Altamira: Victim of the Belo Monte Construction Boom
Sue Branford chronicles the rapid development in the town of Altamira in the Brazilian Amazon, whose inhabitants have yet to reep any benefits.
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…
Colombia: Students Tell Amazing Stories
In my first term teaching political anthropology to first year political science undergraduates at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá, I decided to give the students the chance to design their own essay topic. The…
The Art of Being Bi-cultural
Migration has always been part of human history and always will. Even those who thought they had one cultural identity, are the product of centuries of migration. Where localised migration may have mixed peoples of similar colour…
Top Ten Most Common Misconceptions about Latin America
Good dancers? Latin Lovers? Revolutionary guerrillas? You might have watched too many soap-operas or just followed rumours but if you want to check your prejudices about Latin America and the Latinos, here are 10 common…
Ten things you should know about...El Día de los Muertos
Although celebrated around the same time as Halloween, Día de los Muertos is very different from the festivity made popular by Americans. It is all about getting the family together and celebrate loved ones who passed away. The…
Colombia: Starbucks Meets its Match
Starbucks's most recent expansion plan has taken them to Bogota, Colombia. How has the arrival of the coffee giant affected the market?
SPAIN'S CULTURAL ARMADA IN LONDON
You'd have to be deaf not to notice the huge influx of Spaniards to London in recent years. Nowhere was it more evident that at this year's Latin US Awards, which witnessed a huge Spanish participation and success. Here…
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
The Roma Gypsies of Colombia
Hazel Marsh celebrates the community that is conspicuously ignored by Latin American history books and modern day media.
Making their Mark - the rise and rise of The Latino-Brits
First generation Latino-Brits are bubbling under the surface and seeping through into mainstream British cultural life.
Why we should save Pueblito Paisa
Maria Castro makes a case against the demolition of Seven Sister's indoor market, where Colombians who have fled displacement to build a livelihood, face displacement again.
Things You Should Know About….Santería
Santeria is a belief system that travelled from West Africa to the Caribbean and is now practiced all over Latin America, the US and even Europa. Yet much fear, mystery and misunderstanding surrounds it. To explode some of the…
Modern Spain: Stylizing the Stereotypes?
Spain is a country that attracts strong stereotypes. Images of wife-beating machos, blood thirsty sports and crazy drivers may have dissolved since the years of Franco isolation, but siestas, fiestas and Flamenco is still what…
Mexican Milk
Indigenous culture is used to market the country at home and abroad, so why is it that only white faces appear on Mexican adverts?
Latinos in London Part 2-The Liberation of being Latin in London
Lazy, violent and corrupt?…it’s sometimes tiring countering the contantly reinforced stereotypes of Latin America in the British media, but if we don’t do it who will? In the second part of our Latin London identity series we…
Being Latin in London - Part 1
We all come with a different story. From the high life of Carlos Acosta and polo players who mingle with royals, to the invisible cleaner working double shifts in city offices so that she can put her children through school back…
Favourite Quotes from our Favourite Latinos...
Jennifer Lopez, Alejandro Sanz, Salma Hayek, Carlos Santana, Alejandro Amenabar and of course...Diego Maradona (where would the world of gaffes be without him?)
Argentina finds a New Kind of Meat to Export
They're on the television all the time, they're in the magazines, they're on the arms of footballers, politicians and businessmen in all the smart restaurants and nightspots of Buenos Aires.........they are the new…
Cheap Frills Better than No Frills for Argy women
In post-crisis Argentina, middle class women have been forced to lower their lingerie standards.
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…
.... Weird Stuff at Spanish Fiestas
Spain - the land of guilt free siestas and fiestas. From burying a sardine to pretending to be dead in a coffin, Spanish fiestas consist of a lot more than the excessive consumption, dancing and extravagance they are famous for.…