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
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
Free College in Chile! So What Are Students So Mad About?
On Tuesday, 80,000 university students in Chile received the good news that they were eligible for tuition-free education as part of a new program enacted by President Michelle Bachelet. The moment should have been a high point for the country’s vocal – and powerful – student movement, which for years has been protesting for better … Read more
AQ Video: Entrevista con el Sr. Alcalde Pedro Edmunds Paoa
Americas Quarterly conversó con el Alcalde Pedro Pablo Petero Edmunds Paoa, el alcalde de la Isla de Pascua, conocido como Rapa Nui en el idioma nativo, durante su visita a Nueva York en diciembre del año 2014. De origen rapanui, Edmunds Paoa ha desarrollado su carrera política en la Isla de Pascua, donde ha llevado … Read more
Hangar Pains: The Argentina-Chile Airport Controversy
Relations between neighboring Argentina and Chile have reached a new low point. The latest controversy surrounds a decision by Argentina’s airport regulator, ORSNA, mandating LAN-Argentina, a Chilean-owned airline operating domestically, to vacate its maintenance hangar at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, one of Buenos Aires’s two airports. LAN-Argentina’s director, Agustín Agraz, called this decision a form of … Read more
Chile’s Student Leaders Compete in Parliamentary Elections
Chile’s political establishment may be welcoming a new class in November when the country holds presidential and parliamentary elections. Former President Michelle Bachelet is expected to easily win the presidency, but some former leaders from Chile’s student movement are looking to shake up the national Congress. As they compete for seats in the Chamber of … Read more
Growing Pains: Former Student Leaders Step into Electoral Politics Amid Continuing Mobilization in Chile
In 2011, a nationwide reform movement swept Chile, with teachers, students and their families filling the streets to demand free, quality public education. As student marches and police crackdowns continue into 2013, some former leaders of the movement are transitioning to electoral politics, looking to win seats in parliament come November. View an exclusive slideshow … Read more
AQ Slideshows: Natural Resource Extraction in Latin America
Award-winning photographer Nicolas Villaume accompanied Americas Quarterly to Chile, Colombia and Peru in 2012 to study natural resource extraction and its effect on social inclusion. Photographed during the AQ team’s site visits to mines in each country and meetings with stakeholders at the extraction sites and nearby communities, Villaume’s photos bring this research to life … Read more
Michelle Bachelet’s Next Move
Michelle Bachelet surprised no one last week when she announced she was leaving her post as head of UN Women. While she did not say so explicitly, it is widely expected that Bachelet will run for president again. Though her victory in Chile’s November presidential election is far from a sure thing, public opinion polls … Read more
[i]AQ[/i] Videos: Natural Resource Extraction in Chile, Colombia and Peru
AQ traveled to Colombia, Chile and Peru in 2012 to study natural resource extraction and its effect on social inclusion, made possible with the generous support of the Ford Foundation. On each trip, the team met with mining officials, local government representatives, community leaders, and environmental activists to gain a broad, nuanced and diverse understanding … Read more
Chile’s Municipal Elections: Everyone Loses, but the Ruling Coalition Loses More
The center-right ruling Alianza coalition led by President Sebastián Piñera suffered a setback in the municipal elections held on October 28. A year before the presidential election, prospects for the Alianza look grimmer. The Piñera administration—inaugurated two weeks after the devastating February 2010 earthquake—is now confronting the political aftershocks of his coalition’s losses and hoping … Read more
Same-Sex Marriage in Chile
Marriage equality for same-sex couples is gaining new momentum in the United States. One month ago, President Obama announced that “same-sex couples should be able to get married.” Meanwhile, major multinational corporations and top consumer brands are also coming out in favor of marriage equality. In February, Proposition 8, a voter referendum that reversed marriage … Read more
Chile’s Tsunami and the Courtroom Battle
On the morning of February 27, 2010, Interior Minister Patricio Rosende dismissed on national television “absolutely, the possibility of a tsunami,” asking the nation to remain calm only one hour after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck south-central Chile. Meanwhile, a series of waves were heading toward Chile’s shore. Eventually, the all-powerful water would engulf a 375 … Read more
Obama’s Trip to Latin America: Accomplishments, Shortcomings, and What It Presages for U.S.-Hemispheric Relations
Typically, it takes time to gauge the full effect of a presidential visit, and the March visit by President Barak Obama to Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador is no exception. If anything, because of the controversy that ensued over whether Obama should have taken the trip in the first place and because it was his … Read more
