Since taking office on 1 December 2018, president
Andres Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has been a man in a hurry. Aged 65, he is
said to get up every day at six, hold a daily press conference at seven, and
then begin a twelve-hour day. At weekends, he flies off to one of Mexico’s 32
states to examine local projects and...
BOOK REVIEW
Chris Feliciano Arnold, The Third Bank of the River. New York: Picador 2018
This book has been classified as ‘travel-writing’, but it is much more than that. The author, Chris Feliciano Arnold, born in Brazil and adopted into a middle-class California family, tells the story of the Amazon river and its associated port-towns near the headwaters on the frontier...
Colombia: an election which will determine the fate of peace
By Thomas Mortensen, Colombia Country Manager, Christian Aid
As Colombians head to the polls on the 27th May, the internationally recognised peace agreement signed with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in late 2016, hangs in the balance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGh4F_AlWxA&feature=youtu.be
Edited highlights of a debate between Colombian presidential candidates Ivan Duque and Gustavo...
Since 16 February an army general has been in charge of policing and security in the state of Rio de Janeiro. This is the effect of a surprise decree issued by President Michel Temer, since approved by both chambers of the Brazilian Congress. This is the first time since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985 that power...
This article was first published by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a LAB partner. You can see the original here.
Header image: Mexico City Source: Wikimedia
The first month of 2018 has been a dismal one for Mexico: more than 200 murders in the first two weeks, continuing the surge of bloodshed that intensified throughout last year. This crisis of public...
Brigadier General Gustavo Moreno is sitting behind a wide desk in his air-conditioned office. It overlooks the parade ground of the police compound which sits vacant, belted by the midday sun. A receptionist brings in cups of weak, sugary coffee that Colombians call tinto.
As the police commander for ‘Region Five’, General Moreno is in charge of security for one...
¿La paz es ahora? Questions of peace and violence in Colombia
An ambitious conference at Newcastle University in September 2017 examined the nature of violence in Colombia, as the signing of the peace agreement poses a myriad of questions in the post-conflict situation. Alba Griffin, Martha Borras Guevara and Diana Morales prepared this report for LAB.
Last year’s signing of a...
Main image: Community leaders, military and San Pablo municipal delegates meet. Photo: Jaskiran Kaur Chohan
Just over a year ago many Colombians and observers around the world were perplexed as to how a country could vote against peace. After that night of short-lived highs and interminable lows the ‘Yes’ camp, in tears and despair, looked for ways to keep the...
Vitória lives in a small two-room house with her baby son Lucas and mother Laura in Jardim Guarani, on the northern periphery of São Paulo, Brazil. She welcomes us for a coffee in her small kitchen that also serves as a lounge. The family store their belongings next to a bunk bed in the only bedroom, where they all...
Pretty Faces, Grisly Interests
This article was published on the website of Canadian progressive magazine Briarpatch. LAB has added titles and images.
Main image: Banner at peaceful protest near Escobal mine. Guatemala’s Constitution states that resistance is legitimate when done to protect and defend human rights. Photo: Sandra Cuffe/MiningWatch Canada
Though Mexico was a punching bag throughout Donald Trump’s successful campaign...