On December 20, 1989, the United States invaded Panama with tens of thousands of troops. It was the largest U.S. invasion since Vietnam. The first U.S. military action since the fall of the Berlin Wall one month before. The testing ground for the Iraq wars. The U.S. invading forces destroyed 20,000 homes and killed hundreds of innocent Panamanians, dumping bodies into mass graves. 

And the United States government and the mainstream media ignored or whitewashed the violence. The story told to the people of the United States was that of a tremendous success. The liberation of the people of Panama. All in the name of democracy and the so-called war on drugs.

In this episode, host Michael Fox takes us to the working-class Panama City neighborhood of El Chorrillo, which received the brunt of the U.S. attack. He meets with Panamanians who have long fought for justice and visits a former U.S. military barracks that was the first home of the U.S. School of the Americas.

This is Episode 13.

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. 

In each episode, host Michael Fox takes us to a location where something historic happened—a landmark of revolutionary struggle or foreign intervention. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument, or a museum. But every place he takes us was once the site of history-making events that shook countries, impacted lives, and left deep marks on the world.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Guests:
John Lindsay Poland
Olmedo Beluche
Celia Sanjur
Gilma Camargo
Grahame Russell
Pedro Silva
Efrain Guerrero
Omar Gonzalez 

Edited by Heather Gies.

Sound design by Gustavo Türck.

Theme music by Monte Perdido and Michael Fox. Monte Perdido's new album Ofrenda is now out. You can listen to the full album on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music. 

Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Resources: 

Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of the U.S. in Panama (Duke, 2003), is John Lindsay Poland’s expose on the U.S. military involvement in Panama.

You can watch the documentary The Panama Deceptionhere. 

Here are links to Democracy Now! coverage looking back over the years at the U.S. invasion of Panama: here, here, and

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In December 1823, U.S. president James Monroe delivered his State of the Union address in which he coined what would become known as the Monroe Doctrine. It was a framework that would later be used to legitimize U.S. intervention up and down the hemisphere. 

But in those early days, Monroe’s statements were applauded by Latin American leaders as supporting their independence struggles. They were even embraced at Simón Bolívar’s Panama Congress of 1826.

In this episode, host Michael Fox travels to see what’s left of the former site of the Panama Congress, and then dives in to the past and present with Yale historian Greg Grandin.

They look at Simón Bolívar’s Panama Congress. But also Monroe and the legacy of U.S. imperialism in the region up until today, including U.S.-backed death squads, the Iran Contra scandal, Manifest Destiny, and so much more.

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. 

In each episode, host Michael Fox takes us to a location where something historic happened—a landmark of revolutionary struggle or foreign intervention. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument, or a museum. But every place he takes us was once the site of history-making events that shook countries, impacted lives, and left deep marks on the world.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

You can see pictures of the Simon Bolivar monument, in Panama City, here. 

Follow and support Michael Fox and Under the Shadow at https://www.patreon.com/mfox

You can follow historian Greg Grandin, on Twitter, here.

Below are links to Greg Grandin's books mentioned in the episode:

• The Blood of Guatemala: A History of Race and Nation (2000, Duke University Press Books)
• Empire's Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Making of an Imperial Republic (Holt, 2006)
• The Last Colonial Massacre: Latin America in the Cold War (2011, The University of Chicago) 
• Kissinger's Shadow: The Long Reach of America's Most Controversial Statesman (2016, MacMillan)

You can find more of Greg’s books here. 

Theme music by Monte Perdido.

Monte Perdido’s new album Ofrenda is out now. You can listen to the full album on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube, or wherever you listen to music.

Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Read NACLA: nacla.org
Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate
Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

Panama is, perhaps, the country in the region that has suffered under the longest U.S. shadow—right from the very beginning. The country and the canal would become the United States’ most important asset in the region. The United States installed as many as 100 military bases throughout Panama, during World War II, and it was the base of Washington’s Latin American military training apparatus.

Panama was the heart of the United States in Latin America, and, as we will see, the United States ripped apart the country to do it: cleared and flooded cities, installed its own walls and fences, segregated its new territory into an apartheid system on foreign soil.

