Donald Trump endorses Abelardo in Colombian elections, saying de la Espriella will "stop illegal immigration, fight crime and drugs, and restore public order!” Also falsely calls Cepeda a "radical Marxist" and suggests Colombia's relation with the US will worsen if he is elected

“the very idea of ‘student satisfaction’ is in tension with genuine education since real learning requires intellectual pressure and challenge, which does not always produce satisfied customers. Yet it is satisfaction, not learning, that tends to be measured and rewarded.”

Edinburgh Marathon ✅ The heat was a killer. Splits fell off a cliff second half of the race as the cramping kicked in. Just a case of finishing at that point. 3:20 was a decent time under the circumstances

From afar, the reinvention of Burnham as a deep political thinker and man of the people is extraordinary. Remember him as a mediocre minister and career politician

That was stressful. Up the Celts!

After democratization, #Bolivia defied the region’s violent drug-war pattern by using state–narco networks to contain conflict, at the cost of entrenching corruption and weakening democracy. Find Alan Gillies's "Narco-Democratization": bit.ly/3QQFFAg @allangillies.bsky.social @upittpress.bsky.social

Love the framing - like paying someone a wage is an act of charity

Making an actual violent terrorist attack about wokeness on uni campuses is unbelievable loser politics

The new book is finally out with Pitt Latin American Series! Available now in hardback and paperback from all the usual places

Glasgow Running Festival - half-marathon ✅ Warm up race for the Edinburgh marathon, trying to get a sense of my pacing. Nice to run a PB - 01:26:29

£64bn is the cost of UK capitulation to pharmaceutical companies and Trump. Secret deal commits the NHS to pay higher price for new and existing drugs No debate in parliament. Govt can tax the rich, cut other services, let people die, start manufacturing drugs and become self-reliant.

On 5 May, Prof Javier Auyero of UT Austin will be in Glasgow to present findings from his latest book, Dark Governance: Illegal Organisations and State Power. Please join us for this joint event of GLARN and IPED. 16:00 - 5 May 2026 Room 916, 42 Bute Gardens Followed by a drinks reception

We have a wonderful new blog by Juliana Ramírez-Muñoz to share with you. Juliana reflects on the Gloria Anzaldúa Borderlands workshop she facilitated for GLARN last month. Read 'Taking seriously the creative discomfort of starting where we are' here: tinyurl.com/47233mh7

“The legislation makes the death penalty the default punishment for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank found guilty of intentionally carrying out deadly attacks deemed acts of terrorism by a military court.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

While it’s easy to mock the complete ignorance of ancient philosophies which encouraged introspection (albeit with a different lexicon), this example speaks to a problem of our time: billionaires who believe their success in one area qualifies them to pontificate and intervene in other fields.

Two talks coming-up this month to support the launch of my new book, Narco-Democratization @upittpress.bsky.social. See below for details. Paperback (with 20 percent discount) is available to preorder here: www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....

The US has conducted a bombing inside Ecuador near the Colombian border, with cooperation from the Ecuadorian military Ecuador and the US claim the target was a FARC dissident camp. They do not yet provide any further details US killings in LATAM go landward

Reuters Exclusive "U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school." "The strike would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts in the ​Middle East."

Even by the Sun’s low standards, this is pretty astounding: war-mongering, Islamophobic and fascist.

The next few months are shaping up to be a busy time for GLARN @uofgsocsci.bsky.social @uofgsps.bsky.social, with a host of exciting events. See thread below 👇👇👍

Looking forward to sharing insights from my new book Narco-Democratization at @uniofaberdeen.bsky.social Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society, and Rule of Law seminar series on 10 February: cisrul.blog/event/dr-all...

Some important new government policy that Native Americans might be interested in:

I’m sorry. I can’t let this Miller bullshit pass. After WWII “the West,” sometimes relatively quickly, sometimes not until the ‘70s, realized that the writing was on the wall: that they could spend vast sums in blood and treasure trying to defeat anti-colonial movements, and still lose.

“I’m not going to give a running commentary” - one for @aiannucci.bsky.social Also used the hypothetical get-out.

