Listening to Nature
“Our father, listen attentively to the voice of our rivers, listen to the fearsome trees of the great forest.” So wrote José María Arguedas in 1966. The poet, writer and anthropologist (1911-1969) is one of the most celebrated…
An unknown path for Argentina as far-right libertarian Javier Milei wins election
Amidst one of the worst economic crises in Argentina’s history, Javier Milei staged one of the biggest upsets in its political history by beating Sergio Massa, the current economy minister and Peronist candidate, in the…
'Women Resisting Violence: Voices and Experiences from Latin America' by the WRV Collective
'Women Resisting Violence' draws on a range of case studies from Nicaragua, Brazil, the UK, Mexico, Bolivia, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Guatemala, to paint a contemporary landscape of feminist struggle. Together,…
Does Economic Reality Jeopodise Latin America's Second Pink Tide?
In an impressive switch, Latin America's right-wing presidents have lost almost all the presidential elections. The region has, once again, been painted in pink and red, even more than during Chavez and Correa´s times.…
Same-Sex Marriage Becomes Legal in Mexico
On 26 October, Tamaulipas became the last of Mexico’s 32 states to legalise same-sex marriage. Legislators approved the measure to reform the state’s civil code - which previously only recognised marriage as the unity between a…
Taking Selfies with Shotguns: Transcending Violence in Bolsonaro’s Brazil
Luis Octavio dos Santos Gouveia Junior reflects on the bittersweet experience of returning to his native Brazil after seven years. He argues that, in Bolsonaro’s Brazil, guns have expanded from being an instrument of self-…
Bolsonaro Turns Queen’s Funeral into Election Rally
The Brazilian President's attendance at The Queens funeral had everything to do with politics and little to do with grief, argues Clorrie Yoemans
LatinoLife 22 Confirms its Place as 'the UK's Most Inclusive Festival'
The only UK festival to be chosen for 'The Inclusive Festival Guide' compiled by European research project Fest Space, LatinoLife's 7th edition delivered the UK's biggest Latin music Festival. London’s only…
“Los Nadies” become Somebodies in Colombia
After a very contested campaign, Colombians recently elected Gustavo Petro, a former M-19 guerrilla member, as president, and Francia Márquez, the first vice president in Latin America of African descent, The duo Petro and…
Colombian elections 2022: Petro or Fico?
Colombia’s presidential elections are just around the corner (with a second round in June if no candidate obtains more than 50 per cent of the vote). With two main candidates on opposing sides of the political spectrum, what do…
Colombia: London Mural Honours Lucas Villa
London graffiti artist Kapo pays tribute to the demonstrator assassinated during Colombia’s national strike in 2021 in Stockwell’s ‘Hall of Fame’
Art as Evidence: Into the Belly of Latin American Political Posters
“Thinking Inside the Box” is an exhibition based on the archives of Latin American political art from Senate House Library, organized and led by students. The project dives into the largely unknown yet expansive collection of…
The Right to Die? Euthanasia in Colombia
Meet the lawyers fighting to make euthanasia a human right in Latin America.
