Podcasts by Latin America Today
News and analysis of politics, security, development and U.S. policy in Latin America and the Caribbean, from the Washington Office on Latin America.
Further podcasts by aisacson@wola.org
Podcast on the topic Politik
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Planning, Unity, and Discipline: the Keys to Non-Violent Social Change in the Americas from 2023-10-05T22:46
Maria Belén Garrido, a research lecturer at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, and Listen
Mexico: “Demilitarization is not going to happen from one day to the next. But there needs to be that commitment” from 2023-09-15T10:27
A new report from WOLA dives deeply into the growing power and roles of Mexico’s military, and what that means for human rights, democracy, and U.S.-Mexico relations.
WOLA’s Mexico Progra...
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Venezuela: “The way out of this situation has to be through a democratic and peaceful solution” from 2023-09-07T10:21
Venezuela is to hold presidential elections sometime in 2024. Whether they will be at least somewhat free and fair, moving the country away from authoritarianism and toward democracy, is unlikel...
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Advocacy for Migrants at a Challenging Time: The View from Mexico from 2023-08-30T16:44
Gretchen Kuhner directs the Mexico City-based Institute for Women in Migration (IMUMI). She explains the challenges and complexities—and occasional advocacy successes—of the current moment of re...
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Good Governance Needs Good Data: the Central America Monitor Looks Ahead from 2023-07-26T15:49
Joining WOLA with partners in three countries, the Central America Monitor has tracked governance indicators during a very difficult nine years. WOLA's Elizabeth Kennedy and Lisette Vásquez of t...
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Fentanyl: "What sounds tough isn't necessarily a serious policy" from 2023-05-30T16:43
From a traditional drug policy perspective, fentanyl would appear to be an intractable problem. It also threatens a rift in the U.S.-Mexico relationship. WOLA's John Walsh and Stephanie Brewer p...
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“We can’t deter our way out of this”: a view from the Honduras-Nicaragua border from 2023-05-01T17:09
WOLA staff report from Honduras after a visit to the border with Nicaragua, where we witnessed a historic migration flow. As government and service providers struggle to manage this result of a ...
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"The days of hoping for a magical solution are long gone": Geoff Ramsey on Venezuela from 2023-04-10T12:00
A conversation about the political and humanitarian moment in Venezuela, efforts to resolve the country's crisis, and the U.S. role, with Geoff Ramsey, who recently departed WOLA's Venezuela Pro...
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Guatemala: An Eroding Democracy Approaches New Elections from 2023-03-03T20:40
Guatemala's deteriorating democracy is approaching June elections with disqualified candidates, imprisoned or exiled judicial workers and journalists, and a U.S. policy that's hard to pin down. ...
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Peru's Turmoil and "the Danger of a Much Deeper Crisis" from 2022-12-20T17:02
December 2022 in Peru has seen a president's failed attempt to dissolve Congress and subsequent jailing, and now large-scale protests met with a military crackdown. Senior Fellow Jo-Marie Burt e...
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Unprotected at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Reporting Back from Texas and Arizona from 2022-12-06T18:50
WOLA staff spent a mid-November week visiting several points along the U.S.-Mexico border. We spoke to many migrants stranded in Mexico, in shelters and in rustic camps, unable to seek protection i...
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Mexico Sends in the Troops: Stephanie Brewer on the Militarization of Public Security from 2022-09-19T13:49:01
Mexico has been increasing its armed forces' role in public security for many years, but the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador has just taken it to historic new lengths. WOLA's Mexico Pr...
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“What happens with the Petro government could become a model for engaging with the region” from 2022-07-11T04:13:23
WOLA's director for the Andes, Gimena Sánchez, was in Colombia during the historic June 19 election that sent Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez to the presidency and vice-presidency. We discuss ...
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Migration and the Summit of the Americas from 2022-06-21T16:32:42
Adam, Stephanie Brewer, Maureen Meyer, and Lesly Tejada discuss regional migration and the Summit of the Americas, which took place Los Angeles earlier in June. The four analyze the political im...
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"We believe there are multiple armed conflicts": Kyle Johnson on security in Colombia from 2022-01-19T20:59:37
Recent violence in the northeastern region of Arauca shows the complicated, fragmented nature of Colombia's armed conflict—or "conflicts," as security analyst Kyle Johnson calls it in this clear...
