JOSHUA GOODMAN

Latin America reporter

Goodman is a Miami-based investigative reporter who writes about the intersection of crime, corruption, drug trafficking and politics in Latin America. He previously spent two decades reporting from South America.

US dampens criticism of El Salvador’s president as migration overtakes democracy concerns

The Biden administration has sent a high-level delegation to El Salvador to attend President Nayib Bukele’s inauguration to a second term.

Takeaways from The Associated Press’ reporting on seafarers who are abandoned by shipowners in ports

The United Nations over the last decade has logged an increasing number of crew members abandoned by shipowners around the world.

Stuck at sea for years, a sailor’s plight highlights a surge in shipowner abandonment

The United Nations over the last decade has logged an increasing number of crew members abandoned by shipowners around the world.

Colombia’s ex-President Uribe charged with witness tampering in polarizing legal battle

Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe has been charged in a long-running witness tampering investigation.

Son-in-law of top opponent of Venezuela’s president pleads guilty to US money laundering charges

The son-in-law of a prominent Venezuelan opposition leader has pleaded guilty to money laundering charges for his role in a vast bribery conspiracy to siphon over a billion dollars from the state-owned oil company.

Veteran DEA agent sentenced to 3 years for bribing former colleague to leak intelligence

A former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration supervisor has been sentenced to three years in prison for bribing a longtime colleague to leak DEA intelligence to Miami defense lawyers seeking to profit off the timing of indictments and other investigative information.

US poised to ease restrictions on marijuana in historic shift, but it’ll remain controlled substance

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country.

Billionaire Texas oilman inks deal with Venezuela’s state-run oil giant as US sanctions loom

A company started by a Texas billionaire oilman has announced a deal with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company to rehabilitate five aging oil fields.

Veteran DEA agent sentenced to 4 years for leaking intelligence in Miami bribery conspiracy

A federal judge has sentenced a longtime U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent to four years in prison for leaking DEA intelligence to defense lawyers.

Celebrity handbag designer sentenced to 18 months in prison for smuggling crocodile handbags

A leading fashion designer whose accessories were used by celebrities from Britney Spears to the cast of the “Sex and the City” TV series was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in Miami federal court to charges of smuggling crocodile handbags from her native Colombia.

US reimposes oil sanctions on Venezuela as hopes for a fair presidential election fades

The Biden administration has reimposed crushing oil sanctions on Venezuela in a rebuke to President Nicolas Maduro’s attempts to consolidate his rule just six months after the U.S. eased restrictions in a bid to support now fading hopes for a democratic opening in the OPEC nation.

Could tugboats have helped avert the bridge collapse tragedy in Baltimore?

Tugboats were not escorting the massive cargo ship Dali when it lost power in the Port of Baltimore and slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, toppling the span and killing six people.

Venezuela’s Maduro makes his candidacy official while a would-be rival struggles to register

Throng of supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have rallied at an electoral council headquarters where he made official his candidacy for a third term.

Chevron manager jailed in Venezuela amid crackdown on government critics

The Associated Press has learned that a former Venezuelan fighter pilot jailed in Venezuela in February for his ties to a prominent human rights attorney is an employee of U.S. oil firm Chevron.

Venezuelan opposition leader faces deadline for standing down in race against Maduro

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado faces a choice on which the hopes of millions of Venezuelans fighting to restore their democracy depends.

From US jail, Venezuelan general who defied Maduro awaits potentially lengthy sentence

A formidable opponent of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro who twice tried to mount coups against the socialist leader spoke to The Associated Press as a Manhattan federal judge is deciding whether to punish him with a long prison sentence.

Veteran Miami prosecutor quits after judge’s rebuke over conjugal visits for jailhouse informants

A veteran prosecutor in Miami has quit after a judge found that state investigators manipulated witnesses by providing conjugal visits and other favors to jailhouse informants in exchange for their testimony in a high-profile death penalty case against a local gang leader.

‘They messed it up': Biden’s backing for Haiti’s unpopular leader digs US into deeper policy hole

When Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry filled the void left by the assassination of the country’s president in 2021, he did so over the protest of wide segments of the population but with the full-throated support of the Biden administration.

Haitian PM arrives in Puerto Rico after long absence as he struggles to get home to quell violence

Haiti’s embattled prime minister has landed in Puerto Rico as he tries to return to Haiti to quell a surge in violent gang attacks.

Oil spill and fertilizer leak from sinking of cargo ship highlight risks to Red Sea from Houthi attacks

A vibrant fishing industry, some of the world’s largest coral reefs and desalination plants supplying millions with drinking water.

Career US diplomat abruptly admits to spying for communist Cuba for decades

A former career U.S. diplomat says he will plead guilty to charges of serving as a secret agent for communist Cuba going back decades.

Family of Cuban dissident who died in mysterious car crash sues accused American diplomat-turned-spy

The widow of a prominent Cuban dissident killed in a mysterious car crash has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a former U.S. ambassador suspected of working for Cuba.

Utah man sues Maduro over trauma caused by nearly two years of imprisonment in Venezuela

A Utah man imprisoned for nearly two years in Venezuelan has sued President Nicolás Maduro for allegedly heading a “criminal enterprise” that kidnaps, tortures and unjustly imprisons American citizens.

A DEA agent on trial is accused of taking $250K in bribes from the Mafia

A veteran U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent is on trial in Buffalo, New York, on charges he took $250,000 in bribes from the Mafia to derail investigations and keep his childhood friends out of prison.

Venezuela bribery witness gets light sentence in wake of Biden’s pardoning of Maduro ally

A Venezuelan businessman who helped hide almost $17 million in bribe payments by an ally of President Nicolas Maduro was sentenced to six months in prison Friday by a federal judge who expressed frustration that his cooperation with law enforcement was undone by President Joe Biden’s recent pardon o

Key points of AP report into missed red flags surrounding accused US diplomat-turned-Cuban spy

Long before career U.S. diplomat Manuel Rocha was arrested on charges of being a secret agent of Cuba for decades, there were plenty of red flags.

Red flags, missed clues: How accused US diplomat-turned-Cuban spy avoided scrutiny for decades

Long before career U.S. diplomat Manuel Rocha was arrested on charges of being a secret agent of Cuba for decades, there were plenty of red flags.

CIA terminates whistleblower who prompted flood of sexual misconduct complaints

The CIA this week terminated a woman whose whistleblower account of being assaulted in a stairwell at the spy agency’s headquarters prompted a flood of colleagues to come forward with their own complaints of sexual misconduct.

DEA reverses decision stripping drug distributor of licenses for fueling opioid crisis

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is allowing one of the nation’s largest wholesale drug distributors to stay in business, reversing an earlier order stripping the company of its licenses for its failure to properly monitor the shipment of tens of millions of addictive painkillers blamed for

Takeaways from AP report on the DEA’s secret spying program in Venezuela

A secret memo obtained by The Associated Press details a covert operation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that sent undercover operatives into Venezuela to surreptitiously record and build drug-trafficking cases against the country’s leadership — a plan the U.S. acknowledged from the sta