#LatAmFocus
For the first time, Argentina’s iconic comic strip character Mafalda is available in English. Book 1 is out, published by
@archipelagobooks.bsky.social.
Translator @terribleman.com joins #LatAmFocus to talk about Mafalda's timeless reflections on global issues and more: www.as-coa.org/mafalda
July 29, 2025 at 5:16 PM
What would it take for right-wing movements in Mexico to succeed?

In the latest #LatAmFocus, @gemakloppe.bsky.social and @alexgonzor.bsky.social talk with @carinzissis.bsky.social about the history of and obstacles for Mexico’s many derechas.

🎧Listen to the full episode: ow.ly/c5Bg50Yfjwe
February 13, 2026 at 6:52 PM
NEW #LatAmFocus: Andrés Velasco on How Latin America Can Reboot Its Economic Rules

The Chilean ex-finance minister and current dean of @lsepublicpolicy.bsky.social presents new economic principles for a 21st century approach to foster both growth and well-being.

Listen now: ow.ly/Yyn950XH2uc
LatAm in Focus: Andrés Velasco on How Latin America Can Reboot Its Economic Rules
The former Chilean finance minister presents new economic principles for a twenty-first century approach.
ow.ly
December 10, 2025 at 6:39 PM
On June 26, Trump backed a remittance tax in the "big, beautiful bill," saying it will help fund the wall.

But the 3.5% tax could lead migrants, scared to share migration status, to find other ways to send money home, weakening financial transparency, CEMLA's René Maldonado told me in #LatAmFocus 🎙️
New #LatAmFocus: How a U.S. Tax Could Hit Latin American Remittances

Will a new levy slow the flow of funds to Latin America? AS/COA’s @carinzissis.bsky.social speaks with René Maldonado of CEMLA about shifting remittance trends in the region.

🎧 Listen: ow.ly/jrv750Wh4CX
LatAm in Focus: How a U.S. Tax Could Hit Latin American Remittances
Will a new levy slow the flow of funds to Latin America? CEMLA’s René Maldonado covers shifting remittance trends in the region.
ow.ly
June 27, 2025 at 8:37 PM
New #LatAmFocus: How a U.S. Tax Could Hit Latin American Remittances

Will a new levy slow the flow of funds to Latin America? AS/COA’s @carinzissis.bsky.social speaks with René Maldonado of CEMLA about shifting remittance trends in the region.

🎧 Listen: ow.ly/jrv750Wh4CX
LatAm in Focus: How a U.S. Tax Could Hit Latin American Remittances
Will a new levy slow the flow of funds to Latin America? CEMLA’s René Maldonado covers shifting remittance trends in the region.
ow.ly
June 26, 2025 at 7:30 PM
very late to this game but have to post for the first time, on the week that Meta changed everything, featuring the #LatAmFocus podcast episode from 2024 on Twitter and Brazil's Supreme Court ;-)

Any tips on building the whole thing up here again much appreciated!
www.as-coa.org/articles/lat...
January 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
New #LatAmFocus: Mafalda, Argentina’s Feisty Heroine, Now Speaks English

Translator Frank Wynne (@terribleman.com) talks to AS/COA’s @luisaleme.bsky.social about translating the cultural and satirical nuances of Quino’s beloved comic strip for Anglophone audiences.

🎧 Listen: ow.ly/UXou50WuZTC
LatAm in Focus: Mafalda, Argentina's Feisty Heroine, Now Speaks English
Listen to translator Frank Wynne discuss bringing Quino’s beloved comic strip to U.S. audiences this year.
ow.ly
July 24, 2025 at 9:46 PM
🎙️New #LatAmFocus: Navigating Trump’s Tariff Tests—The Brazil Edition 🇧🇷

"Brazil is preparing for a long negotiation with the U.S.," said former Foreign Trade Secretary @WBarral to @lleme, as political tensions threaten to escalate.

Listen: ow.ly/CFKG50WZ72T
LatAm in Focus: Navigating Trump’s Tariff Tests—The Brazil Edition
Former Brazilian trade secretary Welber Barral explains how political tensions have created a gridlock in current trade negotiations.
ow.ly
September 18, 2025 at 10:27 PM
🎙️ New #LatAmFocus: Energy and Security Go Hand in Hand in the Caribbean

As tensions rise in the south Caribbean, Sarah-Ann Lynch outlines Guyana’s geopolitical importance, and @fmonaldi.bsky.social of the @bakerinstitute.bsky.social analyzes the region’s energy sector.

Listen: ow.ly/PQ9F50X5FOr
LatAm in Focus: Energy and Security Go Hand in Hand in the Caribbean
Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch outlines Guyana’s geopolitical importance while the Baker Institute’s Francisco Monaldi analyzes the region’s energy trajectory.
ow.ly
October 2, 2025 at 3:13 PM
🎙️New #LatAmFocus: Navigating Trump’s Tariff Tests—The Mexico Edition🇲🇽

Kenneth Smith Ramos talks with @carinzissis.bsky.social about President Sheinbaum's approach to US-MX trade ties amid security and migration concerns—and as the USMCA review looms.

Listen: www.as-coa.org/articles/lat...
LatAm in Focus: Navigating Trump’s Tariff Tests—The Mexico Edition
Mexico’s former chief USMCA negotiator, Kenneth Smith Ramos, unpacks the Sheinbaum government's delicate balancing act to protect bilateral trade ties.
www.as-coa.org
September 18, 2025 at 9:50 PM
🇻🇪 The June 24 earthquakes complicated an already complex economic rebuild in Venezuela.

