The LatinNews Podcast

The biggest threat to Peru's efforts to further tap into its vast copper ore reserves is the growing number of informal and illegal mining activities. Conflicts between property owners and concession holders have become a critical issue, and the Peruvian government is striving to find a balance. Peru's rich copper and gold ore reserves have attracted hundreds of thousands of small-scale...

Security and violent crime are the single most pressing issues on the minds of voters regarding the presidential elections in Costa Rica in February 2026 and so, on The LatinNews Podcast this week, we investigate the causes for these troubles - including inequality and marginalization - and what President Rodrigo Chaves has done to combat this.  We discuss the broader trends in the region regardin...

The recent election of American Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV marks a historic moment for the Catholic Church. Not only is Leo XIV the first pope from the United States, but he is also a pontiff deeply connected to Latin America, where he dedicated nearly forty years to pastoral work, particularly in Peru. In this respect, Leo would appear to be another Latin American pope and there is g...

How much is historical revisionism in South America's southern cone responsible for a rise in the far-right in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay? What does this mean for the largely prevailing consensus on the brutality and the indefensible and egregious human rights violations perpetrated by the dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s? Can we point to an amnesia of these periods which has co...

As if we hardly need reminding that Chile's controversial pension reforms were the focal point of protests at the heart of the civil unrest or "estallido social". This has been particularly incendiary in Chile with the AFP's origins dating back to the Pinochet dictatorship.  Chile has always seemed like the Switzerland of Latin America, routinely topping regionally adjusted lea...

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we take a look at the implications of mass deportations from the United States and the possible effects of this on Trinidad and Tobago's society, the current state of emergency due to violent crime as well as the upcoming elections in April.  With the surge in gang-driven crime due to transnational drugs, arms and people trafficking, Trinidad and Tobago fin...

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we take a profound look at current events involving Panama, most notably the statements about the country made by President Trump. Was Panama a bad deal for the US? Is there a possibility of the US invading Panama in a second take on 1989's operation Just Cause? Does China control the canal?  It's a sign of the times that we have to seriously consider...

As his popularity continues to wane, President Lula appears as if disconnected to the new realities in Brazil as he faces the most testing time in his political career.  The weakness of Brazil's currency, the rising cost of living, the disastrous municipal elections in October 2024, the fiscal deficit and investor concerns are all issues which Lula needs to face up to but, as yet, has been un...

Suriname will vote for a new president on 25 May 2025 in what are seen as crucial elections set against the backdrop of economic uncertainty and the forthcoming exploitation of potentially wealth-changing oil reserves for the country. Presently, there are 15 to 17 parties registered and in this episode of The LatinNews Podcast we provide an explainer of the main parties and political players, the...

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we take a look at the challenges ahead for Mercosur, Mercado Común del Sur (Southern Common Market), as this trading bloc seeks to sign a FTA with the EU despite opposition from several European nations and approval from others, political polarization and enmity between Argentina's President Milei and Brazil's President Lula.  Does this new look deal b...

If we take President Milei's achievements in Argentina at his word, his policies have led to the reduction of inflation, created a fiscal surplus and a reduction of the country's credit debts. He has avoided impeachment, hyperinflation, reduced price indexes, controlled social unrest and carried out far-reaching austerity measures. Can President Milei consolidate stability, avoid problem...

Despite mineral production never having dominated the economies of Central American countries, change appears to be on the horizon. On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we talk to Paul Harris, Americas editor for Mining Journal, Senior editor for Kitco and organizer of the Colombia Gold Symposium to hear his thoughts on upcoming decisions in El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama.  Firstly, President B...

Hundreds and thousands of Cubans have arrived in the US since 2022, power outages are becoming more frequent and the island does not generate enough from exports to pay for its imports, does anything remain of the "achievements of the Revolution" such as: health, education and social equality?  On the LatinNews podcast this week, we speak to William LeoGrande, Professor of Government and...

Specialists on Latin America are hopeful that the region will play a more central role in President Trump's foreign policy agenda. However, how does the importance of Latin America rank regarding the US pulling back from Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East? Can Trump's advisors have a unified view of US policy towards Latin America or can we expect a foreign policy forged through...

There are approximately 150 gangs in Haiti and between them have killed ten thousand people over three years, they control 80 per cent of Port au Prince and recent massacres have stunned even the most hardened observers. Presently there are 400 security personnel from Kenya, deployed in the country as a UN mission to support Haiti's police force, with a further 600 more due in November. The K...

On this week's LatinNews Podcast, we explore the themes of urban mobility, transport infrastructure, and social inequities in Latin American cities, and discover why cities in the region serve as creative urban incubators. We speak with Dr. Daniel Oviedo, Associate Professor at UCL's Development Planning Unit and an expert on economic and spatial inequalities in urban environments, about...

By all accounts, Bernardo Arévalo was not expected to win Guatemala's 2023 presidential election. The shock of his victory took the Guatemalan establishment by surprise, and his win has been described by Edgar Ortiz, an expert in constitutional law and political risk in Guatemala, and our guest this week, as "a glitch in the matrix." In his efforts to address Guatemala's widesp...

China's engagement with Latin America is a complex and multifaceted relationship that is both broad and substantial. The PRC's use of commercial tools and instruments of State to create a global economic order that functions to its benefit has not gone unnoticed.  So, this week on The LatinNews Podcast, we speak to Dr Evan Ellis, Latin American Research Professor at the US Army War Colle...

How did Mexico get here? While all eyes are on the growing civil war within the Sinaloa Cartel, between those loyal to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who was arrested on July 25, and the Chapitos, accused of betraying him, in order to understand current events in Mexico's fluid drugs trade, it's necessary to step back and take all of the information in careful context.   On The LatinNews Podc...

Bolivians go to the polls on 1 December 2024 in a referendum to decide on the removal of fuel subsidies and to define whether to admit continuous or discontinuous presidential re-election. As if this weren't enough, on the same date, there are also judicial elections and another challenge to be clarified in the referendum is the shortage of dollars in the country.  Everything points to a sign...

In theory, sanctions are designed to force governments to defend business interests, restore or seek democracy, respect human rights, protect the environment, fight corruption and tackle international crime and Latin America - according to a new report - is disproportionately targeted.  "Sanctions in Latin America: the Regrettable Rise of a World of Prohibitions," a new report authored b...

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we look at what is being done to resolve the long standing conflict between the Chilean government and the Mapuche indigenous people, inhabitants of parts of south-central Chile, who have suffered from a policy of "pacification" which resulted in a tragic history of exterminations and displacement.  Tracing its roots back to the time of Chile's in...

Venezuela will vote for a new president on 28 July in what will not be free and fair elections, that much is certain. But, which way will it go?  On The LatinNews Podcast this week we explore some of the worst case scenarios facing Venezuela including the possibility of increased repression and massive voter fraud. Or, will Nicolas Maduro seek a negotiated exit for himself and his entourage?  Join...

Colombia’s cluster of armed conflicts seem interminable on the surface but President Gustavo Petro, the country’s first leftwing premier and a former guerrilla himself, has made Total Peace (Paz Total) a cornerstone policy of his government in an attempt to pull the nation from continual asymmetrical conflicts scattered all about the territory.    And while Petro’s approval rating sits at a perilo...

The Mexican electorate made history on 2 June by electing the country's first woman president in Claudia Sheinbaum, former Mexico City mayor, scientist, academic and protege of outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). Much has been reported about Sheinbaum's possible difficulty in distancing herself from AMLO's influence, but ironically, rather than giving her some fre...