Stories about Latin America from December, 2005
Puerto Rico: Statehood Status
While Ramaris Albert reports for the AP that “Puerto Rico Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá rejected a Bush administration report saying that Washington has the final word in defining the U.S. territory's status,” Gil Schmidt argues that the bottom-line significance is that Puerto Rico is not wanted as a 51st state....
Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela: Why Trinis speak Spanish at Christmastime
English may be the official language of Trinidad, but at Christmastime the country sings in Spanish. De Cooler : Soca News announces the results of the National Parang Championships, the competition which showcases Trinidad's traditional Christmas music, while Caribbean Free Radio plays a few parang tracks and explains the genre's...
Brazil: Christmas in Brazil
Didn't see Santa this year? That's because he was in Rio de Janeiro. Made in Brazil also offers up 10 convincing reasons to spend the holidays in the Southern Hemisphere.
Chile: Soccer Champions and Chilean Music
Marcelo Mackinnon writes in OhmyNews International that Catholic University beat the University of Chile in the 2005 football championship. Huasonic, writing from Spain, is filled with joy after stumbling upon some Chilean bands in the iTunes music store. He notes that Leo Prieto‘s podcast, Radio Minga is also included in...
Venezuela: Lack of Coffee and Inspiration
A.M. Mora y Leon had a difficult time finding coffee in Caracas during a recent visit and directs readers to a satirical explanation of the coffee shortage at Caracas Chronicles. Orlidroit can't find inspiration (ES) writing in a global medium like the internet while living in a small petroleum town...
Peru: Seeking Congressional Representatives
Have some extra time this holiday season? Why not run for congress in Peru. Fabiola Bazo of Peru Elections 2006 writes that a Peruvian political party has placed classified ads soliciting potential candidates for congress.
Christmastime in Bolivia
Take a deep breath. Watch your belongings. Say goodbye to personal space. If you want to partake in some holiday shopping at a place where you can find anything and everything, it would be best to heed that advice. Every year, the Feria Navideña in Cochabamba, Bolivia overwhelms the senses...
Bolivia: Evo Morales Spoofed
Eduardo Avila says president-elect, Evo Morales was the victim of a crank call, which you can hear for yourself.
Peru: Blogger Night
PeruBlogs has photos of the latest Peruvian bloggers meetup (ES). Check out the t-shirts.
Uruguay: Montevideo; Barbie
Acá Fede gives a photographic tour of Montevideo. Todos Puteros, responding to a recent study which found that British girls “abuse” their barbies, sarcastically says (ES) that Mattel still has new markets to explore.
Venezuela: Feliz Chavidad
Taking a break from the political dialogue (well, almost), Miguel Octavio (recent winner of best Latino, Caribbean, or South American weblog), Daniel Duquenal, and Oil Wars all wish their readers a very happy holiday season.
Argentina: Latin America Marches Left
Expat Argentina gives an Argentinean perspective of South America's “march leftward” while Matt explains why he is “the chicken.”
Bolivia: Morales and U.S. Drug Policy
Adam Isacson makes the argument that “Evo Morales is the natural and predictable product of twenty years of a militarized, failed U.S. drug policy in the Andes.”
Chile: New York Performance
Leo Prieto is impressed (ES) by an audio-visual show put on some by fellow Chileans in New York.
Brazil: Model Corruption
Made in Brazil covers the controversy surroundng Eliana Tranchesi.
Bolivia: Álvaro García Linera Interview
Jonathan Olguin has translated an interview with Vice President-elect Álvaro García Linera.
Chile: Childhood on Easter Island
Margot Hotus Salinas, a “linguist, musician and budding journalist,” remembers her childhood on Rapa Nui, also known as, “Easter Island” and “Isla de Pascua.” Nearly 2000 photos of the island are available on Flickr.
Elections in the Bolivian Blogs
Editor's note: I was so impressed with Miguel Esquirol's summary of blog commentary on Evo Morales’ presidential victory in Bolivia that I asked our ever-growing army of translators to offer up an english version. Juliana Rincón Parra was kind enough to volunteer. What follows below is her excellent translation, which...
Puerto Rico: on Rs and Ls
Poor Little Tumbleweek seeks out the roots of the infamous missing “R” in Puerto Rican speech.
Bolivia: More on MAS
Jefferson Morley has a good sampling of what Latin America's online media has to say about Evo Morales’ presidential victory while Eduardo Avila calls the decisive victory “a positive step forward for Bolivia.”
A Quick Trip into Chile
A good way make a virtual Chilean trip, is by getting to know Chileans blogs about, food, customs, and culture. In La Buena Vida (ES) ( “The good life”) Alvaro posts about new restaurants and polls readers about the where to find the best “Pisco Sour” or the best “sandwich”...
About our Latin America coverage
