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 experience translating Mafalda into English, noting the challenges of preserving Quino's subtle humor and political commentary across cultures and languages and explaining why the beloved icon remains a pe...
Jul 23, 2025•38 min•Ep. 218
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 to keep sending money to their families [or] they could change the channels they use,” says René Maldonado , coordinator of CEMLA’s remittances program and consultant for the IDB’s migration unit. In th...
Jun 26, 2025•29 min•Ep. 217
“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 assert its own agency on the world stage, but also advocate for the needs of the Global South. The place for that? Multilateral organizations. In a year when Brazil hosts both the BRICS Summit and the COP30...
Jun 04, 2025•36 min•Ep. 216
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 region? Managing Director of the Institute for America, China, and the Future of Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins Margaret Myers explains the shifting state of play in the U.S.-China competition, the Trump admi...
May 14, 2025•30 min•Ep. 215
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 one year to deliberate, what will be top of mind for Peru’s jaded electorate? In this episode, electoral analyst Javier Albán breaks down the institutional factors that have contributed to Peru’s politica...
Apr 24, 2025•35 min•Ep. 214
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 brings you an English-language conversation between Vargas Llosa and legendary translator Edith Grossman, recorded at Americas Society in 2012. Learn about the author’s reading habits, Faulkner’s influence ...
Apr 17, 2025•42 min•Ep. 213
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 CEOs detail the scale and scope of Mexican investment in the United States, which has been north of $5 billion per year for the last four years. What does this financing look like on the ground? This podca...
Apr 10, 2025•37 min•Ep. 212
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 landscape mean for Latin America? Kellie Meiman Hock, a senior counselor at McLarty Associates, explains the main drivers behind this shift in U.S. trade policy and what Trump’s new tariffs mean for the c...
Mar 27, 2025•27 min•Ep. 211
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 have to revamp compliance with increased risk. And Cecilia Farfán-Méndez of ITAM explains the complexity of the drug trade and spotlights how this action may impact the bilateral relationship. Read more ab...
Mar 13, 2025•42 min•Ep. 210
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 have other host countries in the Americas been coping with hundreds of thousands of new arrivals from places like Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Ecuador? AS/COA Online speaks with Diego Chaves-González , sen...
Feb 28, 2025•44 min•Ep. 209
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 course. Vanda Felbab-Brown , a security expert at Brookings Institution, explains what caused a perfect storm of insecurity in the country, what Noboa’s approach has been so far, and why the success of ...
Feb 13, 2025•29 min•Ep. 208
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 AS/COA experts— Carin Zissis , Brian Winter , and Juan Cruz Díaz —discussed Trump's initial moves on the border and migration, possible Mexico tariffs, the Panama Canal, and his Latin American allies. Lis...
Jan 23, 2025•37 min•Ep. 207
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 with audiences while showcasing a mix of music and musicians that define and defy the musical traditions of the Hemisphere. Plus, ahead of the 60th anniversary of Americas Society in 2025, Zubieta provide...
Dec 12, 2024•40 min•Ep. 206
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 speakers from the region’s three G20 members. On this episode of Latin America in Focus, Francisco Resnicoff of Argentina, Cecilia Tornaghi of Brazil, and Brenda Estefan of Mexico speak about how each admin...
Nov 20, 2024•31 min•Ep. 205
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 Mejia of Rappi, and Mariano Gomide de Faria of VTEX—sat down with long-time Americas investor Susan Segal of AS/COA for a conversation about how the region has an edge on creating the companies of tomorrow....
Nov 07, 2024•36 min•Ep. 204
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 spectrum. Thomas Traumann , a journalist and political consultant, discussed the implications of this polarization rippling through politics in the country. He spoke with Luisa Leme on which political blocks...
Oct 17, 2024•34 min•Ep. 203
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 , a senior analyst for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Economist Intelligence Unit, profiles the major presidential candidates and details what’s on the line economically and politically if the pen...
Oct 03, 2024•30 min•Ep. 202
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 led to the shutdown and how it fits in the Brazil’s larger efforts around Internet regulation. Then, University of Palermo’s Agustina Del Campo gives a regional panorama and explains what’s changing with...
