Will Freeman

New York

Latin America Studies Fellow at The Council on Foreign Relations

Fellow for Latin America Studies @CFR_org. PhD @PUPolitics. Fulbright Colombia/Peru/Guatemala 2022. Columnist @AmerQuarterly. Own opinions, RTs ≠ Endorsements.

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Articles

The Hole in Mexico’s Security Strategy

2 weeks ago | realclearworld.com | Will Freeman

The Hole in Mexico’s Security Strategy In January and February of this year, parents searching for their missing children secretly visited a ranch outside the small town of Teuchitlán, in the western Mexican state of Jalisco. Read Full Article »
The Hole in Mexico’s Security Strategy

2 weeks ago | almendron.com | Will Freeman

In January and February of this year, parents searching for their missing children secretly visited a ranch outside the small town of Teuchitlán, in the western Mexican state of Jalisco. They suspected that it had been a cartel training camp and might hold clues about the fates of their children, whom many believed to have been kidnapped or forcibly recruited by the cartels.
La peligrosa obsesión de Trump con el canal de Panamá

1 month ago | almendron.com | Will Freeman

Panamá es un país pequeño —ni siquiera alcanza el tamaño de Carolina del Sur—, pero es crucial para la economía y la seguridad nacional de Estados Unidos. Cada año, el 40 por ciento de todo el tráfico de contenedores de Estados Unidos, equivalente a unos 270.000 millones de dólares, cruza el canal de Panamá. También lo hace alrededor del 5 por ciento del comercio marítimo del mundo.
Securing the Panama Canal Requires Diplomacy

2 months ago | americasquarterly.org | Will Freeman

Reading Time: 5 minutesThe ongoing clash with the Trump administration over the future of the Panama Canal has made President José Raúl Mulino’s already tough position even more difficult. Even before Trump’s inauguration, some U.S. officials worried that China had gained the capacity to interfere in canal operations through control of nearby infrastructure and cyberattacks.
Ecuador’s Next President Will Face Debt, Drought, and Gangs

Feb 19, 2025 | cfr.org | Will Freeman

Will Freeman is a fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. More From Our Experts Ecuador is one of South America’s smaller nations, but it faces daunting challenges. In just a few years, it has gone from being one of mainland Latin America’s most peaceful countries to its most violent, overrun by cocaine-trafficking gangs.
Local Government

Feb 18, 2025 | americasquarterly.org | Will Freeman

Reading Time: 5 minutesOn February 1, the Trump administration accused Mexico’s government of maintaining an “intolerable alliance” with drug trafficking organizations—an allegation Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum immediately dismissed as “slanderous.” The White House provided no new evidence to support the claim, perhaps because proof is somewhat elusive.
Trump necesita entender a los cárteles para debilitarlos

Feb 7, 2025 | almendron.com | Will Freeman

Rara vez estoy de acuerdo con el presidente Trump, pero admitiré que tiene razón en una cosa: el inmenso poder de los cárteles transnacionales de la droga de México y la importante amenaza que suponen para las vidas de los estadounidenses. Eso sin mencionar las vidas mexicanas que arrebatan con alarmante impunidad, año tras año. Necesitamos un nuevo plan para debilitarlos.
Strong-Arming Latin America Will Work Until It Doesn’t

Jan 30, 2025 | realclearworld.com | Will Freeman

For a moment on Sunday, the government of Colombia’s Gustavo Petro looked like it might be the first in Latin America to take a meaningful stand against President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation plans. Instead, Petro gave Trump the perfect opportunity to show how far he would go to enforce compliance. Latin American leaders came out worse off. Read Full Article » Related Articles
The Price of Neglecting Latin America

Dec 5, 2024 | almendron.com | Will Freeman

To the extent that foreign crises helped shape the outcome of November’s U.S. presidential election, it wasn’t the ones in Gaza and Ukraine that had the strongest effect. It was, instead, those closer to home that mattered most: namely, the spread of Mafias and Mafia states throughout Latin America and the corresponding mass exodus of migrants and refugees to the southern border of the United States.
Brazil’s Largest Mafia Is Entering Politics. The Government Must Act.

Oct 6, 2024 | almendron.com | Will Freeman

The city of São Paulo, Brazil, is about to elect its next mayor, but the talk of the town is about a party that’s not on the ballot on Sunday: The “party of crime”, or as it’s formally known, the First Capital Command (P.C.C.). Police officials recently claimed that the criminal group moved almost $1.5 billion through fintech companies, using some funds to finance candidates around São Paulo State.