Stories from and

Venezuela's Oscar Entry Speaks an Indigenous Language

  22 September 2015

“Gone with the River” by Mario Crespo is Venezuela's Oscar entry in the Best Foreign Language Film… https://t.co/XR8tzauaSU — Carlos Aguilar (@Carlos_Film) September 3, 2015 Lo que lleva el río (“Gone With the River”), from Cuban-Venezuelan filmmaker Mario Crespo Dauna, is a Venezuelan film shot almost entirely in Warao, the language...

How Do You Say ‘Bro’ in Latin America?

  4 September 2015

The Facebook page for Pictoline, a highly visual site for news and information, shared this map with the different ways people in Latin American countries say “bro”, short for brother in English. While in Mexico they use wey and pata in Peru, it's pana in Venezuela and parce in Colombia.

The Happiest Countries in the World Are All in Latin America

  28 August 2015

The happiest (and least happy) countries in the world, ranked http://t.co/4EccwDNBp7 — Quartz (@qz) August 27, 2015 Gallup interviewed 150,000 adults in 148 countries, asking such questions as, “Did you smile or laugh yesterday?” and “Did you learn or do something interesting yesterday?” to build a positive-experience index. Surprisingly, the leading countries...

You Can Also Demand Justice for the Journalists Killed in Mexico

  26 August 2015

Writers around the world ask President Peña Nieto of Mexico to probe journalist murders. (Here's their letter) https://t.co/qAkZI5K2MR — Susana Hayward (@mediasayer) August 16, 2015 More than 500 journalists, writers, artists and defenders for freedom of expression from around the world wrote an open letter to the president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, in which they...

Search Coordinator for Ayotzinapa Students Assasinated

  16 August 2015

Asesinan en #México a coordinador de búsqueda de 43 normalistas de #Ayotzinapa Miguel Ángel Jiménez Blanco http://t.co/WMgteMU0JM Fue @EPN — PrensaRebelde (@RebeldePrenssa) August 9, 2015 Miguel Ángel Jiménez Blanco, coordinator of the search for the 43 Ayotzinapa teachers’ college students, was assasinated in Mexico. Miguel Ángel Jiménez Blanco, 45, was...

The ‘Escopetarra': A Killer Instrument

  13 August 2015

If you believe that nothing good can come from a rifle, then you have to get to know the “escopetarra”—a hybrid that transforms two “lethal” weapons (an AK-47 and a guitar) into an instrument of peace. “Escopetarra” is a Spanish blend that combines the words “escopeta” (shotgun) and “guitarra” (guitar). In his Spanish-language podcast,...

An Amazon Tribe's 500-Page Traditional-Medicine Encyclopaedia

  9 August 2015

The Matsés peoples of Brazil and Peru—have created a 500-page encyclopedia of their traditional medicine! http://t.co/4t9hh6KIQr — Moonching Wu (@SunMoonLake99) July 4, 2015 The Amazon Rainforest supports millions of plants that could be vital ingredients in still-undiscovered medications. For that reason, many pharmaceutical companies and even the US government are currently funding...

Watch This Giant Rainbow Mural Transform a Low-Income Mexican Neighborhood

  31 July 2015

A low-income neighborhood in Mexico was transformed in a giant rainbow by the collective Germen Crew—a youth organization of muralists and street artists formed by 15 graffiti artists, under the direction of Mibe (Luis Enrique Gómez Guzmán), who's teamed with Mexican Government. The more than 200 homes of the village of Palmitas, in...

Pope Francis in Latin America: ‘Ideologies End Badly, They Serve No Purpose’

  19 July 2015

Pope Francis Lashes out against Ideologies: http://t.co/EiiH1kqntX pic.twitter.com/NzaCiraLbS — El Universo (@eluniversocom) July 11, 2015 Pope Francis concluded his eight day tour of South America, where he held mass in the three countries he visited: Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay. The pontiff's message centered on peace and the most needy. He...

Do You Know These 10 Afro-Puerto Ricans?

  7 July 2015

The reclaiming of history as an ally of marginalized groups is key to their very survival. This is especially true in a colonial context such as Puerto Rico, where history has been and continues to be used as a means to justify inequalities and deny visibility. In the spirit of...

Peruvian Police Arrest Elderly Drivers for a Good Reason

  22 June 2015

In the Peruvian city of Huancayo, located in the center of the country, agents of the local Police Transit Authority arrested several elderly drivers of public transportation vehicles: A pesar que los conductores se resistían a ir a la dependencia policial, por contar con todos los documentos en regla. Fueron...

Peruvian Ministry of Education Makes 24 Indigenous Alphabets Official

  19 June 2015

The alphabets of 24 indigenous languages were made official in Peru as a result of joint efforts by the Ministry of Education and numerous indigenous communities. The documents were adopted by consensus and will be used to help preserve and improve the use of these languages, both in their written and spoken forms. De ese modo, los...

Mexican Indigenous Community Accuses Famous Designer of Plagiarism

  7 June 2015

French designer Isabel Marant has made a name for herself in the world of fashion, owing to her eclectic style, which blends materials and ethnic influences together in her designs. These creations carry a price tag starting in the hundreds of dollars. However, for the authorities and citizens of Santa...