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Six Reasons Why Argentina Legalized Gay Marriage First
Javier Corrales also wrote for AQ Online in March on Latin American Gays: The Post-Left Leftists, examining the innovative and successful political strategies—in action and thinking—adopted by LGBT groups in Latin America in the last decade. —AQ This month, Argentina changed its civil code to permit gay marriage and adoptions, becoming the first nation in … Read more
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The Next Health Challenge in the Hemisphere: Non-Communicable Diseases
This year in the Americas, 4.5 million people will die of chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. While the countries of the region have made great strides over the past two generations in decreasing death rates from infectious diseases—they are no longer the leading causes of death in … Read more
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Haitians Need their Own Voice
Six months after the earthquake, Haiti’s situation has barely improved. Rubble still clutters the streets of Port-au-Prince; over a million residents remain homeless and without access to basic services; and only 28,000 semi-permanent shelters have been built. Despite the slow recovery, United Nations officials are also quick to add that “what hasn’t happened is worth … Read more
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Eternal Spring, Eternal Tyranny: A Photographic Essay
“En 1800, un visitante europeo llamó a Guatemala Tierra de la Eterna Primavera. Un siglo después, el político y ensayista guatemalteco Manuel Galich llamó a su país Tierra de la Eterna Tiranía. Para pocos, Guatemala es un paraíso. Para muchos, es todo lo contrario.” For the few, Guatemala is a paradise. For the many, it … Read more
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Latin America’s Support for Same-Sex Marriage
Argentina is the region’s first country to legalize gay marriage, but tolerance is not as high across countries. Here’s why. Joining South Africa, Canada and seven European countries, Argentina has now extended the full rights of marriage to gays and lesbians nationwide. The law, signed by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner on July 21, 2010, means … Read more
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The Other Side of Cuba’s Prisoner Release
The announcement by Havana that it would release five political prisoners “who would travel to Spain with their families,” and another 47 during the next three or four months, has been credited to efforts by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos and Cuba’s archbishop, Cardinal Jaime Ortega. But neither Cardinal Ortega, nor Minister Moratinos would … Read more
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Danger in Guatemala
The battle to regain control of Guatemala’s institutions from deeply entrenched criminal interests has reached an alarming new juncture. Two weeks ago, the head of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), a UN-led commission to investigate and prosecute high-profile organized crime and corruption, resigned in frustration. Since January 2008, the CICIG has made … Read more
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The Path Ahead for Colombia’s President-Elect
Even before he starts his presidential term in August, Colombia’s president-elect, Juan Manuel Santos, has already broken records. A scion of Colombia’s establishment, Santos pulled in just over 9 million votes, winning 69 percent of the vote against the 27 percent secured by his rival, Antanus Mockus. Santos’ victory is the highest percentage of votes … Read more
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Hillary Clinton’s Quito Address: Now Comes the Hard Part
Hillary Clinton responded to the drumbeat of demands for a major administration policy speech on Latin America this week during her stopover in Quito, Ecuador. The U.S. secretary of state was working her way back home—due to also visit Colombia and Barbados—after attending the annual Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly in Lima, Peru. … Read more
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Escaping Juarez: A Photographic Essay
Once the crown jewel of the maquila miracle that was going to be the cornerstone of Mexico’s development, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua is being abandoned these days by those who were lured there with promises of decent, well-paid jobs. The city’s fate is now in the hands of rival drug gangs who operate with absolute impunity … Read more
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Lobo Reverses Stance on Honduran Coup
Last week, Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa publicly acknowledged that the expulsion of President Manuel Zelaya from the country on June 28, 2009, constituted a coup. This was a startling admission from a man who won last year’s presidential election in a climate rife with fear, repression and censorship. Lobo’s belated recognition of the coup … Read more
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Superfluous Workers in Cuba’s Workers’ Paradise?
Last Saturday, on May 1, General Raúl Castro reviewed the International Labor Day parade at Plaza de la Revolución in Havana. In his speech, the general-president-and-brother of Fidel, said that the big turnout demonstrated the workers support for the regime and the vitality of Cuban labor unions. These are the same labor unions that for … Read more
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Bolivia’s Regional Elections: A Setback for Evo Morales
Evo Morales suffered a significant setback. That’s the simplest way to interpret the results from Bolivia’s regional and municipal elections on April 4. Nonetheless, he was quick to emphasize that his party had achieved significant gains. But this came on the heels of a press conference by Juan Del Granado, the outgoing mayor of La … Read more
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Recovering in Haiti: A Photographic Testimonial
Most of Port-au-Prince is destroyed but the spirit of its residents is not. This is what award-winning photojournalist Roberto Guerra finds upon traveling to Haiti after the initial media frenzy subsided. Prior to January’s 7.0-magnitude earthquake, most Haitians were used to struggling to survive. Now they are brushing the dust off and getting to work … Read more
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Latin American Gays: The Post-Left Leftists
When most straight people are forced to think about gay people, they usually think of one thing first, sex. A political scientist might focus instead on a different question: how do gays perform in politics? Judged from their political achievements this past decade, the answer is, at least for Latin American gays: they’re pretty good. … Read more
