This Is How Mexico Is Preparing for a Wave of Deportations
Mexico’s Congress is scrambling to prepare for a possible wave of deportations from the United States. Lawmakers are currently debating two initiatives aimed to help the country manage the reintegration of hundreds of thousands, and possibly millions, of returning Mexican nationals – and benefit from the skills they obtained abroad. On Feb. 28, Mexico’s Senate … 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
How Santos’ New Peace Deal Aggravated Colombia’s Drug War
Despite a tumultuous 2016, Colombia ended the year on a hopeful note. On Dec. 10, President Juan Manuel Santos accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to broker peace with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country’s largest rebel group. In his acceptance speech, Santos said that “the impossible had become possible” … Read more
Medicine Shortages Pose a Threat to HIV Positive Argentines
For nearly a year, HIV positive Argentines have endured what advocates call a “crisis” and a “national emergency.” Shortages and delays in the delivery of antiretroviral drugs have beleaguered many who depend on them to stay healthy, sparking public outcry and a protest outside the Health Ministry in Buenos Aires in December. Since then, officials … Read more
Fighting Gender Violence: What Brazil, Argentina and Others Are Doing
Isamara Filier, 41, was at a New Year’s party in Campinas, Brazil when her ex-husband opened fire on partygoers, killing her and eleven others. Filier and her ex-husband had been fighting for custody of their eight-year-old son, who was also among those killed. Hours later in El Alto, Bolivia, Jenny Mamani, 21, was beaten to … Read more
How a Changing Economy Is Leaving Afro-Cubans Behind
Whether or not President-elect Donald Trump follows through on plans to reverse the U.S.’ economic opening with Cuba, entrepreneurship on the island will be hard to get rid of. Reforms enacted by President Raúl Castro in 2011 (three years before the U.S. rapprochement began) have already led to a boom in restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts, private taxis and other … Read more
Why Reinaldo Arenas Still Matters for Cuba’s LGBT Community
On Dec. 7, 1990, the Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas, suffering from advanced AIDS, ended his life after a decade spent in exile in the United States. Arenas had become a vocal opponent of the Cuban government and, in his suicide note, personally blamed Fidel Castro for the poverty and displacement that defined much of his … Read more
The Senator Behind Colombia’s Gay Adoption Fight
With negotiators hurriedly trying to salvage Colombia’s rejected peace deal, one legislator is stirring up conflict of a different sort. For more than a year, Viviane Morales has been pushing a bill that, if passed by Congress and approved in a referendum, would prevent anyone not in a heterosexual marriage from adopting children. Not surprisingly, … Read more
Why Women in Argentina Called for a National Day of Mourning
(Updated on October 20) On October 19, tens of thousands of women across Argentina – and others across the hemisphere – protested a rash of violence against women. The particularly chilling murder of a 16-year-old girl has inspired women’s rights movement Ni Una Menos (Not One Less) to call for a day of mourning dubbed … Read more
Did an Anti-LGBT Panic Help Defeat Colombia’s Peace Deal?
When thousands of Colombians protested on August 10 to demand the resignation of the country’s openly gay education minister, few saw any greater political significance. But as the world struggles to understand why Colombians voted “No” on Sunday to a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group, the seemingly unrelated … Read more
What Went Wrong in Rio’s Favelas?
Correction appended below This article is adapted from AQ’s most recent issue, “Fixing Brazil.” To receive the print edition at home, subscribe here. Standing in the doorway of her mud-and-bamboo cottage at the very top of a favela called Babilônia, Maria Regina Luiz peers out cautiously. She was born and raised on this steep hillside … Read more
Uruguay Is Latin America’s Social Inclusion Leader. Here’s Why.
Leer en español This article is adapted from AQ’s most recent issue, “Fixing Brazil.” To receive the print edition at home, subscribe here. A small country sandwiched between larger neighbors has claimed the number-one spot in Americas Quarterly Social Inclusion Index TM — for the third year in a row. So, what does Uruguay keep getting right? Simply … Read more
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
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
