The Americas Quarterly Podcast

Colombia goes to the polls on May 31 amid some of the worst violence the country has seen in two decades. FARC dissidents have carried out dozens of attacks in recent weeks, prompting an appeal for peace from Pope Leo XIV. In a way, the campaign has been shadowed since last year by the assassination of senator Miguel Uribe Turbay. And yet, paradoxically, President Gustavo Petro's approval rating has risen 10 points this year. Now three candidates are vying to succeed him: Iván Cepeda, Petro's...

For years, Peru has defied gravity. The country has had eight presidents in ten years—a virtual power vacuum at the top of government—and yet the economy kept growing, the currency held strong, and the mining sector kept producing. That decoupling of politics and economics has kept Peru relatively stable and has prompted many in the private sector to argue that politics doesn’t really matter. But a first-round election marred by widespread logistical failures, fraud allegations, and a razor-t...

Nearly three months after the fall of Nicolás Maduro, Delcy Rodríguez is still standing as interim president of Venezuela. The broad feeling, at least for now, is that Rodríguez and the chavista regime are not going anywhere. Since she took office on January 5th, Rodríguez has signed an amnesty law, reformed the hydrocarbon law, and restored diplomatic relations with the U.S. for the first time since 2019. Yet she has done this while keeping most of the chavista regime entrenched in power. Di...

For 67 years, many people have been waiting for change in Cuba — and for 67 years, the communist regime has endured. It survived the fall of the Soviet Union, the death of Fidel Castro, economic sanctions, and political pressure from 13 different U.S. presidents. But the Trump Administration, fresh off its military operation in Venezuela, is now applying unprecedented economic pressure on the island, effectively cutting off its oil supply, and pushing basic services to the point of collapse. ...

Latin America has been at the center of the world’s attention in 2026—and not only because of Venezuela. This week, we take a step back to understand the current moment and its implications for the region’s long-term outlook, from the U.S. military operation in Venezuela, to the future of USMCA, and upcoming elections in Peru, Colombia, and Brazil. What do recent events mean for Latin America’s political and economic future? Our guest is Michael Reid, journalist, author and former Latin Ameri...

The capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela was one of the most dramatic developments in U.S.-Latin America relations in more than 30 years. In Venezuela, a country that has suffered for more than a decade from repression, economic depression and an exodus of more than 8 million people, it opened the door for change. Yet, days after the arrest, the Chavista government is still in charge, led by Maduro’s former vice president Delcy Rodríguez. The Chavista regime has been a master at appearing t...

2025 has been an extraordinarily active year for U.S. policy in Latin America. With the release of President Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy, which places the Western Hemisphere first and promises to “reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine,” along with a new “Trump Corollary” aimed at countering China’s influence, the trend has become even clearer. We discuss the defining features of this assertive approach and what it means for governments, businesses, and regional stability....

Chileans head to the polls this Sunday, November 16. In the last election cycle, Gabriel Boric won following the massive 2019 protests that shook the nation to its core. At the time, it seemed Chile was set for sweeping structural change: the classic poster child for neoliberal economic policy in Latin America appeared ready to build a stronger welfare state and elect leaders from the left. Six years later, some change has occurred, but not nearly as dramatic as many expected. Efforts to rewr...

Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum has hit the one-year mark of her presidency. In that time she has had to balance three key relationships: with President Donald Trump, with her still-powerful predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador and with the Mexican public. She faced skepticism, but has surprised many. Sheinbaum’s approval rating is at 73%, and a plurality of Mexicans said in a recent poll that her government is off to a better start than AMLO’s. Challenges loom, from fragile security gains and ...

Latin America is entering a packed election season, with Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru and Brazil all set to elect presidents in the next 13 months. This is happening just as organized crime reaches unprecedented power. In several of these countries, crime is showing up in polls as the number one political issue. Security expert Lucía Dammert explains how booming cocaine production, money laundering and criminal infiltration of formal economies are reshaping politics across the r...

Bolivia's long-dominant MAS party has suffered a historic defeat, with its presidential candidate winning just 3% of the vote. The result reflects deep frustration over the country’s economic crisis and political infighting. In a surprise outcome, Senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira led the first round, followed by former President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga. The two will be in a runoff on October 19. In this episode, we speak with Bolivian journalist Raúl Peñaranda about what sets these candidates apart, ...

A major confrontation is brewing between the United States and Brazil, driven by the return of Donald Trump to the White House and the deepening legal troubles of his close Brazilian ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro. As Brazil’s judiciary pursues charges against the former president for attempting to overturn the 2022 election, Trump has retaliated with threats of steep tariffs and revoked visas for Brazilian Supreme Court justices. Meanwhile, the U.S. has launched an investigation into ...

As Brazil prepares to host the 2025 BRICS Summit, questions are swirling about the future of the group, as well as China’s growing presence in Latin America. In this episode, we explore the shifting dynamics of global influence with Oliver Stuenkel, professor of international relations at Fundação Getúlio Vargas, in São Paulo, and a visiting scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. We discuss Brazil’s evolving role within BRICS, Lula’s foreign ...