Author

Frank López Ballesteros

Frank López Ballesteros was a reporter at the newspaper El Universal in Caracas from 2007-15. López Ballesteros was part of the team of investigative journalists at Playboy Venezuela. Since 2017, he has been a contributor to Diario Las Américas in Miami, where he conducts investigative reporting on organized crime, corruption, and state politics in Florida.

Frank's Latest Articles

Each piece of cardboard holds many life stories: Almost 80 years old, George, a native of Georgia, collects cardboard every morning in a supermarket cart. When the cart is full, he sells the material to a processing plant. Photo by Frank López Ballesteros.

Recycling in obscurity

By Frank López Ballesteros

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Stories by Our Fellows

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April 28, 2025

Invisible but essential to the global recycling industry, the cardboard collectors of Miami-Dade earn a living by breaking down each piece of cardboard by hand, with no guaranteed income or labor protections. (Originally published by Intempnews, palabra and Diario las Americas)

Read more stories by our fellows

Discriminated and Invisible

By Valeria María Torres-Nieves

Pregnant students or with children deal with a lack of university support and discrimination in the oldest and largest public university in Puerto Rico. (Originally published by Todas, the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo and palabra)

Illinois Students Struggle to Find Halal Food

By Tasmiha Khan

Despite a growing Muslim population in the Chicago area, few public schools offer students halal food options. (Originally published by Borderless Magazine)

To Age in Place

By Meera Kymal & Anjana Nagarajan-Butaney

With an Aging Population that Needs Culturally Competent Care, Families Face A Caregiver Crunch. (Originally published by India Currents and palabra)

Recycling in obscurity

By Frank López Ballesteros

Invisible but essential to the global recycling industry, the cardboard collectors of Miami-Dade earn a living by breaking down each piece of cardboard by hand, with no guaranteed income or labor protections. (Originally published by Intempnews, palabra and Diario las Americas)

The women of La Parada

By Andrea Pineda Salgado

Excluded from many labor laws, Brooklyn’s informal domestic workers seek basic rights. (Originally published by Epicenter and palabra)

Neglected and exposed

By Alejandra Martinez & Wendy Selene Pérez

Toxic air lingers in a Texas Latino community, revealing failures in state’s air monitoring system and leaving residents in the dark. (Originally published by The Texas Tribune, Environmental Health News and palabra)