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Is Mexico Prepared to be a Country of Refuge? from 2021-12-07T20:44:51
More than 120,000 migrants have applied for protection in Mexico in 2021. We discuss Mexico’s difficult transition to being a country of refuge with Gretchen Kuhner of IMUMI, Daniel Berlin of As...
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Colombia's peace accord at five years from 2021-11-22T19:04:22
Colombia's government and largest guerrilla group signed a historic peace accord on November 24, 2016. Five years later, is it being implemented? Not enough. WOLA Director for the Andes Gimena S...
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Missing in Brooks County: A tragic outcome of U.S. border and migration policy from 2021-09-27T21:45:23
Lisa Molomot and Jeff Bemiss have produced a new documentary, "Missing in Brooks County," about thousands of migrants dying in ranchland surrounding a south Texas Border Patrol checkpoint. They ...
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A Conversation with WOLA's New President, Carolina Jiménez Sandoval from 2021-09-20T16:14:15
As of September 1, WOLA has new president. Carolina Jiménez has an impressive biography—and here, we talk about her work, how civil society has evolved throughout Latin America, the threat of au...
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For Disappearances to End, Justice Must Begin: Justice for Disappeared Mexicans from 2021-09-13T12:57:24
In this conversation, Adam and Stephanie discuss how Mexico's disappearance crisis grew to today's tragic scale, what has worked and has not worked for investigations into disappearances in the ...
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A Goodbye to WOLA President Geoff Thale from 2021-09-03T23:36:13
Geoff Thale, WOLA’s president, has retired after 40 years as an advocate for human rights in Latin America. When Geoff’s career began, the idea of citizens working full-time to change foreign po...
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Addressing Cuba's Unseen Humanitarian Disaster from 2021-08-06T12:57:10
Last month's protests in Cuba captured international attention for the large groups that took to the stre...
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Colombia After the Paro Nacional: A Report Back From Cali from 2021-07-20T16:20:59
Lisa Haugaard, director of the Latin America Working Group, is just back from accompanying a human rights delegation to Cali, Colombia, an epicenter of April-June protests. She conveys what witn...
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A New Wave of Political Unrest in Haiti from 2021-07-13T21:26:19
For those closely following Haiti, the recent assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and the chaos and political uncertainty following it have been years in the making, in a country tragically...
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Aligning Policy with Reality at the U.S.-Mexico Border from 2021-07-09T21:23:28
Former WOLA Director Joy Olson just carried out dozens of interviews along the Texas-Mexico border. She came back saddened by expelled migrants' suffering, perplexed by the Biden administration'...
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Nicaragua's Exit from Democracy from 2021-07-01T19:50:32
The condition of Nicaragua's democracy has steadily deteriorated over the course of President Daniel Ortega's regime. Recently, in anticipation of the country's coming elections, President Orteg...
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What's at Stake in Peru's Coming Elections from 2021-06-03T15:36:20
Peruvians vote on June 6 in a runoff between two presidential candidates who represent populist extremes, and who reflect growing divisions exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. WOLA Senior Fell...
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A Snapshot of Human Rights and Democracy in Brazil from 2021-05-25T17:34:23
Brazil is the second largest country in the hemisphere but its many complex issues rarely make news in the U.S. This week, Camila Asano, Director of Programs at the Brazilian human rights NGO Co...
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Understanding Colombia's Latest Wave of Social Protest from 2021-05-13T14:30:45
Protests that began April 28 in Colombia are maintaining momentum and a broad base, despite a heavy-handed government response. Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli, WOLA's director for the Andes, sees a move...
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The Complexity of Engaging with Central America from 2021-04-28T18:34:32
Top Biden administration officials, including Vice-President Kamala Harris, are developing a new approach to Central America. The theme is familiar: addressing migration's "root causes." WOLA Pr...
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The Border Situation Viewed from Mexico from 2021-04-15T16:27:30
The Biden administration is asking Mexico to do more to limit or stop arrivals of asylum-seeking migrants from Central America and elsewhere. Several WOLA experts discuss Mexico's military deplo...
