In this episode, Mariana speaks with Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings. She is the director of the Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors. She is also the co-director of the Brookings series on opioids: “The Opioid Crisis in America: Domestic and International Dimensions. 

They discuss the unprecedented epidemic caused by the synthetic drug revolution and the role that Mexican cartels have played in driving this crisis, bankrolled by Chinese money laundering organizations. They also discuss what concrete actions the Mexican government should take to reduce the flow of narcotics and migrants across the border, and dive into how the Mexican cartels, aided by misguided policies, corruption, and weak judicial institutions, now control large swaths of Mexico’s territory. Finally, they speak about the importance of U.S. and Mexican cooperation to regain the Mexican territory from organized crime. 

In this episode, Mariana speaks with Alan Stoga, Chairman of the Tallberg Foundation and Host of the New Thinking for a New World podcast, about the importance of the U.S. elections, the state of U.S. politics and about the difference in trade, migration and economic policies of the two candidates. They also discuss the impact of the different policies could have in Mexico and the space Mexico’s new President, Claudia Sheinbaum, will have to navigate under each of the two candidates.

In this episode, Mariana speaks with Carlos Peyrelongue, head of Mexico Equity Research for Bank of America, about the state of the country that President Claudia Sheinbaum has inherited from her predecessor, about the parting gift he left—a judicial reform that weakens certainty and the rule of law, and about how the markets will read certain markers to determine whether or not she will rule based on data or ideology. They also discuss the measures she will need to take in order to create the necessary conditions to attract investments to grow, to fund the country’s infrastructure needs, as well as the government’s growing spending commitments. And, about the most likely scenarios for U.S.-Mexico relations in light of the upcoming USMCA renegotiation. 

In this episode, Mariana speaks with Alejandra Palacios, former head of Mexico’s antitrust agency, COFECE, and Andrea Durkin, VP for international policy at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), about the controversial constitutional judicial reform passed by Mexico's Congress, which makes Mexico the only country in the world where the entire judicial branch, including the Supreme Court, stands for election.

They also discuss the government’s proposal to incorporate various regulatory agencies into the federal government, a move that could undermine their independence and increase presidential power, enabling the removal of competition and the selection of winners and losers. They emphasize the importance of how the new President, Claudia Sheinbaum, will write and implement the secondary laws and regulations, as these could—if done correctly—add the necessary certainty for investors and even allow Mexico to meet its international trade commitments.

On this episode, Mariana speaks with General David Petraeus, former CIA Director, Retired Army General, Partner of KKR and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, about the major and minor challenges occurring around the world that require the attention of the United States while, at the same time, the US needs to focus on strengthening its own competitive profile to compete against China. They also discuss how some of these global trends (nearshoring and frienshoring) have the potential to benefit Mexico if—and only if—Mexico works to create the necessary conditions to attract investment. This will include curbing the power of the criminal empires who control one-third of the territory and are damaging the attractiveness of Mexico and impacting the security of North America.

In this episode, Mariana speaks with Kenneth Smith Ramos, former Chief Negotiator of USMCA from the Mexican side and partner of AGON, about how the Constitutional Reforms proposed by President Lopez Obrador might weaken Mexico’s judiciary and in doing so, impact the key principles of USMCA and other trade agreements such as impartiality, transparency, and nondiscriminatory practices. They also discuss measures North America could take to defend itself against predatory practices and the facts behind recent Chinese investments in Mexico. And, they speak about the upcoming 2026 mandatory review of USMCA and the negative implications of opening a full renegotiation.

In this crossover with It's More Than Grit: The Making of an Entrepreneur, a new podcast from CSIS, Linda Rottenberg, Co-founder and CEO of Endeavor, joins Mariana Campero and co-host Andrew Schwartz for a discussion on Linda’s journey to Endeavor. She highlights the qualities of a good entrepreneur and the regions she is most optimistic about. As a leader of the global entrepreneurship movement, Linda also shares advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Linda Rottenberg is one of the world’s premier voices on global entrepreneurship, technology, and business transformation. As Co-founder and CEO of Endeavor, Linda helms the leading global community of, by, and for entrepreneurs. Endeavor selects, supports, and invests in founders across 40 countries. Linda also serves as President of Endeavor Catalyst, the rules-based investment arm of Endeavor, with $500M in AUM.

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In this episode, Mariana speaks with Carlos Elizondo Mayer-Serra, a political science expert from Monterrey Tec, about Claudia Sheinbaum’s landslide victory in the Mexican elections and explains why the financial markets negatively reacted to such a victory. They also discuss the Constitutional changes that President Lopez Obrador and his Morena party might try to pass now that they have the necessary votes, and the potential impact of those reforms on Claudia’s presidency. They stress the various dilemmas Claudia will face while squaring the circle of achieving greater economic growth vs. greater power concentration.

In this episode, Mariana speaks with Juan Carlos Baker, former USMCA negotiator on the Mexican side and CEO of Ansley International Consultants, about the facts behind the recent Chinese investment announcements in Mexico, about what prompted Mexico to increase tariffs on more than 500 Chinese goods, and what Mexico, the U.S. and Canada should be doing now to prepare for the upcoming 2026 review of USMCA.

In this episode, Mariana is joined by Luis de la Calle, an international economist, former NAFTA negotiator and CEO of CMM; and Martin Castellanos, head of Latam research at the IIF. They discuss the potential economic and policy implications of the June 2nd presidential elections and describe the optimism vis-a-vis Mexico among the investor community.

They dive into the economic realities that exist today to determine whether that optimism is justified or not. They also discuss future risks and analyze the various policy consequences of the upcoming elections. They describe two potential scenarios: a victory by Claudia Sheinbaum with and without the necessary majority in Congress to change the Constitution. They also discuss the tailwinds that the nearshoring wave could bring for Mexico, and the country's shortcomings that limit it from taking full advantage of the opportunity. And finally, the implications for Mexico if it allowed China to use it as a back door to the United States.