On this week's LatinNews podcast, we explore the themes of urban mobility, transport infrastructure, and social inequities in Latin American cities, and discover why cities in the region serve as creative urban incubators. We speak with Dr. Daniel Oviedo, Associate Professor at UCL's Development Planning Unit and an expert on economic and spatial inequalities in urban environments, about what can be done to make Latin American cities more inclusive, provide better opportunities for vulnerable populations, and improve social policy. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

By all accounts, Bernardo Arévalo was not expected to win Guatemala's 2023 presidential election. The shock of his victory took the Guatemalan establishment by surprise, and his win has been described by Edgar Ortiz, an expert in constitutional law and political risk in Guatemala, and our guest this week, as "a glitch in the matrix." In his efforts to address Guatemala's widespread institutional corruption, rampant extortion, and poverty reduction, Arévalo has faced stiff resistance from the Pacto de Corruptos and Consuelo Porras, the current Attorney General. Arévalo recognises the need to modernise and democratise the Guatemalan state, but with only 23 out of 160 seats in Congress, Ortiz argues that the president's democratic approach may be too idealistic. Simply acting democratically, Ortiz warns, will not bring about change in the face of an abusively legalistic regime determined to maintain the status quo. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

China's engagement with Latin America is a complex and multifaceted relationship that is both broad and substantial. The PRC's use of commercial tools and instruments of State to create a global economic order that functions to its benefit has not gone unnoticed. So, this week on The LatinNews Podcast, we speak to Dr Evan Ellis, Latin American Research Professor at the US Army War College about China's goals, their support of illiberal regimes in the region, their ability to control risk and the APEC summit in Peru this November, before the G20 meeting in Brazil. Tune in for a far-reaching look at China's interests and influences in Latin America from Mexico to Argentina. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

How did Mexico get here? While all eyes are on the growing civil war within the Sinaloa Cartel, between those loyal to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who was arrested on July 25, and the Chapitos, accused of betraying him, in order to understand current events in Mexico's fluid drugs trade, it's necessary to step back and take all of the information in careful context.     On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we speak to Benjamin Smith, Professor of Latin American History at the University of Warwick and author of: "The Dope: the Real Story of the Mexican Drugs Trade," about the reasons behind the fragmentation of the entities in the drugs trade, inefficient government policy, what we can expect going forwards under President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum and how she might fare with a Trump or Harris presidency in the United States.  Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Bolivians go to the polls on 1 December 2024 in a referendum to decide on the removal of fuel subsidies and to define whether to admit continuous or discontinuous presidential re-election. As if this weren't enough, on the same date, there are also judicial elections and another challenge to be clarified in the referendum is the shortage of dollars in the country. Everything points to a significant clash of politics and personalities between the current embattled President Luis Arce and former president Evo Morales as we gear up for the first round of presidential elections in August 2025. On the LatinNews podcast this week, we talk to Dr John Crabtree, research associate at the Latin American Centre at the University of Oxford, associate of the Politics Department at Brookes University in Oxford, region head for Latin America at Oxford Analytica Ltd. and author of: "Business Power and the State in the Central Andes. Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru in Comparison," published by University of Pittsburgh Press. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we look at what is being done to resolve the long standing conflict between the Chilean government and the Mapuche indigenous people, inhabitants of parts of south-central Chile, who have suffered from a policy of "pacification" which resulted in a tragic history of exterminations and displacement. Tracing its roots back to the time of Chile's independence from Spain in 1810, the Mapuche conflict has evolved over time and there is now an increase in violent acts as militant Mapuche groups seek greater recognition and rights to ancestral lands. The magnitude of the challenge is not lost on President Boric who launched a commission in 2023 to find a solution. So, how can Chile address this long standing historical debt to the Mapuche? Joining us on the podcast is Dr Pablo Policzer, Associate Professor of Political Science and former director of the Latin American Research Centre at the University of Calgary in Canada who provides us with contexts from the very beginning of the conflict to the current day. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Venezuela will vote for a new president on 28 July in what will not be free and fair elections, that much is certain. But, which way will it go? On The LatinNews Podcast this week we explore some of the worst case scenarios facing Venezuela including the possibility of increased repression and massive voter fraud. Or, will Nicolas Maduro seek a negotiated exit for himself and his entourage? Joining us is Dr Javier Corrales, the Dwight W. Morrow 1895 professor of Political Science at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts to share his thoughts on the elections, the influence of external actors and discuss all possible outcomes. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Colombia’s cluster of armed conflicts seem interminable on the surface but President Gustavo Petro, the country’s first leftwing premier and a former guerrilla himself, has made Total Peace (Paz Total) a cornerstone policy of his government in an attempt to pull the nation from continual asymmetrical conflicts scattered all about the territory. And while Petro’s approval rating sits at a perilous 32% at the half-way point of his tenure, behind the scenes, Total Peace, a sequence of parallel dialogues conducted with each warring faction, from left wing guerrillas to organized crime syndicates, may just yield some positive results. On The LatinNews Podcast this week, we talk to Andrei Gómez Súarez, a Senior Researcher at the University of Winchester and General Director of Rodeemos el Dialogo, the Anglo Colombian peacebuilding organizing association and hear his take on Total Peace and how this policy may be showing some significant advances despite press reports to the contrary. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

The Mexican electorate made history on 2 June by electing the country's first woman president in Claudia Sheinbaum, former Mexico City mayor, scientist, academic and protege of outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). Much has been reported about Sheinbaum's possible difficulty in distancing herself from AMLO's influence, but ironically, rather than giving her some freedom to pursue her own policies, her supermajority in Congress will mean that she is almost obliged to continue her predecessor's reform agenda. On the LatinNews podcast this week, we discuss the relevance of the election results and what these mean for the country's short and medium-term outlooks. We ask Mónica Serrano, PhD in International Relations from Oxford University, Professor of International Studies at the Colegio de México, and Member of the Board of the United Nations University, about President-elect Sheinbaum and her policies regarding security, health, education and economic opportunities in the country. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

On this week's LatinNews Podcast, we discuss the reach and main characteristics of the Tren de Aragua criminal group, from its beginnings in the Tocorón prison in Venezuela, to its spread through South America. We speak to Chris Dalby, director of the World of Crime media company and publishing and expert on organized crime, about the reasons for the Tren de Aragua's startling growth, adaptability and violence. The Tren de Aragua currently control a broad criminal portfolio of crimes including drug trafficking, illegal mining, extortion, migrant smuggling, trafficking of women for sexual exploitation and kidnapping, among others. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.