Latin America policy and business - Adjunct Fellow at Hudson Institute - ex USAID and Dept of State

Washington, DC
Joined March 2011
The Trump administration has more leverage over Cuba than any in the past. So why won’t Cuba make a deal? It's not weakness. The answer lies in something the regime has been building for 67 years. My latest in @dallasnews: dallasnews.com/opinion/comme…
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Daniel Batlle retweeted
Lula's reelection complicates Trump's plans to build a coalition of allies across Latin America. But Washington and Brazil still share interests in expanding energy production, countering Chinese influence, and maintaining stability in Venezuela, @wrmead writes.
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Daniel Batlle retweeted
The Nicaraguan regime, which has condemned the UN for investigating its shameful human rights violations, suddenly thinks multilateral bodies should have more weight. The official government release also tags Russia’s propaganda outlets. The regime is an implacable enemy of the United States, and we should begin seriously treating them as one.
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A guinada da América Latina para a direita é consistente ou apenas uma reação passageira? No novo artigo para o Monitor, @danielbatlle analisa os desafios fiscais, a insatisfação popular e o papel de Washington nesse xadrez regional. Leia completo: 🔗 monitordademocracia.org.br/a…
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Hoy Delcy no duerme bien. El resto del país salió a celebrar a las calles.
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Great to see more scrutiny of how Chinese gold companies in Nicaragua are fueling illegal mining across the border in Costa Rica:
La minería china en Nicaragua implica un costo para Costa Rica.     Empresas mineras chinas en Nicaragua suelen emplear tácticas abusivas, como obligar a los mineros artesanales a vender su oro por debajo del precio de mercado.     Como resultado de estas tácticas coercitivas de las empresas mineras chinas, cada vez más mineros nicaragüenses cruzan la frontera para ingresar a Costa Rica y extraer oro ilegalmente.     Esta actividad ilegal ejerce una presión creciente en la frontera norte de Costa Rica. Estados Unidos respalda a Costa Rica en la protección de su frontera y en la lucha contra la minería ilegal y el tránsito fronterizo ilegal vinculado a esta actividad.
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Speaking to Hudson Institute, @ZelenskyyUa outlined the 3 most important security guarantees Ukraine needs after a ceasefire: 1. Funding to maintain a strong Ukrainian army for 10 years 2. Access to military technologies like air defenses 3. Coalition and allied solidarity
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Daniel Batlle retweeted
Hoy lo cumplimos: #22Oct todos a la calle. Nos vemos a las 4:00 p. m. en la Torre Polar, Plaza Venezuela, convocados por @VenteVenezuela. ¡Fijen la fecha de las elecciones presidenciales! #SetTheDate 🎥
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Is Latin America finally moving up the global high-tech value chain? Some remarkable numbers suggest the region is making progress. A few highlights from a fascinating new @AmerQuarterly piece in collaboration with JP Morgan Private Bank: • 🇲🇽 Mexico briefly overtook Taiwan as the largest supplier of advanced technology products to the U.S. in 2025. In the first half of 2026, its high-tech exports to the U.S. surged another 47% to $98.3 billion. The U.S. now gets 40% of its server imports from Mexico. • 🇧🇷 Brazil is emerging as a major hub for AI infrastructure. Already home to 218 data centers, the world's 11th-largest total, Brazil could see its capacity more than double by 2030. Its abundant renewable energy is a major competitive advantage. • 🇨🇷 Costa Rica offers a compelling model for moving beyond commodity exports. Medical devices already account for roughly 40% of its exports, and the country is now building a semiconductor industry through partnerships among universities, government and multinational companies. • 🇩🇴 The Dominican Republic is another country to watch. Its electronics exports grew 50% from 2018 to 2023, and its extensive free trade zone network could help it become a significant player in semiconductor assembly and testing. • 🌎 The bigger picture: Latin America's exports of information and communications technology services nearly DOUBLED from 2020 to 2024. The region has a real opportunity to capture more of the global AI boom—but sustained gains will depend on education, R&D, energy infrastructure and smart public policy. More from Nur Cristiani and Rich Brown in @AmerQuarterly: americasquarterly.org/articl…
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Brazil votes in a runoff Sunday. If Flávio Bolsonaro wins, Latin America will have its broadest lineup of pro-U.S. governments in a generation. But the last wave faded fast. How to help make this one last, in @dallasnews: Will Latin America’s turn to the right last? dallasnews.com/opinion/comme… via @dallasnews
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Dragon in the Americas: China’s Power, Presence, and Regional Influence xitter.cf/i/broadcasts/1aJbdEgQd…
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In 2018 and 2019, conservative governments led most of South America and worked closely with Washington. By 2022, much of the region had swung back left, and the coalition withered. But over the last year, Latin America has swung to the right again, with leaders who openly embrace Washington and have joined the anti-cartel coalition. @danielbatlle argues that the administration should help its allies deliver results their voters will notice by: — Lowering tariffs to reward friends — Devoting more resources to dismantling criminal networks and preventing them from returning dallasnews.com/opinion/comme…
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Daniel Batlle retweeted
Como parte de la campaña “Apadrina a un preso político”’del @caslainstitute y @TAMARA_SUJU alzo mi voz por el Teniente Coronel Víctor Soto. Encarcelado desde marzo de 2018, hoy se encuentra recluído en el fuerte Guaicapuro. Exigimos libertad plena para todos los presos políticos, civiles y militares.
