A Yuletide treat recalls Venezuela’s Christmas past

by Tim Padgett December 15, 2017

Hallacas are unique among the other tamales popular in Latin America.

People cross a bridge over a rushing river as part of evacuations during Hurricane Matthew Oct. 4, 2016 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNS photo/Orlando Barria, EPA).

Dispatches, Politics & Society

End of Temporary Protected Status could send 50,000 back to Haiti

by Tim Padgett November 16, 2017

A cholera epidemic, last year’s Hurricane Matthew and political upheaval have made Haiti a dicey place to return to.

The U.S. Embassy in Havana (CNS photo/Alejandro Ernesto, EPA)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Unsolved ‘sonic attacks’ mystery sours U.S.-Cuba relations

by Tim Padgett October 15, 2017

The alleged attacks started last fall and initially targeted U.S. agents stationed at the U.S. embassy in Havana.

People move through flooded streets in Havana after the passage of Hurricane Irma, in Cuba, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

In Irma’s U.S. death toll, which Americans count?

by Tim Padgett September 15, 2017

Caribbean islands rarely get the Anderson Cooper treatment on cable news.

Dispatches, Politics & Society

A lesson from Pope Francis for Miami’s gridlocked roads

by Tim Padgett August 17, 2017

South Florida may be known for its beaches, but it is also notorious for traffic and road rage.

Opposition members wave a Venezuelan flag outside a poll station during a symbolic referendum in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 16. Venezuela's opposition called for a massive turnout Sunday in a symbolic rejection of President Nicolas Maduro's plan to rewrite the constitution, a proposal that's escalating tensions in a nation stricken by widespread shortages and more than 100 days of anti-government protests. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Can Pope Francis help Venezuela step back from the edge?

by Tim Padgett July 17, 2017

Rome is urging Venezuela President Maduro and his Chavistas to hold the elections they are now blocking, release hundreds of political prisoners like Mr. López and restore the democratic separation of powers they have mowed down.

The infamous garage octopus. Photo courtesy of Richard Conlin.

Dispatches, Politics & Society

As sea waters rise, Miami begins elevated development

by Tim Padgett June 16, 2017

Rising seas due to global warming have rendered the coastal high-water marks more obsolete by the day. That is especially true in the Miami area, which every media report on sea-level rise seems to profile as ground zero for deluge doom.

Demonstrators in San Juan last June protest against creditors trying to take control of the island nation's assets. (CNS photo/Thais Llorca, EPA)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Is statehood a way out of Puerto Rico’s fiscal crisis?

by Tim Padgett May 16, 2017

“Puerto Rico’s problem is that it’s an island of U.S. citizens who don’t have citizens’ rights—to vote in U.S. elections or have voting representatives in Congress.”