The Impunity Observer podcast is scaling up to a weekly episode and new formats that allow us to get closer to our audience. Our contributor Mauro Echeverría begins this weekly series with a deeper look at one of his investigations. His latest investigation revealed that a rising number of Chinese citizens are flying to Ecuador, where they begin th…

Rosa María Payá, founder of nonprofit Cuba Decide and daughter of assassinated Cuban political dissident Oswaldo Payá, took the floor on the last day of the examination of Cuba by the UN Human Rights Council. Her petition was simple: expel Cuba from the council. A Cuban official responded by attacking her character, but he said nothing in response …

Fernando Linares—a Guatemalan lawyer and former congressman—has initiated the legal process to remove the president and 24 congressmen. All belong to President Bernardo Arévalo’s suspended Semilla party. According to Linares, this party has committed numerous illegalities, such as falsely registering more than 8,000 members to qualify for the ballo…

Luis Espinosa Goded—a Spanish professor of economics at San Francisco University of Quito, Ecuador—explains how citizens and private businesses will pay a high price for the government's conflict with narcoterrorists. Curfew impositions, reduced mobility, and narco extortion are already some ways in which individuals—rather than the state or the na…

Mario Duarte—co-founder and CEO of DH Global Strategy, a global consulting and lobbying firm—predicts 2024 will be a hectic year worldwide for geopolitics. He believes the Democratic Party is promoting the US border crisis: "the Western Hemisphere appears to be being weaponized to influence the US November elections in the United States."For Duarte…

Martín Litwak—an Argentine tax and wealth structuring expert—explains that the next three months are key to the Javier Milei administration for implementation of liberal reforms. Milei is enjoying a honeymoon period, and Argentines are on their summer vacations.Although Litwak expressed his excitement regarding a liberal government to be in power i…

Mauro Echeverría—deputy editor of the Impunity Observer—and Sebastián Díaz—policy analyst with the Impunity Observer—explain the internal armed conflict in Ecuador. For them, the violence has been increasing since 2020. Díaz adds that gangs declared war on Ecuador after Adolfo “Fito” Macías, leader of the Los Choneros gang, escaped from prison on J…

José Luis González Dubón—a Guatemalan lawyer, university professor, and independent journalist—explains the irregularities associated with President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo’s Semilla party. These include more than 8,000 forged signatures used to register the party. He contends that international community members such as the Organization of American…

Carlos Torrebiarte—a director with the Association for the Defense of Private Property and a Nuestro Diario weekly columnist—explains how the US Embassy in Guatemala revoked his and his wife’s US travel visa. He contends that the embassy did this to spite him for speaking up against “the policies that the United States wants to impose in Guatemala.…

Adam Dubove, cofounder and director of financial-intelligence service Ichimoku Fibonacci, and Eduardo Marty, founder and president of the Foundation for Intellectual Responsibility in Argentina, contend that Argentine President-Elect Javier Milei has a historic opportunity to succeed in his incoming administration.Milei, however, needs to work his …

Maribel Espinoza—a Honduran congresswoman of the Salvador Party—contends that Xiomara Castro’s socialist Libre Party is on a mission to control every branch of the state. She explains that Libre congressmen have violated the Honduran Constitution and the Public Ministry Law with their appointment of a new attorney general. The decision has been in …

Adam Dubove—cofounder and director of financial consulting firm Ichimoku Fibonacci—explains that Javier Milei can still beat Peronista Sergio Massa in the runoff. However, he predicts the results will be tight. Further, he contends that the incumbent Peronista government made an elaborate effort to undermine Milei’s candidacy through negative propa…

Sebastián Díaz—an Impunity Observer policy analyst—and Mauro Echeverría—Impunity Observer deputy editor—explain how Ecuadorian President-Elect Daniel Noboa won the election against Correísmo. Further, they analyze the main challenges that Noboa will face in his term, which will last one year and a half, given that Guillermo Lasso dissolved Congress…

Jair Viana—economist and research director at the Colombian Libertank policy institute—explains the importance of a free-market economy for development. He contends that the freest cities in Colombia, such as Montería, have been economically growing at a rapid clip relative to larger cities. Viana also explains how Bogotá, despite having the highes…

Arturo Damm Arnal—economics and philosophy professor at Panamerican University in Mexico—explains how a coalition of three traditional parties will challenge Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Morena party. The National Action Party (PAN), the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) have named Xóchitl Gálvez, a…

Join our Deputy Editor Mauro Echeverría, who will discuss his latest insights regarding Ecuador's insecurity crisis.Recommended links:https://impunityobserver.com/2023/06/01/why-ecuador-law-enforcement-is-no-match-for-narcos/https://impunityobserver.com/2022/10/31/the-origins-of-escalating-violence-in-ecuador/…