Sep 19, 2024•33 min•Ep. 201
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 them now. Half the world is going to the polls in 2024, so we focus on elections. Americas Quarterly Editor-in-Chief and AS/COA Vice President of Policy Brian Winter tells us why Latin America’s anti-inc...
Aug 29, 2024•41 min•Ep. 200
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 government] could try to do a mega fraud, but the political costs, even within the ruling coalition, could be very high,” journalist and political analyst Tony Frangie Mawad tells AS/COA’s Guillermo Zubilla...
Jul 18, 2024•32 min•Ep. 199
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 Acción Andina’s Florent Kaiser cover how Latin American countries can address the region’s water crisis. They talk how science and early warning systems are available for use, that simple solutions can restor...
Jun 26, 2024•38 min•Ep. 198
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 priorities for Sheinbaum’s sexenio . One question kept coming up: How will Sheinbaum differ from her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador? Hear from Oscar Ocampo of the Mexican Institute for Competitivenes...
Jun 06, 2024•44 min•Ep. 197
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 Democrat and a Republican—to get a view of Latin America's impact on the U.S. electoral scenario. Doug Sosnik is senior advisor at The Brunswick Group and served as a political consultant for, among other...
May 16, 2024•36 min•Ep. 196
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 political climate differs from that of the rest of Latin America in that presidents tend to be popular, elections don’t usually go to runoffs, and polarization levels remain low. In this episode, Temple ...
Apr 25, 2024•23 min•Ep. 195
An old adversary of Latin America is back: Dengue. The current outbreak of the mosquito-transmitted disease is the worst in years. Across the region, from Argentina to Brazil to Puerto Rico, images of hospitals filled with patients are coming into view. Four years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, how well-equipped is the region to tackle this one—or those to follow? In this episode, we hear from Dr. Mariangela Simão, the head of the Brazilian Instituto Todos pela Saude and formerly of t...
Apr 11, 2024•28 min•Ep. 194
Panama is facing a moment of uncertainty amid an electoral race with eight candidates, droughts affecting the Panama Canal, and fallout over massive 2023 mining protests. But Felipe Chapman, chairman and managing partner of economic and financial advisory firm INDESA, remains optimistic about his country’s future. In a conversation with AS/COA Vice President Randy Melzi, he says Panama’s challenges are “fixable” as he outlines the economic agenda for the next administration. This is the third ep...
Mar 27, 2024•33 min•Ep. 193
Just hours before Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere Brian A. Nichols joined AS/COA in an event covering the state of U.S. policy in the Americas. In a conversation with AS/COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth, Ambassador Nichols laid out the administration’s positions on regional quagmires, such as Haiti’s humanitarian and political crises and the fairness of Venezuela’s July elections. But he also delved into opportunitie...
Mar 13, 2024•33 min•Ep. 192
In Mexico’s 2024 vote, more than a quarter of eligible voters are under 30 and nearly half are under 40. That means younger voters have an opportunity to play a major role in an election not only for president, but one that will see more than 20,000 seats up for grabs. But they have to participate if they want to have an impact. Me Veo, an organization focused on getting out the vote in this election, is seeking to do just that. Its director, Alexandra Zapata , joined the podcast to spells out w...
Feb 22, 2024•29 min•Ep. 191
When it comes to corruption perceptions, Latin America is stagnating. And what’s one major obstacle to improvement? Judiciary independence, explains Transparency International’s Luciana Torchiaro. In this episode, she dives deep into how the region fared in her organization’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index, released in January 2024, and tells AS/COA Online’s Luisa Leme why attempts to weaken the judiciaries in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, and Honduras are hindering the battle against c...
Feb 08, 2024•22 min•Ep. 190
2024 will be a big year for Latin American elections, and the first one takes place in El Salvador. Popular President Nayib Bukele is likely to win a race that showcases his regional—and global—influence. Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas’ Roberta Braga explains how Bukele’s social media strategy spreads beyond El Salvador’s borders and calls for a rethink of how online disinformation. Virginia Commonwealth University’s Michael Paarlberg delves into how that message is being received i...
Jan 25, 2024•40 min•Ep. 189
