Violence Surges in São Paulo
The numbers are almost too much to take in: 4,100 murdered this year. This figure does not refer to a war-torn country, but to São Paulo state: the biggest driver of Brazil’s economy. As a report came out last week showing that Brazil had seen as many violent deaths—500,000—over the past 10 years as Somalia’s … Read more
[i]Chocolate and Corn Flour: History, Race, and Place in the Making of “Black” Mexico[/i] by Laura A. Lewis
Mexico is not the first country that comes to mind when the issue of Afro-descendants in the Americas is discussed. Unlike the better-known cases of Brazil and Colombia—with 91 million and 15 million Afro-descendants, respectively—Mexico’s national statistics agency recognizes only an estimated 500,000 citizens as Afro-descendant, less than 0.5 percent of the total population. However, … Read more
Sergio Aguayo: From Rights to Governance
This article is part of the Leaders of Social & Political Change series from the Fall 2012 issue of Americas Quarterly. View the full special section. I was asked to give my opinion on the changes that have transpired in the hemisphere in the past 50 years and the role of philanthropy. Of course, … Read more
Venezuelans Abroad: The Obstacle Course to Sunday’s Election
Cindy is Venezuelan and lives in Vietnam. Her husband’s career as a pilot took them to Ho Chi Minh, two and a half hours away from the nearest Venezuelan embassy. For Cindy and her husband, distance is not a restriction to vote in Sunday’s election. Their problem is their official status overseas: with only a … Read more
Mexico Hosts Conference for Afro-Descendants
The two-day National Forum on Afro-Descendant Populations 2012 opened in Mexico City today with the aim of opening a national dialogue on the rights, recognition and social inclusion of Black Mexicans. Participants include Afro-Mexican community groups, government officials and academics. According to Mexico’s National Council to Prevent Discrimination (CONAPRED), there are about 500,000 people of … Read more
La batalla del presidente Evo Morales con los indígenas del Territorio Isiboro Sécure
El año 2009 visité Yungas de Vandiola en Cochabamba, Bolivia, colindante por el costado sur con el Chapare, el mayor centro de producción de hoja coca en Bolivia. Allí vivía Silvia, dirigente cocalera. Silvia me contó que el ahora gobernador de Cochabamba, Edmundo Novillo, paisano de la zona y miembro del partido de Evo Morales … Read more
De los triunfos de la sociedad civil y otros triunfos militares
El tsunami de noticias que sacude permanentemente a Colombia es una de las cosas por las que me gusta ser periodista en este país. No se acaba de reponer uno de una tremenda cobertura sobre las elecciones regionales cuando la agenda de la guerra, de la paz y de la protesta social, sigue moviendo las … Read more
Nic Wirtz and Kara Andrade
Nic Wirtz and Kara Andrade are contributing bloggers to AQ Online. Nic Wirtz is a freelance journalist who has lived in Guatemala for the last six years. His work has been featured on the Christian Science Monitor and GlobalPost, and he is editor for the website Vozz. Kara Andrade is a Central American-based freelance photojournalist … Read more
From Guatemala. A Preview of the Presidential Election on Sunday
Guatemalans head to the polls again tomorrow for the second round of their 2011 presidential elections that pits LIDER’s Manuel Baldizón against Patriot Party’s Otto Pérez Molina, a former army general during the height of the country’s civil war in the 1980s. During the first round held on September 11, Pérez Molina secured a 13 … Read more
The Guatemalan Government’s Apology for the 1954 Coup
On October 20, the day of Guatemala’s revolution, the country’s government formally apologized to the family of former President Juan Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, who was deposed in a coup in 57 years ago. “I want to apologize to the family for the great crime committed on June 27, 1954,” said President Alvaro Colom at the … Read more
Kara Andrade and Nic Wirtz
Kara Andrade is a contributing blogger to AQ Online. She is a Central American-based freelance photojournalist and multimedia producer whose work has been featured in Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, the Christian Science Monitor, France24, the San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, and the Oakland Tribune. Nic Wirtz is a freelance journalist who has lived … Read more
Ortega Leads Polls as Nicaragua Campaign Kicks Off
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is the frontrunner candidate in a nationwide presidential campaign that officially began on Saturday in Managua. Mr. Ortega is running for his second consecutive five-year term following a 2009 Supreme Court ruling that overturned a legal prohibition on consecutive reelection. He is facing a fragmented opposition represented by four presidential candidates. … Read more
Madame Officer
Drive through just about any traffic circle in Lima, Peru, and you will likely see a female police officer directing traffic. Dressed in neatly pressed, dark green, buttoned uniforms and helmets, this newest segment of the National Police of Peru (PNP) is the friendly public face of the country’s policing for thousands of Peruvians—and not … Read more
LGBT Activists Rally in Mexico City
Thousands convened along the Paseo de la Reforma to participate in Mexico City’s 33rd Gay Pride Parade recently. Adorned in colorful flags and angel costumes and chanting loudly amid peals of music, people of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) orientation marched and danced in demand of respect for sexual diversity in Mexico. The motto … Read more
La Salud y los Neuro-psiquiátricos en Argentina
“Soy Hugo López, uno de los pocos que sobreviví a los psicofármacos”, dice micrófono en mano un hombre grueso y de mirada bonachona, locutor habitual de la Radio la Colifata. “También conduzco aquí mi espacio llamado la Fogonera en donde hablo de todas las delicias gastronómicas que no podemos comer en este hospital”, agrega, con … Read more
