Latin lessons: the Donroe-doctrine boost
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 29 June 2026
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For all the Trumpian chaos in Latin America, no other developing-world regional economy has done so well in the past year. We examine the Donroe dividend. The cost to make jollof rice, a staple dish in Nigeria and Ghana, is a window into the countries’ economies. And the BBC waves goodbye to its long-wave radio service.
Guests and host:
- Cerian Richmond-Jones, international economics correspondent
- Ọrẹ Ogunbiyi, Africa correspondent
- Bo Franklin, senior editor
- Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
- Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”
Topics covered:
- Latin America, Donroe doctrine, mining
- Nigeria, Ghana, cost of living, jollof rice
- BBC, long-wave radio
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Economist. |
| 0:09.6 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. |
| 0:12.8 | I'm Jason Palmer. |
| 0:14.0 | And I'm Rosie Bloor. |
| 0:19.2 | Today on the show, the rocketing cost of a staple dish in Nigeria, |
| 0:23.7 | and the BBC waves goodbye to Longwave Radio. |
| 0:31.4 | But first... |
| 0:43.1 | ... But first. For America's neighbours, Trump's second term has been unsettling. |
| 0:48.4 | Kerry and Richmond Jones is our international economics correspondent. |
| 0:52.2 | As well as disrupting trade and sending energy prices soaring, Trump has seemed determined |
| 0:57.8 | to impose his will on the Western Hemisphere. For example, by kidnapping the leader of Venezuela. |
| 1:02.8 | U.S. President Donald Trump says the American military has captured President Nicholas Maduro |
| 1:08.0 | and his wife. sending gunboats to the Caribbean. |
| 1:10.6 | The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier has reached Caribbean waters off South America's northern coast. |
| 1:17.6 | And threatening to invade Cuba. |
| 1:19.6 | Trump has said that the US Navy will take over Cuba almost immediately on the way back from Iran. |
| 1:25.6 | But Latin America, strangely, is also benefiting from Trumpian chaos. |
| 1:31.3 | No other regional economy in the developing world has done so well in the past year. |
| 1:37.8 | So you say Latin America is benefiting from Trumpian chaos, Kerion. |
| 1:42.6 | Just how well is it actually doing? It's doing remarkably well. |
| 1:47.2 | In 2025, foreign direct investment to the developing world at large shrank. So that means that |
| 1:53.0 | the developing world got less foreign cash in 2025 than it did in 2024. But in Latin America, |
... |
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