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"People coming from the Western Hemisphere have been perceived as inherently not refugees" from 2021-04-01T20:55:38
Yael Shacher, senior U.S. advocate at Refugees International, is a historian of U.S. asylum policy. She offers an invaluable perspective on the current increase in asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mex...
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COMING SOON: Rebuilding Peace in Colombia from 2021-03-02T21:07:37
This series from the Washington Office on Latin America will share the stories of social leaders in Colombia who, every day, under threat to their lives, search for truth and work toward reconci...
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A Critical Moment for El Salvador's Democracy from 2021-02-19T22:45:49
El Salvador's popular but authoritarian-leaning president, Nayib Bukele, may enjoy a congressional supermajority after February 28 elections. Mauricio Silva and José Luis Sanz discuss the many i...
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Mexico: the meaning of the Cienfuegos case from 2021-01-22T16:46:38
WOLA's Director for Mexico and Migrant Rights, Stephanie Brewer, walks us through the late 2020 arrest and release of Mexico's last defense secretary, and what Mexico's handling of the case tell...
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The Transition: Authoritarianism, Populism, and Closing Civic Space from 2020-12-11T13:17:26
Populist and authoritarian leaders have made important gains in Latin America, and the U.S. government has been inconsistent in its dealings with them, and in its support for civil society. WOLA...
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When your neighbor is a murderer: Sean Mattison on "escrache" in Argentina from 2020-12-04T14:59:45
The New York Times recently ran a short film by Sean Mattison about how victims of Argentina's 1976-83 dictatorship creatively called out the ex-military killers and torturers who, benefiting fr...
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The Transition: The future of Latin America's anti-corruption fight from 2020-12-01T18:58:54
Corruption is "endemic: a system, a network, a web of relations" that underlies many other problems in Latin America. Adriana Beltrán and Moses Ngong discuss how the US and other international a...
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The Transition: A Rational, Region-Wide Approach to Migration from 2020-11-23T21:27:31
The U.S. government is transitioning between two different visions of migration, while human mobility increases throughout Latin America. Adam Isacson and Maureen Meyer discuss what a humane and...
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The Transition: U.S. Credibility, Cooperation, and a Changed Tone from 2020-11-16T19:25:52
The presidential transition means a shift between two very different visions of US relations with Latin America. A group of WOLA staff takes stock of the Trump years' impact on US credibility in...
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Peru Abruptly Removes Its President from 2020-11-12T22:30:05
Peru's Congress abruptly removed President Martín Viscarra from office this week. It looks like another example of an all-too-familiar recent pattern in Latin America: backlash against anti-corr...
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Beyond the Wall: “It’s all about the families”, Eddie Canales on preventing deaths and identifying missing migrants in Texas borderlands from 2020-10-30T16:09:59
Peru: "If we do not succeed against this plague, then anything can happen" from 2020-09-25T21:02:12
Even as it has been hit very hard by COVID-19, Peru has just gone through an “express impeachment” and other corruption turmoil, while elections approach. We discuss Peru with IDL Reporteros jou...
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Beyond the Wall: Reflections from a Former Border Patrol Agent from 2020-08-19T19:55
This month, Adam Isacson, WOLA's Director for Defense Oversight, interviews Francisco Cantú, author of Listen
Civil-Military Relations at a Crossroads in the Americas from 2020-08-13T12:39:05
The effort to assert democratic civilian control over armed forces is not over, Kristina Mani of Oberlin College reminds us. Latin American civilians, she points out, often use militaries for no...
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Demining sacred space in Colombia's Amazon basin from 2020-06-25T15:35:51
An exchange with Bogotá-based filmmaker Tom Laffay, whose documentary work with the Siona people of Putumayo, Colombia, supported by the Pulitzer Center, is featured by The New Yorker. Laffay po...
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"If you're an Afro-descendant LGBT person… your priority is not to be killed." from 2020-06-23T19:10:11
Carlos Quesada, director of the International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights, explains how laws, treaties, and the Inter-American system offer tools for change—or survival—for the...
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Beyond the Wall: A Roundtable Discussion on Border and Migration from 2020-06-18T18:56:42
This month, WOLA premiered an animated video for our Beyond the Wall campaign and re...
