Opinion: The World Cup should dedicate Haiti's games to a Port-au-Prince boy who embraced soccer — the game, not the greed — as sanctuary from the gangs that killed him last month.On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett says that modern soccer’s soul has collapsed, but Haiti’s appearance in the World Cup is a reminder that beneath the rubble of the sport there is a survivor – a game that still has human meaning.You can watch the video for this and other Americas Decoded commentaries on WLRN’s YouTube channel on WLRN.org/Decoded.Subscribe to Tim’s Substack to receive his weekly digital commentaries and new episodes of Americas Decoded, at WLRN.org/AD.Sign up for his Americas Report newsletter on WLRN.org/newsletters.WLRN is South Florida’s NPR member station.

Opinion: Prediction markets are betting President Trump will order military action in Cuba, but not regime change. They know his priority is to make countries more ripe for deportation – than democracy.Trump appears likely to order a U.S. military strike on Cuba but, as has happened in Venezuela, regime change and democracy doesn’t appear to be the focus. On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett says he is likely to seek economic improvements to show as evidence that, like in Venezuela, the country would be ready to accept deportees from the U.S. - and keep his MAGA base happy.You can watch the video for this and other Americas Decoded commentaries on WLRN’s YouTube channel on WLRN.org/Decoded.Subscribe to Tim’s Substack to receive his weekly digital commentaries and new episodes of Americas Decoded, at WLRN.org/AD.Sign up for his Americas Report newsletter on WLRN.org/newsletters.WLRN is South Florida’s NPR member station.

Opinion: To observe this month’s Haitian Flag Day, the members of Haiti's political and business elite who've sponsored violent gangs should reflect on the damage they've done - and hope it’s not irreparable.The fallout from a deadly spasm of armed violence in Jamaica in 2010 began a process of severing ties between that country’s gangs and its political and business elites. WLRN’s Americas Editor Tim Padgett says it’s a break that Haiti in 2026 desperately needs to emulate.You can watch the video for this and other Americas Decoded commentaries on WLRN’s YouTube channel on WLRN.org/Decoded.Subscribe to Tim’s Substack to receive his weekly digital commentaries and new episodes of Americas Decoded, at WLRN.org/AD.Sign up for his Americas Report newsletter on WLRN.org/newsletters.WLRN is South Florida’s NPR member station.

Opinion: In Venezuela and Cuba, President Trump risks repeating the miscalculation he's made in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz: thinking bold strikes automatically yield regime change.Iran’s response to the U.S. military strikes – the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, shutting down much of the world’s oil shipping with alarming ease – suggests Trump made a grand miscalculation. And, on the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett says it’s something that could define his legacy. That’s because he’s got two other potential Hormuz-shaped debacles developing in his own hemisphere: in Venezuela and Cuba.You can watch the video for this and other Americas Decoded commentaries on WLRN’s YouTube channel on WLRN.org/Decoded.Subscribe to Tim’s Substack to receive his weekly digital commentaries and new episodes of Americas Decoded, at WLRN.org/AD.Sign up for his Americas Report newsletter on WLRN.org/newsletters.WLRN is South Florida’s NPR member station.

Opinion: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is 80 and running for re-election, an egotistical move that may open the door to another reactionary Bolsonaro presidency — this time the son's. The main candidate Lula will face in Brazil’s presidential elections in October is right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro — the 44-year-old son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Lula and his party should not wait for a late meltdown, like Biden’s cognitive catastrophe in the presidential debate of June 2024, to listen to the concerns about his age. You can watch the video for this and other Americas Decoded commentaries on WLRN’s YouTube channel on WLRN.org/Decoded. Subscribe to Tim’s Substack to receive his weekly digital commentaries and new episodes of Americas Decoded, at WLRN.org/AD. Sign up for his Americas Report newsletter on WLRN.org/newsletters. WLRN is South Florida’s NPR member station.

