On this Thursday, June 2, edition of Sundial:
LatAm news roundup
Many thought Colombia was close to electing its first leftist president. But a 77-year-old populist conservative could disrupt things.
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The South American nation has long been a stronghold of conservative Latin American politics.
Now, leftist senator Gustavo Petro has made it to the second round of a presidential election. Momentum was seemingly shifting in his favor in recent months. But it seems things are changing in an unexpected way. Popularity is now moving in the direction of his run-off rival, Rodolfo Hernández.
WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett joined Sundial to discuss what the upcoming second round of elections could mean for the people in Colombia and the region.
He also joined to talk about other Latin American news. Starting with the Biden Administration gearing up to host the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles next week, which has been threatened to be boycotted by multiple countries. Also, the trials for two leading dissidents in Cuba involved with the Movimiento San Isidro that concluded this week.
Fair Food Program
Farmworkers and students have been protesting to get a Wendy's on Florida Atlantic University's campus to join a program that prevents labor abuse. It's an initiative in the tomato industry: the Fair Food Program.
After a sustained push from students to guarantee better labor practices — the Wendy's franchise on campus closed down for good.
WLRN Palm Beach County Reporter Wilkine Brutus has been covering what students and farmworkers are working towards. He spoke with WLRN's Danny Rivero about the story on Sundial.
You can find his full coverage and listen to his radio feature here.
Wildlife Thursday: mosquitoes
It’s now officially hurricane season — and that means mosquito season is also at its peak.
These small but mighty beasts spread diseases like dengue, yellow fever and Zika. They’re probably the wildlife here in South Florida that we interact with the most.
Officials in Miami-Dade County are spreading the message and making resources available to inform residents about the things they can do to help control the mosquito population.
“Mosquitos exploit very small quantities of water. So if we have containers, we need to make sure that those containers are not out in the yard collecting water because eventually, those containers are going to be mosquito breeders. We have issues in this county with bromeliads. People, they need to make sure to treat the bromeliads because they’re gonna breed mosquitoes eventually,” said Chalmers Vasquez on Sundial. He is the Research Director for the Miami-Dade County Mosquito Control and Habitat Management Division.
Vazquez said local and state mosquito control operations have learned a lot since the Zika epidemic in 2016. Since then, mosquito control has received more staff, better equipment, and better monitoring practices.