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A Crucial Moment for Guatemala's Fight Against Impunity from 2020-06-10T11:08:32
Guatemala is selecting a new slate of Supreme Court justices. The country must not get this wrong, because a nexus of corrupt and powerful people could end up choosing their own judges. We talk ...
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“If they can kill Berta Cáceres, they can kill anybody”: Nina Lakhani on the Danger to Social Leaders from 2020-06-02T16:48:04
Nina Lakhani, a veteran correspondent for the Guardian in Mexico and Central America, discusses her new book about Honduran indigenous activist Berta Cáceres, her 2016 murder and its aftermath, ...
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Venezuela: COVID-19, Sanctions, Outside Powers, Florida Politics, and the Search for a Political Solution from 2020-05-28T15:49:46
WOLA Director for Venezuela Geoff Ramsey and Senior Fellow David Smilde offer a situation report on Venezuela. While the picture is unavoidably grim, they offer a rare nuanced view of Venezuela'...
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Rep. Jim McGovern: "What if I was in Colombia? Would I have the courage to say what I believe?" from 2020-05-20T17:26:18
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) has traveled often to Colombia, the subject of this episode. A leading voice on human rights in Congress, he has a lot to say about recent espionage scandals in Colom...
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Beyond the Wall: The Human Consequences of ICE Detention Centers from 2020-05-19T14:40:56
In this episode of Beyond the Wall, Mario Moreno, VP for Communications conducts two interviews regarding the harrowing conditions migrants face in ICE detention centers during the COVID-19 pand...
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"How do we define success?" Jonathan Rosen on governments' approaches to organized crime from 2020-05-12T13:18:43
Jonathan Rosen of Holy Family University is the author of, or collaborator on, a large body of recent scholarly work on security policy, drug policy, organized crime, and corruption in the Ameri...
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Practicing Asylum Law in El Paso: "MPP is just—it's utterly insane" from 2020-05-07T15:27:33
Since "Remain in Mexico" began, Taylor Levy, an El Paso-based immigration attorney, has done much of her work across the border in Ciudad Juárez. Her account of the obstacles asylum-seekers face...
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"These moments of social resistance are never moments. They have long histories." from 2020-05-05T16:33:41
A conversation about Colombia, U.S. policy, human rights advocacy, and social struggle with anthropologist Winifred Tate of Colby College, whose more than 30 years of work as both a scholar and ...
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Monitoring Anti-Democratic Trends and Human Rights Abuses in the Age of COVID-19 from 2020-05-01T18:52:44
Five WOLA program directors talk about how COVID-19—and governments' response—are hitting Latin America. We discuss dangers to democracy, rights, economics, and marginalized people, focusing esp...
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Democracy and Displacement in Colombia’s Civil War from 2020-04-16T15:25:27
Abbey Steele of the University of Amsterdam is an expert on the dynamics of conflict and violence. She has worked extensively in Colombia, and in 2017 published a book about displacement and "po...
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"This is patently illegal": The undermining of asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border from 2020-04-14T17:25:15
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, walks us through how the asylum system is meant to work. He then explains how the Trump administration has steadily de...
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Protecting Civilians from Harm in Armed Conflict from 2020-04-13T15:58:12
The Center for Civilians in Conflict works to minimize harm done to civilians in armed conflicts. What should this work look like in Latin America, where traditionally defined armed conflicts ar...
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Coronavirus and Communities in Post-Accord Colombia from 2020-04-10T15:08:02
WOLA's director for the Andes, Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli, explains what Colombia·s response to the coronavirus means for communities affected by its conflict. As a new WOLA urgent action documents,...
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Latin America and the Crisis of Globalization and Multilateralism from 2020-04-08T13:59:26
Three experts with long experience in defense and security collaborated on a new paper for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation that takes stock of geopolitics, the crisis of democracy, and emerging t...
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"I Wrote This Book for People Like You": Lars Schoultz on "In Their Own Best Interest" from 2020-04-07T20:00:26
In his latest book, "In Their Own Best Interest," Lars Schoultz of UNC Chapel Hill takes to task U.S. policymakers and advocates who seek to "uplift" Latin American nations, finding them to be p...