Opinion: President Trump's bid to intimidate the Supreme Court on birthright citizenship risks reminding the justices — and the world — of the Dominican Republic's own thuggish repeal 13 years ago. Trump became the first sitting president to attend a Supreme Court hearing. But WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett says his crusade to end birthright citizenship has echoes of the DR, which not only cancelled birthright citizenship but made it retroactive in 2013 - a cruel and chaotic move seen as driven by racism, since it affected mostly Black Dominicans of Haitian descent. You can watch the video for this and other Americas Decoded commentaries on WLRN’s YouTube channel on WLRN.org/Decoded. Subscribe to Tim’s Substack to receive his weekly digital commentaries and new episodes of Americas Decoded, at WLRN.org/AD. Sign up for his Americas Report newsletter on WLRN.org/newsletters. WLRN is South Florida’s NPR member station.

Opinion: Venezuela's first World Baseball Classic title win, against the U.S. in Miami, packed political symbolism — but, more importantly, also a joyful reminder of the country's character. Venezuela’s historic win in Miami, as the U.S. follows its removal of Nicolás Maduro with an unashamed focus on the country’s oil reserves rather than its democracy, could be read as a ‘screw you’ to the Trump administration. But for WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett, baseball reveals the best of Venezuela, so the victory was an uplifting reminder of the country’s character. You can watch the video for this and other Americas Decoded commentaries on WLRN’s YouTube channel on WLRN.org/Decoded. Subscribe to Tim’s Substack to receive his weekly digital commentaries and new episodes of Americas Decoded, at WLRN.org/AD. Sign up for his Americas Report newsletter on WLRN.org/newsletters. WLRN is South Florida’s NPR member station.

Opinion: Cuban regime change may take more time and effort than expected. So Cuba’s exile command should try being diplomats - not demagogues. A U.S. oil blockade is pinning Cuba’s dictatorship against the wall. But on the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett says he fears Miami’s exile leaders may continue a historical habit of alienating folks who could help their cause. Case in point: the social-media sucker punch Republican Miami Congressman Carlos Gimenez threw at Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness at the recent CARICOM meeting. You can watch the video for this and other Americas Decoded commentaries on WLRN’s YouTube channel on WLRN.org/Decoded. Subscribe to Tim’s Substack to receive his weekly digital commentaries and new episodes of Americas Decoded, at WLRN.org/AD. Sign up for his Americas Report newsletter on WLRN.org/newsletters. WLRN is South Florida’s NPR member station.

Opinion: President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio seem to have tuned out Venezuelan and Cuban exile leaders — as well as their own rhetoric about blocking China's influence in the Americas.On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett says that for all the Trump administration’s rhetoric about blocking China’s influence in the Americas, in both Cuba and Venezuela the U.S. is pushing scenarios that indulge in China’s m.o. — its hybrid system of capitalism and authoritarianism – and go against the principles of those exile communities.You can watch the video for this and other Americas Decoded commentaries on WLRN’s YouTube channel on WLRN.org/Decoded.Subscribe to Tim’s Substack to receive his weekly digital commentaries and new episodes of Americas Decoded, at WLRN.org/AD.Sign up for his Americas Report newsletter on WLRN.org/newsletters.WLRN is South Florida’s NPR member station.

Opinion: As the U.S. cuts off global oil to Cuba, the island's communist regime could get President Trump to back off by offering something he's showing special interest in: dictatorship instruction. On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett suggests that with his failed attempts to take control of U.S. elections, lock up political foes and use federal law enforcement to take over cities, Trump would welcome some tyranny tutoring from his more efficient Cuban counterparts. You can watch the video for this and other Americas Decoded commentaries on WLRN’s YouTube channel on WLRN.org/Decoded. Subscribe to Tim’s Substack to receive his weekly digital commentaries and new episodes of Americas Decoded, at WLRN.org/AD. Sign up for his Americas Report newsletter on WLRN.org/newsletters. WLRN is South Florida’s NPR member station.