Press Mentions

There is no question that social fault lines were widening in many nations of Latin America prior to the arrival of Covid-19, but it is also clear that the pandemic has reinforced and increased the income, wealth, and education gaps among the region’s rich, middle class, and poor, the largest setbacks were among the most vulnerable groups—who lived in more crowded spaces, worked in the most precarious jobs, suffered the highest rates of unemployment, often were forced to live from hand to mouth, and had the least adequate access to health services and education for themselves and their children.  

[The crises this month in Cuba and Haiti] are headaches Biden didn’t anticipate and isn’t very comfortable dealing with. The domestic political pressures are paramount and becoming ever more so.

La única solución que veo ahora es que el gobierno de Cuba abandone, como hicieron China y Vietnam, la idea de que la economía debería ser administrada mayoritariamente o abrumadoramente por el Estado. Lo que más se necesita es un sector privado que sea relativamente independiente del Estado, lo que significa que las corporaciones y las empresas deberían poder crecer, competir, exportar e importar, solicitar inversiones y contratar trabajadores directamente. Pero [esto] no convertirá a Cuba en una democracia ni en un país libre. El cambio económico puede comenzar a remodelar el panorama político, pero es muy poco probable que se produzca un cambio rápido en ese frente.

There is no precedent in Latin America of someone coming from nowhere to shake the establishment and reach the presidency like Pedro Castillo. [His] eloquent cry for social justice resonated in a country ravaged by the pandemic, and whose leaders have proved to be corrupt and irresponsible, [allowing] Castillo to tap into the nation’s cumulative popular resentments and grievances.

A associação com os militares pode dar a Bolsonaro uma habilidade um pouco maior que a de Trump para inverter o processo eleitoral se ele perder ou estiver convencido de que perderá. Parece que uma eleição apertada em 2022 poderia pôr a democracia do Brasil em perigo.

O STF (Supremo Tribunal Federal) parece ser um ator muito público e político, muito mais do que a maioria dos outros tribunais, incluindo a Suprema Corte dos Estados Unidos.

Cuando [PDVSA] no encuentra mercados, en lugar de dejar de producir [petróleo] trata de usar la máxima cantidad de inventario posible, entonces también puede exportar más en un mes porque tiene petróleo de sobra en almacenamiento que está esperando para ser exportado.

Las protestas han puesto a Cuba en la agenda de Washington otra vez. Pero al mismo tiempo han hecho muy difícil, si no imposible, que la administración Biden levante las medidas punitivas [impuestas por su antecesor]. Si Biden intenta suavizar y flexibilizar hacia un enfoque más humanitario [él] será duramente criticado por los republicanos, por ceder demasiado al régimen.

[The Biden administration] appear[s] to have learned some lessons from the past. Today’s [White House] team [is] more clear-eyed about the problem of political will on the part of the region’s governments... The administration’s efforts were promising and could yield inroads that make conditions marginally better in a profoundly troubled region.

We’ve had a tendency to neglect Latin America. It’s a region that’s far too often overlooked and as a result, we’re always reacting. I think we need a coherent long-term strategy toward the region that goes beyond the Northern Triangle.

The history of US military intervention in Haiti has not been an altogether happy one. The request for troops is probably not widely shared in Haitian society, which has grown skeptical of the role of external actors in national affairs. While the situation compels some involvement, sending US troops to stabilize the situation would be very risky and would likely result in a longer-term engagement.   

US military intervention in Haiti or Cuba would be a huge mistake. Instead, the Pentagon should dedicate more resources to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to the region, and to countering China’s predatory economics and illegal fishing.

El arresto de Freddy Guevara  y los renovados esfuerzos por intimidar a Juan Guaidó son ejemplos del uso que hace Maduro de las fuerzas de seguridad venezolanas para silenciar a la oposición. 

Domestic politics is often what drives the US response overseas. The White House is facing a surge in migration to the southern US border. The challenge is how the US can remain engaged [with Haiti] without committing troops.

[The current administration] is just not going to make themselves politically vulnerable by lifting the sanctions, rolling back the Trump policies, when the Republicans will immediately hammer away at it and say it is a gift to the Cuban regime. Biden was caught off guard and [the administration has] to figure out the right narrative for this and get out in front of it.