{"podcast":{"title":"The Chris Hedges Report Podcast","slug":"the-chris-hedges-report-podcast-6787680","podcast_index_feed_id":6787680,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/778851.rss","website_url":"https://chrishedges.substack.com/podcast","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/778851/fc17490b2e62007353401c34fecc8316.jpg","author":"Chris Hedges","episode_count":260,"summary":"Covering US foreign policy, economic realities, and civil liberties in American society.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-11T10:20:46.788952+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-chris-hedges-report-podcast-6787680"},"episode":{"title":"America is a Banana Republic - Read by Eunice Wong","slug":"america-is-a-banana-republic-read-by-eunice-wong","published_at":"2025-11-15T02:32:59+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-chris-hedges-report-podcast-6787680/america-is-a-banana-republic-read-by-eunice-wong","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-chris-hedges-report-podcast-6787680","url":"https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/america-is-a-banana-republic-read","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/178946251/643397df4f3c8324e11b0ccd3748153d.mp3","summary":"This article is read by Eunice Wong , a Juilliard-trained actor, featured on Audible’s list of Best Women Narrators . Her work is on the annual Best Audiobooks lists of the New York Times, Audible, AudioFile, & Library Journal. www.eunicewong.actor Text originally published November 10, 2025. The Chris Hedges Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Full Text: El Presidente Trump is cast in the mold of all tinpot Latin American despots who terrorize their populations, surround themselves with sycophants, goons and crooks, and enrich themselves — Trump and his family have amassed more than $1.8 billion in cash and gifts from leveraging the presidency — while erecting tawdry monuments to themselves. “Trujillo on Earth, God in Heaven” — Trujillo en la tierra, Dios en el cielo — was posted by state order in churches during the 31-year reign of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. His supporters, like Trump’s, nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump’s con artist pastor, Paula White-Cain, offered an updated version of Trujillo’s self-deification when she warned , “To say no to President Trump would be saying no to God.” Trump is the gringo version of Anastasio “Tachito” Somoza in Nicaragua or Haiti’s François “Papa Doc” Duvalier, who amended the constitution to have himself anointed “President for Life.” One of the most celebrated images of the Haitian dictator’s long rule shows Jesus Christ with a hand on the shoulder of a seated Papa Doc, with the caption, “I have chosen him.” ICE thugs are the incubus of Papa Doc’s dreaded 15,000-strong Tonton Macoute, his secret police who indiscriminately detained, beat, tortured, jailed or killed 30,000 to 60,000 of Duvalier’s…","meta_description":"This article is read by Eunice Wong , a Juilliard-trained actor, featured on Audible’s list of Best Women Narrators . Her work is on the annual Best Audio…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":911,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-chris-hedges-report-podcast-6787680/episodes/america-is-a-banana-republic-read-by-eunice-wong/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-chris-hedges-report-podcast-6787680/america-is-a-banana-republic-read-by-eunice-wong.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}