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Beyond the Wall: Seeking Shelter in the Age of COVID-19 from 2020-04-06T14:55:03
This month, Mario Moreno, WOLA's VP for Communications. interviewed Joanna Williams, the Director of Education and Advocacy at the Kino Border Initiative. Listen
Investing in Amazon Crude: Oil, Finance, and Survival from 2020-04-03T20:39:07
When you think about environmental threats to the Amazon, you may envision illegal logging, cattle ranchers, and fires. But the western Amazon has oil, too, and companies are moving in. We talk ...
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“I Wish I Did More Positive Reporting About Colombia Because I Love the Place” from 2020-03-31T17:38:01
Since 1997 John Otis has been reporting from Colombia, covering the Andes, currently for NPR and the Wall Street Journal. He talks here about what has changed during his tenure, the peace proces...
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Soldiers and Civilians in Latin America Today from 2020-03-30T15:56:44
After 20-plus years of movement away from military rule and toward civilian democracy, Latin America's militaries are again playing larger, more political roles—a trend that COVID-19 is exacerba...
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Upheaval in Bolivia: Political Crisis, COVID-19, and the Run-up to New Elections from 2020-03-28T21:50:28
Audio of a March 27 WOLA web discussion of events in Bolivia since the October 2019 general elections and the onset of COVID-19, with analyst Linda Farthing, Robert Albro of American University,...
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"This is the Scenario the Trump Administration Would've Liked Since Day One" from 2020-03-27T15:29:49
Daniella Burgi-Palomino, co-director of the Latin America Working Group, explains the devastating blows that the Trump administration has dealt to the right to seek asylum at the US-Mexico borde...
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Searching for Mexico's Disappeared from 2020-03-26T21:14:15
More than 60,000 people have disappeared in Mexico since 2006. The current government is taking some initial steps to address the crisis. Mariano Machain of SERAPAZ Mexico and Lucy Díaz of the C...
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"There are 15,000 people waiting without access to asylum" from 2020-03-24T19:23:21
Savitri Arvey of the University of California at San Diego's U.S.-Mexico Center has co-written a series of reports documenting U.S. authorities' practice of "metering" asylum seekers along the M...
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Beyond the ‘Narcostate’ Narrative: Addressing Organized Crime and Corruption in Venezuela from 2020-03-23T18:54:57
Audio from a March 20, 2020 webinar about criminality and corruption in Venezuela, and the viability of a political exit to the crisis. With WOLA·s Geoff Ramsey and David Smilde, Jeremy McDermot...
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Peru's Anti-Corruption Reforms from 2020-03-20T19:17:11
Cynthia McClintock of George Washington University gives an overview of the current political moment in Peru, where an ongoing anti-corruption drive, spurred by the good work of investigative re...
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"Guerrilla Marketing" in Colombia from 2020-03-19T20:29:16
A conversation with Alex Fattal, whose 2018 book "Guerrilla Marketing," about the Colombian military's employment of ad campaigns to convince guerrillas to demobilize, explores the overlap betwe...
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"You're Capturing the Poetry of How Colombians Speak" from 2020-03-18T19:21:14
Toby Muse spent almost two decades as a foreign correspondent in Colombia, where he traveled to dozens of places affected by the war on drugs and recorded innumerable conversation with everyday ...
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Women Coca and Poppy Growers Mobilizing for Social Change from 2020-03-18T01:08:01
Senior Fellow Coletta Youngers and Senior Program Associate Teresa García Castro talk about their new report, published with three other organizations, on women coca growers in Bolivia and Colom...
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Beyond the Wall: A Rights-Respecting Approach to Migration from 2020-03-10T08:00
Mario Moreno, WOLA's VP for Communications, interviews Director for Defense Oversight Adam Isacson and Director for Mexico and Migrant Rights Maureen Meyer on current challenges the regi...
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How Corruption Continues to Erode Citizen Security in Central America from 2020-02-14T18:42:39
Adriana Beltran and Austin Robles of WOLA’s Citizen Security Program discuss the beleaguered fight against corruption in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Their Listen
What the State of the Union Means for Latin America from 2020-02-05T20:50:53
Our team recorded a roundtable discussion at WOLA the morning after this year's State of the Union, particularly focused on what the president's words and actions mean for human rights and U.S. ...
