Jair Oliveira’s [i]Sambazz[/i]
In an age of digital music and eBooks, Brazilian musician Jair Oliveira, 35, is making a strong case for what many believe is a bygone era: CDs and print books. His sixth album Sambazz, released in May 2010, is a tribute to the combined musical influence of samba and jazz and comes packaged with a … Read more
Carnival in Trinidad
In the Caribbean, there’s a popular saying: “When the people of Trinidad and Tobago aren’t celebrating Carnival, they’re preparing for it.” It’s easy to believe when you see just how much planning goes into the month-long holiday, which climaxes with three days of festivities in Port of Spain just before Ash Wednesday (March 6–8 in … Read more
10 Things to Do: Puerto Williams
1. Sail to Antarctica. Puerto Williams is becoming a popular departure port for Antarctica. Several agencies in town will help you get there. Options range from cruises to small yacht tours. Trips last from 10 days to 3 weeks. 2. View the Mini Forests. Just outside town, El Parque Omora is known as the miniature … Read more
La Sonoteca
La Sonoteca audio session in Lima, Peru. Peru has long been known for its rich indigenous and colonial history and its gastronomical culture. But the Andean country is also making waves with a flourishing experimental music scene. Riding the crest of this wave is Lima-based La Sonoteca. La Sonoteca is a digital library of Peruvian … Read more
Mining: The U.S. Gets Tough on Safety
In 2010 the eyes of the world were drawn to the mining industry. On April 5, an explosion at the Massey Energy Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia resulted in the deaths of 29 miners. Six months later, on October 13, live TV cameras captured the rescue of 33 miners in Chile who were … Read more
Energy: Central America’s Power Future
A plan to connect the power grids of six Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama) is finally about to become reality. First proposed in 1987, the Sistema de Interconexión Eléctrica de los Países de América Central (SIEPAC) is scheduled to become fully operational in Spring 2011. For Central America … Read more
Environment: Climate Finance in Latin America
The December 2010 climate change discussions in Cancún, Mexico demonstrated that, despite some progress, establishing a comprehensive international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions remains a distant challenge. But there are other ways to address the problem. Climate finance, although less headline-grabbing than Kyoto Protocol emissions limitations, is a critical component of global climate policy. … Read more
Dispatches: Cuba’s released political prisoners in Spain
It’s not easy to get to the Welcome, the hostel chosen by the Spanish government to house the Castro regime’s former political prisoners during their first days of freedom. Unlike many of the one-star hostels in Madrid, it is not downtown but in a remote neighborhood. It takes almost an hour by subway and fifteen … Read more
Civic Innovator: Gabriel Bran Lopez, Canada
Educating teenagers often means keeping them motivated to make it to graduation. With today’s bleak job market and wide wage differentials between the skilled and unskilled, the draw toward crime, violence and drug abuse is particularly strong for those who don’t complete their education. But getting at-risk students to the cap-and-gown ceremony isn’t easy. As … Read more
Political Innovator: Teca Pontual, Brazil
As a child, Teca Cozetti Pontual found her grandmother’s stories about life under Brazil’s dictatorship riveting. They also taught her the value of service and dedication to an ideal even under the harshest conditions. Today, at the age of 29, Pontual is putting those lessons to work. As project manager for Ginásio Carioca at the … Read more
Business Innovator: Pamela Chávez, Chile
The rescue of the 33 miners trapped for more than two months deep beneath the Chilean earth drew unprecedented media attention to Chile. The near-flawless operation demonstrated the mining industry’s technological prowess, while the collapse itself shed light on the antiquated extraction methods that jeopardizes miners’ lives and the environment. Enter Pamela Chávez Crooker, a 42-year-old … Read more
Arts Innovator: Daniel Fetecua Soto, Colombia
Dancing, as anyone from Barranquilla, Cali or Bogotá can attest, is in Colombians’ blood. Whether it’s cumbia, salsa or currulao—you name it, they dance it. Yet, lacking career opportunities and financial security, few Colombians ever go on to become professional dancers. Daniel Fetecua Soto is one of the exceptions. A soloist at the Limón Dance … Read more
The President would be hard-pressed to describe how his policies toward the region differ from those of his predecessor.
A lot is happening in Latin America. The dynamism in business, politics, society, international relations, and even the criminal cartels is obvious. In contrast, U.S. policy toward Latin America is lethargic, unimaginative and surprisingly irrelevant. Consider what is going on south of the U.S. border. For starters, and to everyone’s surprise, the region known for … Read more
Our pragmatic approach marks a clean break from ideologically driven, outmoded definitions of foreign policy.
The Americas are our shared home. To build a stronger and more resilient neighborhood, the Obama administration is promoting a safe, stable, prosperous, and democratic hemisphere where the United States and our partners share responsibility on key regional and global issues. In keeping with the President’s National Security Strategy, we are leveraging our deep ties … Read more
U.S. Senator Harry Reid on the DREAM Act and the Colombia and Panama FTAs.
Americas Quarterly: In your re-election campaign, you spoke about the need to pass the dream Act and its pathway to authorized status for the children of undocumented immigrants to attend college or to serve in the military. Why? Senator Reid: We cannot continue to kick the immigration problem down the road. We tried twice last … Read more
