On April 14, Latin American letters lost a giant. Mario Vargas Llosa, the prolific Peruvian writer, passed away in Lima at the age of 89. Vargas Llosa was a frequent visitor to Americas Society over the years and even served on Americas Society’s Literature Advisory Board. This bonus episode brings you an English-language conversation between Vargas Llosa and legendary translator Edith Grossman, recorded at Americas Society in 2012. Learn about the author’s reading habits, Faulkner’s influence on his writing, and more.

Access other episodes of Latin America in Focus at www.as-coa.org/podcast
Send us feedback at latamfocus@as-coa.org

Listen to Beyond the Boom—Latin American Writing in Translation, a previous episode in which translators discuss the state of Latin American letters in English and honor the legacy of Edith Grossman.

The music in this podcast is by Pedro Ximénez de Abrill Tirado. It was composed in the 1820s in Arequipa and was performed by Eybler Quartet for Americas Society. Find out about upcoming concerts at musicoftheamericas.org.

Opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of Americas Society/Council of the Americas or its members.

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In 2024, more than $800 billion dollars worth of goods were traded between Mexico and the United States, making the two countries each other’s largest trade partners. But beyond the goods moving across the border, there’s also investment running in both directions. In this episode, top Mexican CEOs detail the scale and scope of Mexican investment in the United States, which has been north of $5 billion per year for the last four years. What does this financing look like on the ground?

This podcast episode is an edited version of a panel hosted by the Council of the Americas on April 3.

You can watch the entire event on our website: https://www.as-coa.org/watchlisten/mexican-investment-united-states-jobs-regional-presence-and-economic-growth and learn more about COA’s activities focused on Mexico at: as-coa.org/mexico

Speakers:

• Marcelo Ebrard, Secretary of Economy of Mexico
• Juan Pablo del Valle, Orbia
• Daniel Servitje, Grupo Bimbo
• Arturo Gutiérrez Hernández, Arca Continental
• Fernando Villanueva, DEACERO USA
• Luis de la Calle, De la Calle, Madrazo, Mancera
• Luis Alberto Moreno, Allen & Co.
• Susan Segal, Americas Society Council of the Americas

Get all the analysis on the Trump administration’s actions toward Latin America: https://www.as-coa.org/content/trump-administration-latin-america

Share your love for Latin America: Join Americas Society. https://www.as-coa.org/memberships/engage-americas-society

Becoming a member gives you preferential access to music performances, art gallery, book events, our magazine Americas Quarterly, and more.

Access other episodes of Latin America in Focus at www.as-coa.org/podcast and send us feedback at latamfocus@as-coa.org. Share and subscribe at Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of Americas Society/Council of the Americas or its members.

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April 2 is a date that looms large for Latin America. It’s the day that the Trump administration will initiate reciprocal tariffs globally and tariffs on automobiles. This is after the application of 25% tariffs on many goods coming from Mexico and Canada in March. What will this changing trade landscape mean for Latin America? Kellie Meiman Hock, a senior counselor at McLarty Associates, explains the main drivers behind this shift in U.S. trade policy and what Trump’s new tariffs mean for the countries across the region.

Read more about the Trump administration’s approach to trade:

• AS/COA Online’s Tracking Trump and Latin America: Trade https://www.as-coa.org/articles/tracking-trump-and-latin-america-trade-tariffs-countries-importing-venezuelan-oil
• The Americas Quarterly article by Marcelo Claver Carone that Kellie Meiman Hock mentioned during the interview https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/trumps-vision-make-the-americas-grow-again/

Get all the analysis on the Trump administration’s actions toward Latin America: https://www.as-coa.org/content/trump-administration-latin-america

Share your love for Latin America: Join Americas Society. https://www.as-coa.org/memberships/engage-americas-society

Becoming a member gives you preferential access to music performances, art gallery, book events, our magazine Americas Quarterly, and more.

Access other episodes of Latin America in Focus at www.as-coa.org/podcast and send us feedback at latamfocus@as-coa.org. Share and subscribe at Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of Americas Society/Council of the Americas or its members.

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The Trump administration recently named six of Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, or FTOs. The new designation widens who can be charged for supporting these groups. What effect might this have? Pablo Zárate of FTI Consulting looks at how business operating in Mexico will have to revamp compliance with increased risk. And Cecilia Farfán-Méndez of ITAM explains the complexity of the drug trade and spotlights how this action may impact the bilateral relationship.

