Brazil-based journalist for @ForeignPolicy, @NPR, etc. Writer of FP's Latin America Brief
Rio de Janeiro
Joined June 2011
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Just before presidential runner-up Flávio Bolsonaro was whisked out of Brazil in a secret operation this week, another shrouded and significant journey took place in the region: Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returned to the country 🧵
after months of blocked attempts. She’s been allowed to hold open marches and speeches, attracting tens of thousands. Around the same time, the U.S. State Department announced its most detailed roadmap yet toward elections in 🇻🇪. For @ForeignPolicy:
foreignpolicy.com/2026/10/30…
For @ForeignPolicy I wrote about how progressives and some centrists pulled off Lula’s upset victory in 🇧🇷 and what it means for foreign policy in Latin America & beyond.
One of the world’s most populous countries remains in the democratic column & devoted to climate action 🧵
and the UN system during a time of increasing might-makes-right logic on the global stage—and especially in the Americas.
Lula faces major macroeconomic pressures and governability challenges. 🧵
But his victory has also proven the power of a spontaneous mobilizing style that his Workers’ Party often shunned in recent years in favor of more top-down tactics.
foreignpolicy.com/2026/10/26…
A flurry of mobilizing boosted Brazilian President Lula’s come-from-behind election victory yesterday.
Since democracy was restored in the country in the late 1980s, no candidate who failed to win the first round of voting has gone on to win in the second round. 🧵
And in Brazil... it ain’t over till it’s over. Lula’s last election is hurtling toward a dramatic finish, with polls tightening after Flávio Bolsonaro came out ahead in the first round of voting.
The days ahead of the runoff have been marked by large street rallies, 🧵
a push by the left to step up what had been a lackluster digital strategy, and allegations by watchdog groups that Meta’s content distribution is favoring the right, which the company denies.
Our @NPR curtain-raiser ahead of the runoff:
npr.org/2026/10/23/nx-s1-600…
Today's @ForeignPolicy Latin America Brief looks at the rapprochement between Bolivia and Chile and what it could mean for budding critical minerals cooperation in South America. Kast's trip to La Paz last week made headlines 🧵
for ending a more than 70-year drought in state visits, but the relationship has been quietly warming for years.
With thanks to @AndresVillarG for his comments.
foreignpolicy.com/2026/10/23…
At a time when many Latin American governments are echoing U.S. migration restrictions, Uruguay just went the opposite direction and announced a new pathway to permanent residency for asylum-seekers. 🧵
It’s expected to affect tens of thousands of people, the vast majority of whom are Cubans who’ve fled the country’s economic and political crisis. Migration policy experts have praised the move and compared it to Colombia’s mass regularizations of fleeing Venezuelans. 🧵
Uruguay’s move is “a show of leadership” and signal to other countries about what is possible, CEDA's María Teresa Urueña said.
For @ForeignPolicy:
foreignpolicy.com/2026/10/16…
Colombia’s policies have generally been only temporary, though, while Uruguay’s move is more durable. Researchers have found that regularized migrants in Colombia have generated more economic activity—and less costs to the state—than their irregular peers. 🧵
Today’s @ForeignPolicy Latin America Brief looks at the results of Sunday’s general elections in Brazil, which included the first-round presidential vote. It launched the Bolsonaros back within spitting distance of Brazil’s presidency. 🧵
To understand how many became skeptical of the PT, check out @felipe_krause's 2024 essay arguing the party too often only views this group as exploited labor, overlooking desires for safety from violence, less red tape, & more respect for their faith.
foreignpolicy.com/2024/05/09…
Lula has tried to adjust his messaging, testing a new slogan Wednesday that dropped his previous retrospective tone and proposed “For working people, protection; for criminals, jail.” If it stands to make a difference, it has around two weeks to do so.
foreignpolicy.com/2026/10/09…