Public engagement
Conference Papers
2025. «The Global Cold War in Central America». Revolution, Repression und Solidarität: Lateinamerikanische Perspektiven im globalen Kalten Krieg. Freie Universität Berlin, 23 June 2025.
2025. «The life of Emeterio Toj Medrano: testimonio and civil war in Guatemala». Collective Memory and Armed Conflicts: Perspectives from Latin America. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 28 April 2025.
2025. «"Un contagio psicológico": los intereses alrededor del fin del ciclo democrático y el inicio de la Guerra Fría en la Gran Cuenca del Caribe (1944-1952)». Forschungskolloquium zur Geschichte Lateinamerikas, Freie Universität Berlin, 21 January 2025.
2024. «The Caribbean Basin's countries response to German presence in the postwar years (1944-1952)». Research Colloquium, Universität zu Köln, 11 November 2024.
2024. «"Una verdadera guerra fría": Mercado de armas, crisis militar y los inicios de la Guerra Fría en la Gran Cuenca del Caribe (1944-1952)». Seminario de Historia Internacional, México City, 30 October 2024.
2024. «"Cúmplices de sua política tiránica": Brazilian arms and the military crisis in the Greater Caribbean Basin (1944-1950)». Society of Latin American Studies, Amsterdam, 1-3 July 2024.
2024. «"Un prestigio lesionado": Argentine interests in the Great Caribbean Basin during the postwar years (1944-1951)». United Kingdom Latin American Historians, Sheffield, 24 May 2024.
Latest Podcasts
Guatemalan foreign policy's history
Talk on latest book: Manuel Colom Argueta and the democratic collapse of the Central American Cold War
Interviews and press articles
Interview in Le Monde
Summary: The surprise rise to power of the progressive Bernardo Arevalo could mark a turning point for Guatemala, notes historian Rodrigo Veliz Estrada, who, in an interview with *Le Monde*, reflects on the years of civil war and authoritarian rule endured by the Central American country. .
Belice, el Imperio Británico y la política exterior de Arévalo
Historical accounts of Belize are generally colored by nationalism and focused on the legal disputes surrounding the conflict. This review offers a different perspective on other aspects and dimensions of the conflict. Its aim is not only to shed light on an important episode in the historical conflict surrounding Belize, but also to highlight an element of the broad diplomatic agenda pursued by the government of Juan José Arévalo from the moment he assumed the presidency in March 1945. His foreign policy had major consequences for the future of the Revolution and the country’s political trajectory. I hope that this review of this episode will generate a deeper interest in this forgotten aspect of our international history. The conflict between Guatemala and the British Empire that I will describe began in February 1948, during those ambiguous years spanning the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War. Great Britain sent Royal Marines and warships to Belize. The research is based on diplomatic archives from Great Britain, the United States, and Mexico, as well as newly discovered personal letters from high-ranking Guatemalan officials.
Las otras toma de embajadas (que no terminaron en 37 muertos)
The January 31 Popular Front occupied the Brazilian embassy on May 12, 1982. There was tension, negotiations, and dialogue, but no deaths. Perhaps this was a lesson learned from what happened in January 1980 at the Spanish embassy. There were also no deaths during the seizure of the Swiss embassy in September 1978. All the seizures were coordinated by the same organizations. According to the U.S. Embassy, national security forces had no plans for these situations: they acted “on a case-by-case basis.”
OPM sabía de mafias en aduanas hace 20 años (y las dejaba operar), según desclasificados
President Otto Pérez Molina has always been interested in controlling customs. Now as president. Previously as a presidential commissioner under Óscar Berger. But even before that. When he was a colonel and lobbied for his brother-in-law to be promoted to deputy head of customs at a time when he was vying for control of the army and that office was the most corrupt in the government. This is evidenced by declassified U.S. files to which Nómada had access.