Brazilian women in London share experiences of gendered violence
As the rates and intensity of violence against women dramatically rose globally over lockdown, Gil, a Brazilian woman in London who has suffered domestic violence, tells her story of being denied support from emergency services.…
Retracing Galeano’s Open Veins
‘Gold, Oil and Avocados, A Recent History of Latin America in Sixteen Commodities’ by Andy Robinson is an account of export extractivism in Latin America. Robinson argues that to understand the major political upheavals in Latin…
Río Turbio: women marginalised by the mine
Filmmaker and archivist Tatiana Mazú González sheds light on the role of women in the Río Turbio miner’s struggle
Brazil: Independence Celebrations Mark a Day of Divisions, over Unity
Clorrie Yeomens reflects on the trauma and mixed feelings that Brazilian Independence Day conjures up for many Brazilians
Latin America Criminalises Mining Protest
All over Latin America mining protest is being criminalised by government legislation. Protestors in Andalgalá, Argentina are arrested and beaten, while in Brazil the Munduruku are fighting Anglo American, financed by US…
Venezuela: Trochas de la Información
Produced by Circuito Gran Cine, a collective of film makers based in Venezuela, this film is one of a series about the difficulties Venezuelans have faced during the Covid-19 pandemic, ranging from water shortages to the lack of…
Que Vivan 'Los Turcos': Latin America's Arab connection
Last year, when the crisis in Colombia coincided with the Israeli incursion into Gaza, Colombian and Latino social media platforms were awash with calls for solidarity with Palestinians, after the distressing scenes of the…
Time to Come Together for Colombia
On April 28th May in Colombia the people of Cali city took to the streets to peacefully protest and march against the new tax reform put in place by president Ivan Duque. What started off as a peaceful demonstration soon turned…
The Amazon: Biden and Bolsonaro's no- deal
The United States and Brazil have been conducting closed door negotiations to broker an Amazon rainforest protection agreement — with the U.S. and other nations tentatively to provide significant funding, and Brazil possibly…
Mexico: Informal Workers and the Pandemic
The story of Noe, a private driver and ambulant salesman, is that of many in Mexico left without an income or government help. It is left to informal neighbourhood based support to helps them get by.
Brazil: Lula is Back and Shaking Things Up
The PT leader’s return is transforming politics and the handling of the pandemic
AMAZONAS: The Beauty of Britain's Afro-Indigenous Latinas
Carina Costa Londono brings together some of Britain’s proud Afro-Indigenous to show their natural beauty in a pioneering photo shoot
Brazil: Facebook Enables Landgrabbing
In a new TV documentary, BBC Brasil penetrated deep within criminal networks illegally selling and deforesting conserved lands — even within an Indigenous reserve - to find some land grabbers are posting the plots they’re selling…
The Most Dangerous Man on Earth
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is a double danger to the world, says Jan Rocha. The president's policies on Coronavirus and the Amazon endanger the whole world
Is the coronavirus epidemic worse in Brazil or in the UK?
Jan Rocha proposes the question ahead of an online discussion hosted by Latin America Bureau: Brazil is certainly suffering terribly, but is the UK's mortality rate higher?
Transforming Urban Spaces: Guatemala City’s barrancos
“We dream of a green city, an inclusive city, full of squares, full of children. We dream of a fair, walkable, accessible, liveable city. We believe in a greener, happier, more human city.” Urban planners and community gardeners…
Bolivia: the mysterious death of Orlando Gutiérrez
Miners' leader and prominent MAS figure killed after frequent death threats on social media and from sections of the state apparatus.
Fredman Herazo Padilla and the 40 Political Assassinations This Year
The Afro-Colombian community leader was assassinated on January 15. Fredman Herazo Padilla promoted Afro-Colombian music and culture and the language of Palenque, first free slave town in the Americas, well-known for its Afro-…
What Will Biden Mean for Latin America?
After four years of global ridicule and eroding influence overseas, the new president will be under immediate pressure to show where his priorities lie. From détente with Iran to an assertive Russia and a combative China, Latin…
Argentina Becomes Third South American Country to Legalise Abortion
This week, the South American country became the largest nation in Latin America to legalise abortion, a landmark victory for women across the region. It comes after years of mobilisation by the grass-roots movements in response…
Loathe the Word Latino? Blame it on the French!
The word ‘Latino’ may conjure up style and swagger (LatinoLife, of course, equalling all things cool). But having been created as a tool in Europe’s colonial tussle for territory, is the word really cool or has Latin America come…
COVID STORIES: Learning to Exhale
Priscilla Ferreira set up Circular Maternar UK, a group to support Brazilian women in the UK overcome their fears of natural (vaginal) birth. Brazil has the highest rate of caesarean births in the world - 85 percent in private…