35 West

The global energy transition will require a simultaneous mining revolution. However, reaching the levels of production needed to achieve net zero goals is no small feat, while China’s dominance in the midstream of critical minerals supply chains presents risks to both the United States and minerals producers in the Western Hemisphere alike. In this episode, Christopher Hernandez-Roy sits down with...

On June 2, nearly 60 million people cast their votes for the next president of Mexico, making it the largest election in Mexico’s history. However, the race was also marred by electoral violence, with more than three dozen candidates or prospective candidates murdered over the electoral season. Intimidation, coercion, and threats to family members further compelled many prospective candidates to w...

This episode of 35 West originally aired on December 20, 2023. Now, just days away from the election, many of topics discussed have only grown in relevance over the course of the official campaign season. Mexico's general election on June 2 of 2024 promises to be a seminal moment for Mexican politics and society on a number of fronts, in particular, the race has made headlines as a contest between...

In 2023, U.S. trade with Mexico grew to nearly $800 billion, leading Mexico to surpass both Canada and China as the United States’ number one trading partner. While U.S.-Mexico trade has long been a pillar of North American economic competitiveness, Washington’s efforts to move trade away from China in favor of nearshoring and friendshoring in the Western Hemisphere, coupled with the advantages of...

On Sunday, May 5, Panamanians will cast their votes to determine the next president, as well as all members of the National Assembly. With a crowded field of candidates vying for the presidency, and only a single round to determine the victor, it promises to be a divided field. The elections are also taking place within a deeply polarized context, as Panama has been rocked by mass protests against...

Looking across the hemisphere today, crime and insecurity appears on the march, with transnational criminal groups ascendant from Mexico to the Caribbean and southern cone. In light of this, it is important to reflect upon the history of U.S.-LAC security cooperation, where we have seen two major, multi-year security initiatives launched and concluded in the past 25 years, Plan Colombia, and the M...

Semiconductors form the building blocks of modern digital life. Chips govern everything from missile guidance systems to the headlights in your car, and the fight for the cutting edge of this technology appears to be entering a new phase. The United States, in partnership with allies like Japan and the Netherlands, has sought to cut off China’s access to advanced chip designs and semiconductor man...

Haiti’s years-long political and security crisis entered a new phase last week when Prime Minister Ariel Henry, Haiti’s acting head of state since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, announced his resignation. Now, Haiti faces a period of profound uncertainty, with a serious power vacuum in government, ascendant criminal groups within striking distance of the halls of state power, and in...

Citizens from LAC countries have also played a more direct role in the conflict as foreign fighters for both sides. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv publish exact data on the number or nationality of LAC fighters who join their ranks, but estimates range from several hundred to more than a thousand fighters total spread across each front.  On February 23, Christopher Hernandez-Roy, sat down with Elizabeth...

On Sunday, February 4, Salvadorans headed to the polls to cast their votes in what virtually all analysts predicted would yield a landslide victory for incumbent President Nayib Bukele. However, official confirmation of Bukele’s victory was interrupted as the president declared the opposition was “pulverized” before the final transmission of the votes had been completed and announced by the Suprem...

Last month, Ecuador was rocked by a series of attacks carried out by members of criminal gangs. Over the course of two days of grueling violence, inmates rioted and took over prisons, gangs detonated car bombs across the country, and armed gunmen even stormed a live television broadcast in the violence-wracked city of Guayaquil. Then a few days later, the prosecutor investigating the attack on the...

In the months since Bernardo Arevalo's upset victory in Guatemala's presidential elections, a small elite often referred as “the pact of the corrupt,” has tried to derail the president-elect from taking office. In response, the United States imposed visa restrictions on nearly 300 Guatemalan congressmen and business leaders, while the Organization of American States, other international organizati...

En esta edición especial en español, Christopher Hernández-Roy, Director Adjunto y Senior Fellow del Programa sobre las Américas, conversa con Yaxys Cires, Director de Estrategia del Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos sobre los resultados del último Examen Periódico Universal de Cuba del Consejo de Derechos Humanos de Naciones Unidas. Analizan la dicotomía entre la retórica gubernamental y la...

