Brazil Inc. has everything to thrive again. But it needs a little love from the government, starting with a virtuous fiscal adjustment my conclusions for @opinion.bloomberg.com after spending a week in Rio, Brasilia and SP talking to business leaders & economists www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Brazil Inc. Can Boom — If the Government Cleans Up Its Act

A tight formation of panettone streams past me on a conveyor belt. There must be what, 300 pieces? 400? They move too fast to count, perfectly aligned, marching toward a giant resting area before head...

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If Brazil's Supreme Court cannot rein in its own eccentricities and abuses, politicians will do it for them. And that could well end up in an explosive institutional crisis my column for @opinion.bloomberg.com on the latest House of Cards season in Brasilia www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Brazil’s Supreme Court Is Betraying Its Citizens

Brasilia is finally getting rain, ending a punishing dry season. Inside the government’s iconic modernist buildings, though, the temperature is only rising.

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The Panama Canal's greatest challenge has little to do with White House’s obsessions, the US-China rivalry or the security of its strategic infrastructure It’s water my latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com on how the storied watershed is reinventing itself www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

The Panama Canal’s Real Challenge Is Water, Not Geopolitics

Almost two years after Donald Trump first threatened to take over the Panama Canal, the storied watershed is thriving.

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Mexico's urban chaos has a clear, but unpleasant, solution: build towers and more towers Expanding the metropolitan and suburban areas farther from city centers isn't sustainable anymore my latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

A High-Rise Revolution Can Tame Mexico’s Urban Chaos

It’s a familiar sight across Mexico’s urban landscape: cities every time more congested, with inadequate public transportation and tortuous journeys from one end to the other. Traffic is a problem acr...

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Washington seems to finally acknowledge that Venezuela's economy will take off only after a political transition, not the other way round my latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

If Flávio Bolsonaro has any shot at winning Brazil's presidency in October, it won't be through external intervention or with help from Trump & Milei my latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com on the world's most consequential election this year www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

What Can Stop a Bolsonaro Comeback in Brazil? Kitchen Tables

Brazilians will head to the polls in less than two months to elect their next president. What do the country’s 159 million voters care most about? Crime, narcotrafficking and corruption. They also wor...

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Worried about USMCA? Mexico has a winning negotiating tactic now: keep the tensions low, the conversations going and the exports flowing until Washington remembers why it wanted a North American trade pact in the first place my latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Mexico Is Winning the Trade War Through Hospitality

Smiles, cooperation and lots of patience.

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Guyana is riding high on an oil boom. But can the world's fastest-growing economy outrun the resource curse that has afflicted other petrostates? After spending a week in Georgetown, I came away less optimistic. Check out my feature for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/feat...

Oil’s Curse Is Hanging Over the World’s Fastest-Growing Economy

Can Guyana outrun the mismanagement and corruption that have afflicted so many other petro-states?

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Daniel Ortega's cynical candor about suspending elections in Nicaragua creates an opportunity to raise the cost of repression for a regime whose abuses too often fly under the radar. The options are plentiful Read about them in my latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.linkedin.com/posts/jp-spi...

Nicaragua’s Dictatorship Should Be Marco Rubio’s Next Problem | JP Spinetto

Daniel Ortega's cynical candor about suspending elections in Nicaragua creates an opportunity to raise the cost of repression for a regime whose abuses too often fly under the radar. The options are p...

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Once among the world's most vulnerable regions to external shocks, Latin America's economy has graduated Now it's time to focus on the harder part: boosting growth my latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

On the Iran War, Latin America's Economies Dodged a Bullet

So much for the panic attack.

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Given Chavismo's ineptitude in the face of a tragedy, the Trump administration should ask itself why sustaining an inept regime that cannot even provide the most basic support for its people my column for @opinion.bloomberg.com on Venezuela's earthquake disaster www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Venezuela Quakes Expose Chavismo's Enduring Rot and US Hubris

A week after two earthquakes struck Venezuela, resulting in more than 2,000 deaths and counting, the courage and generosity of its people and the professionalism of international rescue teams have und...

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After sweeping elections across much of the continent, the right now has to deliver where it matters most: security, affordability and the fight against corruption my column for @opinion.bloomberg.com after an historic vote in Colombia www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Latin America’s Right Needs to Deliver Now

Abelardo de la Espriella got the win. Now the hard part begins.

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Much as I hate to admit it, FIFA was right about ticket pricing.. Before you get angry, hear me out in this column for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

FIFA Was Right About Ticket Pricing

If you had told me that more than 70,000 effervescent football fans would pack Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium on a Monday night to watch, ahem, New Zealand take on Iran, I’d have replied: not in a hundred ...

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Traffic & poor infrastructure, not cartel violence, will be the big threat to visitors coming for Mexico's World Cup Expect passion, fun and hospitality, not Nordic transportation my latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com as Mexico prepares to host its 3rd World Cup www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

In Mexico for the World Cup? Cartels Are the Least of Your Worries

If you are planning to watch a football match with a cold beer on a breezy summer night in Mexico’s most iconic square, you’ll have to reconsider.