So, has the US made an agreement with people within the Maduro regime, maybe the military? Keep them in power in return for US access to Venezuelan oil? Kidnapping Maduro in and of itself doesn’t really achieve much

This is the first time a FIFA Peace Prize laureate has ever ordered a naval blockade, of a nation with more than 3,000 miles of land borders, for allegedly "stealing" its own oil reserves. Truly historic.

UK politics podcasts, I’m once again begging you, please read a few books about Latin America before talking about it on your show. Some wild takes in this episode.

I guess it's fitting that it's a reimagined, worse version of someone else's artwork

As the US bombs boats and murders people in the Caribbean supposedly in the name of the war on drugs, Trump pardons a former Honduran president convicted for drug trafficking. Astounding.

What an amazing way to mark nine years of the Colombian peace process: fascinating conversation with @andreigomezsuarez.bsky.social on his new memoir and a wonderful performance from Magda Angelica, followed by discussion with an engaged and diverse audience. Thanks to all involved!

Far-right misinformation - tolerated, encouraged or even monetised by some social media outlets - has now arrived at Scottish school gates. www.thetimes.com/article/bf7c...

Never mind that they're paying a shitload just to come to welcoming, progressive, Global Britain to study. They're keeping universities afloat, helping local economies. But yeah, paint your fucking red cross all over education. Keep them all out. Extinguish the idea of 'students' while you're at it.

Foreign student fees already subsidise UK students. Now they’re being asked to pay for maintenance grants. Not only will it harm the (struggling) sector, it also shows the spinelessness of this gov: taxing an easy target, while throwing a few morsels to the right wing press.

Sad news about Mani. Great nights watching him play with Primal Scream and then eventually with The Stone Roses. Met him briefly up at Connect one year as well. What a guy!

Join us on 25 Nov at 5pm (42 Bute Gdns) for a special joint event with the Scottish Peace Platform to mark nine years of the Colombian peace process. @andreigomezsuarez.bsky.social will share reflections on conflict and peacebuilding from his excellent new memoir, We Are Not Made of Sugar.

No, it's not. It's all a lie. The blunt truth is across the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them.

"God will ask us if we have cultivated and cared for the world that he created for the benefit of all and for future generations, and if we have taken care of our brothers and sisters - what will be our answer, my dear friends?"

The US designated transnational gang Barrio 18 as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. This is big news because there's a large *US-based* component of the gang in Los Angeles. (All other FTOs are, uh, foreign.) Prediction: this will be used to imprison and/or deport even more people in LA.

So it’s not just about the small boats and asylum seekers in hotels? Who’d have thought it?!

We have amazing international students, many of whom already feel targeted by the Home Office’s hostile environment. Further damage to the higher education sector to placate the far-right. Pathetic.

@anandmenon.bsky.social is spot on. Farage can write stuff like this in the Telegraph with no pushback: “Is Starmer on the side of the British people, national security and protecting women and girls?” The mainstreaming of far-right narratives is disturbing. observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

Ella Barron in the Guardian today.

Enjoying the Nazi Cartel on Sky? Then pre-order my book Narco-Democratization: tinyurl.com/y62a6jyf The book explains how drug bosses like Suarez helped shaped Bolivian politics. Maybe not quite as salacious as the doc, but a good read nevertheless!

Ironman Vitoria-Gasteiz ✅ Finished in 10:59. Snapped chain on the bike and stomach cramps on the run cost me a big chunk of time, but happy to come in under 11hrs. Crowds were amazing!

Says a lot about the UK media and political class that there’s more outrage and dissection of a provocative anti-IDF chant at Glastonbury than reported murder of civilians by the IDF www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Saw Springsteen at Liverpool at the weekend. Music was great, topped off by the appearance of Paul McCartney for the encore. The politics of the evening left me angry, though.

Southport Olympic Tri ✅ Puncture during the second lap of the cycle done for me, but still finished and ran a PB in the 10k (41:30) out of anger 😂

From Colombia's Atrato River to the River Clyde, communities are sharing how we can protect our rivers from harm to help them thrive. The UofG & @sciaf.bsky.social talk on the topic included the Atrato River Guardians @mohume.bsky.social @louisewelsh00.bsky.social & @allangillies.bsky.social.

FYI, Saudi Arabia is reported as a major funder of the Tony Blair Institute