The Americas Quarterly Podcast Americas Quarterly

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 happened since. How successfully has the government dealt with the security crisis? How valid are comparisons between Ecuador’s crackdown and that of Nayib Bukele in El Salvador? What has happened to Noboa’s popularity after it spiked following...

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 his plans for an economic overhaul, as well as his security initatives But in practice, Petro has struggled to translate his speeches into reality. In this episode we do a broad overview of Petro’s government so far, trying to separate rhetoric from reali...

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 adopted by some politicians around the region and evaluate why that is more difficult than it seems. Our guest is Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez, a doctoral candidate in government at Harvard University. He just co-authored with Alberto Vergara, professor of p...

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 negatively. This episode dissects the forces behind these trends. Why is Lula facing resistance in Congress? What are the economic debates under way inside the administration, and who is winning? How is Lula himself handling the challenges of a third te...

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, according to our guest, William F. Maloney, Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank. He argues that more competition within countries could be a motor for change. William also provides some clarity on the trend that’s been at the top of...

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 and if there’s any chance for a transition to democracy. The opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, a former diplomat and academic, has about 60% support in polls, compared to support of just 9% support for President Maduro. Our guest is Michael...