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Colombia's model presidential election turned into a perilous moment for the country courtesy of President Gustavo Petro's irresponsible decision to question the preliminary results on flimsy pretexts my column for @opinion.bloomberg.com after another historic vote www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Colombia Is Facing a Dangerous Political Showdown

What looked like a model presidential election in Colombia on Sunday has flashed forward into a perilous moment for the country, with three long weeks until a decisive runoff.

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This is the most important chart for Mexico's economy right now: Investment needs to recover for growth to accelerate & avoid debt problems my latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

After seven decades in power, Cuba's Communist regime is facing its final reckoning with Washington. This time, a more transactional approach is required my comments for @opinion.bloomberg.com as the US prepares to indict the regime's strongman, Raúl Castro www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Cuba Is Running Out of Time to Avoid a US Strike

The images were historic: CIA Director John Ratcliffe standing alongside Cuban government officials, with no more context than a mention of the location, Havana. The message, however, required no expl...

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Latin America's exports to China keep booming in 2026, proof that if the US really wants to curb Beijing's influence in the region, it needs to start talking business my latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Brazil's rare-earth big plans need a healthy dose of realism Yes, the opportunity is huge, but in a country where mining companies can spend 5-10 years just to secure operational licenses, don't expect results overnight my latest column for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Mexico should resist the temptation to sacrifice a good USMCA deal for a quick one as North America's free trade agreement comes up for review on July 1 my column for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

A Bad USMCA Rewrite Will Cost Mexico More Than No Deal

The World Cup kicks off in five weeks, but North American business leaders are bracing for a far more consequential date: the review of the USMCA free-trade pact, due July 1.

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Forget the nationalist rhetoric: having a sitting governor accused of working with narcos is politically untenable for Claudia Sheinbaum my comments for @opinion.bloomberg.com on another Mexico-US clash www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

US Indictments Give Mexico’s Sheinbaum an Opportunity

The US indictments against Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha and other top local figures on drug charges were bold, dramatic and disruptive — but hardly unexpected.

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Peru's electoral mess may sound unusual but it's far from being an anomaly: Across Latin America, elections are under increasing strain As too very heated elections loom in Colombia & Brazil, this deserves far more attention my latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Peru’s Electoral Chaos Is an Ugly Regional Omen

Everything that could go wrong with Peru’s election did. Late-arriving ballots at several polling stations triggered a cascade of missteps by the electoral authority, culminating in the dramatic resig...

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Almost four months since Maduro's removal, the speed of Venezuela's economic recovery is impressive But the political transition phase is inevitably approaching and there things are clearly stalling my latest on Venezuela for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Venezuela Needs María Corina Machado at Home

Economic news in Venezuela is moving at a dizzying speed.

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Almost 50% of the global crude supply growth through 2030 will come from Brazil, Guyana, Argentina & Venezuela Latin America has a chance to emerge as a winner from today's geopolitical realignment thanks to it growing energy clout my latest @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Look to Latin America’s Oil Boom for Energy Security

From the ultra-deep waters of Brazil’s Santos Basin to the arid shale fields of Argentina’s Patagonia, a new hydrocarbon boom is welling up across Latin America.

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You can still beat FIFA's World Cup ticket trickery here are some of my tips for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Don’t Give Up (Yet) on Getting World Cup Tickets

Less than 60 days before the start of the World Cup, I am already panicking: All my attempts to get tickets to see Argentina and Lionel Messi at football’s greatest tournament have failed miserably.

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Has Peru cracked the libertarian fantasy of a government-less economy? Tempting idea, but it won't work.. my column for @opinion.bloomberg.com ahead of a very particular election in Peru this weekend www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Banxico's latest rate decision was the most contested in years But the real issue is a central bank too comfortable with higher inflation & lacking credibility to shape expectations my column for @opinion.bloomberg.com on Mexico's central bank problem www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Banxico's Contested Rate Cut Isn't the Real Problem

As interest-rate decisions go, the Bank of Mexico’s cut last month ranks among the most contentious in years.

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The odds of Lula securing an unprecedented fourth term are fast narrowing. He should above all resist replaying the trajectory of Joe Biden my comments for @opinion.bloomberg.com on Brazil's tightening election race www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Argentina's post-dictatorship democratic resilience still offers a powerful lesson for the region -- 50 years after a violent coup my comments for @opinion.bloomberg.com on a day that shouldn't be forgotten www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Argentina’s 50-Year-Old Coup Still Resonates

Argentina brims with clashing superlatives.

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Call Trump's strategy for Cuba a contained transition: a move meant to disrupt the status quo just enough to set change in motion under US tutelage without resetting the regime's underlying power dynamics But symbolic change won't be enough @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

A Cuban Capitalist Conversion Won’t Unlock Democracy

The White House’s playbook for Cuba is now unmistakable: strip away the regime’s public face to secure a decisive strategic advantage while stopping short of outright regime change.

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