Alisa Gray—interim training and assessment specialist at the Voting System Technical Oversight Program (VSTOP)—and Chad Kinsella—co-director of VSTOP—visited Guatemala as foreign electoral observers. They explain the role of foreign observers in the Guatemalan general elections on June 25. Further, Gray and Kinsella describe the main procedural dif…

Chiara Barchiesi—Chilean congresswoman and founder of the Republican Party—explains that citizens rejected the previous constitutional draft because it ignored the country’s reality and key principles such as the rule of law. She contends that the Republican Party—which has 22 of 51 advisers that will write the new constitutional draft—will work fo…

Read the analysis in English: https://impunityobserver.com/2023/06/24/why-indianas-latino-secretary-of-state-backs-voter-id/Lee el análisis en español: https://impunityobserver.com/2023/06/24/por-que-el-secretario-de-estado-latino-de-indiana-respalda-la-identificacion-del-votante/By Impunity Observer

For Agustín Etchebarne—director at the Freedom and Progress Foundation—Argentines have the opportunity to change the country’s course in the October 2023 presidential election. He explains how Javier Milei's rise, as a classical-liberal economist and presidential candidate, will take votes from both the Peronistas and the Mauricio Macri-led opposit…

For Emmanuel Rincón—senior editor at Americano Media—María Corina Machado is the best option to face Nicolás Maduro in next year’s presidential election. Machado is leading in the polls for the 2023 opposition primary election in Venezuela, and Rincón contends that most opposition members are controlled opposition: socialists who promote leftist po…

For Daniel Runde—director of the Project on Prosperity and Development at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)—the Chinese regime has met infrastructure and economic demands that US aid to Latin America has overlooked. He warns that China seeks global dominance in economic spheres, with negative implications for Western values.…

Rafael Curruchiche—Guatemalan special prosecutor against impunity since August 2021—shares how the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI) has been used in previous years to persecute political opponents. For example, former FECI chief Juan Francisco Sandoval—praised on multiple occasions by the US State Department—has four active arres…

Mauricio Alarcón-Salvador—the executive director of the Foundation for Citizenship and Development (FCD)—explains why Ecuadorians rejected President Guillermo Lasso’s referendum in the February 5 elections. It included proposals to allow the extradition of Ecuadorian drug traffickers and to reduce congressmen from 137 to 121. He also contends that …

Ricardo Escudero—editor of Minuto Digital Peru and founder of the Savings Institute—explains how former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo’s tenure came to an abrupt end in December 2022, after several corruption investigations against him and his family. Escudero contends that Castillo, in desperation, tried to implement a communist dictatorship in…

Joanna Guerra—a lawyer, philosopher, and director of Ladies of Liberty Alliance and Fundación Federalismo y Libertad in Mexico—discusses the electoral reform Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) proposed to Congress. For Guerra, the proposed reform was a threat to democracy and a step backward in the country’s efforts to maintain po…

Mauro Echeverría, deputy editor and researcher at the Impunity Observer, visited Cuba in October to report on the island’s political and economic situation. Interviewees told Echeverría that citizens struggle with dire shortages of food, gasoline, and medicine. Similarly, electricity blackouts throughout the day are now a standard feature of life. …

Maria Zuppello—an Italian journalist and political analyst living in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for over a decade—discusses why Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro outperformed the polls. His main contender, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, won the election with 48 percent of the votes, with Bolsonaro only 5 percent behind.Zuppello argues that, d…

Join our Editor at Large Steve Hecht, who will discuss his latest insights regarding the United States and Latin America.By Impunity Observer

Alejandra Moreno—data analyst, chemical engineer, and chapter leader of Ladies of Liberty Alliance (LOLA) in Medellin—analyzes Gustavo Petro’s plans of reform, including an energy transition in Colombia. She explains, however, that an energy transition is not urgent, because Colombia is a leading producer of clean energy in the region.Moreno also d…

On August 22, Ocean Builders launched their ecofriendly land and sea pods (houses) in Linton Bay Marina, Panama. With 3D-printed architecture and high-tech infrastructure, Ocean Builders is manufacturing an innovative and self-sustainable lifestyle. In this episode, Grant Romundt—CEO at Ocean Builders—explains why they chose Panama as the destinati…

Join our Editor at Large Steve Hecht, who will discuss his latest insights regarding the United States and Latin America.By Impunity Observer

Cristina Villagómez—a legislative advisor in Chile’s constitutional convention—argues the new proposed constitution would undermine the rule of law and threaten fundamental rights. It is similar to those approved over the last two decades in Bolivia, Venezuela, and Ecuador: an extensive positive-rights (entitlements) document.After witnessing for 1…

