Heather Sullivan

Taking out cartel leaders doesn’t reduce drug flows or violence. The “kingpin strategy” might even make things worse. Read @hsulli.bsky.social's latest on how militarized drug war strategies can backfire: goodauthority.org/news/taking-...

It's hard to believe that this was just last week given what's happened since, but I wrote up a short piece on Mexico killing a major cartel leader for @goodauth.bsky.social

This is a great piece - so good I'll probably put in on my Latin America in the World syllabus that I should be working on instead of reading the internet.

The admin is proposing indefinite control of Venezuelan oil, but evidence suggests that Venezuelan cooperation will only extend as far as it‘s coerced - and can’t extend past what the crumbing infrastructure can generate. Meanwhile ordinary Venezuelans continue to suffer. @goodauth.bsky.social

Good piece from @profsaunders.bsky.social on potential U.S. military strikes in Venezuela and the added risks brought about by Trump's inexperienced and highly centralized national security team

Alt-pitch: Trump, the WH, Jafar, the Genie, I love the Capitol...plus all the links! @adambonica.bsky.social @smotus.bsky.social @dcinbox.bsky.social @mirandayaver.bsky.social @hsulli.bsky.social @donmoyn.bsky.social and more goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/trumps-att...

Wrote about the wave of U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean. Alarmed that possibly the best explanation for the attacks is that the administration thinks it's acting out the movie Sicario. The movie was good imho, but not a model of normatively or strategically good policy. @goodauth.bsky.social

Panamanians have been engaging in mass protest in the face of repression since April. Lessons about protest can come from everywhere. @goodauth.bsky.social @bridgingthegap.bsky.social

Couldn’t figure out why 2 articles on the Honduran charter city Próspera recently came out in big msm sources. Then realized it’s because there’s a push from proponents to get “Freedom Cities” in the U.S. Read about Honduras’s experience with charter cities in my piece for @goodauth.bsky.social

Why go after a group that's not a threat? Gang members in strong organized criminal groups are relatively hard to catch. They hide and fight back. But rounding up Venezuelans who have TPS or other legal status - i.e. people in the system living ordinary law-abiding lives - well, that's easy.

We have quite simply criminalized being Venezuelan. The whole 🧵 is worth a read.

#teslatakedown

Wrote about the US sending Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Many innocent people sent to a foreign prison based on the dubious claim of membership in a gang that barely exists in the US and isn't a threat to national security. It should anger and scare us all. @goodauth.bsky.social

What does it look like when you erode checks and balances, manage your bureaucracy in a discretionary way, personalize power, and crack down on autonomous groups? Nicaragua gives us an example and it's...not great. @goodauth.bsky.social

#teslatakeover

Sabbatical means I could freeze with the elder activists in the middle of a workday

On the anniversary of the attempted coup in Brazil, @edebruin.bsky.social and I wrote about the coup plot, the continuing efforts to bring transparency and accountability, and how Brazil compares to countries across the globe. @goodauth.bsky.social

Check out Juan's great explainer about Uruguay's recent elections and contemporary political challenges! goodauthority.org/news/what-ur...

Don't think I've ever made a list before, I feel kind of famous. @goodauth.bsky.social

While politicians are dehumanizing immigrants from the Americas, they are also leaning on leaders from the very same countries to carry out U.S. immigration policy

Before the Venezuelan election on Sunday, was hoping I would get to write a piece on the complexities of democratic transitions for @goodauth.bsky.social, but instead here are my reflections on Maduro's authoritarian management of the electoral game. Protest and repression continue in Venezuela.

Chiquita has had a big impact on politics across much of Latin America. They were recently found liable for killings carried out by a Colombian paramilitary group that the company funded from the 1990s-2000s. I wrote about the case and Chiquita's history in Colombia for @goodauth.bsky.social

Woke up to an article on the escalation of electoral violence in Mexico yesterday, the last day of campaigning before the general election on Sunday. Haven't been following what's going on in Mexico? Check out the short piece I wrote for @goodauth.bsky.social goodauthority.org/news/mexico-...

ICYMI: What we’re reading this Mother’s Day weekend. Here's a crowd-sourced list of scholarly works on politics and motherhood. Find them here: goodauthority.org/news/motherh...

Check out @dadakim.bsky.social's round up on moms and politics - in it, I provide solid evidence that nothing goes better with Mother's Day pancakes than taking to the streets to stand up for your values. goodauthority.org/news/motherh...

Have not been able to get some of the images of riot police on college campuses out of my head this week, so wrote a short piece on the broader use of riot police to manage protest for @goodauth.bsky.social

Stoke is high to be part of this awesome team!

2/6 🧵In Democratization @hsulli.bsky.social studies when the state responds to protests with concessions in 🇲🇽. Using newspaper based original data on protests and responses, finds that there are more concessions where state capacity is stronger doi.org/mgh6