Insights · Notes from the room

Signal, not noise.

Field memos, policy notes and analysis on the political economy of the Americas. Published when there is something worth saying — never on a calendar-padding schedule.

Est. 2019
Featured · This week
Buenos Aires Province Sep 15, 2026 5 min

Kicillof's Buenos Aires: Why the Governor Milei Can't Starve Out Is Already the 2027 Story

Kicillof's fiscal fight with Milei and the Sept. 19 coalition launch are the real 2027 signals for Buenos Aires Province. Here's what to track.

More from the room
Brazil 2026 Sep 14, 2026

The Polyvox Read — Brazil, 20 Days Out: The Runoff Is a Coin Toss. The Kingmaker Is Not.

Brazil's Lula–Flávio Bolsonaro runoff is a toss-up. Our model: 47% government retention, low confidence. The Cury bloc decides it. On the record.

Canada Sep 08, 2026

Canada's Retaliation Is Live: Why Mexico's Silence Is the Riskier Signal for GA Teams

Canada's C$27.6B in counter-tariffs went live September 8. Mexico's calculated silence is the harder signal for GA teams to read correctly.

Colombia Aug 25, 2026

Colombia's Iron Fist: How the End of 'Total Peace' Turns Old Extortion Payments Into Live Compliance Risk

Colombia's hardline turn against Clan del Golfo, a U.S.-designated FTO, converts old "vacuna" payments into live material-support exposure.

Brazil Aug 18, 2026

Brazil's Cinta Larga Ruling: The STF Started a 24-Month Clock, Not a Green Light

Brazil's top court set a 24-month deadline for mining-on-indigenous-land law. Here's the real risk map for mining and energy GCs.

USMCA Aug 11, 2026

The USMCA Review Isn't One Negotiation. It's Three.

USMCA's July review split into three U.S. tariff tracks. Mexico and Canada are on different clocks now, and one risk memo will misprice both.

Nuevo León Aug 04, 2026

Nuevo León's Third Impeachment: Three Things Worth Watching in Monterrey, and One That Isn't

Samuel García survived impeachment #3 while Kia bet $649M on Nuevo León. What GA teams should track, and what they can safely ignore.

Peru Jul 28, 2026

Peru's Inauguration Day: A One-Vote Senate Win Outran a 49,641-Vote Mandate

Fujimori's mandate is Peru's thinnest ever. Her party's one-vote Senate win doesn't retire the mining-permitting risk GA teams still have to underwrite.

Venezuela Jul 14, 2026

Venezuela's Oil Monopoly Is Over on Paper. The Real Gate Is Who You'd Actually Be in Business With

Venezuela's July 7 reform ends PDVSA's oil monopoly on paper. A negative-equity shell company already shows who Caracas actually picks.

USMCA Jul 07, 2026

USMCA's Annual-Review Era: The Governance Job Every Board Now Owns Through 2036

USMCA didn't renew on July 1: it entered a decade of annual reviews through 2036. What boards need to build now, and what no longer works.

Colombia Jun 30, 2026

Colombia's Hard Right Turn: What De la Espriella's First Nine Days Signal for Your Operations Before August 7

Colombia's new president Abelardo de la Espriella won by 0.96 points. Here's the pre-inauguration operator playbook for energy, security, and GA teams.

Argentina Jun 23, 2026

Not All Milei Governors Are the Same: The Frigerio Model and What It Means for U.S. Operators

Eight months after Argentina's midterms, the "Milei-aligned governor" label is fracturing. Frigerio, Cornejo, Torres, and Pullaro are not the same bet.

Brazil Jun 16, 2026

Tarcísio's São Paulo Blueprint: What the Presidential Story Misses for U.S. Operators

Tarcísio's São Paulo runs R$340bn in concessions independent of Brasília. Here's the operator map: what he controls, where Lula can override, and what it means for U.S. deal flow.

USMCA Jun 09, 2026

The 2026 World Cup as USMCA stress test: what VP-GA teams should watch in the six weeks before the July 1 review

The 2026 World Cup is a six-week live test of USMCA's July 1 review. Five priorities for VP-GA teams across CDMX, Guadalajara, and Monterrey.

LATAM public affairs Jun 02, 2026

Washington Got a System Update. Latin America Is Already Running the Next Version.

Washington's advocacy operating system has changed. In Latin America it changed first, and harder — the public-affairs playbook for 2026.

Mercosur May 26, 2026

Mercosur-EU at T+25: the SKU-level read-out for U.S. multinationals, and the three hedges to price by July

Twenty-five days into the EU-Mercosur iTA, the question for U.S. multinationals isn't whether the deal holds. It's where their SKUs sit in the 15-year preference gap.

CobrePanamá May 19, 2026

Cobre Panamá, two and a half years on: the trap operators keep falling into across the Andean copper belt

The November 2023 ruling that shut Cobre Panamá isn't the outlier. It's the template, and the trap. Operators across the Andean copper belt are quietly repricing community license against it, project by project.

Venezuela May 05, 2026

Venezuela asset recovery: the four-month window before Big Law owns the playbook

The Venezuela window everyone called 12 months is now 4. What claimants, operators, and GA leads should do between May and September 2026.

Colombia May 01, 2026

Colombia's Petro endgame: what the consensus read about August 7 gets half right

The consensus says the Petro era ends August 7 and the file goes back to 2022. Half right. The reforms that survived have built operational interests the next administration inherits — and will not staff out.

USMCA Apr 28, 2026

USMCA at T-minus 70: Why the 'painful extension' is already the base case for 2026 planning

Greer's two-protocol architecture has replaced the July 1 USMCA deadline with a 2026-2027 negotiation. Here is how GA teams should replan.

The Monday briefing.

A weekly read on the political economy of the Americas. No promotional material, no sponsored content — written for C-suite operators and the investors who back them.

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