{"podcast":{"title":"Latin America in Focus","slug":"latin-america-in-focus-50000","podcast_index_feed_id":50000,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/_DUdLkxj","website_url":"https://www.as-coa.org/podcast","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/0f4ff6c8-4785-4f1f-b924-d27657704f2d/e33b7fb1-d25f-48bd-9353-27d67b7cd942/3000x3000/latinamericainfocus3000x3000.jpg?aid=rss_feed","author":"AS/COA Online","episode_count":242,"summary":"Latin America in Focus is the leading English-language podcast on Latin American politics, economics, and policy. What does AI's tectonic change mean for Latin America? Are youth losing faith in democracy? Can the region power up its lithium and critical minerals prospects? Will security or foreign policy influence elections? Latin America in Focus (or LatAmFocus) takes on topics like these, giving context to the big issues affecting the Americas today. Twice a month, Americas Society / Council of the Americas Online team brings you in-depth interviews with top experts, journalists, artists, and entrepreneurs on the ground in and from countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, and more. Go in depth on the latest trends in Latin American politics, regional trade and economics, foreign policy, and culture in this podcast series by Americas Society/Council of the Americas.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-17T14:22:56.144877+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/latin-america-in-focus-50000"},"episode":{"title":"The Math Behind Cartel Recruitment in Mexico","slug":"the-math-behind-cartel-recruitment-in-mexico","published_at":"2026-04-08T04:05:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/latin-america-in-focus-50000/the-math-behind-cartel-recruitment-in-mexico","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/latin-america-in-focus-50000","url":"https://www.as-coa.org/podcast","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/cdn.simplecast.com/media/audio/transcoded/429ebae3-f140-408d-a05b-f7961641ed36/5a178289-28ad-46e7-8146-1f8fbe6c0550/episodes/audio/group/87293170-ed08-43ac-b544-9d067f3c4e93/group-item/6d264f1f-4a5c-49b2-9ee5-babc25bf255b/128_default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=_DUdLkxj","summary":"After a February military operation led to the death of Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera, Mexican authorities searched the cartel leader’s cabin and uncovered logs showing that low-level members of El Mencho’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel earned as little as $140 per week. Many people were surprised by how little the cartel lookouts and hitmen earn, given that their jobs can be, quite literally, deadly. Despite that, the number of people working for these crime groups could fill Estadio Azteca, the stadium where the World Cup kickoff will take place, about two times over. In this week's episode, Complexity Science Hub’s Dr. Rafael Prieto-Curiel covers why stemming cartel recruitment is crucial for curbing violence in Mexico. The mathematician coauthored a groundbreaking study calculating that, with 175,000 members, cartels represent Mexico’s fifth-largest employer. Moreover, he estimates that they count as the country’s top recruiter, given that they have to repeatedly replenish their ranks following arrests, killings, and disappearances. “They are preventing their own collapse,” he tells AS/COA’s Carin Zissis.","meta_description":"After a February military operation led to the death of Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera, Mexican authorities searched the cartel leader’s cabin and unc…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2084,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/latin-america-in-focus-50000/episodes/the-math-behind-cartel-recruitment-in-mexico/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/latin-america-in-focus-50000/the-math-behind-cartel-recruitment-in-mexico.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}