Under the Shadow
A podcast on US intervention and revolutionary resistance in Latin America, and all the ghosts that still linger, from independent journalist Michael Fox. Co-produced by The Real News Network and NACLA (North American Congress on Latin America). Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/under-the-shadow--5958129/support.
Episodes
July 23, 2025 • 5 mins
Hi folks, this is Michael Fox, the host of Under the Shadow. If you've enjoyed this series, you will be happy to know that I’ll be bringing you Season 2 next year. Over the last year, I’ve been traveling across South America and this season will be a deep dive into the dictatorships of the 1970s, Plan Condor, the fight for justice and memory today, and of course, the role of the United States. But before we get there, I wanted to l...
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September 5, 2024 • 54 mins
On December 20, 1989, the United States invaded Panama with tens of thousands of troops. It was the largest US invasion since Vietnam. The first US military action since the fall of the Berlin Wall one month before. The testing ground for the Iraq Wars. The US 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 ...
And the United States government and the mainstream media ...
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August 13, 2024 • 64 mins
In December 1823, US 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 US 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 Simon Bolivar’s Panama C...
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August 6, 2024 • 60 mins
On Sunday, July 28th, President Nicolas Maduro won reelection there. According to the country’s national electoral council, he took 51% of votes over 44% for his rival Edmundo González Urrutia.
But the opposition called fraud, claiming that they actually won the vote. Most international media have been on board with that narrative. In fact, the United States, and several other right-wing led Latin American countries have now recogni...
But the opposition called fraud, claiming that they actually won the vote. Most international media have been on board with that narrative. In fact, the United States, and several other right-wing led Latin American countries have now recogni...
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July 23, 2024 • 56 mins
Panama is, perhaps, the country in Central America that has suffered under the longest US shadow, right from the very beginning. The country and its famous canal would grow to become the United States's most important asset in the region. During World War II, the US installed as many as 100 military bases throughout Panama, and it was the base of Washington’s Latin American military training apparatus. Panama became the heart of th...
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July 9, 2024 • 60 mins
In this episode of Under the Shadow, host Michael Fox takes us to Costa Rica to examine the so-called peaceful and democratic beacon in a region beset by dictatorships and violence, and the myths surrounding the elimination of the country's military, along with how the United States did its utmost to encourage San Jose to do its bidding.
This is Episode 11.
Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back...
This is Episode 11.
Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back...
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June 25, 2024 • 13 mins
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 ...
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 ...
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June 11, 2024 • 34 mins
In the late 1980s, British film director Alex Cox spent several months in Nicaragua filming Walker, a movie 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 U...
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 U...
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May 28, 2024 • 67 mins
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.
It would wreak havoc on the country, killing tens of thousands and ravaging the economy. But an international solidarity movement stood up in response. And the Reagan government's hubris, and drive to fuel its war on Nicaragua, w...
It would wreak havoc on the country, killing tens of thousands and ravaging the economy. But an international solidarity movement stood up in response. And the Reagan government's hubris, and drive to fuel its war on Nicaragua, w...
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May 14, 2024 • 38 mins
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 improving 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: paramili...
But the United States, under president Ronald Reagan, feared the dominos would fall across Central America, and they unleashed assault on the country: paramili...
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April 23, 2024 • 72 mins
In 1912, the United States invaded Nicaragua and began what would become the longest US 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 US Marines. And he would win. The United States finally pulled out in 1933, the year before Sandino wa...
Sandino would wage a six-year-long guerrilla insurgency to rid Nicaragua of the US Marines. And he would win. The United States finally pulled out in 1933, the year before Sandino wa...
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April 12, 2024 • 54 mins
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 follows in the footsteps of William Walker as he recounts one of the most twisted sto...
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 follows in the footsteps of William Walker as he recounts one of the most twisted sto...
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March 26, 2024 • 58 mins
A New York court has found former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández guilty of drug trafficking and weapons possession. It’s a huge verdict that will likely see the former president imprisoned for life.
In the last episode of Under The Shadow, host Michael Fox looked deeply at Hernández’s time as president from 2014 to 2022, which many came to call a narco-dictatorship. He won office in a fraudulent election, consolidated unp...
In the last episode of Under The Shadow, host Michael Fox looked deeply at Hernández’s time as president from 2014 to 2022, which many came to call a narco-dictatorship. He won office in a fraudulent election, consolidated unp...
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March 12, 2024 • 56 mins
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...
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...
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February 27, 2024 • 42 mins
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 elite...
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 elite...
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February 13, 2024 • 48 mins
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 Cont...
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February 7, 2024 • 72 mins
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 Stud...
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 Stud...
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January 30, 2024 • 12 mins
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...
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...
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January 23, 2024 • 38 mins
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 att...
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 att...
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January 16, 2024 • 51 mins
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 o...
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 o...
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