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A Week on the Border: Observing the Consequences of Remain in Mexico from 2020-01-27T20:38
The U.S. policy of "Remain in Mexico", building the border wall, and the overall criminalization of Central American migrants and asylum seekers has produced a number human rights, economic, sec...
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Venezuela: New Year, New Political Tumult from 2020-01-09T16:49:36
For Venezuela, 2020 began with new political turmoil, as the Maduro government maneuvered to take over the presidency of the opposition-majority National Assembly.
Will this backfire for ...
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Protest and Politics in Post-Conflict Colombia from 2019-12-17T20:36:02
WOLA Director for the Andes Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli explains Colombia's four-week-old wave of social protests, peace accord implementation, and what WOLA staff saw and heard during October field ...
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The Trump Administration's Body Blow to Cuba's Private Sector from 2019-11-18T19:05:38
Though the Trump administration is purportedly pro-business, its Cuba policy has hit the island's nascent private sector very hard. Oniel Díaz of AUGE, a Cuban business development team, discuss...
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Bolivia's Post-Evo Meltdown from 2019-11-14T20:03:59
Tensions are very high in Bolivia in the days since President Evo Morales resigned, following a fraud-marred election. From Cochabamba, Kathryn Ledebur of the Andean Information Network explains...
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September 10, 2019: The crackdown at Mexico's southern border from 2019-09-10T21:16:33
WOLA's Adam Isacson and Maureen Meyer covered nearly 400 miles of the Mexico-Guatemala border during a mid-August visit. Amid a U.S.-inspired crackdown on irregular migration, they saw National ...
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September 5, 2019: The El Paso-Juárez Border from 2019-09-05T13:21:38
WOLA·s president, Matt Clausen, shares what he saw and heard during a recent delegation to the U.S.-Mexico border at El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. Family migration increased 1,500% there this year,...
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July 15, 2019: "The System" Versus Guatemalan Democracy from 2019-07-15T16:08:25
Guatemala has seen a historic democratic opening get abruptly shut down, amid official U.S. silence. Martín Rodríguez Pellecer, director of the Guatemalan online news outlet Nómada, talks about ...
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July 9, 2019: Resisting Repression in Nicaragua from 2019-07-09T18:58:17
Julio Martínez of Nicaragua's Articulación de Movimientos Sociales talks about the effort to stop human rights abuses and restore democracy in Nicaragua, the importance of international pressure...
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May 1, 2019: Alan García's Legacy in Peru from 2019-05-01T18:45:46
Facing arrest in a corruption scandal, Peru's two-time president Alan García shot himself to death on April 17. WOLA Senior Fellows Jo-Marie Burt and Coletta Youngers discuss the personal journe...
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April 25, 2019: Taking a Chainsaw to Cuba Policy from 2019-04-25T12:24:10
The Trump administration has gone full hard-line against Cuba, announcing severe new measures—including a once-unthinkable authority to allow owners of seized Cuban property to sue in U.S. court...
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April 5, 2019: Rebelocracy: Social Order in the Colombian Civil War with Ana Arjona from 2019-04-05T17:40:04
Ana Arjona of Colombia·s Universidad de Los Andes and Northwestern University presents an intricate theory of how armed conflicts work at the local level, as presented in her 2016 book Rebelocra...
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March 20, 2019 Guatemala's Backlash Against Accountability from 2019-03-20T14:19:26
Only a few years ago, Guatemala was making historic gains in its fight against corruption and human rights abuse. Since then, the country has suffered a severe backlash. A “pact of th...
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March 13, 2019: Security, Impunity, and Reform in El Salvador from 2019-03-13T15:17:18
El Salvador is inaugurating a new president amid a severe security crisis. Tens of thousands of Salvadorans are abandoning their homes each year—most displacing internally and many moving to oth...
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March 7, 2019: A Humanitarian Crisis, Not a National Emergency from 2019-03-07T22:23:40
U.S. and Mexican border communities are contending with a surge of asylum-seeking children and parents, arriving by the thousands each day. The Trump administration portrays it as a “...
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February 27, 2019: What Next in Venezuela? from 2019-02-27T22:40:25
A fast-moving, wide-ranging discussion of the current moment in Venezuela, and the available options for finding a way out of the country's intractable crisis, with Geoff Ramsey, WOLA·s assistan...
