Americas

Brazilian investors buy Miami real estate. Haitian earthquake survivors attend South Florida schools. It's clear what happens in Latin America and the Caribbean has a profound effect on South Florida.

WLRN’s coverage of the region is headed by Americas editor Tim Padgett, a 23-year veteran of TIME and Newsweek magazines.

He joins a team of reporters and editors at the Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald and NPR to cover a region whose cultural wealth, environmental complexity, vast agricultural output and massive oil reserves offer no shortage of important and fascinating stories to tell.

Trump Did The Alt-Left A Big Favor, Too. But Not The Alt-Left You Think

By Tim Padgett • Aug 17, 2017

COMMENTARY

By now everybody knows the bigly favor President Trump did the Alt-Right this week.

On Tuesday, like a bad parent defending his skinhead bully kid in the principal’s office, Trump insisted the deadly mayhem that torch-carrying white supremacists wrought in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend wasn’t all their fault. He asserted – astonishingly – that the anti-racist protesters he called "Alt-Left" were also to blame. (And by the way, he added, Stonewall Jackson was a great American hero.)

Venezuelan Regime Hunts Down Opposition Figures; More Expected In Exile Here

By Tim Padgett • Aug 14, 2017

The targets on the backs of Venezuelans like Gustavo Marcano grow larger by the day.

Marcano is the mayor of the eastern Venezuelan city of Lechería. Like most places in Venezuela this year, Lechería has been the site of angry anti-government protests as the country’s economy collapses – and as its socialist regime morphs into what critics call a dictatorship.

Sonic Blasts And Economic Blunders: An Embarrassing Summer For Cuba

By Tim Padgett • Aug 11, 2017

COMMENTARY

This is turning out to be quite the embarrassing summer for communist Cuba.

This week the State Department revealed that two Cuban diplomats working in Washington had been booted out of the U.S. in response to “incidents” last year that made U.S. diplomats working in Havana physically ill. The Associated Press reported investigators believe sonic devices were planted in the U.S. diplomats’ residences that left the Americans with hearing loss.

FIU Expert: Venezuelan Military Likely To Keep Fracturing Under Dictatorship

By Tim Padgett • Aug 7, 2017

On Sunday a small band of Venezuelan soldiers staged a revolt at a military base in the city of Valencia and made off with weapons.

Open-Mic Protest In Miami Discusses Venezuelan Crisis

By Adrianne Gonzalez • Aug 7, 2017

Saturday morning at Bayside in Miami wasn’t the typical shopping and dining experience. The wall surrounding the Torch of Friendship had a giant Venezuelan flag with signatures and wishes written on the fabric.

There was an open-mic protest, organized by local community members and activists. Cuban-Americans, Venezuelan-Americans, and Venezuelans all took turns sharing stories, opinions, and prayers.

Venezuelan Dictatorship Means Venezuelan Exiles Must Learn From Cuban Exiles' Mistakes

By Tim Padgett • Aug 3, 2017

COMMENTARY

This week a Twitter troll with the typically (and typically cowardly) anonymous handle of @Jesus78773335 came after me online.

Miami Beach Hosts World Classic Of 'Badass' Beach Sport: Footvolley

By Tim Padgett • Jul 24, 2017

Lately you may have seen a strange marriage of soccer and volleyball playing out on your local beach. It’s called footvolley.

Trump's Oil Embargo Option On Venezuela Is An Old Testament Risk. Is It Worth Taking?

By Tim Padgett • Jul 19, 2017

COMMENTARY

Florida Senator Marco Rubio likes to tweet verses from the Book of Proverbs, an Old Testament favorite among conservatives that says, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

You could paraphrase that to describe the Republican Senator’s diplomatic philosophy: “Fear of America is the beginning of foreign policy.”

Rubio clings to the Cold War belief that the U.S. can and should make every geopolitical rogue from Cuba to North Korea cry uncle. So does President Trump.

Americas

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