El Taller: Cuba, Iran and the Wounded Empire with Hilary Goodfriend
In the second part of this El Taller conversation, hosts José Luis Granados Ceja and Kurt Hackbarth continue their wide-ranging discussion with Hilary Goodfriend, a postdoctoral researcher at UNAM and specialist in Central American politics.
The conversation turns to the geopolitical fallout from the U.S. war in Iran and what it could mean for Latin America. With Lindsey Graham publicly declaring “Cuba is next” and U.S. military action already underway in Ecuador, the hosts and Goodfriend consider whether a bloodied empire will retreat or lash out at smaller powers, a pattern with deep roots in Central American history.
They also examine the economic vulnerabilities of the region, from remittance-dependent economies like El Salvador to Mexico’s complex position in USMCA negotiations. The discussion traces how decades of U.S.-funded NGO-ization depoliticized social movements, leaving a vacuum that far-right figures like Bukele have exploited—and what lessons progressive governments in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil might draw from Central America’s recent history.
Throughout, the conversation returns to a central tension facing left governments today: the pressure to moderate in the face of destabilization versus the need to mobilize and deliver for the base that brought them to power.
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Morena Distances Itself from Rocha Moya. Opposition Revives the “Narco-Party” Narrative.
Morena says it wasn’t told of the governor’s return and distances itself, as the PRI, MC and Somos México seize on it to renew their “narco-party” attacks.
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Rubén Rocha Moya Returns as Governor of Sinaloa
After a 112-day leave over US cartel accusations, Sinaloa’s Morena governor returns “with a clean forehead and head held high,” calling the charges far-right interference.
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People’s Mañanera August 21
President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on a cave discovery, repatriated artifacts, migration, Michoacán, audience rights, and the economy.
