Good Sports
Mia Hamm (soccer) Lorena Ochoa (golf) Albert Pujols (baseball) Lionel Messi (soccer) Tony Gonzalez (U.S. football) Marta Vieira (soccer) The six sports stars featured in this section have taken up a myriad of social causes through their foundations and charitable activities. Their work ranges from providing health and education to children in the slums of … Read more
[i]Securing the City: Neoliberalism, Space, and Insecurity in Postwar Guatemala[/i] edited by Kevin Lewis O’Neill and Kedron Thomas
Guatemala is the only Latin American country that suffered genocide in the twentieth century. More than 200,000 people—the vast majority of them indigenous Maya civilians—were murdered, mostly at the hands of the military, during the decades-long civil war that began in the 1980s. Guatemala’s war officially ended in December 1996 with the signing of a … Read more
[i]Mañana Forever? Mexico and the Mexicans[/i] by Jorge Castañeda
Mexico’s progress continues to be inhibited by resistance to change—a resistance that today, according to Jorge Castañeda, has placed Mexico’s democracy and the country at a crossroads. In Mañana Forever? Mexico and the Mexicans, the former Mexican foreign minister (2000–2003) analyzes the Mexican character and spirit and from that develops a roadmap for emerging from … Read more
[i]Multinational Enterprises in Latin America since the 1990s[/i] by Pablo Toral
The modern emergence of Spanish multinational enterprises (MNEs) in Latin America is a story often untold. But it has had profound economic effects both in Spain and in the region. Following the death of Francisco Franco in 1975 and the start of efforts to liberalize the Spanish economy, Latin America was the first and most … Read more
Agriculture: Brazil Goes International
Even after a decade of rising agricultural productivity, Brazil is poised to become a stilllarger player in the global food industry in the years to come. The key question for its private and public sectors is what actions must be taken to ensure continued growth. From 2002 to 2008, Brazil increased its share of global … Read more
Natural Disasters: Preparedness Pays Off
Readiness is everything when disaster strikes. In the Caribbean, where the annual six-month hurricane season is in effect through November 2011, readiness can mean the difference between life and death, between chaos and composure. In late October 2010, when Hurricane Tomas savaged St. Lucia with 100-mile-per-hour (160 kilometers per hour) winds and driving rains, an … Read more
Transportation: The Rapid Expansion of Bus Rapid Transport
The concept of bus rapid transit (BRT) is not new, but in the past decade urban planners began to focus on it as a way of increasing transportation efficiency and getting cars off the road in highly congested cities. And they are increasingly turning to Latin America—the cradle of BRT— for ideas that work. While … Read more
Arts Innovator: Victor Quijada, Canada
Mexican-American dancer Victor Quijada has a strong penchant for narrative. “I’ve always connected to stories,” he says. “My natural intention is to be a storyteller.” To weave those stories, Quijada talks about “creating a new dance vocabulary.” These words might seem strange coming from a dancer, but straddling worlds and identities is standard practice for … Read more
Political Innovator: David Luna, Colombia
At the age of three, David Luna Sánchez met then-Colombian President Alfonso López at a party convention. The President later wrote the toddler-activist a note, sparking a lifelong fascination with politics. But despite his first experience of going to the top, most of Luna’s political career has been spent working from the bottom up, in … Read more
Business Innovator: Oscar Salazar, Mexico
For individuals, connectivity may be a choice; but for corporations, governments and large institutions accountable to the masses, it’s a necessity. Oscar Salazar, 33, founded CitiVox to get the right information to the right people. Based in Mexico City, but serving clients in Latin America and Africa, CitiVox was launched in 2010 by Salazar and … Read more
Civic Innovator: Juan Pablo Mellado, Chile
Juan Pablo Mellado is on a mission to rescue Chile’s culinary identity. The 32-year-old executive chef of the Escuela Internacional de Artes Culinarias y Servicios (International School of Culinary Arts and Services) in Santiago is determined to put Chilean cooking back in Chilean kitchens—and in the process alert the rest of the world that Chile … Read more
The post-tsunami crisis in Japan underscores the danger and instability of nuclear energy.
The Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan is a reminder to Latin America and the rest of the world of the urgency of ending our reliance on nuclear power. Japan is already taking a second look: Prime Minister Naoto Kan recently announced plans to postpone construction of 14 new reactors until 2030 and invest in renewable … Read more
Nuclear energy is clean, reliable and affordable. Not to mention easy to manage.
Clean, abundant and well-distributed electricity generation is critically important for Latin America. In the twenty-first century, energy policies must be affordable over the long term, and they must be sustainable and oriented toward pursuing a diverse mixture of clean technologies that will reduce carbon emissions. Nuclear power is a reliable, clean and predictable electricity producer … Read more
From the Think Tanks
Asunción-based NGO Centro de Análisis y Difusión de la Economía Paraguaya (CADEP) in March published Paraguay en el Mercosur: Asimetrías Internas y Política Comercial Externa. The report contrasts Paraguay’s domestic economic policies with its efforts to integrate with regional trading partners. With insights for neighboring economies facing similar challenges, the report highlights challenges to integration … Read more
Buenos Aires Goes to Toronto
This fall, Buenos Aires filmmakers will rub shoulders with the best of Hollywood and the indie film world at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)—known to critics and movie buffs the world over as the Festival of Festivals. Buenos Aires is the first city from Latin America to be chosen for TIFF’s new City … Read more
