Latin America

World News

Uruguay's President Shuns Trappings Of His Office

9:25am May 13, 2014

The president of Uruguay is said to be extremely frugal and gives most of his salary to charity. Renee Montagne talks to Simon Romero of The New York Times about Jose Mujica's presidency.

Queue Listen Now

World News

In Venezuela Protests, Report Condemns Police's 'Pattern Of Abuse'

6:35pm May 05, 2014

by John Otis

A Human Rights Watch report documents brutal force used by Venezuelan security forces against peaceful demonstrators — including beatings, shootings and, in some cases, torture. The report also shows how security forces work in cahoots with pro-government armed gangs, calling the abuses the worst they have seen in years.

Queue Listen Now

Ian Burrell, a rum ambassador from the U.K., samples the liquor at the Miami Rum Festival.

Rum Renaissance Revives The Spirit's Rough Reputation

11:31am April 29, 2014

by Tim Padgett

The official cheap liquor of spring breakers is becoming something much more sophisticated. And South Florida has become ground zero for the rum revolution.

Queue Listen Now

World News

Chile Wildfire Litters Questions In The Ash Of Burned-Out Homes

11:06pm April 23, 2014

by Alexandra Hall

In Chile, a fire that started in the hills above Valparaiso continues to burn. The blaze has killed 15 people and destroyed 2,500 homes in the area that surrounds Valparaiso. Reporter Alexandra Hall looks at some of those affected.

Queue Listen Now

World News

Bringing Poetry And High Culture To Sao Paulo's Periphery

11:40am April 19, 2014

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

Poetry in an unlikely place: In a grim urban shanty town in the middle of Sao Paulo, budding poets from the poorest sections of Brazilian society get together weekly to compose and recite poetry.

Queue Listen Now

Colombia Mourns Death Of Favorite Son: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

11:10am April 18, 2014

by Juan Forero

Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 87, died on Thursday. He made Colombia synonymous with literature, particularly the dreamlike, whimsical story-telling known as magical realism.

Queue Listen Now

World News

Was ZunZuneo To Promote Free Speech Or Destabilize Cuba?

8:09am April 08, 2014

David Greene to Julia Sweig, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, about revelations the USAID created and ran a now-defunct Cuban Twitter communications network from 2010 to 2012.

Queue Listen Now

ATF Works To Slow Flow Of U.S. Weapons Across Border

7:53am April 03, 2014

by Ted Robbins

Most of the guns in Mexico come from north of the border. The U.S. has taken steps aimed at slowing gun smugglers, especially since the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives scandal.

Queue Listen Now

World News

Vicious Gang, Barrio Azteca, Gets Its Start In El Paso

8:35am March 31, 2014

by Monica Ortiz Uribe

In Texas, an El Paso-based gang has spread across the U.S., and has also sent some members to Mexico for training with the Zetas. They became a transnational gang due to the drug trafficking industry.

Queue Listen Now

Venezuelans line up to buy goods at a store in Caracas on March 10. Protesters have been taking to the streets for weeks over the country's troubled economy and other issues. The government introduced a new foreign currency exchange system on Monday, seek

World News

Short On Dollars, Venezuela Tries To Halt Black-Market Trading

9:45pm March 24, 2014

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

Venezuela placed controls on its currency as it rapidly lost its value. But that only made matters worse. Now it is rolling out a new system in hopes of stabilizing its weak currency.

Queue Listen Now