🎙️ In the latest #LatAmFocus, Rafael Velasquez of @rescue.org and Ángel Cárdenas Sosa of @agendacaf.bsky.social talk to
@luisaleme.bsky.social about funding priorities for Venezuela’s recovery: bit.ly/4eYg8yO
LatAm in Focus: Financing Venezuela’s Future in the Aftermath of Disaster
The IRC’s Rafael Velasquez and CAF’s Ángel Cárdenas Sosa discuss the short- and long-term priorities for funding recovery after the June 24 earthquakes.
bit.ly
July 13, 2026 at 5:56 PM
On May 1, after 25 years of negotiations, the EU-Mercosur trade deal kicks into effect. Why now?

Trade expert Kellie Meiman Hock returns to #LatAmFocus to explain to @luisaleme.bsky.social how the deal fits a pattern of countries seeking to diversify in a shifting trade context.

ow.ly/Lxw250YSAvM
LatAm in Focus: Mercosur, EU, and the New Frontiers of Free Trade
Trade expert Kellie Meiman Hock returns to explain how the EU-Mercosur deal fits a pattern of countries seeking to diversify in a shifting trade context.
ow.ly
April 30, 2026 at 5:14 PM
🎙What will it take for Haiti to secure its elections? In the latest #LatAmFocus, GI-TOC's @romainlecour.bsky.social covers domestic and international efforts to contain Haiti’s spiraling security crisis ahead of a potential August vote—the country’s first in a decade.

Listen here: ow.ly/4bCx50Yss3g
LatAm in Focus: What Will It Take to Secure Haiti’s 2026 Elections?
GI-TOC's Haiti and Caribbean Observatory head Romain Le Cour analyzes the local and international efforts to ready an August vote amid a security crisis.
ow.ly
March 11, 2026 at 4:27 PM
🎙NEW #LatAmFocus: What's on the Table for Brazil’s Security Issues ahead of 2026 Elections?

@muggah.bsky.social of the Igarapé Institute discusses the evolving criminal landscape and puts forward evidence-based solutions to violence.

Listen now: ow.ly/Mv8u50XWRkQ
LatAm in Focus: What's on the Table for Brazil's Security Issues ahead of 2026 Elections?
The Igarapé Institute’s Robert Muggah discusses the evolution of criminal activity, as well as evidence-based solutions to violence.
ow.ly
January 14, 2026 at 6:08 PM
New #LatAmFocus: Can Rodrigo Paz Unearth Bolivia’s Lithium Potential?

Texas A&M’s Diego von Vacano talks to ASCOA’s @carinzissis.bsky.social about the history of political and economic obstacles stifling the sector and outlines the path ahead for the new president.

🎧 Listen: ow.ly/e5y050Xr1uX
LatAm in Focus: Can Rodrigo Paz Unearth Bolivia's Lithium Potential?
Texas A&M's Diego von Vacano traces a history of political and economic obstacles stifling the sector and outlines the path ahead for the new president.
ow.ly
November 13, 2025 at 5:29 PM
New #LatAmFocus: What’s Behind Brazil’s International Game?

In the latest episode, Laura Trajber Waisbich of @igarape_org outlines the country’s proactive approach to foreign policy in an increasingly tense global context.

🎧 Listen: ow.ly/b8gh50W4TWA
LatAm in Focus: What's Behind Brazil's International Game?
The Igarapé Institute’s Laura Trajber Waisbich outlines the country’s proactive approach to foreign policy in an increasingly tense global context.
ow.ly
June 5, 2025 at 3:02 PM
New #LatAmFocus: The New Era of U.S.–China Competition in Latin America

Johns Hopkins' Margaret Myers explains how both Beijing and Washington are recalibrating their approach to engagement with the region.

🎧 Listen now: ow.ly/K7l250VSLbX
LatAm in Focus: The New Era of U.S.–China Competition in Latin America
Johns Hopkins’ Margaret Myers explains how both Beijing and Washington are recalibrating their approach to engagement with the region.
ow.ly
May 14, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Literature “is a beauty that if rightly conceived and expressed, can change things,” pronounced Mario Vargas Llosa at a 2012 Americas Society event.

In memory of the Peruvian author, we share the audio of that conversation in a bonus #LatAmFocus episode: ow.ly/z4xt50VCKFF
LatAm in Focus: Remembering Mario Vargas Llosa
Listen to this bonus episode of a conversation between the Peruvian writer and legendary translator Edith Grossman, recorded at Americas Society in 2012.
ow.ly
April 17, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Crime and insecurity top the electorate’s concerns in this election.

In a recent #LatAmFocus episode, security expert Vanda Felbab-Brown detailed the challenges President Noboa has faced in trying to address the drug-related violence afflicting Ecuador.

🎧Listen: ow.ly/e1no50V25q2
LatAm in Focus: The Durability of Mano Dura in Ecuador
Brookings’ security expert Vanda Felbab-Brown explains President Noboa’s security challenge. Will his Bukele-like hardline approach pay off?
ow.ly
April 11, 2025 at 4:51 PM
🎙️ New #LatAmFocus episode: Drugs, Guns, and Dollars—Unpacking the Cartels' FTO Designation

FTI Consulting's Pablo Zárate and ITAM's Cecilia Farfán-Méndez explain what the U.S. security policy shift means for bilateral business and North American relations.

Listen: www.as-coa.org/articles/lat...
LatAm in Focus: Drugs, Guns, and Dollars—Unpacking the Cartels' FTO Designation
FTI’s Pablo Zárate and ITAM’s Cecilia Farfán-Méndez explain what the U.S. security policy shift means for bilateral business and North American relations.
www.as-coa.org
March 13, 2025 at 6:28 PM