Just over a year after Bernardo Arévalo’s tense but ultimately successful inauguration as president of Guatemala, his administration faces a complex mix of progress and mounting challenges. Elected on an anti-corruption platform, Arévalo has de...

Cuba is facing its worst crisis in decades, with blackouts and a mass exodus that has seen 20% of the population flee in five years. In this episode, we shed light on everyday life amid ongoing economic hardship, explore the durability of the C...

With Brazil about a year and a half away from the 2026 elections, political dynamics are shifting once again. The economy is growing at 3%, and employment remains high, yet President Lula’s approval rating has dropped to 41%—the lowest of any o...

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum is enjoying remarkable popularity, garnering over 80% approval, while Mexico navigates shifting demands from U.S. President Donald Trump, economic uncertainty and security concerns. In this episode we delve ...

Organized crime is a persistent and evolving challenge in Latin America. At the moment crime syndicates are seeing unprecedented financial gains, fueled not only by a surge in cocaine production—more than doubling in the past decade, according ...

A month into Donald Trump’s second presidency, Latin America has become a key focus of his administration. From high-stakes negotiations with Mexico to his stated goal of reclaiming the Panama Canal, Trump’s policies have already had concrete c...

As Donald Trump returns to the White House, much focus was expected on Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and Cuba, but Panama has surprisingly taken center stage, even becoming the site of Marco Rubio’s first trip abroad as Secretary of State. Presi...

Nearly a year ago, Ecuador faced a surge of violence when drug gangs took over a TV station and kidnapped police, marking the country's worst security crisis. Since then, President Daniel Noboa has made modest progress, with homicides down 16%,...

Peru quickly became one of the first countries in the cross hairs of the incoming Trump administration because of the recently-inaugurated Chancay port, which is run by the Chinese company Cosco Shipping. In this episode, we ask Alfredo Thorne,...

In this episode we look at what to expect from Latin America’s economies in 2025. Ernesto Revilla, chief economist for Latin America at Citigroup, evaluates the impact of Donald Trump’s return on the region’s economic outlook, his predictions r...

Since Donald Trump’s election there have been fireworks between him and Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum. President-elect Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 25 percent as two leaders embark on what are likely to be contentious negoti...

Donald Trump’s second presidency will likely bring an even stronger focus on Latin America than his first term did. Trump talked often about Latin America in the campaign, mainly through the lens of immigration and trade. In this episode we exp...

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has an approval rating of about 50%. Unemployment in the country is at its lowest level in a decade and the economy is expected to grow about 3% this year, beating forecasts from just a few months a...

Latin America is the world's breadbasket. The region is now the source of more than 60% of the world’s soy, almost half its corn and more than a quarter of its beef. At the same time, about 28% of people in Latin America and the Caribbean don’t...

Although Democrats still lead among Latinos, Republicans have grown their share of support among that community in the last two elections. Looking ahead to the upcoming contest between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, we discuss some of the reas...

Claudia Sheinbaum will take office as Mexico's new president next week, on October 1, 2024. Often described as a technocrat, she also supports some of current President AMLO's more controversial policies, such as the judicial reform that was ju...

Javier Milei has so far succeeded in making drastic changes to Argentina's economic policies. In this episode we evaluate what has worked and what hasn't, and who have been the winners and losers. Milei's deep spending cuts have produced in the...

The entry of Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential race has completely transformed the election. In this episode we ask what we can expect from her Latin America policy were she to win in November. How do leaders in the region perceive her? Wh...

Since the election on July 28 Nicolás Maduro has unleashed a wave of repression not seen in Venezuela before. The question on everyone's mind is, what now? Will Venezuela move further down the path of a dictatorship, or is there some chance of ...

Ecuador’s young president Daniel Noboa is engaged in a tough battle with organized crime groups that paralyzed the country earlier this year. It’s been six months since that dramatic series of events. In this episode we take stock of what has h...

Gustavo Petro is halfway through his presidential term in Colombia. The first leftist president in the country's modern history faced suspicion from the political and economic establishment from day 1. He’s used sweeping rhetoric to describe hi...

Voters throughout Latin America are craving solutions to the spread of organized crime. In today's episode, we’ll look in detail at how Nayib Bukele executed the crackdown on gangs in El Salvador, analyze the extent to which the model has been ...

In Brazil, unemployment is at a record low, inflation is under control and growth projections are being revised up. However, the Lula administration is having a hard time moving forward with expected reforms, and financial markets are reacting ...

Twice a year the AQ Podcast takes stock of Latin America’s economies — what the region is doing well and where the challenges are. There is good news — inflation below OECD levels, for example, but growth is still below potential, acco...

Venezuelans are scheduled to vote for president on July 28th. In today’s episode, we look at the state of the negotiations between the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition, assess how inclined Maduro is to accept a possible defeat ...