Lazo Letters

Articles

MAGA enters Poland's election.

6 days ago | lazoletters.substack.com | Cristina Maza

By the time you read this, people in Poland will be voting in the second round of the country’s presidential election. As I wrote last week, the results will reshape Poland’s relationship with the European Union and determine whether Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has an ally in the presidency, allowing him to implement his agenda. Poland is a hugely important country in Europe.
Can Europe breathe a sigh of relief?

1 week ago | lazoletters.substack.com | Cristina Maza

I’m back in the hallways of Capitol Hill after a very brief trip to Europe. For the new faces here, I recently wrote about how I afford transatlantic travel on a journalist’s salary. Since a re-elected Donald Trump began slashing foreign assistance over the last several months, many observers have wondered which country or group of countries will step in to promote democracy, human rights, development, and the free press worldwide.
I'm on the road again. šŖ©

3 weeks ago | lazoletters.substack.com | Cristina Maza

By the time you read this, Iāll be OOO, taking a ritual vacation with a group of my favorite people. I wrote a little essay for Lazo Magazine about the long weekend that this group and I spent together in November 2023. That weekend ultimately led to significant life changes for several of us. Its impact is still reverberating 18 months later, and almost nothing matters more to me than the time I get to spend with this group of friends.
Tell me about yourself š

1 month ago | lazoletters.substack.com | Cristina Maza

One thing that happens when you write a weekly newsletter is that you spend a little more time than youād like writing about yourself. Thereās a sense that everyone who opens these emails every week (and there are thousands of you!..Lazo Letters is now #97 in international news on Substack š¤Æ) gets a sometimes quite intimate insight into my life and thinking. I feel mostly OK about that. But Iād also like it to be a reciprocal relationship.
On El Salvador before smart phones

1 month ago | lazoletters.substack.com | Cristina Maza

Donald Trump seems to want to give Russian President Vladimir Putin almost everything he wants. This week, there was a lot of news about efforts to end the war in Ukraine. A source told CNN the Trump administration is ready to recognize Russian control of Crimea as part of the U.S. framework to end the war. The Telegraph reported that Trump is proposing that Putin keep large swathes of Ukrainian territory, with the U.S. to recognize Crimea as officially part of Russia.
Washington is lost.

1 month ago | lazoletters.substack.com | Cristina Maza

I’ve been overwhelmed this week by everything the Trump administration has done to crack down on domestic opposition to its agenda. The Department of Defense is stripping its library of books about diversity, and the administration is threatening to cut funding for primary schools if they don’t stop teaching about diversity and equality.
Try not to panic as things fall apart.

1 month ago | lazoletters.substack.com | Cristina Maza

I’m sending you what I hope will be a quick, soothing note this Sunday. I spent the week speaking to apoplectic diplomats and politicians from various countries who wanted to understand: What the hell is Donald Trump’s end game? Why is he doing this? How can he ask us to stay away from China or to buy more American defense equipment while simultaneously tanking our economies? How can we negotiate if we don’t know what he wants or who has the president’s ear?
On the last masters of Afro-Colombian machete fencing.

2 months ago | lazoletters.substack.com | Cristina Maza

I am a huge nerd who fenced throughout high school. My 16-year-old self loved lunging and whipping my opponent with a flexible foil. During the tail end of the pandemic, when group activities were slowly reentering society, I took up fencing again, this time in the form of Historical European Martial Arts. That required a more hefty sword replica, often made of wood.
My favorite Signalgate memes

2 months ago | lazoletters.substack.com | Cristina Maza

By now, everyone has heard the one about the global superpowerâs top national security officials planning a secret military operation with emoji-laden language via a commercial messaging app and then accidentally adding a journalist to the text thread. If you havenât, youâve been living under a rock or, at the very least, in a secluded Internet-less monastery. I envy you if thatâs the case. Itâs been a week for national security reporters everywhere.
Listening to Radio Free Europe while brewing espresso.

2 months ago | lazoletters.substack.com | Cristina Maza

One evening, I was doing what I usually do before bed: boil a massive pot of espresso so it’s ready for me in the morning. I’m not a person who can wait 10-15 minutes each morning for coffee. I need caffeine immediately. So, I puttered around the kitchen, washing dishes, putting away plates, and doing the usual things one does while waiting for the espresso to boil. Typically, if I’m alone in the kitchen, I like to listen to something.