The New Latin America: Bot Farms, Failed Banks, Rightwing Populism (S01E192)

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Friday, November 13, 2026, Istanbul

The dramatic US midterm election results obscured news of another regime change in the Western Hemisphere. Over the last weekend, the president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, was removed from office and placed under house arrest after the collapse of Ueno Bank.

In the latest episode of badlands, Colombian-American scholar and intellectual Guillermo Calvo Mahé joins host Borzou Daragahi for a lively discussion about the recent unrest in Paraguay, providing granular details about the massive financial scandal.

In a wide-ranging discussion encompassing recent developments in Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia, they also talk about Israel’s increasing influence in South America and how the region is reacting to the US midterm elections.

They also talk about Cuba, and why Latin American countries are standing by idly as the US strangles a country that has contributed immensely to the region’s culture and science.

Borzou also discusses recent events in Gaza, including massive flooding and a horrific Israeli airstrike on a hospital, and how the so-called “Board of Peace” is enabling war crimes.

Notes

* Guillermo Calvo Mahe’s website

* NPR report on the Ueno Bank collapse

* Rains flood 70,000 tents in Gaza

* Israeli strike on Gaza hospital kills 6

* Cuba’s international support hits low as Latin American governments turn away

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