Summary: Pope Francis and his trip to Mexico provide the central themes this week on Latin Pulse. The program discusses the pope's fourth trip to Latin America, which will primarily focus on key stops throughout Mexico. The program reflects on the pope's efforts to put the global refugee crisis and the need to ease migration restrictions in front of policymakers in the hemisphere. The news segment of the program covers testimony from the Centers for Disease Control in the United States officially linking the zika virus outbreak to microcephaly, a condition that causes brain damage in infants. The program includes in-depth interviews with: Andrew Chesnut of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU); and Maureen Meyer of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). Executive Producer: Rick Rockwell; Technical Director: Jim Singer; and Associate Producer: Natalie Ottinger. (To download or stream this podcast, click here.) (The program is 30 minutes in length and the file size is 42 MB.) podcast news Latin America Brazil politics Mexico zika Cuba United States health issues Pope Francis religion immigration El Salvador Central America drug cartels indigenous issues Sinaloa Cartel U.S. Congress Drug War corruption global refugee crisis Virgin of Guadalupe Pope Benedict XVI Knights Templar Cartel Enrique Pena Nieto Catholicism migrants scandal violence Honduras poverty Catholic Church Costa Rica Panama Nicaragua human rights
