EXHALE AND RELEASE: The Story of Colombia’s Diaspora Women
Five years ago Diaspora Woman was founded under the name Truth, Memory and Reconciliation Commission of Colombian Women in the Diaspora. The idea was to bring together Colombian women, from all political and social backgrounds,…
Bolsonaro Turns Queen’s Funeral into Election Rally
The Brazilian President's attendance at The Queens funeral had everything to do with politics and little to do with grief, argues Clorrie Yoemans
Sarmiento: The Forging of a Racist Ideologue (part 2)
In this second part of our article on the Argentine national hero, we travel with Sarmiento to Africa where he took notes on how the French waged war on the natives to promote white immigration and settlement. The lessons he…
Latin Londoner #43: Vinicius de Carvalho, Director, King's Brazil Institute
Born in Barra Mansa, Brazil, Vinicius de Carvalho is Director of University of London’s King’s Brazil Institute. He is also Vice-Dean International for the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy at King’s College, and Reader…
Is the coronavirus epidemic worse in Brazil or in the UK?
Jan Rocha proposes the question ahead of an online discussion hosted by Latin America Bureau: Brazil is certainly suffering terribly, but is the UK's mortality rate higher?
Colombia/Venezuela: How Petrol is Fuelling Instability on the Border
The smuggling of petrol and other products from Venezuela is part of daily life in Cúcuta
Latin American Activists: More in Danger than Ever
While Venezuela dominates the headlines in terms of Latin America's human rights news, Tom Gatehouse reminds us of the grave situation of many activists all over Latin America, including in Colombia, Brazil, Argentina and…
Argentina's strange brand of nationalism
Argentine nationalistic fervour rests on symbol and myth. This can be impossibly romantic – or eerily macabre. We look at the strange phenomenon of Argentine national fervour from Perón to the present day
Retracing Galeano’s Open Veins
‘Gold, Oil and Avocados, A Recent History of Latin America in Sixteen Commodities’ by Andy Robinson is an account of export extractivism in Latin America. Robinson argues that to understand the major political upheavals in Latin…
Colombian elections 2022: Petro or Fico?
Colombia’s presidential elections are just around the corner (with a second round in June if no candidate obtains more than 50 per cent of the vote). With two main candidates on opposing sides of the political spectrum, what do…
Las Cosas por su Nombre
Confused when someone tells you to "Stand my balls up", "arm a patch and throw out the wagon" or "take out my stone by making a show"? You'll need Candela’s guide to authentic Colombian Spanish…
This Latino Week
Protests in Buenos Aires, Brazil Bans fires in the Amazon, Peru's president calls for general election, Bolivian protests, Aztec remains found and voting now open for Los Premios Juventud
Colombia’s struggle for sustainable development
The relationship between the natural environment and the armed conflict in Colombia is deeply interwoven and complex. Even following the Peace Accords, the issue of governance is at the root of the environmental challenges…
The Condor and The Eagle
The Condor and the Eagle (2019) is a prize-winning documentary film directed by Sophie and Clément Guerra, about the collective struggle of the Indigenous peoples of North and South America to defend their land and water against…
Postcard from...Havana: Family at a Crossroads
It’s been a busy and sad week in our Cuban household. Danay and Osvaldo, two married younger members of this small Cuban family are leaving the country tomorrow to make a new life for themselves in Argentina, where Danay’s Cuban…
Transforming Urban Spaces: Guatemala City’s barrancos
“We dream of a green city, an inclusive city, full of squares, full of children. We dream of a fair, walkable, accessible, liveable city. We believe in a greener, happier, more human city.” Urban planners and community gardeners…
Chile: The Right, Victor Jara and a Crucial Plebiscite
According to polls, the majority of the Chilean public favours changing the Pinochet constitution, yet as the Piñera government attempts to repair the economy by rapidly moving the country out of lock-down, the campaign to oppose…
Brazil: the flesh is weak but the meat is rotten
Police investigations reveal another massive web of corruption involving Brazil's strategic meat industry, inspectors and politicians
“It is only a question of time.” The Last Days of Salvador Allende – an insider’s story
Isabel Camus worked for Chile’s nationalized copper company and was a close aide of Salvador Allende. In the days leading up to the coup in 1973, Isabel travelled to Europe to try to counteract a big legal operation mounted by…
Ana Victoria's Story - Part 4: A Life of Purpose
Ana Victoria is an Afro-Colombian biologist and the first female Colombian Anglican priest. After being kidnapped by armed traffickers while she was working with indigenous communities in the Choco region, she subsequently fled…
Taking Selfies with Shotguns: Transcending Violence in Bolsonaro’s Brazil
Luis Octavio dos Santos Gouveia Junior reflects on the bittersweet experience of returning to his native Brazil after seven years. He argues that, in Bolsonaro’s Brazil, guns have expanded from being an instrument of self-…
Zapatistas Embark on 'Journey for Life' World Tour
Zapatistas visit UK on voyage to five continents of the world to meet with those building ‘a better world'
Signs of Hope for the Munduruku
Two important advances for the Munduruku Indians in the Brazilian Amazon in recent days suggest that they could pull off an extraordinary victory.
In Colombia, Who Needs to Invent a False Victim, President Santos?
While Santos enjoys an official visit to the UK, his inflamatory remarks about a group of human rights lawyers who have worked for years to end impunity in Colombia, has left them fearing for their lives in Bogotá. What does this…
Covid-19 in Latin America – Update 13, 25 August
The incidence of coronavirus and the responses of governments and local communities. Update No.13.
Putting the Joy back into Christmas
What is Christmas about? Is it about running around town looking for the best Christmas gift? Most would argue that the season is about- and should be about- family and loved ones, but in reality, it seems we have lost sight of…
The Amazon: Biden and Bolsonaro's no- deal
The United States and Brazil have been conducting closed door negotiations to broker an Amazon rainforest protection agreement — with the U.S. and other nations tentatively to provide significant funding, and Brazil possibly…
No One is Above the Law: an interview with the man investigating Alvaro Uribe
On August 4th former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe was detained by the Colombian Supreme Court, following an investigation spearheaded by human rights lawyer Reinaldo Villalba; the first ever instance of a former president…
Joe Biden: Something Different for Latin America?
US Democratic Presidential candidate promises more of the same for Latin America, argues John Washington.
The New Voice of Reason
Women are increasingly at the forefront of South America’s fight to defend its indigenous lands and the environment and Patricia Gualinga, an indigenous Kichwa of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon region, is one of them. As…
Love Is (Not) All You Need?
Some say that people of all cultures use the word ‘love’ to describe a feeling they get when someone meets their needs. In the view, we invest emotions in what is in fact a transactional affair. So what is love between Cubans and…
LATIN LONDONER #8 BIanca Jagger - Style Diva and Human Rights Activist
A ‘one off’, a glamorous Latin American who has poured her passion and pride into doing the right thing; an example of Latin American solidarity personified.
Guatemala: a Rotten State
President Morales' anti-corruption pose is dropped as soon as his own family is in the frame
Río Turbio: women marginalised by the mine
Filmmaker and archivist Tatiana Mazú González sheds light on the role of women in the Río Turbio miner’s struggle
“Happiness is a Myth"
In his book 'You are not Meant to be Happy, so stop Trying' Basque psychiatrist Dr Rafa Euba argues that happiness is merely an ethereal ghost that inhabits our brain, not something to strive for. Released in these…