The Americas Quarterly Podcast

Over the past few months, the Trump administration has steadily ramped up pressure on Cuba: indicting senior Cuban officials including former president Raúl Castro, and sanctioning the state oil compa...

Nearly a year after slapping Brazil with a 50% tariff in what looked like a bid to help the Bolsonaro family, the U.S.-Brazil relationship has had several ups and downs: Trump dropped most of the tari...

Ever since Donald Trump took office, Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum has tried to strike a careful balance: Working with Washington on security matters while maintaining sovereignty and dome...

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 pe...

As recently as the 1960s, the average woman in Latin America had six children. Today that number is 1.8. In Chile, it has fallen to 1.1, lower than Japan. Combined with rising life expectancy, the res...

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 th...

Until recently, things seemed to be going well for Argentina's President Javier Milei. In October, his party won the midterm elections in a contest many polls predicted would swing the other way....

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 regim...

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 sanct...

When Rodrigo Paz was inaugurated in early November 2025, he vowed to implement “capitalism for all.” He inherited an economy in rough shape after 20 years of rule by the MAS party: Inflation was above...

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 re...

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 de...

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 an...

Right-wing candidates are gaining victories across Latin America. Chile will likely turn right in the upcoming second round of elections, Javier Milei made legislative gains in Argentina and in Bolivi...

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 w...

The recent deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the U.S. Navy’s largest aircraft carrier, has intensified speculation about Washington’s true objectives in the Southern Caribbean. In this episode of ...

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 An...

Argentina’s President Javier Milei just got a much-needed boost from his ally, U.S. President Donald Trump. The White House has signaled plans for a $20 billion swap line to contribute to Argentina’s ...

A landmark trial is underway in Brazil: former President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, stands accused of trying to overturn the 2022 election. Alongside military officials an...

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 cri...

In this special mid-year episode, we take a step back for a look at where the region’s economies stand, and the picture is better than many expected. We evaluate the impact of Trump’s new tariffs, the...

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 pres...

On May 20, two top aides to Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada were shot dead in a rare daytime attack, raising questions about security under Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum. Known for her tou...

President Javier Milei has made global headlines with his radical economic reforms and bold rhetoric, earning praise from figures like Donald Trump and Silicon Valley elites. At home, his record is mi...

Cuba is facing its worst crisis in decades, with blackouts and a mass exodus that has seen 20% of the population flee in five years. In this episode, we shed light on everyday life amid ongoing econom...

With Brazil about a year and a half away from the 2026 elections, political dynamics are shifting once again. The economy is growing at 3%, and employment remains high, yet President Lula’s approval r...

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum is enjoying remarkable popularity, garnering over 80% approval, while Mexico navigates shifting demands from U.S. President Donald Trump, economic uncertainty and ...

Organized crime is a persistent and evolving challenge in Latin America. At the moment crime syndicates are seeing unprecedented financial gains, fueled not only by a surge in cocaine production—more ...

A month into Donald Trump’s second presidency, Latin America has become a key focus of his administration. From high-stakes negotiations with Mexico to his stated goal of reclaiming the Panama Canal, ...

As Donald Trump returns to the White House, much focus was expected on Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and Cuba, but Panama has surprisingly taken center stage, even becoming the site of Marco Rubio’s fi...

Nearly a year ago, Ecuador faced a surge of violence when drug gangs took over a TV station and kidnapped police, marking the country's worst security crisis. Since then, President Daniel Noboa h...

Peru quickly became one of the first countries in the cross hairs of the incoming Trump administration because of the recently-inaugurated Chancay port, which is run by the Chinese company Cosco Shipp...

In this episode we look at what to expect from Latin America’s economies in 2025. Ernesto Revilla, chief economist for Latin America at Citigroup, evaluates the impact of Donald Trump’s return on the ...

Since Donald Trump’s election there have been fireworks between him and Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum. President-elect Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 25 percent as two leaders embark...

Donald Trump’s second presidency will likely bring an even stronger focus on Latin America than his first term did. Trump talked often about Latin America in the campaign, mainly through the lens of i...

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has an approval rating of about 50%. Unemployment in the country is at its lowest level in a decade and the economy is expected to grow about 3% this year...

Latin America is the world's breadbasket. The region is now the source of more than 60% of the world’s soy, almost half its corn and more than a quarter of its beef. At the same time, about 28% o...

Although Democrats still lead among Latinos, Republicans have grown their share of support among that community in the last two elections. Looking ahead to the upcoming contest between Donald Trump an...

Claudia Sheinbaum will take office as Mexico's new president next week, on October 1, 2024. Often described as a technocrat, she also supports some of current President AMLO's more controver...

Javier Milei has so far succeeded in making drastic changes to Argentina's economic policies. In this episode we evaluate what has worked and what hasn't, and who have been the winners and l...

The entry of Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential race has completely transformed the election. In this episode we ask what we can expect from her Latin America policy were she to win in November. H...

Since the election on July 28 Nicolás Maduro has unleashed a wave of repression not seen in Venezuela before. The question on everyone's mind is, what now? Will Venezuela move further down the pa...

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....

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 ...

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...

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 ...

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 gr...

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 inc...

Claudia Sheinbaum's victory in the Mexican elections was expected, but the 30-point margin surprised many and gave her and the Morena coalition a mandate like few others in Latin America’s recent...

Peru's story in the past 20 years has gone from fast growth and poverty reduction to fractious politics and a dwindling economy. In this episode, Alfredo Thorne, a former finance minister (2016-2...