Arduino Tomasi

Arduino Tomasi

Update (August 9, 2025 – ∞). After years of seeking truth, I have fully stepped into life beyond academic, journalistic, and creative pursuits. This site now preserves my past writings as they are —a testament to paths once walked, not ones still traveled— and remains here as a curated archive for those who may find meaning in them. I am no longer undertaking new projects, open to collaboration, or accepting professional inquiries. At present, I am simply a citizen.


Welcome to my website!

I am a social scientist who bridges academic research with investigative journalism and creative writing. My work combines analytical precision with narrative power to examine complex political and social phenomena in Latin America. I previously served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at The University of Chicago and earned my PhD in Political Science from The London School of Economics and Political Science in 2021.

My academic research employs game-theoretic models and quantitative methods to study how public policies influence electoral dynamics and how political frictions generate economic distortions in developing countries. This analytical foundation now informs my investigative work on organized crime, state capture, and institutional manipulation in Ecuador, where I combine data analysis with the literary techniques of avant-garde writer Pablo Palacio.

Recent Work

The Pax Narca Files

A comprehensive investigative series of 13 articles examining Ecuador's transformation following the 2009 expulsion of US forces from Manta Base. Combining statistical analysis with narrative journalism and literary techniques, this work exposes the systematic manipulation of crime statistics that concealed Ecuador's transition into a narco-corridor. The investigation reveals how official data was weaponized to maintain the illusion of the country as a "peaceful island" while criminal structures consolidated power.

View Complete Investigation →

Ecuador's Disappearance Crisis

Collaborative investigative journalism with La Fuente and Plan V analyzing the dramatic escalation of forced disappearances in Ecuador from 1986-2024. Through geospatial analysis and demographic mapping, the research documents how cases surged from 2 annually in the 1980s to over 3,000 by 2024, revealing systematic patterns linked to organized crime networks and highlighting a humanitarian crisis largely invisible to public discourse.

Read Full Analysis →

Sidelight

An experimental platform for social critique through the creative reimagining of Pablo Palacio's canonical short stories. This project bridges literary analysis and social commentary, using Palacio's surrealist framework to explore modern Ecuadorian political and social realities—where the absurd and grotesque has become so naturalized that perhaps only avant-garde techniques can restore our capacity for astonishment.

Explore Literary Series →

Instructions for Correctly Assassinating a Journalist

A satirical political chronicle written for La Fuente —the investigative outlet founded by Ecuadorian journalist Fernando Villavicencio— as part of a special project marking two years since his assassination, a crime that remains in impunity. Framed as a step-by-step manual, I use irony to expose how political power can systematically eliminate a journalist: through surveillance, threats, assassination, institutional cover-up and posthumous smears. Each section reflects real, documented events from Villavicencio’s case, transforming scattered information into a cohesive narrative. The result is both a denunciation and a memorial, confronting the mechanisms of silence and impunity with sharp, deliberate satire.

Read the Satire →

Academic Background & Experience

Educational Credentials

  • PhD in Political Science - The London School of Economics and Political Science (2021)
  • MRes & MSc in Political Science and Political Economy - LSE
  • Bachelor of Arts - Universidad Casa Grande, Guayaquil, Ecuador

My professional activities spans academia, journalism, and public service. I have served as an editorial assistant for the American Political Science Review and worked as a legislative advisor in the Ecuadorian Parliament. Between 2018 and 2020, I coordinated the Political Science and Political Economy Doctoral Workshop at the LSE, fostering academic dialogue and collaboration.

These experiences provided me with valuable insights into the intersection of academic theory and political practice, informing my current work that seeks to make complex research accessible and impactful for broader audiences. My origins in Guayaquil—a city that deeply informs my understanding of Latin American political economy—ground my analytical perspective in lived experience and regional expertise.