Under the Shadow

In June 2009, Honduras faced a devastating coup that shattered the country’s fragile democracy and sunk the country into violence, repression, and a decade-long narco-dictatorship.

But the people fought back.

In this continuation of Episode 7, host Michael Fox looks at the fallout of the 2009 coup in Honduras, walking from 2009 into the present. He takes us to Tegucigalpa to dive into the fraudulent U.S.-backed elections that ushered in a narco-dictatorship, and also the resistance movement that, after years of struggle, ultimately did what it set out to do: remove the dictatorship and return democracy to Honduras.

This is Part 2 of a two-part episode looking at the 2009 coup in Honduras and the aftermath.
Under the Shadow is a new 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:
Bertha Oliva, COFADEH
Grahame Russell, Rights Action
Adrienne Pine
Felix Molina
Jesse Freeston
Karen Spring
Alex Main, CEPR

Edited by Heather Gies.
Sound design by Gustavo Türck.
Voice Actors: Andalusia K. Soloff
Theme music by Monte Perdido. Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

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

Click here, to watch Jesse Freeston’s documentary, ResistenciaResistance, about the campesino struggle in the Aguan Valley.

Karen Spring is has been covering the New York trial of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernáandez. Visit Honduras Now for updates, or follow @springkj and @HondurasNow on Twitter.

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In June 2009, Honduras faced a devastating coup that shattered the country’s fragile democracy and sunk the country into violence, repression, and a decade-long narco-dictatorship. But the people fought back.

In this episode, host Michael Fox dives into the tremendous resistance to the 2009 coup. He also looks at the government of Manuel Zelaya, the Latin America Pink Tide movement of the 2000s, and the push back from Honduran elites and the United States. This is Part 1 of a two-part episode looking at the 2009 coup in Honduras and the aftermath.

Under the Shadow is a new 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:
Bertha Oliva, COFADEH
Grahame Russell, Rights Action
Adrienne Pine
Felix Molina
Jesse Freeston
Karen Spring
Alex Main, CEPR

Edited by Heather Gies.
Sound design by Gustavo Türck.
Voice Actors: Andalusia K. Soloff
Theme music by Monte Perdido. Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

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


Click here to watch Jesse Freeston’s documentary, Resistance, about the campesino struggle in the Aguan Valley. Karen Spring is currently covering the New York trial of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez. Visit Honduras Now for updates, or follow @springkj and @HondurasNow on Twitter.

The Real News Network
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In the 1980s, Honduras was ground zero for US operations in Central America—it was the primary point from which the US would wage its proxy wars and launch its interventionist operations across the region in the name of “fighting communism.” The 1954 CIA coup in Guatemala, which we explored in Episode 2 of Under the Shadow, was staged from Honduras. It was the main base of operations where US forces trained, funded, and backed Contras in their war against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government. And today, Honduras is home to the Soto Cano Air Base, previously known as Palmerola, the largest US military base in Central America. One of the largest in Latin America.

Within Honduran society itself, that meant squashing any revolutionary activity that could destabilize this key US ally and its strategic importance for US imperial operations. The impact on the country was tremendous: massacres, disappearances, many at the hands of an elite US-trained death squad known as Battalion 316. “There was a lot of repression. A huge military presence,” says Karla Lara, a Honduran journalist and well-known singer.

In this episode, host Michael Fox takes us to present-day Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, then we descend back in time to one of darkest periods in Honduran history. Fox visits Honduran family members of the disappeared and walks right up to the walls of the Soto Cano Air Base.

Under the Shadow is a new 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:
Bertha Oliva, COFADEH
Adrienne Pine
Karla Lara
Grahame Russell, Rights Action

Edited by Heather Gies.
Sound design by Gustavo Türck.
Voice Actors: Andalusia K. Soloff
Theme music by Monte Perdido. Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

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

The Real News Network
Donate: therealnews.com/uts-pod-donate
Sign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/uts-pod-subscribe
Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/under-the-shadow--5958129/support.

Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Help us continue producing Under the Shadow by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

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Twitter: @TheRealNews
YouTube: @therealnews
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El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has been reelected. While the official results aren’t yet in, with 70% of the ballots counted, Bukele has received an astounding 83% of the votes. He declared victory on Sunday night over X (formerly Twitter).

