Reposted by Heather SullivanGood Authority @goodauth.bsky.social · 05/03/2026Taking out cartel leaders doesn’t reduce drug flows or violence. The “kingpin strategy” might even make things worse. Read @hsulli.bsky.social's latest on how militarized drug war strategies can backfire: goodauthority.org/news/taking-...goodauthority.orgTaking out cartel leaders doesn’t reduce drug flows or violenceTaking out cartel leaders doesn’t reduce drug flows or violence. The “kingpin strategy” might even make things worse. 174
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 04/03/2026It's hard to believe that this was just last week given what's happened since, but I wrote up a short piece on Mexico killing a major cartel leader for @goodauth.bsky.socialgoodauthority.orgTaking out cartel leaders doesn’t reduce drug flows or violenceTaking out cartel leaders doesn’t reduce drug flows or violence. The “kingpin strategy” might even make things worse. 061
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 28/01/2026And while you’re at it, check out this piece by my colleague @edebruin.bsky.socialtheconversation.comICE not only looks and acts like a paramilitary force – it is one, and that makes it harder to curbICE, created in response to 9/11, meets most definitions of paramilitary forces. Critics worry it’s gone beyond its writ of immigration enforcement. 020
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 28/01/2026One year into the second Trump administration, ICE agents have become de facto protest managers. In this @goodauth.bsky.social piece, I explain why we should expect their repressive behavior to continue.goodauthority.orgWhy ICE is responding to protests with repressionWhy ICE is responding to protests with repression. ICE’s institutional culture is the problem. 162
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 14/01/2026This is a great piece - so good I'll probably put in on my Latin America in the World syllabus that I should be working on instead of reading the internet. 242
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 08/01/2026The admin is proposing indefinite control of Venezuelan oil, but evidence suggests that Venezuelan cooperation will only extend as far as it‘s coerced - and can’t extend past what the crumbing infrastructure can generate. Meanwhile ordinary Venezuelans continue to suffer. @goodauth.bsky.social 087
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 11/12/2025If you were just a savvier shopper! Maybe you could take a different totally random drug that's cheaper - that's what my insurance always suggests! 230
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 11/12/2025Then have to do the same 100 calls every year to re-up the prior auth/cost reduction. Sir, I do actually know how much my drugs cost because I have the pleasure of fighting w ins over them every year - a practice which weirdly hasn‘t made my chronic illness stop being chronic. 080
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 03/11/2025Good piece from @profsaunders.bsky.social on potential U.S. military strikes in Venezuela and the added risks brought about by Trump's inexperienced and highly centralized national security team 032
Reposted by Heather SullivanJonathan Bernstein @jonathanbernstein.bsky.social · 26/10/2025Alt-pitch: Trump, the WH, Jafar, the Genie, I love the Capitol...plus all the links! @adambonica.bsky.social @smotus.bsky.social @dcinbox.bsky.social @mirandayaver.bsky.social @hsulli.bsky.social @donmoyn.bsky.social and more goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/trumps-att...goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.comTrump's Attack on the White HouseThe Disney villain he resembles. Plus all the links. 1116
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 23/10/2025I actually think that they‘re having real mil/intel/law enforcement orgs LARP the fake ones in Sicario (which I explain in the end of my Good Authority piece from today)goodauthority.orgTrump’s attacks on Venezuela won’t even serve Trump’s stated goalsThe attacks won’t stop the drug trade – or bring about a friendlier regime. 122
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 23/10/2025Wrote about the wave of U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean. Alarmed that possibly the best explanation for the attacks is that the administration thinks it's acting out the movie Sicario. The movie was good imho, but not a model of normatively or strategically good policy. @goodauth.bsky.socialgoodauthority.orgTrump’s attacks on Venezuela won’t even serve Trump’s stated goalsThe attacks won’t stop the drug trade – or bring about a friendlier regime. 011
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 20/10/2025Teaching soc movements and pol protest this semester and my late gen z students have not described anything as cringe (that’s prob slightly older folks), but keep calling things performative. Finally I was like: guys, it is performative...it’s literally a performance. This had not occurred to them. 110
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 29/07/2025Read this essay in Santo Domingo, where everyday I walk by a pet shop/vet office with cages of budgies, love birds, and cockatiels always joined by a few to many pigeons on the cages and the ground nearby eating the caged birds’ cast off seeds. 030
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 17/06/2025Panamanians have been engaging in mass protest in the face of repression since April. Lessons about protest can come from everywhere. @goodauth.bsky.social @bridgingthegap.bsky.socialgoodauthority.orgWhat’s behind Panama’s mass protests?The government has failed to address the broad range of grievances bringing people out on the streets. 1156
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 23/04/2025Just a heads up, if it’s chronic, in addition to celebrating, write down all the asinine things that you did that worked because you’ll have to go through it all again next year. 010
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 23/04/2025Couldn’t figure out why 2 articles on the Honduran charter city Próspera recently came out in big msm sources. Then realized it’s because there’s a push from proponents to get “Freedom Cities” in the U.S. Read about Honduras’s experience with charter cities in my piece for @goodauth.bsky.socialgoodauthority.orgYou want to live in a Freedom City? Take a closer look at Honduras.Próspera offers a cautionary tale on deregulation and charter cities. 092
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 23/04/2025This has bothered me about the coverage of the Salvadoran CECOT - it’s not a gulag, it’s a modern prison. There are a million reasons we shouldn’t be sending people there, but not because it’s an institution out of some faraway and foreign past. It’s actually an exemplar of a heinous modern prison. 0788
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 21/04/2025Soon by @benehrenreich.bsky.social in @flaminghydra.comflaminghydra.comNew life / Aging legsBen Ehrenreich sweeps forward; dance class with Amy Chu 010
