WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean

Welcome to WTF is Going on in Latin America & The Caribbean, a PopularResistance broadcast featuring hot news out of the region with host Teri Mattson. Each weekly episode features a country and/or issue related to the affects of U.S. foreign, economic and/or military influence and intervention in the hemisphere of The Americas. Our guests include academics, policy-makers, journalists as well as activists recognized for their groundwork within local communities and movements.

WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean broadcasts Thursdays at 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET on multiple live platforms including: CODEPINK YouTube Live, TheConvoCouch and Facebook Live via PopularResistance.org You can also find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Telegram and RadIndieMedia.com

WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean broadcasts in partnership with CODEPINK, Common Frontiers, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Friends of Latin America, InterReligious Task Force on Central America, Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas. Learn more about how to become a WTF Broadcast Partner here.

Follow host Teri Mattson:

Contact:
Teri Mattson – terimattson2017@gmail.com

Mexico’s Fourth Transformation And Why The US Wants To Stop It

It is this democracy that must be defended now: not, as media outlets would have you believe, from AMLO, but from those who would weaponize the electoral issue to justify a disastrous foreign intervention, in whatever form it might ultimately take. Although the 4T has not fulfilled everyone’s expectations, it has, in four years, created a governing movement that is taking control of its energy resources (including the nationalization of lithium) and is adopting a role of regional leadership in Latin America: two sins the United States has not historically forgiven anywhere.

Colombia-Total Peace And The Fight To Free All Political Prisoners

In April 2021, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Colombia to demand change. They rejected decades of state violence and deepening inequality. Over the course of three months, the largest protest in Colombian history spread to over 800 municipalities throughout the country. The months-long protests played a huge role in creating the conditions for the election of Gustavo Petro and Francia Marquez.

Changes are afoot in Colombia, and the inauguration of President Gustavo Petro and Vice President Francia Marquez on August 7, 2022 marks an important shift away from decades of political repression.

Devastating Effects Of Militarization On Puerto Rico And Her People

The U.S. has been overtly and covertly intervening in Puerto Rico’s internal affairs since 1898. Like the Spanish, British, Dutch, and the French, the U.S. understood the strategic value of the Puerto Rican archipelago, which would give their expanding empire a military advantage toward enforcing the Monroe Doctrine, thereby securing its established intent to dominate the Western Hemisphere.

A new wave of militarization began soon after the change of colonial ownership, the implications of which would devastate the island municipalities of Culebra and Vieques. Culebra was militarized in 1901 and expelled the Navy in 1975. Vieques was militarized in 1941 and expelled the Navy in 2003.

Peru – More Than Statistics

In today’s episode, WTF host Teri Mattson shares some of the key findings of the Preliminary Report of the International Mission of Solidarity and Human Rights Delegation which arrived in Peru on February 7, 2023 and deployed its work in the country until the 13th of the same month. Teri was one of 19 human rights observers comprising the delegation.

A Conversation With Human Rights Activists In Peru

On December 7, 2022 a right-wing coup removed Perú’s President Pedro Castillo Terrones from power. The predominantly poor indigenous rural and Amazonian communities resoundingly and overwhelmingly voted for Castillo, rejecting outright the neoliberal regime installed by the previous governments. Violence not seen since the Alberto Fujimori dictatorship (1990-2000), has been led by the Peruvian Armed Forces, under orders of coup-leader Dina Boluarte, the Fujimorista Fuerza Popular Party, and other political factions.

It’s been over 67 days since the parliamentary coup led by the right-wing forces of Fuerza Popular with their puppet Dina Boluarte, now commonly referred to as “usurper assassin,” at the helm.

‘So They Can See Us’: Peru’s National Protest Advances To Lima

Deadly protests have gripped Peru since Congress expelled the country’s first working-class president, Pedro Castillo.

Timeline of events since December 7, 2022:

Dec 7, 2022: The surprise winner of the July 2021 presidential election, Castillo comes under immediate attack from the right. On December 7 he attempts to dissolve Congress before it can debate a third impeachment motion against him and says he will form an emergency government and rule by decree.

Dec 7: Lawmakers vote overwhelmingly to remove him from office for “moral incapacity” to exercise power.

He is arrested for “rebellion”.

Vice President Dina Boluarte becomes Peru’s first woman president.

She says she intends to serve out the rest of Castillo’s term, until July 2026.

The United States pledges to work with Boluarte.

Daily movement news and resources