Farmers Describe Torture From US-Ecuadorian Joint Military Operation
Just a day after President Donald Trump suggested that he’d use his crushing economic blockade in a bid to “take” Cuba, an administration official said much more American warfare is on the horizon across Latin America. It’s called “Operation Total Extermination,” according to Joseph M. Humire, the acting assistant secretary of war for homeland defense and Americas security affairs…
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Ecuador Is Suspending the Bank Accounts of Environmental Activists
It was a sweltering January afternoon in the Amazonian town of Puyo when Andrés Tapia realized his daughter’s public school fees were due. Like many Ecuadorians, he reached for his phone to make a mobile transfer. Carrying cash is too risky these days. Ecuador is in the grip of an ongoing security crisis, with transnational criminal organizations spilling in from neighboring Colombia and…
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The Donroe Coalition: Trump’s new right-wing military alliance
At least 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are on board with Trump’s new military alliance. They are calling it the America’s Counter Cartel Coalition. Latin America’s top right-wing leaders are involved, including El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele and Argentina’s Javier Milei. They met in Florida for the event, on March 7.
The United States has promised to use lethal force to destroy cartels and narco-traffickers in those nations. Kristi Noem, the former head of Homeland Security, is the new special envoy for the coalition.
This is a new phase of Trump’s plan for Latin America. Trump’s Donroe Doctrine—Monroe 2.0. The first was the offensive against his enemies in the region. Now Trump is shoring up his allies, and building a coalition where the US military can continue to take action, now in collaboration with countries allied with Trump. We’ve already begun to see this unfold in Ecuador.
This is Episode 8 of Under the Shadow, Season 2.
Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present. Season 2 responds in real time to the Trump administration’s onslaught on Latin America.
Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.
Many thanks to Belly of the Beast for the interview with Liz Oliva Fernandez and the use of the sound from several of their videos.
This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.
Theme music by Michael Fox’s band, Monte Perdido. Monte Perdido’s 2024 album Ofrenda is available on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.
Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.
Script editing by Heather Gies. Hosted,
Trump to Host Right-Wing Leaders at Summit to Promote His “Donroe Doctrine”
For nearly three years the Dominican Republic had been excitedly preparing to host the region’s biggest multilateral event: the 2025 Summit of the Americas, bringing together the leaders of nearly every government in the Western Hemisphere. But on November 3rd, only a month before the summit was to take place, the DR’s foreign ministry abruptly announced the postponement of the event citing…
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Ecuador Foreign Ministry Slams ICE for Trying to Enter Consulate in Minneapolis
Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry filed a formal note of protest on Tuesday after a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent tried to enter the South American nation’s consulate in Minneapolis before being stopped by a staffer inside the building. In a statement released following the incident, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry said an ICE agent “attempted to enter the consulate premises,”…
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