Mexico's general election on June 2 of 2024 promises to be a seminal moment for Mexican politics and society on a number of fronts, in particular, the race has made headlines as a contest between two women, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum on one hand, and Senator Xóchitl Gálvez on the other, promising to herald Mexico’s first female president. But the race is also a test of the staying power o...

En este episodio especial en español, Laura Delgado López, becaria visitante del programa de las Américas, se sienta a conversar con Victoria Valdivia Cerda, profesora de la Academia Nacional de Estudios Políticos y Estratégicos (ANEPE) y experta en política y derecho espacial. Ellas conversan sobre las distintas formas en que los países latinoamericanos enfocan su actividad espacial, incluyendo e...

On October 29, more than ten thousand elected positions, from local councils to departmental governors, throughout Colombia went up for election. The results confirmed predictions of setbacks for President Gustavo Petro’s governing Pacto Histórico coalition, which lost races in key cities such as Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali, in addition to several governorships. In this special episode, Juliana Rub...

On Sunday, October 15, following a race that appeared neck-and-neck at several points, Daniel Noboa emerged victorious as Ecuador’s youngest elected president. Noboa’s victory over opponent Luisa González, the handpicked representative of former president Rafael Correa, signaled a desire for a change among the electorate, not only a departure from the outgoing Lasso government, but also a rejectio...

En este episodio especial en español, Ryan C. Berg se sienta a conversar con Brenda Struminger, periodista y corresponsal de la Casa Rosada para Infobae. Ellos conversaron sobre la primera vuelta de las elecciones presidenciales argentinas y las cuestiones claves en juego, especialmente los planes de cada candidato para resolver la crisis económica del país. También analizaron la relación bilatera...

The level of economic integration that Mexico, the United States, and Canada have managed to achieve with one another is surely one of the defining success stories of the Western Hemisphere. Undoubtedly however, more needs to be done to realize the full potential of North American trade, especially as politically charged disputes over key issues from energy to automotives and agriculture risk unde...

En este episodio especial en español, Juliana Rubio se sienta a conversar con Tamara Dávila, Tamara Dávila, psicóloga, feminista y activista política, y también una de las 222 presas políticas que fueron enviadas a los Estados Unidos el 9 febrero de este año.  Ellos conversaron sobre el activismo continuo de Tamara en favor de los derechos humanos y la democracia en Nicaragua, así como en el papel...

On Sunday, August 20, Ecuadorians went to the polls to vote in a snap election clouded by political upheaval, violence, and uncertainty.  The campaign was marred especially by the assassination of vocal anticorruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio on August 9. With no candidate on August 20 securing the margin needed to win outright, Ecuador’s period of political uncertainty will stretch on fur...

On August 20, Guatemalans will head to the polls to elect their next president, marking the culmination of a long and fraught electoral process. The election will pit Sandra Torres, a longstanding political force heading one of the country’s most well-oiled political machines, against unexpected contender Bernardo Arevalo, who surged to claim second place in the June first round elections.  In thi...

Energy is an often overlooked, yet fundamental building block for economic growth and prosperity— especially in light of a shifting geopolitical context which has placed a premium on securing supply chains from disruption by malign actors and strategic competitors, there is a unique opportunity for North America as a bloc to rethink energy security. But the development of the North American natura...

A shifting global narcotics market has brought on new challenges, with one of the most significant developments occurring in the global cocaine trade, where Europe has emerged as the preeminent destination for these illicit shipments. As drug trafficking organizations pivot their operations to take advantage of the high prices cocaine fetches on the European markets and low penalties for distribut...

Linked by trade, geography, and shared democratic institutions, the partnership between Panama and the United States allowed both countries to reap significant benefits. However, beyond any economic factors, Panama’s commitment to democracy, including as a founding member of the Alliance for Development in Democracy, alongside Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, is truly what cements the import...