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With Xi Jinping visiting the White House today, we cannot forget the victims of the CCP’s systemic repression. In this video, @RepRaskin (MD-8) speaks out for political prisoner Jimmy Lai, whom he has adopted for the U.S. Congress’ Defending Freedoms Project. Jimmy Lai is a businessman, journalist, and publisher who has long been a fearless critic of the CCP. In February 2026, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison under Hong Kong’s infamous National Security Law. His detention highlights the CCP’s suppression of dissent and its harsh restrictions on freedom in Hong Kong. #FreeThemAll #FreeJimmyLai
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It was an honor to be with @ZelenskyyUa as he gave us his candid and comprehensive views on the war with Putin. There is much we can do with our allies to save lives in Ukraine and we @HudsonInstitute will do all we can to help.
Yesterday, Hudson President and CEO @john_walters_ and Senior Fellow @LukeDCoffey met with President @ZelenskyyUa to discuss ongoing negotiations and the path toward ending the war. 🇺🇸🇺🇦
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IRI’s @garrastazuTony & IRI partners @marcelaprietobo, @REvanEllis, & @SergioGuzmanE joined @danielbatlle at the @HudsonInstitute to discuss Colombia’s political landscape under President @ABDELAESPRIELLA. 🇺🇸-🇨🇴 They also explored what the new government could mean for 🇺🇸-🇨🇴cooperation & shared security & prosperity across the Western Hemisphere. Watch the full conversation: youtube.com/live/VynlR89xjRY…
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Daniel Batlle retweeted
Buenos días gente bella, Aquí van mis primeras impresiones sobre los acontecimientos del 22 de septiembre. Al mismo tiempo que Delcy Rodríguez se daba un baño de burocracia internacional en la ONU y se reunía con Donald Trump, María Corina Machado confirmaba su séptimo intento frustrado de regresar a Venezuela. Como la política venezolana de los últimos meses se parece cada vez más a una temporada de The Apprentice: Caracas Edition, para mí resulta indispensable asumir que casi todo lo que vemos en pantalla son puros efectos especiales. ¿A qué me refiero? Es más que evidente que la administración Trump avanza con un plan propio cuyo objetivo es el control y la rentabilidad de los recursos energéticos venezolanos. Mientras van por el botín, porque "al vencedor le pertenecen los despojos", nos entretenemos con el desfile de gestos rituales y encuentros privados filtrados a conveniencia por la parte interesada. Pedro J. Ramírez leyó hoy, en la mañana madrileña, el saludo de Delcy a Pedro Sánchez como el de una novia que se despide de un pretendiente menor porque ya tiene pactada la boda con un magnate. La metáfora es chocante, sí, pero describe a la perfección el pragmatismo del poder: el bromance D-D (Donald & Delcy) va viento en popa. Sin embargo, aquí todos parecen jugar a engañarse. La oposición, incluso la que se sienta a colaborar, busca desesperadamente justificar sus pasos para no admitir que quedó relegada a un papel de reparto. Y, de la misma manera, la cúpula del chavismo 3.0 se consuela con esa vieja máxima de "doblarse para no partirse". En el camino, a quien terminaron quebrando fue al país entero. Lo que viene en los próximos meses no es una apertura milagrosa, sino muy posiblemente el desmantelamiento formal de lo que queda de PDVSA y la sustitución silenciosa del régimen de explotación petrolera. Y eso sin que sus beneficios lleguen rápidamente a la población, porque esta es una industria lenta y porque la redistribución de la renta será aún más complicada por los nuevos modelos de negocio. Es posible que estemos ante el cambio de paradigma más radical de los últimos 60 años: el paso del Estado rentista propietario a una especie de factoría extractivista a bajo costo. Mientras Delcy y María Corina tragan sapos y cocodrilos, lamentablemente la mayoría de los venezolanos están tragando es mierda. ¡Abracitos!
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Venezuela has struck a major oil deal with the American government. The bargain could secure heavy crude for American refineries, reduce Chinese and Russian influence in Venezuela, and attract the capital needed to repair the Venezuelan oil industry. Yet it also binds the United States to century-long rights issued by an unelected government and gives Washington a financial interest in keeping Rodríguez in power—a blow to advocates for democracy. Assessing the agreement begins with understanding how Venezuela built up and tore down its oil sector, @gildeguerra argues. Read his assessment in @thedispatch: thedispatch.com/article/u-s-…
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Last week, Daniel Ortega announced that Nicaragua will never hold elections again. Over the last 20 years, Ortega and his wife and co-president Rosario Murillo have extinguished political freedom in Nicaragua more thoroughly than any country in the Western Hemisphere. Still, the US remains Nicaragua's largest trading partner, buying almost 40% of its exports and leaving the economic lifelines that sustain the Ortega-Murillo regime remain intact. Ortega's election announcement showed he has no fear of any meaningful consequence from the United States, @danielbatlle writes. Read in @nypost: nypost.com/2026/07/28/opinio…
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Daniel Batlle retweeted
Great to have @gildeguerra on the @HudsonInstitute team--making us stronger with more strategic depth. Welcome aboard.
I couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining Hudson as a fellow focused on Latin America. I have long had great admiration for the work Hudson scholars do, and it is an immense honor to be among them.
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