x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Americas Decoded

Bi-weekly foreign affairs commentary that dissects Latin America, the Caribbean and their key relationship with the U.S. through the latest political, economic and cultural news in the region - and pulls no punches. Go to WLRN.org/Decoded to watch the Americas Decoded YouTube show. Tim Padgett is the Americas Editor for WLRN, South Florida"s NPR member station. He has reported on Latin America for more than 35 years — including for Newsweek as its Mexico City bureau chief and for Time as its Latin

news news commentary

All Episodes

7:47

Maduro is out, but Venezuelans are still in shackles

Americas Decoded ·

2026/01/12

Opinion: President Trump's so-called "law enforcement" capture of Venezuela's dictator Nicolás Maduro will be regarded a failure if it doesn't mean democracy restoration — which may require more U.S. military force. On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett warns that in Venezuela Trump may have removed the brutal dictator but he’s left the brutal dictatorship intact. The socialist regime’s top goons, led by acting President Delcy Rodríguez, remain entrenched in

en

8:05

In a year of migrant misery, who was the Americas’...

Americas Decoded ·

2025/12/22

Opinion: President Trump and his deportation crusade. Nicolas Maduro and his disastrous dictatorship. Haiti’s gang confederation and its evil violence. As another year of migrant crisis in the Americas draws to a close – who was the cruelest leader of all? On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett t looks at the leaders most responsible for migrant misery and refugee wretchedness in the New World in 2025. Inspired by the monstrous Biblical figure King Herod, it’s

en

8:06

Trump on Honduras: Unlike Maduro, the right is never...

Americas Decoded ·

2025/12/09

Opinion: President Trump's pardon of former Honduran president and convicted drug trafficker Juan Orlando Hernández follows a time-honored exile doctrine: that Latin American conservatives are never guilty. On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett says Hernández is the mirror image of reviled Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro – but the key difference is: Maduro is left-wing, a socialist. As his pardon of 1,500 MAGA Jan. 6 rioters proved, Trump believes that

en

7:35

Can Haiti’s historic World Cup win help end gang rule?

Americas Decoded ·

2025/11/24

Opinion: Haiti's remarkable qualification for the 2026 soccer World Cup won't rescue it from the country's gangs — but it reminds us that Haiti undoubtedly is worth saving from that monstrous evil.Qualifying for next summer’s World Cup – it’s first in over half a century – won’t rescue Haiti from the clutches of the gangs ruling and terrorizing a growing portion of the county.But on the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett says that, as the U.S. and the U.N. press

en

7:37

In Caribbean stand-off, Trinidad is stuck between...

Americas Decoded ·

2025/10/31

Opinion: Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister should be applauded for steering away from Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro — but questioned for steering into President Donald Trump's potential legal whirlpool.On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett says PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar appears to have made the right choice in turning her back on Maduro and letting U.S. warships dock in Trinidad as they target alleged narco-boats from Venezuela.But will she end up sucked into

en

7:42

A Nobel question: Should Venezuela's democracy be...

Americas Decoded ·

2025/10/21

Opinion: María Corina Machado deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for leading Venezuela’s nonviolent democracy movement — but what does it mean if that effort’s success relies on a U.S. military incursion?Machado’s win took place hours after President Donald Trump announced his Gaza peace deal – a combination that shows the power of the peaceful path. On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett says there is a “dissonance between the concord we hope is emerging in the

en

7:55

The Bad Bunny Superbowl fury reveals hypocrisy on all...

Americas Decoded ·

2025/10/07

Opinion: The hysteria over Bad Bunny's Super Bowl gig that we’re hearing from English-only militants shows a disregard for America's historical reality — but so does a Spanish-only mindset that many immigrants here still embrace.On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett argues that that the controversy over giving the coveted half-time show to an artist who sings only in Spanish is not because America Firsters think not enough Americans speak Spanish — it’s

en

7:52

Could LatAm, Caribbean use Trump’s new war doctrine...

Americas Decoded ·

2025/09/23

Opinion: If President Trump can use his questionable new war doctrine to blow alleged Venezuelan narco-boats out of international waters, then Caribbean and Latin American nations could also put their military firepower to work. So, American gun traffickers and drug consumers, beware – you’re now missile targets, too.On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett argues that Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean nations could now label U.S. traffickers – who

en

7:45

Venvasion: Will drugs be Trump’s Venezuela WMD?

Americas Decoded ·

2025/09/10

Opinion: The U.S. military strike on a suspected Venezuelan narco-boat raises a troubling question: is Trump looking to use drugs as his version of weapons of mass destruction?On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett worries that small victories like the recent military strike on an alleged Venezuelan boat could create bigger, Iraq-style temptations for Trump – with drugs as the reason he eventually seizes on to take an ill-fated regime-change leap.“I’m talking

en

7:51

Venezuela, Mexico: Trump’s cartel military threats

Americas Decoded ·

2025/08/26

Opinion: President Donald Trump is threatening to unleash the U.S. military on drug cartels in Mexico and Venezuela — but sending troops to take down traffickers usually ends badly.On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, Tim Padgett looks at the longstanding U.S. urge to have the military fight Latin America’s drug cartels - and how Trump’s similar ‘shock and awe’ approach to D.C. is also misguided. Failed exploits by the Mexican military have only worsened the problems there and abroad, while

en

7:45

Milei’s Argentina shows Trump triumph without tariffs

Americas Decoded ·

2025/08/22

OPINION: Donald Trump admires Argentine President Javier Milei — so why is Trump pushing tariffs and economic policies so divorced from the ‘Milei Miracle’? WLRN’s Americas editor Tim Padgett continues to grimace at Milei’s vulgar and reactionary demagoguery, but admits that “his economic orthodoxy crusade has brought welcome order to Argentina’s fiscal chaos” and shows Trump that populist bullies can triumph without tariffs. On the latest episode of Americas Decoded, his online commentary series,

en

11 results

Similar Podcasts

Expres Ráno

Expres FM

PBS News Hour - Full Show

PBS News

CD Voice

China Daily

Israel Today: Ongoing War Report

Noa Levi

Jeffrey Epstein: The Coverup Chronicles

Bobby Capucci