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.

Coming Out of the ‘Bruja Closet:’ Miami Coven Honors Latin American Occult Practices

By • Oct 21, 2019
Gerard Albert / WLRN

Don't Try To Understand Trump In Ukraine – Or Latin America. You Might Pull Something

By • Oct 16, 2019
Presidencia de Honduras

COMMENTARY

Last Sunday a Honduran immigrant on my middle-aged soccer team asked me about an issue before our weekly game. And it didn’t involve Bengay for a pulled muscle.

“Honestly,” he said, “do you think the president of Honduras is involved with drug traffickers?”

More Than Remittances: A Millennial Expat Calls On His Peers To Do Biz In Haiti

By • Oct 14, 2019
Courtesy Bibenetakole

The Caribbean Culinary Museum Brings 'The Culture Of Love' From The Islands To South Florida

By • Oct 10, 2019
Island Syndicate / Courtesy

Are you a fan of Jamaican patties, Trinidad Doubles or Haitian pate kode? 

You can now take a trip to the islands of Jamaica, Haiti, Barbados, Trinidad, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas, without leaving South Florida through the traveling exhibition “Caribbean Culinary Museum.” It’s curated by the South Florida creative agency Island Syndicate and it takes attendees through the culinary history of the Caribbean — spices and all. 

Miami Carnival Brings Caribbean Festivities And An Economic Boost To South Florida

By • Oct 7, 2019
Leslie Ovalle / WLRN

Moïse Mess: Haiti's Political Standoff – And Humanitarian Crisis – Won't Likely End Soon

By • Oct 7, 2019
Rebecca Blackwell / AP

Over the weekend Haitians again took to the streets of Port-au-Prince to demand the ouster of President Jovenel Moïse. They've been protesting for a year now – and they say they’re tired of an endless economic crisis that’s made it hard to find food and fuel. Or to pay for it if they do find it.

Monos Madness: Child Soldiers Film Shows What Colombia Risks If Civil War Reboots

By • Oct 1, 2019
NEON

Midway through the new Colombian film “Monos,” there is a haunting moment that illuminates, literally, the evil of using children as soldiers.

South American Saber-Rattling: Why A 'Skeleton' Venezuela Is Threatening Colombia

By • Sep 23, 2019
Rafael Urdaneta Rojas / AP

Are Venezuela and Colombia headed for war? Believe it or not, that's the big worry in South America right now.

Tropical Storm Jerry nearly a hurricane as it approaches the Caribbean

By BRETT CLARKSON & DAVID SCHUTZ & TONYA ALANEZ • Sep 19, 2019
National hurricane center

Tropical Storm Jerry picked up strength Thursday and is expected to become a hurricane today as it approaches the small Caribbean islands way out to the east, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“On the forecast track, the center of Jerry will be near or north of the northern Leeward Islands Friday and pass north of Puerto Rico on Saturday,” Hurricane Specialist Dave Roberts wrote in the latest storm advisory.

Tropical Storm Jerry Forms As Category 3 Hurricane Humberto Approaches Bermuda

By BRETT CLARKSON • Sep 18, 2019
National hurricane center

Tropical Storm Jerry, the tenth-named storm of the 2019 hurricane season, formed Wednesday far out in the eastern Atlantic Ocean as it moves toward the Caribbean with the likelihood of becoming a hurricane toward the end of the week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

At 5 a.m. Wednesday, Jerry was located about 960 miles east of the Caribbean with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph as it moved toward the west-northwest at 13 mph.

The system is forecast to become a hurricane possibly as soon as Thursday night.

Amazon Rainforest No Longer Just A Cause For Rock Stars. Climate Change Made It Local

By • Sep 16, 2019
Victor R. Caivano / AP

Last week Brazilian soldiers were working to put out this year’s record number of fires in the Amazon rainforest. The irony is that they were there on the orders of their commander-in-chief, President Jair Bolsonaro – because he’s trying to put out another kind of fire.

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