Friday Reading List - 14 February 2025
The weekly email list of links lands like the awkward Valentine's Day card in the shoe box on your grade school desk.
Good morning.
This week’s newsletters
WPR - Argentina’s Milei Is Giving the IMF a Run for Its Money
Monday - A War on Cartels without a War on Kleptocrats seems impossible
Tuesday - Ecuador Election - First Round Notes
Wednesday - Argentina - The polling gap
Thursday - Six stories - 13 February 2025
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Thanks to everyone who subscribes and reads.
Reading List
Wilson Center - US Ties Its Hands in Fight Against Organized Crime
NYT - State Dept. Draws Up List of Cartels to Be Labeled Terrorist Groups - Whether it’s the Clan or Cartel del Golfo that ends up on this list (and it’s not certain yet), they will be the first terrorist group named after the Gulf of America, making them the first designated foreign terrorist group with “America” implicitly in their name.
WSJ - How Trump’s Aid Freeze Could Drive More Drugs and Migrants to U.S. Streets
Reuters - Trump’s foreign aid freeze stops anti-fentanyl work in Mexico
WSJ - How Mexico’s Leader Claudia Sheinbaum Persuaded Trump to Hold Fire on Tariffs
WSJ - As America Battles Fentanyl, Mexico Fights Flow of American Guns
InfoBAE - Cárteles mexicanos expanden sus laboratorios de metanfetamina a Brasil y Chile
Bloomberg - Brazil’s Drug Gangs Haul In More Cash From Fuel Than Cocaine
Folha - Trump cita aumento de compra de aço chinês pelo Brasil para justificar tarifas
Caracas Chronicles - USAID’s Funding Freeze Meets Anti-NGO Law in Venezuela
Miami Herald - Florida tycoon is behind oil-for-migrants deal U.S. reached with Venezuelan strongman
Business Insider - The Fight for the $150 Million Emerald Industry in Colombia
Reuters - Colombia deforestation in 2024 among lowest levels in 23 years, minister says
Foreign Policy - Colombia: Petro’s Presidency on Ice Amid Cabinet Resignations
Gordon Institute - Ecuador’s Security Challenges and the Government’s Response
World Politics Review - Ecuador’s Presidential Election Is Inflaming Its Polarization Problem
InSight Crime - The Women Ensnared in Tren de Aragua's Criminal Web in Peru
Bloomberg - Nice Airport, If You Can Get to It: No Subway, No Highway, No Bridge
NYT - Maduro Government Accused of Dark New Tactic: Assassinations
IBI Consultants - Tren de Aragua: The Case of Chile
Bloomberg - Trade War Puts Milei’s Trump-First Foreign Policy to the Test
InSight Crime - How Narco Money Could Influence the Presidential Elections in Honduras. Again.
Bloomberg - El Salvador's Nayib Bukele Embraces Donald Trump's Deportation Plans - Hey, I’m quoted here!
El Faro - Bukele: A Jailer for Trump’s America
Miami Herald - U.S. flew 222 political prisoners from Nicaragua to Washington. Now their future is uncertain
Americas Quarterly - Will Trump 2.0 Play Tougher on Nicaragua’s Dictatorship?
Guardian - US-Panama relationship was ‘very strong’. Then Trump upended the diplomatic playing board
El Pais - Citizen security should be a central focus of the 2025 Summit of the Americas - Missed this one a few weeks ago. It’s a good idea.
Politico - Elon Musk’s attacks on a group long backed by the GOP prompt Republican shrugs
Thanks for reading
Have a great weekend!
