Why Piñera Is the Frontrunner to Return as Chile’s President
Eight months before Chileans go to the polls, former President Sebastián Piñera is the frontrunner among a crowded field of candidates. The center-right businessman who was president from 2010 to 2014 leads public opinion polls, and has clearly benefited from the unpopularity of Michelle Bachelet, who preceded him in power – and replaced him when … Read more
For Afro-Chileans, First Step Is Getting Counted
Correction appended below Updated 3/10/17 Seventeen years ago, a group of Latin American and Caribbean NGOs, government agencies and regional bodies officially adopted the term “Afro-descendant” to refer to the region’s approximately 150 million citizens of African origin. The occasion was the Latin American Regional Conference Against Racism in Santiago, and the host was the … Read more
The Coming Fight Over Chile’s Strict Abortion Laws
On October 2, the amplified thump-thump-thump of babies’ heartbeats echoed in front of Chile’s La Moneda Palace. A dozen pregnant women, loudspeakers attached to their protruding bellies, stood with some 100 supporters to protest pending legislation that would liberalize the country’s harshly restrictive abortion laws. Calling their campaign “La Voz del Corazón,” or “The Heart’s … Read more
Book Review: Multiple Choice
The literature of Alejandro Zambra is one of both movement and repose. On one hand, his work — reflected in titles such as Ways of Going Home, Bahía Inútil and Mudanza — brings to mind an expert in packing bags, works of few pages that speak to a traveler who knows in advance that the weight he carries will … Read more
Chile’s Unlikely Energy Success Story
Just five years ago, Chile was in the midst of an energy crisis. Argentina had stopped sending natural gas across the Andes, and the threat of blackouts and energy rationing was real. Energy prices were among the highest in the region, the sector was dominated by a handful of monopolistic utility companies, and the private … Read more
The Chilean Completo
In the acclaimed Chilean web series “Gringolandia,” comedian Koke Santa Ana plays a befuddled visitor to New York who tries a hot dog from one of the city’s ubiquitous sidewalk vendors — only to recoil in disgust. A plain sausage enclosed in a tasteless bun seems underdressed by Chilean standards. The series then follows his … Read more
Attack on America: How Justice Finally Came in Chile
On the misty morning of September 21, 1976, a dust-blue Chevrolet Malibu made its way down Embassy Row in Washington, D.C. At the wheel was Orlando Letelier, who had been ambassador to the United States and minister of foreign relations, interior, and defense under Chile’s Marxist president, Salvador Allende. Following the 1973 coup by Augusto … Read more
AQ Top 5 Latin American Academics: María Teresa Ruiz González
This stargazer is blazing a trail for a new generation of Chilean scientists.
Bratwurst with Avocado
Exactly 500 years ago, in 1516, Germany passed its Reinheitsgebot, or Beer Purity Law — a stringent recipe known for producing high-quality beer using only water, hops and barley. When a wave of Germans migrated to South America during the 19th and 20th centuries, they brought the Reinheitsgebot technique with them. The region has been enjoying the … Read more
Book Review: Albina and the Dog-Men
Like Alejandro Jodorowsky himself, Albina and the Dog-Men seems to be all imaginable things at once: a fable and a folktale, a Western, a tragedy, a lewd comedy. A love story. The short novel’s titular character is an albino giant with no memory of her past. By moonlight, Albina unwittingly transforms the men of a … Read more
This Week in Latin America: Obama in Havana, Venezuela in Crisis
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered straight to your inbox every Monday. Cuba, Argentina Host Obama: Cuba and Argentina each play host to U.S. President Barack Obama this week, with human rights issues shading both visits. Today, Obama will hold a working meeting with Cuban President Raúl Castro, who will then host a state dinner … Read more
How a Film About a Bear Got Chile to Reckon With Its Past
When Chile won its first-ever Academy Award on February 28 for the animated short film “Bear Story” (Historia de un Oso), the nation got more than a gold-plated statuette. It was also jolted into confronting the still-taboo subject of forced exiles and political disappearances under the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. An estimated 200,000 Chileans fled … Read more
This Week in Latin America: Brazil’s Environmental Disaster
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered straight to your inbox every Monday. Samarco Settlement: Nearly four months after a burst mining dam in Brazil killed 19 people and caused a wave of toxic sludge to pollute major water sources, mine owner Samarco Mineração S.A. is expected Monday to announce a financial settlement with the Brazilian government. Joint … Read more
The Surprisingly Deep Centuries-Old Ties Between the Middle East and Latin America
To see our entire feature on Syrian refugees in Latin America, click here. The first time I stepped into a Syrian home, I was greeted by a family drinking Argentine yerba mate and watching a popular Mexican soap opera dubbed into Arabic. It was the summer of 1998, and I was in Syria researching Levantine … Read more
Easter Island’s Tapati Rapa Nui
Most visitors to Easter Island are lured by the Moai — the mysterious stone heads scattered around this remote speck in the southeastern Pacific. But for two weeks every February, the monoliths take second billing to a festival honoring the culture of those who erected them. Easter Islanders, many of whom can trace their ancestry … Read more
