NACLA Radio

Brazil’s military dictatorship was a dark time in the country’s history. Hundreds were killed. Thousands jailed and tortured. And it is an era that President Jair Bolsonaro remembers with nostalgia. It's the place where he got his start and something he has long championed as being worthy of returning to. As president, Bolsonaro has called for the closure of Congress and the Supreme Court, ma...

Brazil has a long and complicated history with fascism, going back to the early 20th century. Far-right and white supremacist groups have been emboldened by President Jair Bolsonaro—with some members of his own cabinet openly sporting Nazi tattoos. They’ve unleashed online attacks, pushed fake news and misinformation in favor of Bolsonaro, and threatened Brazil’s Supreme Court and its justices. Bu...

Jair Bolsonaro could not have won the presidency without the support of one very important group: Evangelical Christians. There is, perhaps, no other group that Bolsonaro has so vocally courted, or that has been so loyal to the president. And they remain key for Bolsonaro’s hopes of recapturing the presidency this year.   In this episode, we visit those spreading the gospel for Bolsonaro. And look...

The election of President Jair Bolsonaro was never a foregone conclusion. For most of that electoral season, someone else was ahead in the polls. But he was jailed on supposed corruption charges by a biased judge, six months out from the election, and blocked from running. In this episode, we look at the fight to free former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from prison, the corruption investiga...

As candidate Jair Bolsonaro neared the presidency in 2018, violence rippled across Brazil, mostly perpetrated by Bolsonaro supporters. Hundreds of threats and attacks, including several killings, were reported in the weeks and months leading up to the election. ​​Bolsonaro's hateful rhetoric and fake news machine spurred on the violence, painting the election as a battle for the soul of the c...

Jair Bolsonaro's presidency has been a disaster for Brazil. Over 650,000 dead from Covid-19. Amazon deforestation. Rising fascism. Budget cuts. Fake news. Threats to democracy. In this introduction to Brazil on Fire, host journalist Michael Fox sets the scene for the podcast by looking back on the last four years and why understanding Bolsonaro's rise is important now, ahead of Brazil&ap...

First episodes coming this September! Jair Bolsonaro's rise was unimaginable just a few years before his election as president of Brazil. With an impending showdown between the incumbent Bolsonaro and popular left-wing former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, many suspect Bolsonaro may resort to a January 6-style coup to retain power. In this special limited podcast series from Latin Ameri...

Mas de 15 años después de la publicación de Periodistas y magnates , el libro de Guillermo Mastrini y Marín Becerra que ofreció un análisis de la concentración mediática en Sudamérica y México, en un campo mediático atravesado por la creciente digitalización, nos preguntamos: ¿Qué tanto ha cambiado la concentración mediática en América Latina? En este conversatorio, Gustavo Fuchs habla con cuatro...

Helen talks to guest editor and contributor Bret Gustafson about Caribbean energy structures, and how US administrations from Reagan to now have pushed fossil fuel dependency in the Caribbean as a “national security” concern. Read NACLA: nacla.org Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

Helen takes a deep dive with Jonathan Devore, author of the latest NACLA Report’s feature essay on the early days of the Brazilian Odebrecht Company in rural Bahia. Rural residents’ memories and perspective on Odebrecht add new dimensions to the Petrobras scandal, which is now reverberating throughout the region— How does bringing in often overlooked voices change the way we tell histories of poli...

Andrea Bolivar did most of her dissertation research in Chicago, spending time with and learning from the trans Latina women whose experiences in the sex industry have emerged from a confluence of transphobia, racism, and criminalization. Read NACLA: nacla.org Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

NACLA Report contributor Moira Birss talks with Helen about how private companies and governments in Latin America have criminalized environmental human rights defenders, and how a confluence of violence, harassment, smear campaigns, and policing tactics threatens to silence environmental justice movements throughout the Americas. Read NACLA: nacla.org Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate Follow NACLA...

Helen speaks with NACLA Report contributor Marisol LeBrón, whose article for the latest issue of the Report traces the Puerto Rican state’s policing and surveillance programs from the 1950s to now. They discuss the internal complexities at play in Puerto Rican politics beyond the colonial dynamic between the U.S. government and Puerto Rico, and Marisol explains how policing tactics were used to un...

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49.2.3: DREAMs Beyond DACA by NACLARadio Read NACLA: nacla.org Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

49.2.2: Mike Bustamante on Cuba by NACLARadio Read NACLA: nacla.org Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

Nara Milanich discusses family detention centers, the asylum process, and the fight to protect immigrant rights. Read NACLA: nacla.org Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

Helen talks with NACLA Report contributor Devyn Spence Benson about the history of racism and antiracism in Cuba, the legacy of Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution, and Afro Cuban activism today. Read NACLA: nacla.org Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

In this episode of NACLA Radio, Helen talks with NACLA Report contributor Julia Buxton about the current state of opposition to the Maduro government, the tactics and conversation around legitimacy, and the place of groups advocating for the rights of Afro-Venezeulans, Indigenous Venezuelans, women, and LGBTQI people. Listen to the end for a brief discussion of the Hungarian government’s legislati...

Guest producer Julia Burnell brings us some excerpts from her interview with Chilean musician Nano Stern, who is currently touring North America. Nano will be at Verso Books on Friday, March 17th, at 6:30pm to discuss activism and art with NACLA and to share some of his music. Read the full interview in the latest issue of the NACLA Report, "#BlackLivesMatter Across the Hemisphere." Read...

Helen talks with NACLA Report contributor Geraldo Cadava about the history of Latino conservatism in the United States, and on how Latinos voted in last November’s election. Read NACLA: nacla.org Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

Helen talks to NACLA contributor Ben Cowan about the recent right turn in Brazilian politics, the resurgence of the "Beef, Bullets, and Bible" caucus in Brazilian congress, and the new right's flirtation with its own sort of identity politics. Read NACLA: nacla.org Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

Helen catches up with Manuel Perez Rocha following the decision on the Pacific Rim vs. El Salvador case. Read NACLA: nacla.org Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

48.3: Bret Gustafson & Niki Fabricant on Morales and extractive industry in Bolivia by NACLARadio Read NACLA: nacla.org Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

48.3: Manuel Perez-Rocha on Free Trade and Investor Disputes by NACLARadio Read NACLA: nacla.org Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA