America’s Companies of Tomorrow, Today
Latin America is known worldwide for its entrepreneurship. With unicorns, new ecosystems, and investments back to pre-pandemic levels, what's the region's secret sauce? Three of the Latin America's most successful business visionaries—Francisco Alvarez-Demalde of Riverwood Capital, Sebastian…
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What Do Brazil's Municipal Elections Tell About Polarization in Latin America?
Local concerns like sanitation, funding for schools, or road repairs were low on the agenda during Brazil’s October 6 municipal elections. Campaigns for mayorships and town-council seats were flashpoints for national fissures of identity politics that are reshaping the traditional left-right...
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Could a Referendum Rattle Uruguay's Presidential Race?
Uruguayans head to the polls on October 27 for what is looking to be a close contest between the incumbent conservative coalition and the leftist Broad Front. But there’s another key player in the race: a constitutional referendum that could reshape the country’s pension system. Nicolás Saldías…
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What Brazil’s Twitter Ban Tells Us about Internet Laws in Latin America
On August 31, users of Twitter/X woke up to a platform devoid of Brazilians. After a protracted fight with CEO Elon Musk, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered a shutdown of the social media site in his country. Marie Santini, founder of Net Lab, details the timeline that…
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LatAm in Focus at 200: What Do We Know about Electoral Trends in the Americas?
Our latest edition of Latin America in Focus marks a major milestone: episode 200. Over the past eight years, we’ve covered a range of topics—and asked a lot of questions, including in our episode titles. For this episode, we decided to revisit three of those questions to see how we would answer...
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On the Ground and Online: Venezuela's Electoral Battle
Since he came to power 11 years ago, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro has been stacking the decks in his political favor. But will he hit a wall in the July 28 election? The regime disqualified popular rival candidate Maria Corina Machado, yet a unified opposition is leading the polls. “[The Maduro...
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How Can Latin America Fix Its Water Crisis?
Latin America, the biggest source of freshwater in the world, is running dry. Amid record-breaking temperatures, 150 million people live in water-scarce areas and water insecurity is becoming a new normal for many. But solutions exist. World Meteorological Organization’s Rodney Martinez and…
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In Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Won Big. Now What?
Claudia Sheinbaum and her Morena party won Mexico’s June 2 election by a landslide, and that means the country’s first woman president is set to have a huge mandate. What will she do with it? On the ground in Mexico City, AS/COA Online spoke to voters and then three experts on concerns and...
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How Latin America Fits into the Biden-Trump Battle
Buckle up: U.S. politics are headed for a bumpy ride. And the issue of migration, particularly at the U.S. Southern border, will significantly influence this year’s elections. In this episode, AS/COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth moderates a conversation between two top political consultants—a...
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How the Dominican Republic Breaks Latin America’s Election Mold
The Dominican Republic’s Luis Abinader is one of the most popular leaders in Latin America, if not the world, so it may come as little surprise that Abinader appears to be on comfortable footing to win in the first round of the country’s presidential vote on May 19. But then again, the country’s...
About this show
Latin America in Focus is the leading English-language podcast on Latin American politics, economics, and policy.What does AI's tectonic change mean for Latin America? Are youth losing faith in democracy? Can the region power up its lithium and critical minerals prospects? Will security or foreign policy influence elections? Latin America in Focus (or LatAmFocus) takes on topics like these, giving context to the big issues affecting the Americas today. Twice a month, Americas Society / Council of the Americas Online team brings you in-depth interviews with top experts, journalists, artists, and entrepreneurs on the ground in and from countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, and more.Go in depth on the latest trends in Latin American politics, regional trade and economics, foreign policy, and culture in this podcast series by Americas Society/Council of the Americas.
Hosted by
AS/COA Online, Council of the Americas, Americas Society, Carin Zissis
Categories