Latin America

Protesters hold a sign Saturday that reads, in Portuguese,

World News

Rio's Favelas Feel The Peace — And The Pressure — Of Pacification

7:41pm August 31, 2015

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

Before hosting the World Cup, Brazil launched a program to pacify high-crime slums. The project has cut violence in some areas, but in others residents have been caught in the police crossfire.

Queue Listen Now

Rivers remained swollen and choked with debris in Roseau, Dominica, on Friday after Tropical Storm Erika had passed

World News

Tropical Storm Erika Falls Apart; Dominica Deaths At 20

12:05pm August 29, 2015

by Christopher Dean Hopkins

The storm caused devastating flooding and landslides on the tiny island earlier this week, but poses less of a threat to Florida, according to National Weather Service forecasts.

The Inca were innovators in agriculture as well as engineering. Terracing like this, on a steep hillside in Peru's Colca Canyon, helped them grow food.

For Inca Road Builders, Extreme Terrain Was No Obstacle

10:37am August 29, 2015

by Jasmine Garsd

A new exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian highlights the engineering prowess of the Inca, whose great road once spanned mountains, deserts and forests in 6 South American countries.

Queue Listen Now

Archbishop Josef Wesolowski, the Vatican's ambassador to the Dominican Republic, offers Mass in Santo Domingo on Aug. 3, 2009. The former archbishop and papal ambassador died Friday at the Vatican awaiting trial on child sex abuse charges.

Defrocked Archbishop Dies Awaiting Trial On Sex Abuse Charges

7:58pm August 28, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Former Polish Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski was accused of paying for sex with children and possessing child pornography while he served as the Holy See's ambassador to Dominican Republic.

A bus with the Cuban and U.S. flags is seen on a beach in Havana earlier this month. The White House is exploring regulatory changes to provide new opportunities for American citizens and U.S. businesses in Cuba.

White House Explores Ways To Do Business With Cuba

6:20pm August 28, 2015

by Michele Kelemen

It will take an act of Congress to lift the trade embargo against Cuba. President Obama, however, does have ways to make it easier for Americans to go to Havana or to sell goods there.

Queue Listen Now

Brazilian actor Wagner Moura looks so much like Colombian smuggler Pablo Escobar that Netflix's Narcos uses footage and photos of the real Escobar to heighten the show's realism.

Arts

A Colombian Kingpin Gets The 'Goodfellas' Treatment In 'Narcos'

3:07pm August 28, 2015

by Eric Deggans

A new Netflix series offers a fictionalized account of how smuggler Pablo Escobar built his cocaine empire. The show is compelling and complex — especially for fans of classic crime stories.

Queue Listen Now

All the talk about immigration in the U.S. presidential campaign has renewed focus on the linguistic question of how to refer to people from Latin America. Here, the flags of Latin American and Caribbean states fly at a regional summit in San Jose, Costa

Hispanic Or Latino? A Guide For The U.S. Presidential Campaign

7:01pm August 27, 2015

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

Donald Trump has put immigration front and center in his campaign. This has placed renewed focus on the confusing question of how to refer to people from Latin America, including those now in the U.S.

Huitlacoche quesadillas with spinach in Mexico City in 2013.

Scourge No More: Chefs Invite Corn Fungus To The Plate

10:53am August 27, 2015

by Jill Neimark

American and Canadian chefs are learning what Mexicans have long known: a bluish fungus that infects corn kernels is delicious. And now scientists want to figure out how to grow it on corn on purpose.

World News

Zap Racket Helps Brazilians Deal With Mosquitoes

8:10am August 26, 2015

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

Brazilians bedeviled by mosquitoes bat away the nuisances with an electrified tennis racket. (This piece initially aired on June 14, 2015 on Weekend Edition Sunday).

Queue Listen Now

Global Economy Feels Ripples Of Chinese Stock Market Fall

2:36pm August 25, 2015

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks to three NPR correspondents about the state of the global economy, including Frank Langfitt in Shanghai, Corey Flintoff in Moscow, and Lourdes Garcia-Navarro in Rio de Janeiro.

Queue Listen Now