Indigenous-led Seed Bank Protects the Amazon’s Biodiversity
Latin Dispatch
by Amanda Magnani
5M ago
RORAIMA, BRAZIL – The sun has barely risen as men and women leave their homes to make their way towards the maloca, a tall hut as large as an amphitheater. A single wooden column at the center holds up the 15-meters-high cone-shaped straw roof. There’s enough room for all the residents of the Willimon community as they prepare to work on nearby fields. A communal breakfast is served on a long wooden table. Soon these men and women will head out—farming gear on their shoulders—to help one of the local families clear their land for seeding. As tradition dictates, the owners of the land will offe ..read more
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It Takes Three to Tango: Argentina at a crossroads as 2023 elections near
Latin Dispatch
by Pablo Martínez-Sistac
5M ago
A century ago when legendary tango singer Carlos Gardel walked the streets of Buenos Aires, he assured Argentinians in his song “Volver” that 20 years is nothing. Today, they are loath to accept that kind of rosy thinking. At the time of writing inflation is at 138%, foreign debt is USD 40 billion and the poverty rate is 43%. On October 22 Argentinians are set to elect a new president, perhaps after a second-round vote. I spent 10 days in Argentina before the elections talking with a voter of each candidate to understand what is at stake. Background Argentine politics have been dominated by th ..read more
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Virtual Reality Opens Doors to Venezuela’s Largest Torture Center
Latin Dispatch
by Mie Hoejris Dahl
9M ago
BOGOTÁ — A foul smell of sewage permeated the overcrowded prison cell. Rays of light came through under the door. Screams and cries emanated from the cells and reverberated around the prison. “It was constant torture,” says former political prisoner Víctor Navarro, 27, of his time in Venezuela’s largest torture center, El Helicoide. Now, he’s the founder and director of Voices of Memory, an NGO that created a virtual reality museum of this notorious prison. Víctor Navarro, the founder and director of Voices of Memory, speaks about his virtual reality experience of El Helicoide and his ow ..read more
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The Little City That Could
Latin Dispatch
by Lois Parshley
1y ago
For Chelsea, Massachusetts, a new microgrid means energy resilience. This story first appeared in Mother Jones. Leer este articulo en español. On a recent morning, researcher Dominick Dusseau offers a glimpse into the future of Chelsea, Massachusetts, a small, industrial city just across the Mystic River from Boston. On digital maps he displays over Zoom, great blue splashes cover large swaths of the city—areas where, by his calculations, climate-driven flooding is likely to occur. The maps depict a world where the locals who can least afford it will get hit the hardest. Dusseau’s ..read more
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China, the Americas, and Lithium — A Tale of Investment in Emerging Markets
Latin Dispatch
by Alfredo Eladio Moreno
1y ago
NEW YORK — Year-to-date, Chinese investments in Latin American lithium — as measured by the price tag of projects and acquisition value — have surpassed investment levels in 2021, according to the Atlantic Council’s Latin America Center. The same data show that investment levels dropped from 2018 through 2021, but then peaked in 2022 at over $4.8 billion USD. A quarter into 2023, Chinese investments in lithium have surpassed levels from 2020 and 2021. (Twitter / Latin America Center, Atlantic Council) Bilateral relations between China-Latin America ballooned at the turn of the century. Trade ..read more
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The U.S. Is Overstating China’s Influence in Latin America
Latin Dispatch
by Miquel Vila Moreno
1y ago
This story was republished with permission from World Politics Review. Heightened tensions between the U.S. and China have many observers likening their strategic competition to a geopolitical struggle reminiscent of the Cold War. While the focus of that competition is in Asia, it extends to all the world’s regions, particularly where China has made inroads into what were historically regarded as U.S. spheres of influence, like Latin America. In recent years, Beijing has established a strong foothold in the region, causing anxiety in Washington about China’s desire to blunt U.S. influence ..read more
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Here’s What You Need to Know Ahead of the Lula-Xi Meeting
Latin Dispatch
by Jacob Kessler
1y ago
On Sunday, March 26th, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is scheduled to travel to China. After initially postponing the trip due to contracting pneumonia, he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in a much-anticipated meeting between two of the world’s most influential leaders. Both recently began their third terms: Lula after a contentious run-off in October of last year and Xi after handing himself an unprecedented third term at a ceremony held two weeks ago. The two world leaders had previously met in 2009 when Xi Jinping was not yet in power; Lula was on an of ..read more
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Ron DeSantis Wants to Make Transporting Migrants a Felony
Latin Dispatch
by Isabela Dias
1y ago
This is the same man who flew 50 asylum seekers to Martha’s Vineyard. This story first appeared in Mother Jones. Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a legislative proposal to “fight against Biden’s border crisis.” The bill, if approved by the Republican-dominated legislature, would make it a third-degree felony to “knowingly transport, conceal, or harbor” an undocumented migrant “within or into the state,” punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. If the migrant is a minor, it would be a second-degree felony, with even harsher punishments ..read more
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Border Patrol app excludes vulnerable asylum seekers, advocates say
Latin Dispatch
by Evan Robinson-Johnson
1y ago
After his dad was nearly killed during political turmoil in Cuba, Yoandry fled to Nicaragua, then to Mexico. He made it all the way to the U.S. border south of San Diego only to be stopped by an app that wouldn’t recognize his darker skin. The 31-year-old is now waking up before 5 a.m. every morning to try to schedule an appointment through the CBP One app, the only tool for refugees from Cuba, Haiti and Guatemala to begin to seek asylum in the U.S. By the time he gets the app’s facial recognition system to recognize him, Yoandry, who requested only his first name be used for safety, said ..read more
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Costa Rica shuns first regional environmental treaty
Latin Dispatch
by Michael McDonald
1y ago
Costa Rican lawmakers on Feb. 1 voted to keep the first regional environmental treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean off the legislative agenda, effectively killing the chances that the agreement will be ratified by the country that hosted its adoption. The Escazú Accord was adopted in 2018 in a Costa Rican community of the same name at a regional summit of representatives from 24 Latin American and Caribbean countries. Ultimately signed by 25 of a possible 33 countries and ratified thus far by 14, the treaty took force in 2021 and is now in the implementation phase.  A prime goal of ..read more
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