This is really just me sitting in a room talking into a microphone from time to time. The subject is Latin America, the region I've worked on for more than 20 years: its challenges—especially security and human rights challenges—and the United States' complicated relationship with it. This podcast accompanies my personal blog, and doesn't reflect the views of my employer, whose much better podcast is at https://www.wola.org/format/podcast/.
Audio to accompany the February 20, 2026 WOLA Border Update.
00:00 Introduction
01:46 Cartel drones, laser weapons, and the El Paso airspace closure
07:01 DHS shutdown spotlights need for reform at border and migration agencies
19:06 Migrant detention expansion raises alarms
32:16 Border wall plans raise environmental and cultural concerns
35:07 Fewest child and family migrants since at least 2011, according to January CBP data
40:18 Other news
28 Jan 2026
U.S.-Mexico Border Update: January 23, 2026
Three deaths in two months at Fort Bliss facility
2026 DHS appropriation nears passage
Secret ICE memo permits entering without judicial warrants
Reports of discord within DHS
Alarming stories of ICE/CBP hiring practices
Other troubling reports about DHS
December migration and drug-seizure data
Other News
13 Jan 2026
Don't Sleepwalk Into a Big Military Mission in Venezuela
Ahead of a likely January 14 Senate vote on the Venezuela War Powers Resolution, here's the audio accompanying a video explainer digging into
(a) scenarios that could lead to "boots on the ground" and an open-ended military mission in Venezuela, and
(b) the constellation of armed groups that U.S. personnel might have to confront if those scenarios become reality.
12 Jan 2026
U.S.-Mexico Border Update: January 9, 2026
The U.S. military operation to extract Nicolás Maduro has changed little for Venezuelan migrants. Updates about smuggling and stranded migrants in Mexico. Updates about new border barriers.
17 Dec 2025
You Actually *Can* Protect People from Crime Without Destroying Democracy
This is a variation of a talk that I give a few times per year. (It's usually shorter.) I haven't written it up as a publication yet.
The gist: it's perfectly possible to protect people from crime without locking up 3 percent of a country's male population, blowing up civilian boats on the high seas, and dismantling democracy.
Long experience in Latin America shows that short-term fixes, especially anything that conflates organized crime groups with insurgents or "terrorists," are a dead end.
Most people who study crime and governance agree, in broad terms, on the long-term vision for protecting people. There's no substitute for a functioning security sector with a strong justice system and a high probability that anyone who colludes with organized crime will face accountability. That vision includes extensive oversight, transparency, and a laser focus on suffocating organized crime by severing its corrupt ties to government and other power centers.
But that's a long-term solution. People feeling besieged by crime don't have the patience for that. So what can leaders and societies do to make people feel safer in the short term?
The answer isn't as simplistic as "declare a state of emergency and lock up anyone who looks suspicious." Instead, a rights-respecting, democracy-preserving short-term security strategy has many fragments and moving parts. Here is a survey of what it takes. There's no other choice.
Constructive comments and suggestions, especially on the "short term" conundrum, are very welcome. Thanks for listening.
12 Dec 2025
U.S.-Mexico Border Update: December 12, 2025
I'm trying something new here: a full-length video version of this week's U.S.-Mexico Border Update.
This week's WOLA Border Update covers developments in the military's growing role at the U.S.-Mexico border, reports of deteriorating and inhuman conditions at ICE detention facilities, and updates from Mexico.
24 Nov 2025
Why is there less migration at the U.S.-Mexico border?
This is audio accompanying [a video presentation](https://youtu.be/0v7akdHu40A) that walks through what the data tells us is happening at the U.S.-Mexico border, why so few people are migrating amid Trump's crackdown, and whether numbers are likely to stay low.
"Keeping people from migrating by withdrawing rights and instilling terror" is not a policy success, just because "numbers are down." After running through the latest data, this presentation looks at the dangers—including dangers to U.S. democracy— of what is happening now, and the outlines of a far better, rights-respecting, sustainable approach.
26 Mar 2023
Cartels on the Terrorist List?
Some in Washington are proposing putting Mexican criminal groups on the US government's terrorist list, or even using the US military against them on Mexican soil. Neither proposal gets at the problem of impunity for state collusion with organized crime.
11 Jul 2017
4. U.S.-Colombia Relations "in a Challenged Place"
Relations between the United States and close ally Colombia have hit their roughest patch in years. It is being aggravated by disagreement over the FARC peace accord and how to deal with coca eradication. A better-briefed Secretary of State could deal with this more effectively, but that doesn't seem to be Rex Tillerson's style.
25 Apr 2017
3. The Border Wall and the Budget
April 25, 2017: The Trump White House came dangerously close to shutting down the U.S. government over funding for its proposed wall along the border with Mexico. Here I explain the budget process, what we know of the administration’s wall-building plans, and why it’s a bad idea.
The White House’s 2017 budget request is here.
Here is a report and a CBP document, released by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), with the best level of detail we’ve seen about wall-building plans (https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/border-wall-report).
Here’s a piece I did for WOLA at the end of March called “Throwing Money at the Wall.”
7 Apr 2017
2. "The Thing"
April 6, 2017: Did you know that the U.S. government now has 107 programs that it can use to aid foreign militaries and police forces? Neither did I, before we started working on what turned out to be a huge report, or project, or "thing," that's now nearly complete.
The new resource I discuss here doesn't have a name yet, but you can check it out in draft form at defenseassistance.org/program. (In mid-April this will move to defenseoversight.wola.org.)
I also discuss the Security Assistance Monitor program, which I highly recommend you visit at securityassistance.org.
24 Mar 2017
1: Worrying About Peace Implementation in Colombia
March 24, 2017: In this inaugural episode, I voice some gnawing concerns about whether, and how, Colombia is going to implement its peace accords. This may be a recurring theme.
I refer to a few documents here:
The UN monitoring mission's latest report.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' report on 2016 (English | Español).
WOLA's statement about the transitional justice bill.
Colombia's peace accord.
The "Post-Conflict Colombia" tag on my blog.
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