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.

'It Is Our Fault.' After Tragic Border Drownings, South Florida Salvadorans See Hope

By Tim Padgett • Jul 8, 2019

U.N. Chief Heads Back To Caribbean To Raise The Alarm About Climate Change, Hurricanes

By Jacqueline Charles • Jul 3, 2019

Almost two years after he visited the Caribbean to see for himself the devastation left by hurricanes

Irma and Maria in Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is back—this time to meet with leaders of the 15-member Caribbean Community, Caricom, in St. Lucia.

What If They Held A Debate In Miami And Nobody Talked About Latin America?

By Tim Padgett • Jul 1, 2019

Miami is often called the capital of Latin America. So when 20 Democratic presidential candidates gathered for debates in Miami last week, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett thought he'd hear more about Latin America policy. But as Padgett told WLRN’s Luis Hernandez, he and a lot of other South Floridians were disappointed.

Latin America Policy Missing From Miami Democratic Presidential Debate

By Alexander Gonzalez & Tom Hudson • Jun 28, 2019

The 20 Democratic presidential hopefuls debated this week about everything from healthcare to higher education to gun violence.

Notably missing from both nights — Latin America policy. Four hours of debate in Miami — the gateway to the Americas — and not a mention of Cuba, Venezuela or Nicaragua (what the Trump administration has called the "troika of tyranny").

Brasileiros Divided: Did Moro Bust Brazil's Corruption – Or Betray Its Democracy?

By Tim Padgett • Jun 24, 2019

Catharine Skipp / University of Miami Law School

When Sergio Moro gave a lecture at the University of Miami last year he got a loud, standing ovation — because what he was doing in Brazil struck a loud, resounding chord in South Florida.

Moro was the man who was draining the deep, fetid swamp of corruption in Brazil.

Paraguayan Extradited To Miami For Key Role In Huge Money Laundering Schemes, Feds Say

By Jay Weaver • Jun 21, 2019

A Paraguayan businessman accused of moving hundreds of millions of dollars around the globe for drug traffickers and other criminals with suspected links to the terrorist group Hezbollah was extradited Thursday to Miami to face money laundering charges in the United States.

Nader Mohamad Farhat, operator of one of the biggest currency exchange businesses in the Tri-Border Area of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, has his first appearance in Miami federal court Friday to decide whether he will face money laundering charges in Miami or in New York.

Expats Want To Fix Haiti's Food Crisis By Buying Its Food. It Actually Makes Sense

By Tim Padgett • Jun 17, 2019

Power Restored After Tens Of Millions In South America Experience Prolonged Blackout

By Daniella Cheslow • Jun 16, 2019

Updated at 4:15 a.m. ET on Monday:

The lights came back on late Sunday for some 44 million people in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay after the sudden collapse of an interconnected South American power grid.

At about 7 a.m., the Edesur electric utility tweeted that "a massive failure" left Argentina and Uruguay without power. Electricity was not fully restored until late in the day.

Severe Storms Possible Through The Weekend — But They May Keep This Giant Dust Cloud Away

By Howard Cohen • Jun 13, 2019

South Florida is in a pattern of strong-to-severe thunderstorms through the weekend — with some potential accompanying wind gusts up to 60 mph.

But the downpours could have one possible health benefit. They may keep us from coughing from a large Saharan dust plume expected to blanket much of the Atlantic through Friday and spread into the Caribbean over the weekend and into early next week, according to CBS4 meteorologist Craig Setzer.

People with respiratory issues in the Caribbean ought to be aware, he said.

America Won't Solve Immigration By Loathing Latin Americans. Ask The Irish.

By Tim Padgett • Jun 12, 2019

COMMENTARY

A conservative Facebook friend in my native Indiana recently endorsed a meme that features right-wing radio rage-monger Rush Limbaugh saying today’s immigrants want to “erase America.”

Is U.S.-Cuba Engagement Dead? Normalization Promoters Say They Can Wait Out Trump

By Tim Padgett • Jun 10, 2019

Last week President Trump dealt another blow to the U.S. policy of engagement with communist Cuba. He banned U.S. people-to-people travel to Cuba – and also cruise line travel, which last year carried an estimated 800,000 passengers to the island. It was just the latest rollback of the normalization of relations that Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, began five years ago. And it raises the question: Does U.S. engagement with Cuba have a future anymore?

Americas

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