Brazil, Colombia and a Regional Case for Optimism

After seven years covering Latin America for the Financial Times, and a previous post in the 1990s, Michael Stott is leaving the region as an optimist. His argument: that Latin America's strengths have been systematically underappreciated, and that in an increasingly dangerous and unstable world, what the region has going for it is about to matter more than it has in the past. In this episode, we take stock of the unique moment across the hemisphere: the tightening race between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro ahead of Brazil's October election, the fragmented right in Colombia and the outlook for their presidential election in May, the uncertain futures of Cuba and Venezuela, and how this White House is likely to continue influencing events in years to come. Our guest is Michael Stott, now the South Asia bureau chief for the Financial Times.

You can listen to Brazil, Colombia and a Regional Case for Optimism online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Brazil, Colombia and a Regional Case for Optimism is an episode from Deep South podcast by Americas Quarterly.

This episode is 30:44 long.

This episode was published on Mar 12, 2026.

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