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November 19, 2018: Latin America and the Midterm Elections' Outcome from 2018-11-19T20:22:19
The Democratic Party won a majority of the House of Representatives in the November 6 midterm election. Adam Isacson talks with WOLA's Director for Cuba, Marguerite Jiménez, about what this mean...
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November 5, 2018: Electoral Rules and Democracy in Latin America with Cynthia McClintock from 2018-11-05T18:58:44
After a long year of elections in Latin America, Adam talks to Cynthia McClintock of George Washington University, author of a new book that argues for the importance of holding runoff elections...
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October 30, 2018: Caravans, Soldiers, and Electoral Politics from 2018-10-30T21:48:22
A "caravan" of migrants from Central America has inspired the president to threaten aid cuts and to send troops to the border. But this issue involves conditions in Central America, along the mi...
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June 25, 2018: What We Saw at the Border from 2018-06-25T22:21:22
WOLA's Adam Isacson, Maureen Meyer, and Adeline Hite were at the Arizona-Mexico border last week amid the furor over the Trump administration's zero-tolerance and family separation policies. The...
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May 11, 2018: The Venezuelan Forced Migration Crisis from 2018-05-11T16:57:02
Following travel to Venezuela's border regions, Assistant Director for Venezuela Geoff Ramsey and Director for the Andes Gimena Sánchez discuss the ongoing crisis of forced migration of Venezuel...
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March 30, 2018: Latin America in the 2018 budget bill from 2018-03-30T13:36:20
The U.S. government finally has a budget for 2018. Congress almost completely rejected President Trump’s border wall proposal, and reversed his deep cuts in aid to Latin America. Adam Isacson, M...
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September 19, 2017: Death Squads in El Salvador's Police from 2017-09-20T00:29:31
El Salvador's National Civilian Police, especially a 1,000-man military-police hybrid unit, has killed hundreds of alleged gang members this year. Many appear to be extrajudicial executions. Dem...
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August 4, 2017: How to Work With Congress from 2017-08-04T20:37:05
We've worked with Congress for 43 years, but we're still figuring it out. WOLA Associate Ana Sorrentino has worked both as an advocate and a congressional staffer. She has lots of advice about d...
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July 21, 2017: Trump's Border Buildup Moves Through Congress from 2017-07-21T15:55:59
The House Appropriations Committee just passed a budget bill that gives the Trump administration much of what it is asking for: more border wall, more agents, and more deportations. Get an updat...
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June 21, 2017: Colombia's FARC demobilizes, but new challenges await from 2017-06-21T20:04:22
On June 20, 2017 the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) ceased to be an armed group. But as WOLA's Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli makes clear, the hard part awaits.
In a wide-ranging d...
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June 8, 2017: An Update on Venezuela from 2017-06-08T22:40:13
Over 65 Venezuelans have died in over two months of protests against the Maduro government's authoritarian turn. WOLA Senior Fellow David Smilde, the Charles A. and Leo M. Favrot Professor of Hu...
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May 24, 2017: The Trump Administration Wants to Slash U.S. Aid from 2017-05-24T16:25:07
The Trump White House just sent its first budget to Congress. It calls for a huge 35 percent across-the-board cut in U.S. assistance to Latin America. It also calls for construction of new borde...
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May 12, 2017: The Central America Monitor from 2017-05-12T15:42:07
With the goal of addressing the violence and economic hardship driving migration from the region, Congress approved $750 million in aid for Central America for 2016, and $655 million more for 20...
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May 3, 2017: Looking for Glimmers of Hope in Honduras from 2017-05-03T19:35:20
WOLA Program Officer Sarah Kinosian is just back from a weeklong research visit to Honduras. We discuss arms trafficking, police reform...
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April 18, 2017: Human Rights Trials in Guatemala from 2017-04-18T19:17:10
WOLA Senior Fellow Jo-Marie Burt closely monitors Guatemala's judicial effort to hold military personnel accountable for crimes committed...
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March 28, 2017: A "Trump Effect?" from 2017-03-28T15:38:27
U.S. statistics showed a sharp drop in migration from Mexico, and especially from Central America, in February. WOLA's Adam Isacson, Maureen Meyer, and Hannah Smith talk about what is happening ...
