Latin America in Focus

Nov 19 2024 206 ep. 29 mins 1.4k
Latin America in Focus Podcast artwork

Go in depth on the latest trends in Latin American politics, economics, and culture in this podcast series by Americas Society/Council of the Americas.

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Lula, Sheinbaum, and Milei on a Shifting Global Stage

Nov 19 2024 31 mins  
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

Latin America’s Companies of Tomorrow, Today

Nov 07 2024 36 mins  
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 in

What Do Brazil's Municipal Elections Tell About Polarization in Latin America?

Oct 16 2024 33 mins  
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 implicati

Could a Referendum Rattle Uruguay's Presidential Race?

Oct 02 2024 30 mins  
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 Intelligenc

What Brazil’s Twitter Ban Tells Us about Internet Laws in Latin America

Sep 18 2024 32 mins  
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 regu

LatAm in Focus at 200: What Do We Know about Electoral Trends in the Americas?

Aug 28 2024 41 mins  
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.

On the Ground and Online: Venezuela's Electoral Battle

Jul 17 2024 31 mins  
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 ru

How Can Latin America Fix Its Water Crisis?

Jun 25 2024 38 mins  
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 reg

In Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Won Big. Now What?

Jun 05 2024 43 mins  
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 dif

How Latin America Fits into the Biden-Trump Battle

May 15 2024 36 mins  
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. elec