Mauricio Ríos—founder of Crusoe Research and a macroeconomic analyst—explains in this podcast episode how Bolivia has become a narco paradise. He contends most of the people in Bolivia work in the informal economy, specifically in black markets. Black markets have been growing in Bolivia due to excessive taxes, regulations on the labor market, lack…

Fergus Hodgson—managing editor of the Impunity Observer—hosted the first live roundtable discussion about the riots in Ecuador. Paz Gómez and Mauro Echeverría—analysts on the ground—explained the riots’ consequences for the country. Ecuador’s risk premium doubled during the riots, making the Andean country less attractive to local and foreign inves…

Analysis of the Steve Bannon Trial | Steve Hecht by Impunity ObserverBy Impunity Observer

Steve Hecht: "Guatemalans saw the disaster of politicized justice and are now trying to free themselves from State Department domination."By Impunity Observer

The Zones of Employment and Economic Development (ZEDEs) in Honduras have already proved effective in attracting foreign capital and importing socioeconomic institutions for prosperity. For Ryan Berg, senior fellow for the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), ZEDEs also offer diplomatic leverage for the Uni…

In April 2022, the Honduran Congress repealed the law that created the Zones of Economic Development and Employment (ZEDEs). The measure has raised doubts about the state of the ongoing ZEDEs and future investments in the country.In this podcast episode, Nicholas C. Dranias—the general counsel at Honduras Próspera Inc.—and Humberto N. Macias—the de…

Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies joins us to explain why illegal immigration is ballooning in the United States under Joe Biden—despite available infrastructure and technology to tackle the challenge. She also analyzes a potential withdrawal of Title 42, which allows swift deportations of illegal arrivals in the United States. …

In an exclusive interview, Colombian Senator María Fernanda Cabal addresses the country’s major challenges, especially foreign interference. She also reflects on running for president against leftist candidate and former guerrilla member Gustavo Petro. Cabal shares why she supports and has confidence in former Medellín Mayor Federico Gutiérrez over…

Foreign organizations are heavily involved in Guatemala’s internal affairs. Nicholas Virzi explains how the US State Department, a member of the G13, is one of the most influential, aggressive, and dominant of the bunch. Virzi’s concern is that foreign intervention is counterproductive, since it impedes economic development and stability.Show notes…

The Costa Rican presidential elections held on February 6 had a record-breaking 25 candidates amid major government corruption scandals. Juan Diego Sánchez, PhD, a lawyer, professor, and columnist explains the political situation in Costa Rica. Furthermore, he analyzes the electoral process, corruption cases, and the April 3, 2022 runoff election b…

La designación de Gloria Porras por parte de la Universidad San Carlos como magistrada ante la Corte de Constitucionalidad de Guatemala se ha paralizado por irregularidades. José Luis González Dubón, abogado, catedrático y doctor guatemalteco en derecho, explica las objeciones legales, las denuncias de presiones y cómo podría terminar el caso.Show …

Guatemala remains mired in poverty, violence, and dependence on remittances from its migrant population. Martin Barillas, a journalist and former US diplomat, explores the causes and offers a way out.Show notes: https://impunityobserver.com/2021/12/08/how-can-guatemala-escape-dependency/By Impunity Observer

La historia de Guatemala y Centroamérica es un campo de batalla cultural entre conservadores y progresistas, principalmente. Carlos Sabino y María Lorena Castellanos, historiadores y catedráticos en universidades guatemaltecas, explican cómo estos grupos tergiversan sucesos como la colonización, la independencia, los conflictos armados y los gobier…

En una entrevista exclusiva con Impunity Observer, la fiscal general María Consuelo Porras argumentó que el Departamento de Estado de EE. UU. y sus aliados están involucrados en una campaña para desacreditar a la institución que representa: “Ellos están obstruyendo la justicia en Guatemala,” presumiblemente para tomar el control junto con un un sel…

Nicaragua's road to serfdom under strongman Daniel Ortega has mesmerized observers. Marco Navarro-Genie, a Nicaraguan political scientist living in Canada, explains how the Sandinistas took over the country and whether the United States should brace for another wave of Central American migrants.Show notes: https://impunityobserver.com/2021/10/12/ni…

In the inaugural episode of our podcast, Steve Hecht explains what led him to found the Impunity Observer after living in Guatemala for decades and what stories the mainstream media in the United States are failing to cover.Show notes: https://impunityobserver.com/2021/09/22/the-need-for-alternative-media-in-central-america/…

IO Podcast: How Biden Will Fund Criminal Socialists in Guatemala by Impunity ObserverBy Impunity Observer