This week on the show, national politics reporter Scott Martin speaks with Donald Kingsbury to talk about Canada’s historic and present relationship with the Organization of American States and foreign policy in South and Central America.

This month, Stuart Savage was appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS). Notably, Savage previously served as Canadian ambassador to Haiti between October 2019 and November 2021.

In an article by Martin this week, he wrote: “The appointment of Savage to serve as ambassador to the OAS shows the relation between Canada’s spotty history in Haiti, the imperialist function of the institution, and Canada’s role in its implementation.”

Here to break down that spotty history is Donald Kingsbury.

About Donald Kingbury

Donald Kingsbury teaches political science and Latin American studies at the University of Toronto. His work centers on extractivism, decarbonization, and social movements in the Americas. Don’s recent work can be read in Environmental Politics, The Journal of Political Ecology, Cultural Studies, The Anthropocene Review, The and Latin American Research Review.

His latest book, Populist Moments and Extractivist States in Venezuela and Ecuador: The People’s Oil? (with Teresa Kramarz) examines the role of oil economies for states in Latin America and grassroots responses to environmental harms and political exclusion that come with extractivist politics across political affinities.

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