Read more about the FTO designation:

• AS/COA Explainer: Which Cartels and Groups Is Trump Designating as Foreign Terrorist Organizations?
• FTI Consulting: Know Your Risk: Terrorist Designation of Cartels on Business Interests in Mexico
• Cecilia Farfán-Méndez's testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Get all the analysis on the Trump administration’s actions toward Latin America: www.as-coa.org/trump

Share your love for Latin America: Join Americas Society.

Becoming a member gives you preferential access to music performances, art gallery, book events, our magazine Americas Quarterly, and more. https://www.as-coa.org/memberships/engage-americas-society

Access other episodes of Latin America in Focus at www.as-coa.org/podcast and send us feedback at latamfocus@as-coa.org. Share and subscribe at Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A previously released version of this podcast included information that fentanyl deaths are rising. In fact, the latest complete data from the CDC shows that from September 2023 to September 2024, overdose deaths fell by 24 percent.

Opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of Americas Society/Council of the Americas or its members.

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Migration management has surged to the top of the policy agenda in the region due to unprecedented numbers of Latin Americans on the move in recent years. With the new administration in the United States—the Western Hemisphere’s leading destination for migrants—cracking down on immigration, how have other host countries in the Americas been coping with hundreds of thousands of new arrivals from places like Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Ecuador?

AS/COA Online speaks with Diego Chaves-González, senior manager of the Latin America and Caribbean Initiative at the Migration Policy Institute, and Professor João Jarochinski Silva of the Federal University of Roraima to get the rundown of Latin America’s efforts to receive the region’s migrants. We zoom in on a special program in Brazil, Operation Welcome, as an example, however imperfect, of how to regularize and integrate people who have left their home countries.

You can read more about how migration policy has been changing in the region on our website. We’ve been tracking the Trump’s administration actions on Latin America at as-coa.org/trump

Access other episodes of Latin America in Focus at www.as-coa.org/podcast and send us feedback at latamfocus@as-coa.org. Share and subscribe at Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The music in this podcast is by Yamandu Costa, performing for Americas Society. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI2oMLOkUbI Find out about upcoming concerts at: musicoftheamericas.org

Share your love for Latin America: Join Americas Society. https://www.as-coa.org/memberships/engage-americas-society
Becoming a member gives you access to music performances, art gallery, book events, our magazine Americas Quarterly, and more. https://www.as-coa.org/memberships/engage-americas-society

Opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of Americas Society/Council of the Americas or its members.

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Ecuador, once among the safest countries in Latin America, now faces an insecurity crisis with the incursion of international criminal groups. President Daniel Noboa, now facing a reelection fight, is attempting to convince voters his hardline mano dura approach is one of the reasons to stay the course. Vanda Felbab-Brown, a security expert at Brookings Institution, explains what caused a perfect storm of insecurity in the country, what Noboa’s approach has been so far, and why the success of Nayib Bukele of El Salvador may be tough to replicate in Ecuador.

Access other episodes of Latin America in Focus at www.as-coa.org/podcast and send us feedback at latamfocus@as-coa.org. Share and subscribe at Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get more insights on what’s driving voters in Latin America in this year's 2025 Election Guide: www.as-coa.org/2025elections

The music in this episode is Jasper String Quartet performing Vivian Fung’s “Insects and Machines” for Americas Society.

Opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of Americas Society/Council of the Americas or its members.

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President Donald Trump broke tradition at his second inauguration, inviting world leaders, including from Latin America, to attend. But his day-one executive orders initiated a bumpy ride for the region in 2025. What can Latin American countries expect of "America First?" On this episode, three AS/COA experts—Carin Zissis, Brian Winter, and Juan Cruz Díaz—discussed Trump's initial moves on the border and migration, possible Mexico tariffs, the Panama Canal, and his Latin American allies. Listen to the editor-in-chiefs of AS/COA Online and Americas Quarterly, as well as the managing director of Cefeidas Group, on how Trump's second presidency will shape U.S. relations with Latin America.

Learn more:

• Trump and Latin America: Inauguration Day and Executive Orders
  https://www.as-coa.org/articles/trump-and-latin-america-inauguration-day-and-executive-orders
• Read the new Americas Quarterly issue: https://americasquarterly.org/article/new-aq-the-risk-from-the-north/
• Latin America Is About to Become a Priority for U.S. Foreign Policy, by Brian Winter
  https://www.as-coa.org/articles/latin-america-about-become-priority-us-foreign-policy

Access other episodes of Latin America in Focus at www.as-coa.org/podcast and send us feedback at latamfocus@as-coa.org. Share and subscribe at Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The music in this podcast is "Old Wooden Chair" performed by Nation Beat for Americas Society. Find out about upcoming concerts at: musicoftheamericas.org

Opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of Americas Society/Council of the Americas or its members.

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