Catherine Osborn
@ccosborn.bsky.social
1.2K followers 200 following 57 posts
Journalist and author of Foreign Policy's Latin America Brief
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ccosborn.bsky.social
In today’s @foreignpolicy.com LatAm Brief: the UN Security Council greenlit a larger and more powerful security mission to Haiti on the same day that U.S. trade benefits for the country, which helped cultivate its largest export sector, expired.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/03/h...
U.N. Authorizes Larger Haiti Mission
The resolution was a rare point of consensus between Washington and Latin American countries.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
This week's @foreignpolicy.com Latin America Brief is about UNGA's surprises, including Trump's “chemistry” with Lula and the pledge of an unusually direct U.S. bailout for Milei.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/26/u...
UNGA Deals Latin America Some Surprises
From Trump’s “chemistry” with Lula to a U.S. bailout of Argentina.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
Today's @foreignpolicy.com Latin America Brief: 🇺🇸 declared 🇨🇴 failed at drug control obligations but stopped short of halting support $. Despite leader-to-leader tensions, lower level officials & civil society advocates helped preserve some cooperation.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/19/c...
The U.S.-Colombia Rift Widens
Trump added Bogotá to an anti-drug blacklist but stopped short of cutting aid.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
In @foreignpolicy.com: 🇧🇷’s top court convicted Bolsonaro & allies of attempting a coup to stay in power after losing the 2022 vote.

In a country w a long history of coups, it was the 1st time a civilian court convicted military members of coup-related charges.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/11/b...
Bolsonaro Convicted of Attempting Coup
The ruling is a watershed moment in Brazilian history—and one that could further upend relations with the United States.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
In today’s @foreignpolicy.com Lat Am Brief: how different leaders in the region reacted to Trump’s highly unusual Caribbean strike reveals not only how they are positioning themselves in relation to Washington, but also Maduro’s relative isolation.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/04/t...
Trump’s Caribbean Strike Polarizes Region
Venezuela’s frayed ties with old allies have left it isolated in responding to U.S. force.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
In today’s @foreignpolicy.com Latin America Brief, Amazon rainforest countries held their 2nd leaders summit in 3 years. But more summits did not necessarily mean more 🌳 protection, w/ deforestation rising in 🇨🇴 & 🇧🇴 in 2024. The countries did endorse an innovative plan for financing (1/2)
ccosborn.bsky.social
Today’s @foreignpolicy.com LatAm Brief looks at how 🇧🇴’s foreign policy could change as MAS dominance ends & the country shifts right. It will hold a presidential runoff between a former president who admires 🇦🇷’s Javier Milei & a more conciliatory senator.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/22/b...
Bolivia Says ‘No MAS’
After two decades as a bastion of the left, the country is taking a right turn.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
In today’s @foreignpolicy.com Latin America Brief, Haiti gets a new leader of its transitional government, Peru strikes a trade agreement with Indonesia, and Bolivia prepares for elections that could usher in a major political shift.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/15/h...
Haiti Taps New Interim Leader
The country avoided a gang-backed government takeover last week, but security remains tenuous.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
In today’s @foreignpolicy.com LatAm Brief: 🇸🇻 scraps presidential term limits, a move condemned by pro-democracy watchdogs when it happened elsewhere in the region. Now, diplomats say there is a chilling effect at one major such group, the OAS.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/08/e...
El Salvador’s Latest Regression Met With Silence From Watchdog
The Organization of American States is experiencing a chilling effect under Trump.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
This week’s @foreignpolicy.com LatAm Brief is about Colombia’s trial of former President Álvaro Uribe, South American countries receiving significant migrant flows in the first semester, and where Brazil and Mexico landed—for now—with U.S. tariffs.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/01/c...
Former Colombian Leader Is Convicted of Bribery
The landmark ruling provoked immediate criticism from the Trump administration.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
but also discomfort with transfer systems outside the dollar ecosystem. This week, Paul Krugman wrote that PIX might be “the future of money.”

