To have a better understanding of why presidents do what they do, I have interviewed 26 former Latin American presidents from 9 countries. The semi-structured interviews were conducted in the US, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Chile.
Arnoldo Alemán. President of Nicaragua, 1997-2002.
Óscar Arias. President of Costa Rica, 1986-1990, 2006-2010.
Patricio Aylwin. President of Chile, 1990-1994.
Nicolás Barletta. President of Panama, 1984-1985.
Enrique Bolaños. President of Nicaragua, 2002-2007.
Abdalá Bucaram. President of Ecuador, 1996-1997.
Rafael Callejas. President of Honduras, 1990-1994.
Vinicio Cerezo. President of Guatemala, 1986-1991.
Armando Calderón Sol. President of El Salvador, 1994-1998.
Rafael Ángel Calderón. President of Costa Rica, 1990-1994.
Laura Chinchilla. President of Costa Rica, 2010-2014.
Eduardo Frei. President of Chile, 1994-2000.
Ricardo Lagos. President of Chile, 2000-2006.
Roberto Micheletti. President of Honduras, 2009-2010.
Luis Alberto Monge. President of Costa, Rica 1982-1986.
Abel Pacheco. President of Costa Rica, 2002-2006.
Ernesto Pérez. President of Panama, 1994-1999.
Jorge Quiroga. President of Bolivia, 2001-2002.
Efraín Ríos Montt. President of Guatemala, 1982-1983.
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez. President of Costa Rica, 1998-2002.
Francisco Rodríguez. President of Panama, 1989.
Eduardo Rodríguez. President of Bolivia, 2005-2006.
Antonio Saca. President of El Salvador, 2004-2009.
Ernesto Samper. President of Colombia, 1994-1998.
Luis Guillermo Solís. President of Costa Rica, 2014-2018.
Manuel Zelaya. President of Honduras, 2006-2009.