Friday Reading List - 23 May 2025
Lots to read over the upcoming long weekend
Good morning from Vienna, Virginia.
This week’s articles and newsletters
WPR - South America’s Illicit Gold Mining Is a Global Problem
Monday - US Policy in LatAm - The debate over TDA; Sinaloa Cartel issues; punishing Colombia’s BRI stance
Tuesday - Ten questions to know who won Mexico’s judicial elections
Wednesday - Argentina election notes - On the election results in Buenos Aires
Thursday - Six Stories - Including comments on the Mexico City assassination and Venezuela’s regional elections.
The Tuesday newsletter and Friday list of links remain free and without a paywall.
This past week, I also sent about 500 words from the Monday and Thursday newsletters to everyone before putting a paywall on the rest of the content. It’s because I’m trying to convince everyone receiving the free content that there is also plenty of interesting content going to paying subscribers. It’s $90 per year for individuals and $350 per year for institutions. Please subscribe to support this newsletter and receive additional content.
Next week, there will not be a newsletter on Monday due to the US holiday. Tuesday’s newsletter will be about US policy in the region. Barring major events over the weekend, I’ll probably lead with the debate over US sanctions on Venezuela.
Reading List
Americas Quarterly - U.S. Silence on Human Rights in Latin America Carries Substantial Risks
Brookings - Smart AI regulation strategies for Latin American policymakers
ICG - Latin America: Europe’s War on Drugs Should be Different
BBC - 3 cifras clave sobre el incremento de gasto militar en América Latina (y Guyana)
Bloomberg - Latin America's Baby Bust Is Coming Ahead of Schedule
GIS - Latin America caught between the U.S. and China
Newsweek - China's Space Projects on US Doorstep Have Military Worried
Economist - Wildfires devastated the Amazon basin in 2024
CBS - 2 security consultants, one who worked for U.S., killed in apparent cartel ambush at restaurant in Mexico - I know a different assassination took up a lot of media space this week, but this one was also quite important for US-Mexico relations.
NYT - Russia Used Brazil to Create Deep-Cover Spies
WSJ - Venezuela Frees U.S. Air Force Veteran in Overture to Trump
NYT - Official Pushed to Rewrite Intelligence So It Could Not Be ‘Used Against’ Trump
Transparencia VE - Se llama Carretero, pero sus negocios vuelan con Maduro (y familia)
Colombia Risk Analysis - The Future of Civil-Military Relations
Journal of Democracy - Bolivia’s Silent Destruction
Decrypt - Argentine President Milei Shutters Task Force Investigating Libra Meme Coin Scandal
New Yorker - Pepe Mujica’s Long Revolution - I really enjoyed this one.
LA Times - What El Salvador's Bukele, a hero for the American right, isn't showing the world
El Pais - Nayib Bukele consolidates his authoritarian style in El Salvador
Washington Post - Bukele’s crackdown pushes El Faro journalists to flee El Salvador
NYT - Trump’s Dangerous Obsession With the Panama Canal
BBC - La ofensiva diplomática del representante de EE.UU. en Cuba que enfurece al gobierno de Díaz-Canel
AP - ICE agents wait in hallways of immigration court as Trump seeks to deliver on mass arrest pledge
NYT - Freddy Lim, Frontman of Chthonic, Is Taiwan’s New Envoy to Finland - 🤘
Foreign Policy - Brazil, India, and South Africa Should Relaunch the IBSA Forum
Foreign Affairs - The Deadly Global Gold Rush: How to Stop the Illicit Mining and Trade That Fuel War and Repression
Upcoming events
28 May, Inter-American Dialogue - Navigating Mexico’s Upcoming Judicial Elections
28 May, CSIS - Exploring Guatemala as a Regional Production Hub
6 June, CSIS - Justice on the Ballot? The Impact of Mexico's Judicial Reform on the Rule of Law and Business Environment
11 June, Inter-American Dialogue - Eleventh Annual Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border Conference
12 June, AS/COA - Book Talk: How to Save the Amazon by Dom Phillips
Thanks for reading
Today’s ChatGPT image is for my favorite story of the week about phantom cow bonds in Uruguay.
Have a great weekend!