Central America and the Caribbean

Tivoli Gardens in Western Kingston, the stronghold of
kingpin Christopher "Dudus" Coke. June 2010, E. Schmall

    My reporting from Kingston, Jamaica, during the international search for kingpin Christopher "Dudus" Coke, the second-generation leader of Jamaica's notorious Shower Posse, wanted for extradition to the United States on drugs and weapons charges. A Christian pastor in the neighborhood of Tivoli Gardens, a run-down collection of pastel-colored high-rises and Coke's base of operations, told me Dudus had done more for the people than the president.
    In this piece for Columbia Journalism Review, I report on reporting in Haiti after the devastating earthquake at the beginning of 2010. It took some divine intervention to get there and around. Transportation at exorbitant costs became necessary. Here is a selection of my on-the-ground reporting from Port-au-Prince in the immediate aftermath of the disaster:

Scene at Hospital in Haiti’s Capital is Nightmarish
Haiti’s Dead Left Where They Lie
After Quake, Evangelicals Find Opportunity

I also reported from the scene of Haiti's first elections following the quake, in November 2010.

Allegations of Fraud and Corruption Mar Haiti Elections
Haiti's Hotels Thrive Amid Earthquake's Long Aftermath
Water Solutions to Halt Haiti's Cholera Outbreak

    Here's a 2003 piece for Bard Politik on Costa Rica's internal conflict over a George W. Bush-administration backed free trade agreement.