Venezuela: the politicians need to listen
As Venezuela’s economic crisis deepens, Grace Livingstone has been out to the Venezuelan countryside, gauging the effects of the crisis there.
Colombia: the biggest conversation in the world
Gwen Burnyeat reports on the Colombian peace process and the efforts being made to promote conversation among all its actors, at both local and national levels
Brazil: Transport is not a Commodity
Ali Rocha & Nayana Fernandez report from Sao Paolo on the series of mass protests against hikes in public transport fares.
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…
Mexico: Slim pickings
How does a country like Mexico, with perhaps close to half its inhabitants - some 50 million people- living in poverty, come to produce someone who is by some reckonings the richest man in the world? That is the question 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…
Colombia - A Beacon of Light in a Chaotic World
As the situation in Syria and the Middle East gets ever more complex and violent, Colombia is finally finding its way out of a 50 year conflict that has ravaged the country, giving us hope in a chaotic world, argues Kristian…
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?
Uruguayan Elections 2014: Mujica's farewell
As Brazilian elections continue to dominate the Latin American press, another presidential race is taking place over the border in Uruguay. With Jose Mujica unable to run for this term, he leaves behind a political landscape…
Aécio Neves: The Underdog in Brazil's General Election
Aécio Neves is the presidential candidate for PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) but from the start never showed much promise to beat the current president Dilma, who is hoping for re-election. Despite his success in…
Venezuela: A Legacy In Jeopardy
The Chavez legacy is omnipresent in Venezuelan society. The Bolivarian revolutionary re-drafted the education system and even built a new city in the northern state of Vargas. However, the administration of Nicolas Maduro is…
Marina Silva: The Wild Card of Brazil’s Presidential Race
Since the tragic death of Brazil’s opposition candidate Eduardo Campos in a plane crash on the 13th August, his ex- running partner and replacement Marina Silva has shocked the world by taking Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) from…
Correa's Quest for Longevity in Ecuador
On the eve of his inauguration in 2013, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa explicitly stated he would not seek re-election in four years’ time. Now, Ecuador’s Congress has proposed legislation to abolish the limit on the…
Dilma's Dilemmas: On the Road to Re-election
With the first round of Presidential elections in Brazil coming up October 5th, how have World Cup protests and the recent death of opposition Socialist candidate Eduardo Campos on the 13th August affected Dilma Rousseff’s re-…
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…
Sara Chandler - Human Rights Worker
There is much to say about Prof. Sara Chandler, Chair of the Colombia Caravan UK Lawyers Group and the winner of LUKAS Award for Charity or Human Rights Worker of the Year. Read what she told us about her fascinating life and…
The Bogotá Mayor Scandal - separating the politics from the rubbish
Mayor Gustavo Petro's sacking late last year caused public protest and political a political storm. Nevertheless, on the 13th January, the Inspector General confirmed the decision and Petro's cause seemed to be lost,…
Haitian Thinking Girls in Search of School
A group of Haitian nuns are launching a revolutionary post-disaster reconstruction project
Latino Living in Chicago and London
In the space of 10 years, a once bustling Latino immigrant community in Chicago has been replaced with boutiques and bars and a clearly whiter demographic. Those that gave Pilsen the flavour that attracted the property…
The Power of Refusal
Despite harassment and assassinations after declaring themselves neutral to Colombia’s armed conflict, The San José Peace Community, a group of brave rural farmers, have proved to be an inspiration for farming communities around…
The Young Face of the Old PRI?
Now the PRI have been given a second chance by the Mexican public, after its 71-year authoritarian rule, are they proving to be the same old dinosaurs?
Allende’s Children
40 years after the coup that changed Chile, Pinochet’s exiles around the world have inspired a new generation in the fight for justice and equality. There is no better example than the Navarrete family who came to the UK…
“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…
For As Long As It Takes
The story of the men who have been camped on Buenos Aires’ Plaza de Mayo for two and a half years
Screaming for Justice
A Chilean brought up in Britain returns home to find that little justice has been achieved for Pinochet's victims, despite four years of a president, Michelle Bachelet, who was tortured under the dictatorship of General…
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
Confessions of a Coolhunter
Amaranta Wright was hired by Levi's to travel through Latin America, befriending teenagers and reporting their ideas, hopes and aspirations. As time passed, the more sinister and divisive aspects of what she was being asked…
Argentina's Bi-Centenary: Something to Celebrate?
As several South American countries celebrate 200 years of independence, Nick Caistor gives a view from Argentina.
Richard Gott on Argentina's Bi-Centenary Celebrations
Renowned for his critical-thinking 'people's histories' of Latin America, the UK's most authoritative Latin Americanist - author of 'Land Without Evil' and 'Cuba: A New History' - explores…
Patrick Rice
The Irish Priest who became one of Latin America's most committed and loved Human Rights activists. He dedicated his life to the defence of human dignity and to the hope of a better world
The Roma Gypsies of Colombia
Hazel Marsh celebrates the community that is conspicuously ignored by Latin American history books and modern day media.
2012 and The End of the World as we know it… Mayan Prophecy or Hollywood Hoax?
Based on the ancient Mayan prophecy, the recent Hollywood blockbuster 2012 depicts the imminent end of the world. How much of it relays truth as the Mayans saw it and, more importantly, what did the Mayans know that we don’t?
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…