This investigative podcast series takes listeners across Latin America to the scenes of some of the region’s most devastating, revolutionary, and historic moments. In Season 1, independent journalist Michael Fox dives deep into the past of Central America, uncovering the history of US intervention and its lingering effects in the region today. Under the Shadow is produced in partnership with TRNN and the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA).
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Season 1
The Beginning: Monroe and Migration | Under the Shadow, Episode 1
Coups, sanctions, and all other forms of US military and economic intervention are responsible for the conditions driving millions of Central Americans to flee their homes.
Guatemala and the United Fruit coup | Under the Shadow, Episode 2
The dreams of a democratic Guatemala were dashed in 1954 when the CIA manufactured a coup against President Jacobo Arbenz to defend the interests of the United Fruit Company.
Guatemala’s ‘Silent Holocaust’ | Under the Shadow, Episode 3
In the 1980s, US-trained and sponsored state forces perpetrated a genocide, killing 200,000 mostly Indigenous Guatemalans. Forty years later, justice remains elusive, and the ghosts still linger.
El Salvador’s Civil War | Under the Shadow, Episode 4
As in Guatemala, the Reagan administration poured funding into El Salvador’s military to crush the left-wing FMLN—and in the process littered the country in mass graves.
‘Radio Venceremos’ and El Salvador’s Civil War | Under the Shadow, Episode 5
The guerrilla radio station Venceremos broadcast news of the Salvadoran government’s atrocities throughout the civil war.
U.S.S. Honduras | Under the Shadow, Episode 6
Often overlooked in the story of US imperialism in Central America, Honduras has served as a training base and launchpad for interventions throughout the region. How did this happen?
Honduras, 2009. La Resistencia | Under the Shadow, Episode 7, Part 1
The 2009 US-backed coup in Honduras crushed its most progressive government in decades—but in the end, the steadfast resistance of the Honduran people couldn’t be defeated.
Honduras, 2009. Legacy of a Coup | Under the Shadow, Episode 7, Part 2
Honduras’s return to democracy after the 2009 U.S.-backed coup is a heroic story of popular resistance.
The Gringo who tried to rule Central America | Under the Shadow, Episode 8
This episode looks back at the 19th century roots of US imperialism in Central America, when solo ‘filibuster’ adventurers tried to conquer whole nations singlehandedly.
Nicaragua. Sandino | Under the Shadow, Episode 9
The US occupation of Nicaragua (1912-1933) birthed a brutal dictatorship, and the revolutionary hero who would drive out the US Marines: Augusto Sandino
Nicaragua, 1980s. Revolution | Under the Shadow, Episode 10, Part 1
When the anti-imperialist Sandinista Revolution took power in Nicaragua from the Somoza family, the Reagan administration responded by funding the Contras.
Nicaragua, 1980s. Contra War | Under the Shadow, Episode 10, Part 2
In the 1980s, the Reagan administration’s drive to crush Nicaragua’s Sandinista Revolution would lead to one of its greatest scandals: the Iran-Contra Affair.
The US hand in Costa Rica | Under the Shadow, Episode 11
Despite its reputation for pacifism and prosperity, Costa Rica is one of the region’s most unequal nations—and the story of how it got there runs through its ties to Washington during the Contra War.
The Panama Canal | Under the Shadow, Episode 12
In its pursuit of global empire, the US aided a separatist movement in Colombia to create the nation known as Panama—once home to 100 US military bases.
Panama. US Invasion. | Under the Shadow, Episode 13
In 1989, the US invaded Panama under the banner of ‘Operation Just Cause,’ slaughtering hundreds of civilians. When will the US face accountability for its war crimes?
Season 1 Bonus Episodes and Updates
The Return of the Guatemalan Spring | Under the Shadow, Update 1
Despite numerous legal challenges from the entrenched right-wing, Guatemala’s Bernardo Arévalo has assumed the presidency. Can his administration fulfill the hopes of the mass movement that put him in power?
El Salvador. Bukele, Presidente. | Under the Shadow, Update 2
Critics of the recently reelected Salvadoran president say he’s jailed tens of thousands without proper trial, yet leaders across Latin America are looking to emulate his model.
Honduran narcodictator convicted, but ‘no accountability for the US role’ | Under the Shadow, Update 3
Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez has been convicted of drug trafficking charges by a US court—but Washington’s role in propping him up has yet to be accounted for.
Hollywood. Empire | Under the Shadow, Bonus Episode 1
British director Alex Cox’s 1987 film ‘Walker,’ starring Ed Harris, laid an uncompromising critique of US imperialism in Nicaragua. For his solidarity, Cox was blacklisted from the industry.
Chomsky on US Intervention in Central America | Under the Shadow, Bonus Episode 2
‘Under the Shadow’ looks back on Chomsky’s University of Colorado lecture given in 1983, as some of the worst aspects of the Reagan administration’s role in Central America were being realized.
Venezuela, Media War | Under the Shadow, Bonus Episode 3
Unrest in Venezuela following recent elections has captured the international spotlight, but there’s an actor in the shadows escaping scrutiny—the US media.
The Legacy of Monroe | Under the Shadow, Bonus Episode 4
Historian Greg Grandin examines the long shadow of the Monroe Doctrine, which continues to shape US imperialism in Latin America.
More from Michael FOx
200 years later, the Monroe Doctrine still haunts Central America
From CIA-backed coups and genocidal civil wars in Guatemala and El Salvador to the US invasion of Panama, Central America is still living with the legacy and ongoing violence of US imperialism.