paulkrugman.substack.com/p/has-brazil...
Has Brazil Invented the Future of Money?
And will it ever come to America?
paulkrugman.substack.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
Today’s @foreignpolicy.com LatAm Brief: the recent U.S.-Brazil escalation can be analyzed from many angles. Attacking Brazil’s digital payments technology could reflect not only attempts to boost U.S. companies (1/2)

foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/24/b...
U.S.-Brazil Feud Could Speed Up De-Dollarization
A popular Brazilian payment system is causing concerns in Washington.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
This week’s @foreignpolicy.com Lat Am Brief is about the COP30 warm-up talks in Bonn. They produced new draft language on a just transition away from fossil fuels, even as 🇧🇷 held a controversial auction of oil drilling rights off the coast of the Amazon River.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/27/b...
U.N. Hosts Dress Rehearsal for COP30
The November climate summit in Brazil will be Lula’s biggest diplomatic test yet.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
This week’s @foreignpolicy.com Latin America Brief looks at regional leaders’ priorities at the G7 summit. For Mexico’s Sheinbaum, whose predecessor never attended the event, the trip signaled a shift toward a more globally oriented foreign policy.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/19/b...
Sheinbaum Makes Her G-7 Debut
After years of disengagement on the global stage, Mexico’s new president is taking a different tack.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
Today’s @foreignpolicy.com Lat Am Brief is about an effort to put Latin America on the global AI map via a large language model that draws from deep archives of data in the region. It aims to address gaps & oversimplifications from models trained mostly in English.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/13/l...
Where Does Latin America Stand in the Global AI Race?
Chile-backed model Latam-GPT plans to make its public debut in September.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
Today’s @foreignpolicy.com Latin America Brief looks at 🇲🇽’s shock therapy to its judiciary. Plans for the nationwide election had already rankled trade partners before it produced a top court full of judges tied to the ruling party on Sunday.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/06/m...
The Aftermath of Mexico’s Judicial Elections
Sunday’s vote handed more influence to the ruling party—and shook investor confidence.
foreignpolicy.com
Reposted by Catherine Osborn
ameakem.bsky.social
Today in @ccosborn.bsky.social's Latin America Brief: It's been a big week for Suriname, which held elections on Sunday and saw its former foreign minister take office as OAS secretary-general.
Suriname’s Growing Clout
The Caribbean nation now helms a key regional forum and is on the cusp of an oil boom.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
Today’s @foreignpolicy.com Lat Am Brief is about the uproar in El Salvador over what experts say is a swift closing of civic space, with journalists fleeing, a top government critic arrested, and a new law taxing and tracking nonprofits. Many see echoes of 🇳🇮.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/23/e...
Bukele Clamps Down on Dissent
In El Salvador, human rights violations extend beyond the country’s notorious prisons.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
In 2023, the top categories of 🇨🇳 FDI in 🇧🇷 by volume were in electricity and hybrid & electric vehicles, and the oil sector accounted for under 1 percent. That’s in contrast to the full stock of Chinese FDI in the country from 2007 to 2023, of which oil accounts for 30 percent, according to CEBC.
ccosborn.bsky.social
Today’s @foreignpolicy.com Lat Am Brief is about the CELAC-China forum & related meetings. While Colombia’s BRI accession made headlines, the week also showed how Brazil’s China policy has evolved alongside its industrial policy.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/16/c...
Latin American Economies Look to China as U.S. Slashes Aid
In Beijing this week, Colombia joined the Belt and Road Initiative, and Brazil notched key investment pledges.
foreignpolicy.com
ccosborn.bsky.social
Beautiful and nuanced obituary of Mujica by Búsqueda's Guillermo Draper for @foreignpolicy.com, discussing Mujica's legacy inside and outside of Uruguay, including his stances on hemispheric relations and his convention-bucking move to legalize marijuana—as security policy, first and foremost.
ccosborn.bsky.social
In today’s @foreignpolicy.com LatAm Brief, Trump expands his approach of FTO listings for Latin American crime groups to 🇭🇹. The move underscored the lack of a unified strategy in the country despite the many actors engaged there, @romainlecour.bsky.social said.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/09/h...
Trump Targets Haitian Gangs
U.S. authorities slapped a terrorist designation on two groups as Haiti’s crisis deepens.
foreignpolicy.com