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.

Puerto Rico Governor: Florida Diaspora Will Be 'Critical' To Statehood Effort

By • May 22, 2017
Carlos Giusti / AP via Miami Herald

Ricardo Rosselló became Governor of Puerto Rico in January at the age of just 37 – and he inherited a disaster.

U Miami's MBA En Español Students Voice Fears, Hopes About Trump, Latin America

By • May 15, 2017
Tim Padgett / WLRN.org


OAS Chief: Venezuela Regime's Behavior Is 'Criminal – Everything Is Collapsed'

By • Apr 24, 2017
Emily Michot / Miami Herald

Venezuela is in its fourth week of massive anti-government demonstrations – and so far 21 people have been killed in the unrest.

U.N. Peacekeepers To Leave Haiti – But Few Haitians Sad To See Them Go

By • Apr 14, 2017
Ariana Cubillos / AP via Miami Herald

On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to pull its peacekeeping troops out of Haiti. But it seems few Haitians will be sad to see them go.

The U.N. peacekeepers arrived in Haiti in 2004 to bring order to violent chaos after the overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. And for a while, the more than 2,000 U.N. soldiers did that.

Venezuela: Nicolás And His Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Semana Santa

By • Apr 12, 2017
YouTube

COMMENTARY

How much do Venezuelans hate President Nicolás Maduro? Apparently they revile him so much that – in a country where food shortages are so acute the average adult lost almost 20 pounds last year – they’re willing to throw eggs at him.

This is Semana Santa, the Easter Holy Week, a time when Maduro hoped most Venezuelans would pause their angry anti-government protests and head to the beach. Instead they pelted him with stones and eggs as his open car moved through Ciudad Guayana on Tuesday.

Trump And TPS: Will He Extend Haitians' Stay Here Or Send Them Back?

By • Apr 10, 2017
Tim Padgett / WLRN.org

Farah Larrieux is a Haitian who for the past dozen years has built a tele-life in South Florida. She's hosted the public affairs program "Haiti Journal" on PBS channel WPBT. She has a TV production company.

Let Me Get This Straight: Miami Is Terrified Of Airbnb, But Havana Isn't?

By • Apr 5, 2017
C.M. Guerrero / Miami Herald

COMMENTARY

Its economy relies to an absurd extent on the low-wage tourism sector. Because it lacks higher-wage, tech-oriented jobs, its average citizens struggle to bridge the chasm between their incomes and their exorbitant living costs.

But so what? It’s a sunny town on a bay with muy caliente Latin flavor. The visitors and their money will keep coming and keep the place afloat. Besides, it’s got more important things to worry about – like a mortal political enemy 90 miles away.

Colombian Ambassador: We Have To Make Our Peace Case To Trump, U.S. Congress

By • Apr 3, 2017
Pedro Portal / Miami Herald

Last fall Colombia was being called “the Brexit of the Americas.” That’s because, in stunning Brexit fashion, voters there had just rejected a peace agreement to end the country’s half-century-long civil war. Most Colombians felt the accord was too lenient toward the Marxist guerrillas known as the FARC.

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