Mary Speck was a senior advisor to the Latin America Program at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), where she designed programs to prevent violence, enhance security, and promote the rule of law. Prior to joining USIP, Mary served as executive director of the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission, an independent, bipartisan entity created by Congress to evaluate counternarcotics policies in the Americas. She also directed the International Crisis Group’s Mexico and Central America Project, conducting research on organized crime, corruption, and security sector reform. Earlier in her career, she spent more than a decade as a foreign correspondent in Latin America, covering political, economic, and security issues throughout South and Central America. Mary holds a PhD in history from Stanford University and BA from Bryn Mawr College.

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Audio Briefs

Haiti Embarks on Another Rocky Political Transition

An audio version of “⁠Haiti Embarks on Another Rocky Political Transition⁠,” a new Critical Questions by CSIS’s Georges A. Fauriol with Mary Speck. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by Georges A. Fauriol and Mary Speck — February 9, 2026

Audio Briefs

Great Expectations and Grim Realities in AMLO's Mexico

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised sweeping reforms on education, corruption, and labor.  But his biggest challenge will be mitigating the violence that has plagued Mexico for well over a decade, notes CSIS Americas Program’s Mary Speck.

Report by Mary Speck — May 9, 2019