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Haiti at a Crossroads: Understanding the Current Political Impasse from 2016-08-12T17:20:53
Washington Office on Latin America
U.S. Policy Toward Cuba: Is the U.S. Embargo Coming To an End? from 2016-07-27T17:20:53
Washington Office on Latin America
How a Ceasefire in Colombia Can Work from 2016-03-24T20:01:54
Washington Office on Latin America
Citizen Security in Central America: Root Causes and New Approaches from 2016-03-24T20:01:54
Washington Office on Latin America
"Building on Progress": Kathryn Ledebur on Bolivia's Unheralded Drug Policy Success from 2015-08-24T19:15:48
Bolivia's government has rejected the U.S. model of illegal drug control—and cultivation of coca has dropped by 34% there since 2010. Adam talks with Kathryn Ledebur of the Andean Information Netwo...
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Mexico's New Southern Border Security Plan and New Police Force from 2014-09-18T15:43:37
Over 3 days in August, Mexico's government announced a big new southern border security plan, and inaugurated a big new police force, the Gendarmería. Adam talks to six experts about both strategie...
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Children, Families, and Danger at the Texas-Mexico Border from 2014-08-07T14:54:54
With numerous audio samples, Adam reports back on an August 3-4 visit to McAllen, Texas, and Reynosa, Mexico. Updates on unaccompanied minors, migrant deaths, deportations, and the humanitarian res...
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The Crisis of Unaccompanied Migrant Children from 2014-06-13T19:50:09
Since October, authorities have captured more than 46,000 unaccompanied children, most of them from Central America, on the U.S. side of the border. Adam talks with WOLA's Geoff Thale, Maureen Meye...
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A Historic Reform in Mexico: Interview With Santiago Aguirre of Tlachinollan from 2014-05-06T20:13:14
Mexico's Congress has voted to send cases of military human rights abuse to civilian justice. Adam and WOLA Senior Associate for Mexico Maureen Meyer talk with Santiago Aguirre, a lawyer at the Tla...
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Elections in El Salvador and Costa Rica from 2014-01-28T21:49:59
February 2 will see first-round presidential elections in both El Salvador and Costa Rica. Both countries' races are too close to call. Adam talks with WOLA Program Director Geoff Thale about candi...
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The Week Ahead: October 19, 2013 from 2013-10-19T21:40:24
Adam talks about a U.S.-backed coca eradication offensive in Peru, a delivery of U.S. helicopters and equipment to Guatemala, and a series of events affecting human rights and the judicial system i...
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The Week Ahead: October 12, 2013 from 2013-10-12T17:31:44
Adam talks about the recent troubles of Rio de Janeiro's Favela Pacification Program, the Venezuelan President's quest for decree powers, and politics in Argentina as President Cristina Fernández u...
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Challenges to Land Restitution in Colombia: a conversation with Winifred Tate from 2013-10-07T14:17:41
The Colombian government's peace and land restitution efforts are meeting stiff resistance from elites in much of the country. Adam talks to Winifred Tate of Colby College about this dynamic.
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The Week Ahead: October 5, 2013 from 2013-10-05T22:48:39
Adam looks at new data about U.S.-Mexico border security and migration, the upcoming election in Honduras, and how Latin American media commentators are viewing the U.S. government shutdown.
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The Week Ahead: September 27, 2013 from 2013-09-27T21:43:46
Adam looks at Latin American leaders' statements at the UN General Assembly, and the current state of Colombia's peace process with the FARC guerrilla group.Listen
The Week Ahead: September 21, 2013 from 2013-09-21T18:40:15
Adam looks at Brazil's aprubtly canceled state visit to Washington amid NSA spying revelations; Vice-President Biden's visit to Mexico City; and mild controversy over a new Millennium Challenge gra...
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The Week Ahead: September 13, 2013 from 2013-09-13T23:20:41
Adam looks at Chile on the 40th anniversary of its military coup, the maritime border dispute between Colombia and Nicaragua, and Venezuela's troubles with its electric power grid.Listen
40 Years After the Coup in Chile, with Joe Eldridge from 2013-09-10T21:49
On September 11, 1973, democracy came to a violent end in Chile. Joe Eldridge, the chaplain of American University, was there. Here, he recounts the terror of those days, and the revelations of the...
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