HRW Film Festival: A Quiet Inquisition
Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn’s ‘A Quiet Inquisition’ saw its UK premier this week as part of Human Rights Watch’s London Film Festival 2015. The documentary explores the painful…
Articles by Rose Miyonga
Miss Universe’s Latin American Bias
Paulina Vega was crowned Miss Universe 2015 on 26 January. The 22-year-old Colombian is the latest in a long line of Latin American women to win the most coveted title…
Relatos Salvajes: The Universality of Brutality
Relatos salvajes (Wild Tales) is Damián Szifrón’s first feature film as both writer and director. Released in August 2014, it has rightly been given a nod for ‘Best Film in…
Feature: Playing hopscotch with Julio Cortázar
Julio Cortázar was born in Brussels in 1914 to Argentine parents. His family moved to Buenos Aires when he was four years old. Cortázar remained in the Argentina until 1951,…
Colombia: President Santos gambles in peace negotiations
It has been just over two years since the Colombian government, under President Juan Manuel Santos, began peace negotiations with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of…
Brazil: Rousseff’s uphill battle
At the beginning of this month Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff won the second round of presidential elections by a narrow margin of 51.6% over her main rival Aécio Neves, who…
Uruguay: Mujica to pass the baton
There may not be a seismic shift, but change is coming to Uruguayan politics. On 26 October 2014 Uruguayans will go to the polls to elect a new president. Because…
Feature: Can we learn from Morales?
Last Sunday, 12 October, saw Evo Morales and his party Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement for Socialism - MAS) claim a victory of 60.9% in the Bolivian presidential elections. Leftist leaders…
Feature: Manuel Puig and the power of the ‘cursi’
The Argentine writer Juan Manuel Puig Delledonne (commonly known as Manuel Puig) was born in General Villegas, Argentina, on 28 December 1932. He emigrated to Buenos Aires for secondary…
Feature: Is quinoa really the new cocaine in Bolivia?
For a few years now there have been concerns in Europe and North America about how the increase in demand for quinoa has affected producers and consumers in the Andean…
Arts: ‘Radical Geometry’ at the Royal Academy, Argentina and Uruguay
‘Radical Geometry’ at the Royal Academy of Arts, London exhibits a wide range of Latin American art of the twentieth century, demonstrating how the region’s artistic legacy was formed over…
‘Discovering’ Ayahuasca
I was taken aback when I was offered ayahuasca, and not only because I am unaccustomed to being offered free drugs. I was surprised because I had previously seen ayahuasca…
Colombia: Santos wins second term
On 15 June, Juan Manuel Santos was re-elected President of Colombia in the second round . It has been one of the most peaceful elections in Colombian history,…
Brazil: Is Rio ready?
I admit that I am not a big fan of football. I tend to tune in around the World Cup semi-finals, and even then I don’t much care who wins….
Uruguay/Bolivia: A new model for revolution?
Have we missed a silent revolution? Presidents Evo Morales and José Mujica are quietly reshaping Latin American politics. It’s been so gradual and so peaceful that we have barely noticed…
Chile: Artist destroys student debt
The story is so absurd it is hard to believe. Two weeks ago, the 31-year-old visual artist Francisco Tapia known as Papas Fritas (Fried Potatoes) stole and set fire to…
Brazil: A summer playlist
As the weather gets warmer, I prepare for summer by curating a playlist This is a selection of my ten favourite Brazilian musicians for summer 2014 (in no particular order):…
Arts: ‘Pangaea’ at the Saatchi
Rafael Gómezbarros: ‘Casa Tomada’ (2013) A month after the show opened, I finally made it to see the Pangaea exhibition at the Saatchi Galley in Chelsea, London. Named after the…
Feature: A Reflection on the Death of Gabriel García Márquez
I first heard the news through a text, which read: ‘That writer guy you like just died.’ To me, this text represented an almost sacrilegious attitude to one of the…
Feature: A perspective on feminism in Latin America
Intersectionality, the idea that there should be a unity in the combat of different systems of oppression, seems to be the word of every feminist’s lips today. Nowhere is this…
Arts: Triumph for ‘Gloria’ at the 2014 Platino Awards
Arts: Triumph for ‘Gloria’ at the 2014 Platino Awards Held this year at Panama City’s Anayansi Theatre, the inaugural Platino Awards were organised by producers of the EGEDA and the…
Paraguay: Literature in Exile
Paraguay: Literature in Exile Paraguay is often sidelined politically, economically and culturally by her Latin American neighbours, and by the rest of the world. But 25 years after the fall…
Brazil: The face of Rio’s favelas
Violence, drugs, and police occupation Life in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, the urban slums that stretch out to around Brazil’s second-largest city, is generally imagined to be rough. Home to almost…
‘Lo real maravilloso’: Is Latin America still magical?
Discussing the past and present of ‘lo real maravilloso’ in Latin America. Is there still room for magic in the artistic trends of Latin America today? ‘Lo real maravilloso’: Is…