Brazil: Munduruku People Fear Annihilation
The Tapajós River Basin lies at the heart of the Amazon, and at the heart of an exploding controversy: whether to build 40+ large dams, a railway, and highways, turning the Basin into a vast industrialized commodities export…
United Migrations?
Walk around London and it’s hard to avoid the Spanish vowels swirling around the air. The recent influx of Spaniards and Latin Americans arriving through Spain adds yet another layer to the original Spanish speaking communities.…
Brazil's prison massacres - a bloody start to the year
A flurry of brutal deaths in Brazil's overcrowded prisons has shocked the country.
The Angora Cat, the Saint and the End of the World
The Supreme Court and the Senate found a 'jeitinho' to get around part of their present impasse. But time and their credibility are running out.
Colombia's Plebiscite: Catharsis in Writing
Colombians in the UK blog to express their hope, sadness and determination to keep peace alive
TEN YEARS A GRAVE
More than a decade after the Pasta de Conchos mining disaster killed 65 miners in Mexico, families are asking the UK to help with their struggle for justice, reports Elizabeth Mistry
Belize: Punta Gorda, a forgotten district
Maya and Garifuna communities are resisting over-zealous national park regulation and encroaching oil exploration. Rachel Simon explores indigenous land rights and social issues in southern Belize over three blog posts. Rachel…
Cunha: The Man Who Knew Too Much
The arrest of the former speaker of Congress has sent shock-waves through Brasilia.
Brazil - Election Post-Mortem
The PT (Workers' Party) fared very badly in the recent municipal elections and is unlikely to recover before 2018. The political system is entering a new era, but no one knows where it will lead.
AFRO LATINOS: Un Pedazito de la Historia Negra
To be or not to be Afro-Latino? Maria V. Luna explores the resurgance of black pride in Latin America and its diasporas.
Colombia: the double edged sword of peace in Tumaco
As the referendum nears, asking the public to take a leap of faith in Peace, the residents in Tumaco know that it will come at a price and move forward under no ilusions, as Niamh Ni Bhriain explores
How Green Has Brazil's Olympics Been?
Brazil proclaimed that it would be hosting a Green Olympics. Despite some bright spots, the result was disappointing, our Brazil correspondent says.
BRAZIL: Tapajós industrial waterway -- a potential environmental disaster
In early August, the Brazilian government unexpectedly cancelled the São Luiz do Tapajós hydroelectric power station, the largest of a series of major dams planned along the Tapajós River and its tributaries. Indigenous groups…
Colombia: Will the people say Yes to peace?
With the entire final agreement finally signed in Havana, the peace accords must now be submitted to a national referendum on October 2. The outcome remains uncertain. Gwen Burnyeat is a British anthropologist and writer, who has…
Brazil's Scandals; Cunha on the Rack
Brazil’s congressional ethics committee recently voted to remove Deputy Eduardo Cunha, one of the orchestrators of President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment, from his position as Lower House Speaker. This decision comes after a…
Colombia: A Historic Agreement on Peace
From remote cities in Colombia’s South like Pasto, to Bogotá, the financial and political capital, tens of thousands of people turned out to watch the signing of the historic ‘End of Conflict’ agreement on big screens in main…
Argentine Culture Wars: writing Kirchnerism out of history
Argentina has always been a country of extremes and now is no different. With the change of government in Argentina, there is not only a change in cultural direction, but a determination to write the ideas of 'the other…
RUNNING FOR JUSTICE
Wall to wall coverage - but 43 students remain missing in Mexico. Karen Harding meets a new generation of London based human rights campaigners looking to turn the spotlight on the unfolding tragedy of the disappeared students in…
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.
Brazil: The Morning After the Night Before
So, the Chamber of Deputies has voted to proceed with the impeachment of the President. What next?
Colombia Brings Hope
Kristian Herbolzheimer, a key analyst in the soon-to-be-signed Colombia peace agreement, explains how this historic achievement came about and its significance for Colombia and the world.
Maracujá, the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and the March of Folly
When tempers run high in Brazil - as they are over the clamour for Dilma's Impeachment - ask for passion fruit juice to calm the nerves. And so it was done in Congress' special session on the matter, where the Attorney…
Brazil: Full Speed Ahead for Impeachment
Jan Rocha reports on the attempted impeachment of Dilma and fears of vested interests behind it
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.
Colombia: Commemorating the Mulatos Massacre
On 21st February 2005, paramilitaries and Colombian soldiers massacred eight people from two hamlets of the San Jose Peace Community, in Apartadó, Colombia. Despite assassinations and forced displacement since the Peace Community…
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.
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: 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…
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…
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…