
Ecuador’s Indigenous Activists Are Under Attack. Will the Government Protect Them?
President Lenín Moreno should make protecting indigenous groups a priority, says Amnesty International’s Americas director.
President Lenín Moreno should make protecting indigenous groups a priority, says Amnesty International’s Americas director.
Rafael Correa stepped down on May 24 after 10 years as president of Ecuador, making way for his hand-picked successor, Lenín Moreno, but retaining his power as Ecuador’s most influential politician and his control of the legislature through the Alianza País party. Aware of these constraints, Moreno has sought since his runoff election victory to … Read more
A decade ago, Rafael Correa was sworn in as president of Ecuador in the Andean village of Zumbahua. In the presence of fellow “pink tide” socialist presidents Hugo Chávez and Bolivia’s Evo Morales, five indigenous priests sprinkled him with sacred herbs and evoked the spirits of the moon and sun to provide him with positive energy. But … Read more
Leer en inglés Estimado(a) Sr(a) Presidente(a): Los baby boomers de Estados Unidos a menudo parecen representar las importaciones de mayor crecimiento en México. En la región del Lago de Chapala, en donde vivo, una cifra estimada de más de 10,000 estadounidenses –o el doble de ese número dependiendo de la época del año– llaman “su … Read more
Leer en español Dear Mister / Madam President, U.S. baby boomers often seem like Mexico’s fastest-growing imports. In the Lake Chapala region where I live, an estimated 10,000-plus Americans — or double that number, depending on the time of year — call the area between the cities of Chapala and Jocotepec home. While most come … Read more
To see our entire feature on Syrian refugees in Latin America, click here. Many Latin American countries deserve the world’s gratitude for opening their doors to Syrian refugees. Their generosity and humanity stand out at a time when many other countries are turning people away. But what happens aft er the refugees arrive? How can … Read more
Ecuador has embarked on a strategic campaign to draw international visitors, spending a record $60 million on tourism in 2014. Rising from the remains of the Inca empire, with a newly opened airport and a subway in the works, Ecuador’s capital blends colonial history, Andean culture and contemporary infrastructure. 1. Go colonial Quito’s historic center, … Read more
August 9 marks the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. In Ecuador, hundreds will mark the day in protest, as a march convened by CONAIE, the country’s chief Indigenous organization, is making its way to Quito from the far southwestern corner of the country. CONAIE, or the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, has … Read more
A revolutionary. A reformer. The most progressive Catholic leader in history. All have been used to describe Pope Francis, the Argentine pontiff who has shown a willingness to embrace change in the Catholic Church and reenergize his flock in places like Latin America, where the share of adults identifying as Catholic has fallen precipitously over … Read more
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff recently concluded her first state visit to the U.S. after abruptly canceling a trip scheduled for October 2013 due to allegations that the NSA had spied on her. While in the U.S., President Rousseff responded to questions about the spying issue, saying, “Some things have changed […] I believe President Obama.” … Read more
Here’s a look at some of the stories we’ll be following this week: Corruption Scandals in Central America: Guatemala’s legislature will vote this week on whether to strip President Otto Pérez Molina of presidential immunity. The vote may open the door to prosecution as part of an ongoing corruption investigation involving the country’s customs authority … Read more
In his 1982 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez spoke of the conflict and violence plaguing Latin America, including El Salvador’s 12 year civil war and Argentina’s Dirty War. “There have been five wars and seventeen military coups; there emerged a diabolic dictator who is carrying out, in God’s name, the first Latin American ethnocide … Read more
The number of Latin Americans with access to the Internet will increase by 20 percent over the next twelve months, according to the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Address Registry (LACNIC). The Uruguay-based NGO is one of five Regional Internet Registries in the world that assigns and administers IP addresses to local Internet service providers—it also advocates for Internet development in … Read more
The government of Ecuador released a statement on Thursday dismissing the headline of an earlier article by the Spanish international wire service EFE that Ecuador is on a United States “black list” of countries in violation of intellectual property rights. The EFE story was an interpretation of an annual report, also released on Thursday, issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative … Read more
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the independent human rights body of the Organization of American States (OAS), experienced a period of intense political turmoil from 2011 to 2013. Criticism of the Commission by members of the OAS—most notably Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela—was echoed by Colombia, Peru and others in their vocal disapproval of … Read more