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 11/04/2025My guess of what makes this an actual diplomatic problem- and another reason none of these people should be in CECOT- is because there’s no human rights monitoring and no one leaves so no info exists about actual unscripted conditions. Bukele would surely be pissed about such high profile release. 27713
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 07/04/2025Just got around to this post and can't stop laughing imagining an advice blog for my 4 tendencies cat, someone who resists both outer and inner expectations. Perhaps finished phd/got tenure solely driven by a burning desire to avoid becoming a win for the patriarchy by falling out of the pipeline. 000
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 04/04/2025True, but sometimes this white bread:potatorolls.comPotato Bread - Martin's Famous Potato Rolls and BreadPotato Bread - Martin's Famous Potato Rolls and Bread 010
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 31/03/2025Why go after a group that's not a threat? Gang members in strong organized criminal groups are relatively hard to catch. They hide and fight back. But rounding up Venezuelans who have TPS or other legal status - i.e. people in the system living ordinary law-abiding lives - well, that's easy. 0346
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 30/03/2025We have quite simply criminalized being Venezuelan. The whole 🧵 is worth a read. 040
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 27/03/2025And screaming for the people in the back, Tren de Aragua does not use tattoos. They don’t even fucking use tattoos - not as part of initiation or for identifying one another. 071
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 24/03/2025So unsurprised. It’s awful. I wrote an explainer about the broader situation that, for example, my mom sent to her entire church list serve and I’ve been getting nice notes from church ladies all day, so if it’s at all useful for you in explaining this to folks, feel free to share:goodauthority.orgVenezuelans sent to El Salvador jail aren't gang members.The Trump administration flew Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, calling them gang members. Without any trial, they're now in prison. 000
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 24/03/2025Good fucking grief- moving so fast to get those planes in the air, guess they just crammed whoever on them. 110
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 24/03/2025😂😭 And if you want to read what should have been in the NYT coverage, may I humbly suggest: goodauthority.org/news/us-sent...goodauthority.orgVenezuelans sent to El Salvador jail aren't gang members.The Trump administration flew Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, calling them gang members. Without any trial, they're now in prison. 010
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 24/03/2025I loved this piece. Coverage of the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador has also been so fucking infuriating. I just wrote what I wish had been in the coverage if you have any interest goodauthority.org/news/us-sent...goodauthority.orgVenezuelans sent to El Salvador jail aren't gang members.The Trump administration flew Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, calling them gang members. Without any trial, they're now in prison. 000
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 24/03/2025This is such a great piece - thanks to you both for writing it. I cited it in a piece I just wrote up for Good Authority.goodauthority.orgVenezuelans sent to El Salvador jail aren't gang members.The Trump administration flew Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, calling them gang members. Without any trial, they're now in prison. 110
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 24/03/2025Wrote about the US sending Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Many innocent people sent to a foreign prison based on the dubious claim of membership in a gang that barely exists in the US and isn't a threat to national security. It should anger and scare us all. @goodauth.bsky.socialgoodauthority.orgVenezuelans sent to El Salvador jail aren't gang members.The Trump administration flew Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, calling them gang members. Without any trial, they're now in prison. 021
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 11/03/2025Indeed - we know and resent this as we rage rant at their voicemails for the umpteenth time. 010
Reposted by Heather Sullivankim yi dionne (she/her) @dadakim.bsky.social · 19/02/2025If you're just learning about the Bolsonaro news, I strongly recommend reading @hsulli.bsky.social & @edebruin.bsky.social's piece in @goodauth.bsky.social that details the steps Bolsonaro and his allies took to prepare for losing the 2022 presidential election. goodauthority.org/news/brazil-...goodauthority.orgThe investigation into Brazil's coup plot continues.Brazil's election coup plot was well planned by Jair Bolsonaro and his allies, a police report finds. Was Brazil's democracy at risk? 14415
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 18/02/2025There’s always: ash.harvard.edu/programs/cro...ash.harvard.eduCrowd Counting Consortium – Ash CenterPublicly available data on political crowds in the United States, including marches, protests, demonstrations, riots, and other actions. 010
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 17/02/2025What does it look like when you erode checks and balances, manage your bureaucracy in a discretionary way, personalize power, and crack down on autonomous groups? Nicaragua gives us an example and it's...not great. @goodauth.bsky.socialgoodauthority.orgIn Nicaragua, the constitution gives Pres. Ortega more power.Nicaragua's constitutional revisions have now entrenched the political power of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, VP Rosario Murillo. 0236
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 16/02/2025on.ft.com/3EPqXn2on.ft.comProtesters target Tesla showrooms over Elon Musk’s cost-cuttingThe billionaire has become a focus of outrage at the Trump administration’s attacks on government agencies 010
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 11/02/2025The Mexico scholar in me is like, have they decided the writing is on the wall and their best option is to just become the loyal opposition party in the style of the old school PAN? Nonetheless, I persist in calling their offices and telling them to stop being cowards. 010
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 07/02/2025No, thank you! It's great and I always look forward to reading it! 010
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 07/02/2025And if you want to know more about Colombia, sign up for @murosinvisibles.bsky.social's Pirate Wire Services substack 111
Heather Sullivan @hsulli.bsky.social · 07/02/2025If you want to know more about the shuttering of USAID on Colombia, check out @dickinsonbeth.bsky.social 000