In this episode, host Michael Fox walks us up from the beginning, and takes us to what was once the United States’ most important asset in Latin America. 

This is Episode 12.

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. 

In each episode, host Michael Fox takes us to a location where something historic happened—a landmark of revolutionary struggle or foreign intervention. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument, or a museum. But every place he takes us was once the site of history-making events that shook countries, impacted lives, and left deep marks on the world.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Guests:
John Lindsay Poland
Marixa Lasso
Olmedo Beluche
Celia Sanjur
Gilma Camargo
Claire Nevache-Weill

Edited by Heather Gies.

Sound design by Gustavo Türck.

Theme music by Monte Perdido and Michael Fox. Monte Perdido's new album Ofrenda is now out. You can listen to the full album on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.

Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Resources: 

Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of the U.S. in Panama (Duke, 2003), is John Lindsay Poland’s expose on the U.S. military involvement in Panama.

Erased: The Untold Story of the Panama Canal (Harvard University Press, 2019) is Marixa Lasso’s deep dive into the history of the Panamanian towns that were removed to make way for the Panama Canal Zone.

Read NACLA: nacla.org
Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate
Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

Costa Rica has been called the “Switzerland of Latin America.” In this episode, host Michael Fox takes us on a dive into this so-called peaceful and democratic beacon for a region beset by dictatorships and violence. He looks at the myth Costa Rica has created around the elimination of the military and how the United States did its utmost to encourage San José to do its bidding. 

This is Episode 11.

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. 

In each episode, host Michael Fox takes us to a location where something historic happened—a landmark of revolutionary struggle or foreign intervention. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument, or a museum. But every place he takes us was once the site of history-making events that shook countries, impacted lives, and left deep marks on the world.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Guests:
Ciska Raventós
David Díaz 
Ivan Molina
Rotsay Rosales
Gustavo Fuchs 

Edited by Heather Gies.

Sound design by Gustavo Türck.

Theme music by Monte Perdido and Michael Fox. Monte Perdido's new album Ofrenda is now out. You can listen to the full album on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.

Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

You can see pictures of Costa Rica’s National Museum and Butterfly Garden here.

Follow and support journalist Michael Fox and Under the Shadow, and listen to his new podcast Panamerican Dispatch at https://www.patreon.com/mfox

 Here’s the link for Kyle Longley’s book, Sparrow and the Hawk: Costa Rica and the United States during the Rise of Jose Figueres.

Read NACLA: nacla.org
Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate
Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

Noam Chomsky needs no introduction. He’s a celebrated linguist, who has long denounced U.S. empire at home and abroad. And he has a long relationship with Latin America.

Chomsky’s 1985 book, Turning the Tide: U.S. Intervention in Central America and the Struggle for Peace, was formative for many academics and activists analyzing the U.S. role in the region.

In 2012, NACLA awarded him the Latin America Peace and Justice Award for his ongoing commitment to social justice in the Americas.

Chomsky’s wife, Valeria Wasserman, is from Brazil. That’s where he is now. Chomsky suffered a stroke last year and was recently in a hospital in São Paulo, though he has since been released.

You can think of this as our small tribute to the great Noam Chomsky.

In this second bonus episode of Under the Shadow, host Michael Fox takes us to an October 26, 1983 lecture by Noam Chomsky, at the University of Colorado, on the impact of U.S. military intervention in Central America. It’s fascinating to look into what we knew then, even as the events were still unfolding, and hear the historical context from someone like Chomsky.

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. 

In each episode, host Michael Fox takes us to a location where something historic happened—a landmark of revolutionary struggle or foreign intervention. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument, or a museum. But every place he takes us was once the site of history-making events that shook countries, impacted lives, and left deep marks on the world.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

You can listen to the first episode of Michael Fox’s new podcast, Panamerican Dispatch, here.

Follow and support him and Under the Shadow at https://www.patreon.com/mfox

Theme music by Monte Perdido.

Monte Perdido’s new album Ofrenda is out now. You can listen to the full album on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube, or wherever you listen to music.

Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Many thanks to PM Press for their permission to showcase the clip from Noam Chomsky’s 1983 talk in today’s bonus episode.

You can find Noam Chomsky’s lectures, talks, and writings, through PM Press here and here.

Michael Fox’s documentary films and book collaborations with PM Press are available here.

Read NACLA: nacla.org
Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate
Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

In the late 1980s, British film director Alex Cox spent several months in Nicaragua filming his movie Walker, about the U.S. filibuster who invaded and took over the country in the mid-1800s.

As Cox puts it, he was trying to make “a revolutionary film in a revolutionary context." That did not go over well in Hollywood. The movie would get him blacklisted. Even today, you still can’t find the movie streaming.

In this bonus episode for Under the Shadow, host Michael Fox speaks with Cox about his 1987 movie Walker and his filming of the movie in Nicaragua in the 1980s. They also look at U.S. intervention and the film industry.

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. 

In each episode, host Michael Fox takes us to a location where something historic happened — a landmark of revolutionary struggle or foreign intervention. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument, or a museum. But every place he takes us was once the site of history-making events that shook countries, impacted lives, and left deep marks on the world.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Guests:
Alex Cox 

You can listen to the first episode of Michael Fox’s new podcast, Panamerican Dispatch, here.

Follow and support him and Under the Shadow, at https://www.patreon.com/mfox

Theme music by Monte Perdido and Michael Fox. 

Monte Perdido's new album Ofrenda is now out. You can listen to the full album on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.

Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Here is the Trailer to Alex Cox’s movie Walker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XImi7fT7-J0

You can purchase the DVD to the movie Walker, here: https://www.amazon.com/Walker-Criterion-Collection-Marlee-Matlin/dp/B000ZM1MJ6

You can hear Joe Strummer’s soundtrack to Walker, here. 

And, if you liked this episode, don’t forget to check out Episode 8 of Under the Shadow that looks back on William Walker.

Read NACLA: nacla.org
Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate
Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

In the early 1980s, U.S. President Ronald Reagan launched a covert war to destroy the fledgling Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua. It was brutal: paramilitary war, CIA attacks, economic blockade, and more. 

The war wreaked havoc on the country, killing tens of thousands and ravaging the economy. But an international solidarity movement stood up in response. Meanwhile, the Reagan government's hubris and drive to fuel its war on Nicaragua broke U.S. laws and led to a shocking scandal in Washington: the Iran Contra affair.

In this episode, host Michael Fox walks back into the 1980s, diving into the U.S. response to Nicaragua’s revolution and the international solidarity that pushed back against Washington’s intervention. 

This is Part 2 of Episode 10. 

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. 

In each episode, host Michael Fox takes us to a location where something historic happened—a landmark of revolutionary struggle or foreign intervention. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument, or a museum. But every place he takes us was once the site of history-making events that shook countries, impacted lives, and left deep marks on the world.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Guests:
Alex Aviña
William Robinson
Alex Cox
Marvin Ortega Rodriguez
Eline Van Ommen
Peter Kornbluh
Coleen Littlejohn
Grahame Russell
Jose Francisco Artola

Edited by Heather Gies.

Sound design by Gustavo Türck.

Theme music by Monte Perdido and Michael Fox. Monte Perdido's new album Ofrenda is now out. You can listen to the full album on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.

Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Follow and support journalist Michael Fox or Under the Shadow at https://www.patreon.com/mfox

You can also see pictures and listen to full clips of Michael Fox’s music for this episode.

See the full show notes here: https://nacla.org/under-shadow-episode-10-part-ii 

Read NACLA: nacla.org
Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate
Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

The 1979 Nicaraguan revolution that overthrew a brutal U.S.-backed dictator ushered in a wave of hope in the Central American country. The new Sandinista government launched literacy and healthcare campaigns, carried out land reform and promised to improve the lives of all. 

But the United States, under President Ronald Reagan, feared the dominos would fall across Central America, and they unleashed assault on the country: paramilitary war, CIA attacks, economic blockade, and much more.

