Orlando J. Pérez
@perez1oj.bsky.social
Professor of Political Science @ University of North Texas at Dallas. Writing about Latin America, civil-military relations, democracy, security, and public opinion.
Traveling as much as time permits! 🌎✈️
Traveling as much as time permits! 🌎✈️
So Trump is getting “tough” on drug trafficking by pardoning a convicted drug trafficker, former president of #Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández. Pardon a right-wing trafficker & topple a left-wing one, seems to be the policy! 🙄😓
November 28, 2025 at 10:38 PM
So Trump is getting “tough” on drug trafficking by pardoning a convicted drug trafficker, former president of #Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández. Pardon a right-wing trafficker & topple a left-wing one, seems to be the policy! 🙄😓
Why Blowing Up Venezuelan Boats Won’t Stop the Flow of Drugs www.nytimes.com/interactive/... I said something similar a few weeks ago! 🤔
October 12, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Why Blowing Up Venezuelan Boats Won’t Stop the Flow of Drugs www.nytimes.com/interactive/... I said something similar a few weeks ago! 🤔
I wrote in The Dallas Morning News: “Turning the armed forces toward specific domestic political targets breaches a core norm: an apolitical military. Latin American history is clear. Internal security missions make generals central actors in domestic governance.”
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
October 6, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I wrote in The Dallas Morning News: “Turning the armed forces toward specific domestic political targets breaches a core norm: an apolitical military. Latin American history is clear. Internal security missions make generals central actors in domestic governance.”
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
The ghosts of Gaitán (1948), Galán (1989), and Gómez Hurtado (1995) still haunt #Colombia’s democracy. The assassination of presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe is a stark reminder that democracy cannot thrive when bullets silence ballots.
August 11, 2025 at 12:42 PM
The ghosts of Gaitán (1948), Galán (1989), and Gómez Hurtado (1995) still haunt #Colombia’s democracy. The assassination of presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe is a stark reminder that democracy cannot thrive when bullets silence ballots.
1️⃣ The deployment of active-duty military in a domestic security role is common in Latin America & the rest of the developing world. And is almost always a bad idea. It undermines legitimacy & professionalism of the armed forces and erodes institutional legitimacy. 🧵
June 9, 2025 at 11:26 PM
1️⃣ The deployment of active-duty military in a domestic security role is common in Latin America & the rest of the developing world. And is almost always a bad idea. It undermines legitimacy & professionalism of the armed forces and erodes institutional legitimacy. 🧵
To all colleagues who are teaching in the summer:
June 3, 2025 at 2:48 PM
To all colleagues who are teaching in the summer:
2/ López heads Cristosal’s Anti-Corruption & Justice Unit and was named one of the BBC’s 100 Women in 2024 for exposing high-level graft and spyware abuse. Her arrest strikes at one of the regime’s sharpest critics.
May 19, 2025 at 10:58 PM
2/ López heads Cristosal’s Anti-Corruption & Justice Unit and was named one of the BBC’s 100 Women in 2024 for exposing high-level graft and spyware abuse. Her arrest strikes at one of the regime’s sharpest critics.
Maybe Trump figured out that this issue has revived the fortunes of the Liberal Party of Canada. But I suspect in the end that’s too hard for Trump to understand.
March 5, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Maybe Trump figured out that this issue has revived the fortunes of the Liberal Party of Canada. But I suspect in the end that’s too hard for Trump to understand.
By politicizing the Ukraine war, Trump has moved Republicans decisively against continued aid. The risk for Zelenskyy is that the more this issue is seen in partisan terms the more divided people will be and the less support Ukraine will get. Everyone is moving toward their political corners.
March 3, 2025 at 9:38 PM
By politicizing the Ukraine war, Trump has moved Republicans decisively against continued aid. The risk for Zelenskyy is that the more this issue is seen in partisan terms the more divided people will be and the less support Ukraine will get. Everyone is moving toward their political corners.
This is precisely the definition of authoritarian populism: elections confer a mandate to govern that transcends constitutional constraints. The “leader” as the embodiment of the general will. Problem: constitutional democracy demands horizontal accountability.
