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Why the LGBT Community Will Remember Rio 2016
If you’re looking for signs that LGBT inclusion in the sports world is on the rise, the Rio 2016 Olympics are a good place to start. Despite concerns surrounding the host city, the competition itself has gone off (mostly) without a hitch; for LGBT people in Brazil and around the world, it’s been downright monumental. … Read more
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BNDES Helped Save the Olympics. But Is it Hurting Brazil?
Corrections appended below Updated 8/17/2016 New leadership atop Brazil’s massive national development bank is unwinding a decade of rampant lending that fed large conglomerates and strained the country’s finances. Over the past half-century, Brazil’s Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social (BNDES) built huge power plants and highways through the industrial southeast, aided social programs in the … Read more
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This Week in Latin America: Colombia’s Peace Campaign
Sign up here to get This Week in Latin America delivered to your inbox every Monday. Colombia’s Peace Campaign: Colombian officials are preparing for the end of hostilities with the FARC despite indications that many in the country oppose a proposed peace deal. Government, FARC and U.N. representatives will today begin verifying 23 “concentration zones” in which the guerrillas will remain for … Read more
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Despite Pope’s Comments, a Good Week for Trans Rights in Latin America
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) advocacy groups expressed disappointment this week after comments by Pope Francis were released showing the Catholic leader’s unease over the growing social acceptance of transgender rights. During a private meeting last week, the pope said the idea of teaching schoolchildren they can choose their gender was “terrible” and that … Read more
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A ‘School of Rock’ in Rio’s Biggest Favela
Kids from Rio de Janeiro’s largest favela are reaching new heights – literally. Equipped with grippy shoes, hand chalk and encouragement from renowned climbers worldwide, young people from the Rio neighborhood of Rocinha are increasingly taking to the city’s tallest mountains in search of recreation, thrills and, for some, a way to avoid the pitfalls … Read more
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Unseen Latin America
What do you want people to see when they think of Latin America and the Caribbean? In our next issue, we’re celebrating #LatAmUnseen – the essence of the region that you won’t see in postcards. Share your original photo on Twitter or Facebook by September 6 for a chance to appear in the next issue … Read more
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Eight Ways to Not Enjoy Rio During the Olympics
An amazing city, Rio de Janeiro can also be exasperating if you’re not prepared. The 500,000 foreigners visiting this month for the Summer Olympics will soon discover the challenges of life in the self-proclaimed cidade maravilhosa, from its world famous congestion to its quirky social norms. Here are eight ways for visitors to not enjoy … Read more
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Hey World, Let’s Cut Brazil Just a Little Slack
After being kidnapped by uniformed police in Rio on the eve of the Olympic Games, a young New Zealander proclaimed on Facebook that Brazil “is well and truly f***ed in every sense of the word imaginable.” Many others agreed, from the Australian athletes who arrived in their dorms to find overflowing toilets (and a fire, … Read more
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Infographic: The ‘Disastrous’ State of Latin America’s Prisons
Flames and plumes of smoke could be seen rising above the Juiz Plácido de Souza penitentiary in Pernambuco, Brazil on Saturday after a violent inmate rebellion left six dead and at least 11 injured. Local news outlets reported several possible causes for the incident, but severe overcrowding was almost certainly a factor: the prison, built … Read more
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Speaking Guaraní, Don Quixote Rides into Paraguay
Don Quixote is riding into Paraguay, but he’s not just tilting at windmills. The idealistic knight from La Mancha has a new quest: to defend the indigenous Guaraní language. The first-ever Guaraní translation of Miguel de Cervantes’ classic novel Don Quixote was completed in June by a team of four Paraguayan scholars who labored eight years … Read more
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What Brazil Can Learn From the Terrorist Threat to the Rio Olympics
Brazil may be the world’s seventh-largest economy and highly visible on a global scale, but it is, in many ways, remarkably isolated from the rest of the world and from global threats like terrorism. At least most thought it was. The arrests in recent days of 12 Brazilians suspected of plotting to carry out attacks during the … Read more
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Ayude a los boomers a retirarse en América Latina
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
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Why Lying Is Often Easier in Argentina
At a dinner party in Washington seven years ago, a well-known Argentine diplomat was doing what diplomats do – defending his government over rubber chicken and white wine. But this night was quite unusual, because the diplomat was openly and unapologetically defending a lie. Back then, the lie was still fairly new, and the world … Read more
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Trabaje con México en la Cuarta Revolución Industrial
Read in English Estimado(a) Sr(a) Presidente(a): El comercio y las relaciones entre México y Estados Unidos se han destacado como el objetivo de la campaña electoral de este año pero la retórica pasa por alto una realidad inequívoca. Como la siguiente persona que ocupe la silla presidencial de Estados Unidos, usted presidirá el inicio de … Read more
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A Shaken Dominican LGBT Movement Finds Strength After Orlando
The Dominican Republic’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community was shaken after the nightclub shooting in Orlando a month ago. At least four victims were from that small country, and the attack underscored the discrimination many LGBT activists feel in their own, largely conservative society. In a particularly ill-timed display of opposition to LGBT … Read more