Commentary & Analysis on Central American Politics

Op-Eds & Short Pieces

• How the World’s Most Popular Dictator Wins, Journal of Democracy Blog, February 5, 2024.
• To Bloom Again: The Night Semilla Took Guatemala by Surprise, ReVista: The Harvard Review of Latin America, November 2, 2023.
• How Guatemalans Are Defending Their Democracy (with Laura Gamboa), Journal of Democracy Blog, October 25, 2023.
• ¿Cómo se negocia una transición democrática? (with Steven Levitsky), Diálogos, October 11, 2023. Also published in Plaza Pública.
• In the August 20 Election, Guatemalan Democracy is on the Line (with Lucas Perelló), El Faro, August 8, 2023.
• The June Guatemalan Election Was an Outlier in Latin America (with Lucas Perelló), El Faro, July 11, 2023.
• Bukele Has Defeated El Salvador’s Gangs—for Now. How? And What Does It Mean for the Region?, Lawfare, March 27, 2023.
• What’s Behind the Spike of Violence in El Salvador?, Lawfare, April 11, 2022.
• Meet Latin America’s First Millennial Dictator, Slate, August 26, 2021.
• El Salvador’s President Launched a ‘Self-Coup.’ Watch for Creeping Corruption and Authoritarianism (with Steven Levitsky), The Washington Post, May 20, 2021.

Podcasts

• The Bukele Model: Why It’s Hard to Replicate, The Americas Quarterly Podcast, July 11, 2024.
• La democracia tambalea en la región, Tan/Gente Podcast, May 27, 2024.
• 2023 Guatemalan Elections: Democratic Spring or Winter?, Hopkins Podcast on Foreign Affairs, October 19, 2023.
• Who is the Real Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador?, The LatinNews Podcast, October 10, 2023.
• An Earthshaking Election in Guatemala, The Lawfare Podcast, August 28, 2023.
• El Salvador’s President Cracks Down on Gangs—and Democracy, The Lawfare Podcast, May 9, 2023.