February 22, 2025 at 11:34 AM
This is precisely the definition of authoritarian populism: elections confer a mandate to govern that transcends constitutional constraints. The “leader” as the embodiment of the general will. Problem: constitutional democracy demands horizontal accountability.
And to think this was the party of Ronald Reagan once.
February 20, 2025 at 6:57 PM
And to think this was the party of Ronald Reagan once.
@POTUS “pauses” the Foreign Corrupts Practices Act. “FCPA enforcement against American citizens and businesses … for routine business practices … harms American economic competitiveness.” Which “routine” practices? Bribery, kickbacks, fraud? Is this how we’ll compete against China?
February 11, 2025 at 1:44 PM
@POTUS “pauses” the Foreign Corrupts Practices Act. “FCPA enforcement against American citizens and businesses … for routine business practices … harms American economic competitiveness.” Which “routine” practices? Bribery, kickbacks, fraud? Is this how we’ll compete against China?
It seems #MAGA is fixated on #USAID programs aimed at promoting equity & inclusion, including protecting LGBTQ+ persons in societies in which such persons been historically persecuted & excluded. Protecting vulnerable people around the world actually helps promote US interests & influence.
February 4, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Meet the new Under Secretary of State for Diplomacy & Public Affairs. 😱
February 3, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Meet the new Under Secretary of State for Diplomacy & Public Affairs. 😱
“Biden couldn’t stop it” will be Joe’s epitaph! 🙄
January 19, 2025 at 1:54 PM
“Biden couldn’t stop it” will be Joe’s epitaph! 🙄
#Venezuela | The illegal inauguration of @NicolasMaduro after stealing the July 28th elections is the consummation of a COUP! The “inauguration” is unconstitutional when it makes effective a blatant electoral fraud that has been proven beyond any doubt. How will the international community react?
January 10, 2025 at 4:15 PM
#Venezuela | The illegal inauguration of @NicolasMaduro after stealing the July 28th elections is the consummation of a COUP! The “inauguration” is unconstitutional when it makes effective a blatant electoral fraud that has been proven beyond any doubt. How will the international community react?
He’s being courted…
January 4, 2025 at 6:29 PM
He’s being courted…
SAT (January 4) | University of North Texas at Dallas Political Science Professor Orlando Perez (@Perez1oj) discusses the history of the Panama Canal.
Watch live at 8:45am ET! @cspanw
Watch live at 8:45am ET! @cspanw
January 3, 2025 at 9:49 PM
SAT (January 4) | University of North Texas at Dallas Political Science Professor Orlando Perez (@Perez1oj) discusses the history of the Panama Canal.
Watch live at 8:45am ET! @cspanw
Watch live at 8:45am ET! @cspanw
One of the most consequential achievements of his Carter’s presidency were the Torrijos-Carter Treaties by which the US ceded the Panama Canal to #Panama. The Treaties were significant in reshaping relations with Latin America, not just Panama.
December 29, 2024 at 10:06 PM
One of the most consequential achievements of his Carter’s presidency were the Torrijos-Carter Treaties by which the US ceded the Panama Canal to #Panama. The Treaties were significant in reshaping relations with Latin America, not just Panama.
By nearly every objective measure, the negotiated transfer of the #Panama Canal has been a success!
1. Efficiency & neutrality of Canal.
2. Regional diplomacy & recognition.
3. Investments in Canal viability (i.e. expansion).
4. Panama’s economic growth (among the fastest in region) 🧵
1. Efficiency & neutrality of Canal.
2. Regional diplomacy & recognition.
3. Investments in Canal viability (i.e. expansion).
4. Panama’s economic growth (among the fastest in region) 🧵
December 22, 2024 at 11:38 AM
By nearly every objective measure, the negotiated transfer of the #Panama Canal has been a success!
1. Efficiency & neutrality of Canal.
2. Regional diplomacy & recognition.
3. Investments in Canal viability (i.e. expansion).
4. Panama’s economic growth (among the fastest in region) 🧵
1. Efficiency & neutrality of Canal.
2. Regional diplomacy & recognition.
3. Investments in Canal viability (i.e. expansion).
4. Panama’s economic growth (among the fastest in region) 🧵
