Good morning and happy Friday!

Below are the links to the four newsletters I published this week.

• Monday - Peru - Castillo’s moderate policy advisors are winning

• Tuesday - Peru - Governance challenges ahead

• Wednesday - Politics and Polls (Chile, Colombia)

• Thursday - Central America - Biden's crackdown on corruption begins

This week I published interviews from Peru about the upcoming election. Tuesday’s article was sent to everyone and I dropped the paywall on Monday’s article this morning. In the next two weeks I hope to have some commentary and analysis from journalists in Honduras and Nicaragua. Paying subscribers support this newsletter including my ability to hire freelance journalists to do original research and reporting. Please consider subscribing for $9 per month or $90 per year.

Reading List

Latin America Advisor (Dialogue) - Will Social Unrest in Latin America Lead to Populism?

Financial Times - US to send vaccines to Latin America after Taiwan ally warns of pivot to China

McClatchy - Latin Americans turn to U.S. for shots as region’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout lags

Miami Herald - ‘Shocking imbalance’: Latin America’s poorest shut out of vaccine access as COVID surges

Global Americans - Capitalizing on COVID-19's digital potential in Latin America

Estadão - Orçamento secreto: Governador do DF destina R$ 7 milhões para onde tem fazendas

Financial Times - Brazil’s police target environment minister in smuggling probe

Economist - Brazilians are increasingly going hungry

Washington Post - Rio police were ordered to limit favela raids during the pandemic. They’re still killing hundreds of people.

New York Times - Why Is Covid Killing So Many Young Children in Brazil? Doctors Are Baffled

BBC - In pictures: Rising Amazon rivers flood Covid-hit areas in Brazil

Vice - Mexico’s Populist President Is Acting Pretty Authoritarian

Texas Observer - How Millions of Dollars Stolen from Mexican Taxpayers Passed Through One South Texas Bank

AS/COA - Explainer: Making Sense of Mexico's Massive Midterms

Americas Quarterly - How Far Will AMLO Go to Help MORENA?

Bloomberg - U.S. Stresses Worker Rights, Investment Respect With Mexico

Washington Post - The dividing line: On the U.S.-Mexico border, President Biden faces

a political crisis. Migrants face a fight to survive.

Reuters - Venezuelan companies, awash with cash, find way to move money abroad

Washington Post - Opinion: The underground war brewing on the Colombia-Venezuela border

Wall Street Journal - Venezuela Seizes Offices of Independent Newspaper

Washington Post - Top Democrat warns Biden he could miss rare diplomatic opening in Venezuela

Chatham House - Reforming Venezuela’s oil and gas sector

Armando Info - Al 'banquero de Chávez' siempre le queda su real y medio

Semana - Atención: Jesús Santrich fue abatido en Venezuela, en medio de un enfrentamiento entre bandas ilegales

Washington Post - Killed by police in Colombia

New York Times - From Colombia to U.S., Police Violence Pushes Protests Into Mass Movements

WOLA - Understanding Colombia’s Latest Wave of Social Protest

Bellingcat - A New Platform Maps Colombia’s Escalating Police Violence

Economist - The riots in Colombia hint at deep problems

ESPN - Colombia ruled out as hosts for 2021 Copa America due to unrest

World Politics Review - Either Way, Peru’s Election Is Bad News for Anti-Graft Efforts

Americas Quarterly - Chile’s Big Gamble Just Got Riskier

Bloomberg - Chile’s Voters Open Pandora’s Box on New Charter

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace - Why Chile’s Constituent Assembly Matters to All of Latin America

New York Times - Global Cactus Traffickers Are Cleaning Out the Deserts

Bloomberg - Billionaire Miner Ready to Bet on Argentina as Chile Risk Grows

Financial Times - Argentina’s farmers prepare to strike over beef export ban

Confidencial (Nicaragua) - Carlos F. Chamorro: “The Truth is Under Assault”

Associated Press - Nicaragua ruling party ups advantages in run-up to elections

International Crisis Group - The Risks of a Rigged Election in Nicaragua

Los Angeles Times - El Salvador’s millennial president is a man with one vision: Power

Washington Post - El Salvador’s president launched a ‘self-coup.’ Watch for creeping corruption and authoritarianism.

Reuters - Partisan politics in Honduras fuels exodus, migrants say

BBC - Guatemala prison: Inmates beheaded in deadly gang fight

Economist - Two Caribbean islands wrestle with their colonial powers

Bloomberg - Russia Gives Safe Harbor to Pirates of the Cyber Seas

New York Times - Pipeline Attack Yields Urgent Lessons About U.S. Cybersecurity

CSIS - Huawei’s Global Cloud Strategy

Upcoming events

21 May, Wilson Center - Nicaraguan Elections and Prospects for Democracy in 2021

25 May, Brookings - Mexico's midterm elections: The future of the López Obrador presidency and US-Mexico relations

26 May, WOLA - Civil Society Crackdown in Venezuela: Working for Peaceful Change in the Face of Repression

26 May, Institute of the Americas - La Jolla Energy Conference: Future of Hydrocarbons

26 May, Wilson Center - Moving Forward: Assessing the Impact of Feminist Movements in Latin America

27 May, CSIS - Outlining a Roadmap for Successful Negotiations in Venezuela

27 May, WOLA - The Other Borders: The Impact of Migration Enforcement Policies in Mexico and Guatemala

27 May, AS/COA - Making Sustainable Development a Reality in the Amazon

28 May, Institute of the Americas - La Jolla Energy Conference: Financing Recovery

1 June, Inter-American Dialogue - Outlook for Peru’s Troubled Democracy

Thanks for reading

Have a great weekend!