Latino USA

This week, we’re presenting the third of “The Network,” a new series that Latino USA co-produced with NPR’s Embedded podcast. 

The network and its method took off in countries where women didn’t have a legal option for abortion. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, many Americans have found themselves in that very situation.

We travel to the US to see how the network is responding to exploding demand and mounting abortion restr...

Today, we're presenting episode 2 of “The Network,” a new series that Latino USA co-produced with NPR’s Embedded podcast. 

The network had developed a method that had the potential to get women widespread access to safe abortions. But to make that happen, a whisper network wasn’t enough. 

Hosts Marta and Victoria travel across Latin America to trace how the network entered a new era. Women spoke up and teamed up. They challe...

This week we’re presenting the first episode of “The Network,” a new series that Latino USA co-produced with NPR’s Embedded podcast. 

In the mid-1980s, an OBGYN in Brazil noticed that far fewer pregnant women at his hospital were dying from abortion complications. 

It wasn’t a coincidence. 

Brazilian women had made a discovery that allowed them to safely have abortions at home, despite the country’s abortion restrictions. Tha...

In the news this week: On June 6, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began a series of raids in Los Angeles, and their actions were the boiling point after months of violent apprehensions. 

Protests grew and the federal government sent unsolicited troops as a response, which only heightened tensions. We speak with Cal Matters reporter Sergio Olmos about the administration’s excessive crackdown, how we got here, and ...

“I'm waiting for my baby with the greatest love in the world, but with all these problems.” 

Latino USA spoke with a pregnant Venezuelan woman who is part of a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s efforts to end birthright citizenship. This month, the Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on whether Trump can deny the baby’s constitutional right. This massive shift in our constitution would change a baby’s life, and l...

Long before Latin music ruled the airwaves and charts, Tejano was king… and there was one man at the center of it all: Johnny Canales.

His impact on the music industry is undeniable. Johnny helped Selena Quintanilla skyrocket to success and he helped make many other Tejano artists highly visible.

In this episode, Maria Hinojosa sits down with Adrian Arredondo and Myrna Perez, the directors of “Take It Away: The Rise and Fall...

This Pride Month, come celebrate Frank's big day.

As a young boy, Frank Rojas watched his older sister shine at her quinceañera. He secretly longed for a celebration of his own, but knew that these coming of age parties were only for girls.

Now, two decades later, the culture has changed and more boys are having their own quiceañeros. So Frank is throwing himself a double quince on his 30th birthday. On his own terms, but no...

After the Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional, a flurry of re-sentencings followed across the country. But for juvenile lifers in Tennessee, it was like nothing happened. What followed were several legal battles, culminating in a Tennessee Supreme Court decision that ultimately ruled the state’s sentencing unconstitutional. The Republican-led state legislature responded by ...

“I am a political prisoner,” Jeanette Vizguerra said in an exclusive interview from inside a detention facility. She’s been a symbol of resistance for the immigrants rights movement since 2017 when she was recognized as one of Time’s 100 most influential people, after seeking sanctuary in a church to avoid deportation.

She remained an outspoken activist and in March 2025 she was detained by ICE.

In this episode we also hear ...

If some Latinos hear la doctora, it doesn’t evoke the image of a medical doctor. Instead, it’s that of a Cuban American attorney-turned-show host who sings her own theme song.

In 2001, Doctora Polo had been practicing family law for over 20 years in Miami when she was hired to host a new court show on Telemundo that would later become Caso Cerrado. It often aired for multiple hours a day on Telemundo and was nominated for a...

Two years ago, 18-year-old Lisbeth Bencosme was shot four times on a sidewalk in Harlem. She was a new mom at the time, and it was her faja, a staple postpartum girdle for many Latinas, that would keep her alive until medics arrived. In this episode, we meet Lisbeth, a true badass New Yorker who takes us on her path healing from gun violence and postpartum depression, in a country where there’s little support for either.

La...

After World War II, Puerto Ricans began settling in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, drawn by economic opportunities among Mennonite farming communities. Several generations later, they’re honoring their history and reclaiming their identity as “Dutchiricans” within the Mennonite church—and beyond. 

Today, the story of a Dutchirican matriarch —from her family’s migration from Puerto Rico to their adoption of the Mennonite faith—...

In the news this week: Pope Leo XIV, or Papa León 14, has been selected to lead the Catholic Church and its 1.4 billion congregation worldwide. And on his first moment in a global spotlight, he chose to speak… Spanish. 

Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago but spent most of his life as a missionary and bishop in Peru, where he has citizenship. He’s the first-ever pope from the U.S. and the second from the Americas, wh...

In the early 70s, Miguel Angel Villavicencio was focused on making his most ambitious dream possible: to become a famous singer in Bolivia and across the world. And he was halfway there—his love songs were on the radio and he was appearing on TV. But to take his singing career truly international, he needed money. So he decided to work for Bolivia’s most powerful drug cartel in the 80s—a major supplier for Pablo Escobar. C...

The National TPS Alliance and seven plaintiffs, including Temporary Protected Status holder Cecilia González, recently sued the Trump administration for illegally terminating TPS for about 600,000 Venezuelans. Though a federal judge temporarily blocked the termination, the legal fight to defend the status, and to advocate for long-term immigration reform, continues.

Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio p...

Pope Francis, history’s only Latin American pope, died on April 21st. As the cardinals of the world set to choose a new leader, we look back on Francisco's papacy, his most praised achievements and his most criticized shortcomings. Plus, how his leadership may influence the church for years to come. Guest host Fernanda Echavarri speaks with professor and feminist theologian Natalia Imperatori-Lee and Argentinian-American j...

What began as an ordinary traffic stop for Kilmar Abrego Garcia escalated into a nightmare at the center of a Supreme Court decision. The immigrant Maryland father was deported to El Salvador’s mega prison because of an “administrative error.” But even at the Supreme Court’s direction, the Trump administration has still not brought Kilmar back.

This case has tipped the scales: “We are in a moment of constitutional crisis.”

W...

This week, Latino USA shares episode 2 of Suave: Season 2. 

Suave can’t drink. He can’t smoke weed. He can’t travel. He can’t visit old prison friends, or basically have any interaction with the police. And that’s because even though he’s free, he’s on parole for a lifetime. In other words, he’s just serving his prison sentence on the outside. Sometimes all these rules make Suave ask himself, “Will I ever really be free?”

Fo...

This week, Latino USA shares episode 1 of Suave: Season 2. 

Years have passed since Season One, and Suave is thriving. He’s got a great job. He’s on the news for his work on prison reform. He’s even got a new nickname on the block: Mr. Pulitzer. Suave is doing what he always dreamed of – and he’s making a real difference. It almost seems like “happily ever after.” Or is it? 

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