Latin America in Focus Podcast
About Latin America in Focus
Go in depth on the latest trends in Latin American politics, economics, and culture. Twice a month, the AS/COA Online team brings you in-depth interviews with top experts, journalists, artists, and entrepreneurs on the ground in and from countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Chile.
Notable guests include:
- Ilan Goldfajn, President of the Inter-American Development Bank
- Julio Frenk, Chancellor of UCLA and former Secretary of Health of Mexico
- Amb. Thomas Shannon, former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to Brazil
- Felipe Chapman, Minister of Economy and Finance of Panama
- Amb. Sarah-Ann Lynch, Senior Advisor at Dinámica Americas and former Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to U.S. Southern Command
- Kenneth Smith Ramos, Partner at Agon and Mexico’s former chief USMCA negotiator
- Otaviano Canuto, Senior Fellow at Policy Center for the New South and former Vice President of the World Bank
- Sebastian Mejia, Co-Founder and President of Rappi
- Paula Escobar Chavarría, Founder and Executive Director of the Women and Media Chair at Universidad Diego Portales, host and panelist at CNN Chile
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The series is heard by listeners in 50 countries around the globe. Join our audience! If you already know us, share your favorite episode and write a review. If you’ve just discovered us, welcome to Latin America in Focus and subscribe via your preferred platform, such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.
Carin Zissis, Host
Carin is the editor-in-chief of AS/COA Online, the website of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas. An award-winning journalist, her writing and commentary have been featured in The Boston Globe, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, Univision, World Politics Review, and other outlets.
Based in Mexico City from 2013 to 2021, she covered the 2018 Mexican elections and subsequent presidential transition. She was a 2024–25 International Competition Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Prior to joining AS/COA, she served as a staff writer at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Luisa Leme, Executive Producer, Interim Host
As senior producer, Luisa oversees video and live broadcasts for AS/COA. A journalist with an MA in International Affairs, she has experience in traditional news outlets, international organizations, documentary features, mega-events, and cultural institutions in nine countries. Her work has appeared on TV Globo, Radio France Internationale, Rádio CBN, Americas Quarterly, AP, newspapers Folha de S. Paulo and O Globo, and the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.
Before joining AS/COA, Luisa worked in the UN News and Media division.
Chase Harrison, Reporter
Chase is AS/COA Online's editorial manager and holds an MPhil from the University of Oxford, where his research focused on political parties in Mexico and Central America and where he managed content and served as podcast editor for the OxPol academic blog.
Khalea Robertson, Associate Producer
Khalea is an editorial associate at AS/COA Online. She has worked as a journalist and researcher, and has previous experience in international relations and development. During her MA program in Global Journalism with Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University, her research and reporting focused on migration from and within the Americas.
After getting hacked by Pegasus in El Salvador, El Faro’s Roman Gressier is part of a groundbreaking lawsuit in a U.S. court to rein in the spyware.
Universidad del Valle de Guatemala’s Marielos Chang and Cefeidas Group’s Juan Cruz Díaz cover what to watch ahead of the two countries’ presidential races.
Learn about Mexico’s big vacation boost, Chile’s vision for digital rights, and Lima’s new—and controversial—mayor.
The UN’s Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez and Marsh McLennan’s Amy Barnes explain how the public and private sector are funding a green economic transition.
How have some Latin American countries kept currencies steady against the strong dollar? XP Investment’s Alberto Bernal talks with AS/COA's Randy Melzi.
The career diplomat and former U.S. ambassador to Brazil explains what the ex-president’s comeback means for Latin America, the U.S., China, and the world.
UC San Diego’s Dr. Cecilia Farfán Méndez and Trend Micro’s Juan Pablo Castro cover the 10-terabyte hack on militaries of five Latin American countries.
Quaest’s Felipe Nunes covers the first round and what's ahead in an October 30 runoff for presidential rivals Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro.
UnidosUS' Clarissa Martínez De Castro and The Washington Post's Sabrina Rodríguez cover issues motivating the voting bloc heading into the U.S. midterms.
Political analyst Carlos Bravo Regidor explains the AMLO government’s moves toward militarization and the ramped up race for the presidency.