Under the Shadow host Michael Fox was on the ground for the election. He takes us there, and sits down for an in-depth conversation with Dartmouth assistant professor of Latin American Studies Jorge Cuellar. They look at the vote. Concerns for the country’s democracy. Bukele’s reelection, his image, plans, and what it all means going forward.

Under the Shadow is a new investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, to tell 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.

Recorded in San Salvador, El Salvador

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

Guests: Jorge Cuellar.

Sound design by Gustavo Türck.

Theme music by Monte Perdido. Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

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

Use of Michael’s election day report, courtesy of the The World.

The Real News Network
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Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Help us continue producing Under the Shadow by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

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Guatemala's new president Bernardo Arévalo was inaugurated on January 14. But it did not come off without a hitch. Outgoing opposition lawmakers did their best to try to stymie the swearing-in of Arévalo and some of his party members. Arévalo’s supporters rallied in Guatemala City.

As we looked at in Episode 2, Bernardo Arévalo is the son of Guatemala's first democratic leader Juan José Arévalo, who ushered in the Guatemalan Spring. Bernardo Arévalo has promised to lift Guatemala once again, but… even after winning the election, he faced constant legal maneuvers, led by the attorney general, that aimed to overturn the results and block his inauguration.

In this update to our reporting on Guatemala, host Michael Fox speaks with political scientist Jo-Marie Burt. She was on the ground in Guatemala City for Arévalo’s inauguration. In this update, she takes us there, and looks at what it means for Arévalo’s incoming government.

Under the Shadow is a new investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, to tell 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: Jo-Marie Burt.

Edited by Heather Gies and Maximillian Alvarez.

Sound design by Gustavo Türck.

Theme music by Monte Perdido. Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

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

The Real News Network
Donate: therealnews.com/uts-pod-donate
Sign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/uts-pod-subscribe
Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/under-the-shadow--5958129/support.

Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Help us continue producing Under the Shadow by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

Follow us on:
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Today, we look at Radio Venceremos — a grassroots guerrilla radio that broadcast throughout El Salvador’s Civil War, denounced violent state repression, and inspired a nation.
In this episode, Michael Fox travels to San Salvador, where he visits the Museum of Word and Image, the home of the archives of Radio Venceremos. He hears from former members of the radio about the revolutionary project and the U.S. and Salvadoran military attempts to shut it down.
We look at what the museum means today, and also at its struggle to protect and preserve the past.

Under the Shadow is a new investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, to tell 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:
Carlos Henríquez Consalvi ("Santiago")
Carlos Colorado
Lucio Vásquez ("Chiyo")
Jorge E. Cuéllar
Michael Beattie
Karla Lara

Edited by Heather Gies and Maximillian Alvarez.

Sound design by Gustavo Türck.

Voice Actors: Marc Steiner & Jasial Noor

Theme music by Monte Perdido. Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Chiyo and host Michael Fox performed two original songs that appear in this podcast. You can listen here and here.

You can read Chiyo’s book, Siete Gorriones, here https://www.academia.edu/43531929/Siete_Gorriones

Documentary sound and Radio Venceremos archives and images are courtesy of the Museum of Word and Image.

You can visit them at https://museo.com.sv/ or follow on Instagram @museodelapalabraylaimagen and Twitter @tejiendomemoria.

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

The Real News Network
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Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/under-the-shadow--5958129/support.

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1980s El Salvador was ground zero for the US intervention in Central America. The United States would funnel over $6 billion US dollars to El Salvador in mostly military aid and police and security training throughout the country’s 12-year civil war, which would last from 1980 until 1992.

The violence and the US support for the country's bloody authoritarian regimes would have a deadly cost, claiming the lives of tens of thousands of innocent victims.

In this episode, journalist Michael Fox heads to San Salvador where he visits a memorial for the innocent victims and looks at the legacy of El Salvador's civil war today.

Under the Shadow is a new investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time to tell 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 (North American Congress on Latin America).

Edited by Heather Gies and Jocelyn Dombroski.

Sound design by Gustavo Türck.
Theme music by Monte Perdido.
Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Additional links:

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

Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate
Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA
Like NACLA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nacla/

Help The Real News Network continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:

Donate: therealnews.com/uts-pod-donate
Sign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/uts-pod-subscribe

Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/under-the-shadow--5958129/support.

Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Help us continue producing Under the Shadow by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

Follow us on:
Bluesky: @therealnews.com
Facebook: The Real News Network
Twitter: @TheRealNews
YouTube: @therealnews
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In the third episode of Under the Shadow, host Michael Fox visits a memorial for the disappeared on the outskirts of the Guatemalan town of San Juan Comalapa. Then, he walks back in time to the 1980s, into the country’s genocide of Indigenous peoples—and the overwhelming support for the violence that came from the United States and then-President Ronald Reagan in the name of fighting the so-called “communist threat.”

Between 1962-1996, 200,000 Guatemalans were killed and 45,000 were forcibly disappeared. For the majority of families, the whereabouts of those lost loved ones are still unknown, even decades after security forces abducted them. Most of the victims of the conflict were Indigenous. Most of the perpetrators were members of government forces.

Later in the episode, we walk back to present day and look ahead to the upcoming inauguration of new Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo, the son of the country’s first democratic president, who will be sworn in on January 14, 2024.

Under the Shadow is a new investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time to tell 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 (North American Congress on Latin America).

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

Many thanks to filmmaker Pamela Yates for allowing us to use clips of her award winning documentary When the Mountains Tremble in this podcast. Her Guatemala documentaries are being rereleased this year. You can find out more at https://skylight.is/.

Additional links:

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

Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate
Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA
Like NACLA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nacla/

Help The Real News Network continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:

Donate: therealnews.com/uts-pod-donate
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Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/under-the-shadow--5958129/support.

Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Help us continue producing Under the Shadow by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

Follow us on:
Bluesky: @therealnews.com
Facebook: The Real News Network
Twitter: @TheRealNews
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In the second episode of Under the Shadow, host Michael Fox digs into the past to examine the outsized role one US banana corporation, United Fruit, played in shaping the history of modern Central America. While literally walking in the footsteps of those who worked at United Fruit’s former central Guatemalan operation in the town of Tiquisate, Fox goes in search of the legacy of the company today. Then, like taking an elevator to the past, Fox takes us to the heyday of United Fruit’s economic dominance, and to the 1954 CIA coup that overthrew Guatemala’s democratically elected president in the name of “anti-communism” and the preservation of US corporate interests (namely, the interests of United Fruit).

Later in the episode, and more in the next episode, we return to present day to look at the upcoming inauguration of new Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo, the son of the country’s first democratic president, who will be sworn in on Jan. 14, 2024.

Under the Shadow is a new investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time to tell 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 (North American Congress on Latin America).

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

Additional links:

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

Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate
Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA
Like NACLA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nacla/

Help The Real News Network continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:

Donate: therealnews.com/uts-pod-donate
Sign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/uts-pod-subscribe

Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/under-the-shadow--5958129/support.

Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Help us continue producing Under the Shadow by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

Follow us on:
Bluesky: @therealnews.com
Facebook: The Real News Network
Twitter: @TheRealNews
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Two hundred years ago, on December 2, 1823, then-president James Monroe delivered his State of the Union address to Congress. In his address, he laid out what would become both one of the most consequential and devastating ideas for Latin America—the Monroe Doctrine.

We look back on the history of the Monroe Doctrine and the devastating impact on the region. The list of US invasions, occupations, coups, and sanctions is endless. Hundreds. From Mexico to Panama. The Caribbean. Colombia to the tip of Chile and Argentina. No country in Latin America has remained free from the shadow hanging over them. The shadow of the United States. The shadow of the Monroe Doctrine.

In the second half of the episode, we meet migrants walking North toward the United States on the edge of Central America. A very real manifestation, right now, of the never-ending impact of US intervention in Latin America.

Under the Shadow is a new investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time to tell 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.

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

Additional links:

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

The clip from Democracy Now! looking at the 200th Anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSO-t49t198

Support NACLA: nacla.org/donate
Follow NACLA on X: https://twitter.com/NACLA
Like NACLA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nacla/

Help The Real News Network continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:

Donate: therealnews.com/uts-pod-donate
Sign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/uts-pod-subscribe

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Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/under-the-shadow--5958129/support.

Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Help us continue producing Under the Shadow by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

Follow us on:
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Facebook: The Real News Network
Twitter: @TheRealNews
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