All posts in Features
The pope of the slums?
Such is the pace of news and comment in today’s world that you might be forgiven for thinking that the moment for reflecting on the implications of the first Latin American pope had already passed. Jorge Bergoglio, in his new [...]
Chile’s eye on the sky opens a doorway to development
Ever since the excellent conditions for stargazing in Northern Chile attracted its first international observatory in the 1960s, the region´s reputation as an astronomical hotspot has been growing more solid by the day. Inaugurated this month, Earth´s largest telescope adds [...]
Latin America and Europe: opportunities and challenges for greater inter-regionalism
Photo by: Alex Ibañez For two decades, European governments largely ignored Latin America. Disinterest for the region grew in the 1990s when attention became focused on rebuilding and integrating Eastern Europe. General disregard continued at the turn of the century, despite [...]
Cozumel: Tourism or Bust?
Cozumel is known (and marketed) throughout the world for being a slice of ‘paradise on Earth’. In this feature Adam Fry explores how tourism is affecting the island, and what lessons we can learn from it. The island of [...]
Feature: Out with the old, in with the new? Corruption, organised crime, and Mexico’s new President
Is it possible to get rid of organised crime? This lingering question divides analysts, and politicians alike. By some accounts, crime rates in El Salvador plummeted by a staggering 60% in a little more than a few months after [...]
Torre David: vertical slum?
The fascinating story of the Centro Financiero Confinanzas is the subject of Adam Fry’s exploration into the interaction between urban space and the residents of Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. To those unaware of its history, the Centro Financiero Confinanzas looks like [...]
Veg for rubbish: Mexico City’s environmental problems
Adam Fry takes a closer look at the progress made by Mexico City in its attempt to clean up its environmental reputation, the policies it is using to do so, and how there is a fundamental conflict at the heart [...]
Chile’s Atacama desert: a hot bed of astronomical activity
ALMA, the largest ground-based astronomical project in existence released its first images to the press in October, 2011. The ‘Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array’, ALMA for short, is the giant telescope that sits atop the Chajnantor plateau in the Atacama Desert, [...]
Guillermo Calderón on Theatre, Politics, and Pinochet’s Legacy
Guillermo Calderón is one of Chile’s leading playwrights and directors. Following his attendance of the Royal Court Theatre’s International Residency in July 2009, he was invited back this year to write a new piece and to direct rehearsed readings of [...]
Viva Venezuela
Venezuela Viva opens on Monday 10 October at the London Palladium. The first of British Red Cross’ “Across Culture” series, the Royal Gala features forty-three dancers and musicians showcasing five centuries of Venezuelan history. Rebecca Jarman met with Maria Shammas [...]
Latin Lessons: Proyecto Latin@ and the Canadian School System
Before a culture of low achievement and alienation, Melinda Maldonado looks at how Proyecto Latin@ is helping integrate the Latino community into Canadian schools. Illustrations by Santiago Arboleda.
Plan Colombia: the legacy in Putumayo
O’Shaughnessy and Branford’s Chemical Warfare in Colombia: The Costs of Coca Fumigation is an evocative read, going as far as to suggest that the United States’ agenda in Colombia is a ‘terror campaign’ in its own right. Alex Prior takes [...]
Stitching Stories: Chile’s arpillera tradition
During the censorship of the Pinochet dictatorship a powerful form of expression was born in the form of ‘arpilleras’. Ben Darlington hears the stories these tapestries have to tell in anticipation of a new exhibition at the University of Cambridge.
Ciudad Juárez: A trip into Mexico’s Drug War
The most dangerous city in the world? Pulsamérica’s Stephen Eisenhammer takes a closer look.
Review: Nostalgia de la Luz
Edith Sangüeza meets the Chilean film-maker Patricio Guzmán and steps into the Atacama desert through his new film, ‘Nostalgia por la luz’. Patricio Guzmán Lozanes (born August 11, 1941) is a Chilean documentary filmmaker whose work interrogates the urgency of [...]