In this episode, host Michael Fox walks back into the 1980s, to the overthrow of dictator Anastasio Somoza and the beginning of both the Sandinista government and the U.S. response.

This is Part 1 of Episode 10.

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. 

In each episode, host Michael Fox takes us to a location where something historic happened—a landmark of revolutionary struggle or foreign intervention. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument, or a museum. But every place he takes us was once the site of history-making events that shook countries, impacted lives, and left deep marks on the world.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Guests:
Alex Aviña
William Robinson
Marvin Ortega Rodriguez
Eline Van Ommen
Peter Kornbluh

Edited by Heather Gies.
Sound design by Gustavo Türck.
Theme music by Monte Perdido and Michael Fox 
Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Follow and support journalist Michael Fox or Under the Shadow at https://www.patreon.com/mfox
You can also see pictures and listen to full clips of Michael Fox’s music for this episode.

For declassified documents on the U.S. Contra war on Nicaragua and the Iran Contra affair, you can visit Peter Kornbluh's National Security Archives here and here.

Eline van Ommen’s book, Nicaragua Must Survive: Sandinista Revolutionary Diplomacy in the Global Cold War (University of California Press, 2023), is available here.

For the 2007 documentary American Sandinista, you can visit the website of director Jason Blalock. jasonblalock.com

Here are links to the 1980 documentaries about Nicaragua's literacy campaign that I mention in this episode: La Salida and La Llegada.

Read NACLA: nacla.org
Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate
Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

In 1912, the United States invaded Nicaragua and began what would become the longest U.S. occupation in Latin American history. The occupation would birth both a dictatorship and one of Latin America’s most important revolutionary heroes: Augusto Sandino.

Sandino would wage a six-year-long guerrilla insurgency to rid Nicaragua of the U.S. Marines. And he would win. The United States finally pulled out in 1933, the year before Sandino was assassinated by the forces of the man who would take power and rule for decades.

In this episode, host Michael Fox takes us on the trail of Augusto Sandino. We visit his hometown and then speak with University of Pittsburgh historian Michel Gobat about Sandino’s life, the U.S. occupation, and how it set the scene for everything that would come decades later, including the 1979 Sandinista Revolution.

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. 

In each episode, host Michael Fox takes us to a location where something historic happened — a landmark of revolutionary struggle or foreign intervention. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument, or a museum. But every place he takes us was once the site of history-making events that shook countries, impacted lives, and left deep marks on the world.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Guests:
Michel Gobat

Edited by Heather Gies.

Sound design by Gustavo Türck.

Theme music by Monte Perdido and Michael Fox 

Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Follow and support journalist Michael Fox or Under the Shadow at https://www.patreon.com/mfox

For background, see Michel Gobat’s book Confronting the American Dream: Nicaragua under U.S. Imperial Rule (2005, Duke University Press)

Read NACLA: nacla.org
Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate
Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA

William Walker was a journalist, lawyer, and physician from Nashville, Tennessee, who in 1855 invaded Nicaragua with a few dozen troops and conquered the country.

At the time, he was one of thousands of private U.S. citizens who had their sights set on taking over foreign nations, all in the name of Manifest Destiny.

In this episode, host Michael Fox retraces the footsteps of William Walker as he recounts one of the most twisted stories of U.S. imperialism in Central America—a story that still has lasting repercussions for Latin America, the United States, and across the world.

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.

In each episode, host Michael Fox takes us to a location where something historic happened—a landmark of revolutionary struggle or foreign intervention. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument, or a museum. But every place he takes us was once the site of history-making events that shook countries, impacted lives, and left deep marks on the world.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Guests:
Michel Gobat
David Díaz

Many thanks to Victor Acuña

Edited by Heather Gies.
Sound design by Gustavo Türck.
Theme music by Monte Perdido and Michael Fox
Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Follow and support journalist Michael Fox or Under the Shadow at www.patreon.com/mfox. You can also see pictures and listen to full clips of Michael Fox’s music for this episode.

For background, see Michel Gobat’s book Empire by Invitation: William Walker and Manifest Destiny in Central America(2018, Harvard University Press)

Read NACLA: nacla.org
Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate
Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA