Argentina – Fake Flamenco

Out of the Silence: After the Crash

Newspapers, books and a film have told the story of the Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes in 1972. However, Eduardo Strauch waited four decades to write his memoir of the days they spent high in the mountains on the edge of survival. In 2012, he published Desde el silencio (2012) along […]

history, Spanish Culture and Language

11 Women’s Faces on National Currency

What does the color and content of currency say about a country? What are the symbols we hold most dear? Who are our heroes? If we look at the banknotes of the United States, we see former presidents; Washington and Jefferson and founders like Franklin and Hamilton. All male, all Caucasian, all long gone. By […]

Indigenous Peoples, Spanish Culture and Language

Paraguay’s 2 Official Languages

Paraguay is one of three countries in the Americas that name one or more indigenous languages as official, alongside Spanish. Interestingly, it is also the country where the most non-indigenous people are bilingual in an indigenous language, in this case Guaraní. Over 5 million people in Paraguay speak it. The 2012 census determined that 64% […]

history, Immigration, Spanish Culture and Language

3 South American Countries with the Most Asian Immigrants

In honor of the month celebrating Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, let’s look at the history of immigrants from the Far East to South America. The story has many facets, the histories of several countries in Asia intertwined with a good number of countries in South America. Countries like Brazil, Peru and Argentina show the […]

history, Spanish Culture and Language, The Americas, Uruguay

Where in the Americas May Same-Sex Couples Marry?

In honor of Universal Human Rights Month, let’s check how same-sex couples’ are faring in the Americas. So far we have are 8 countries that are same-sex marriage pioneers in North and South America. The map is filled in on the top and lower half, with no legal marriage in Central America or the Caribbean. […]

history, Spanish Culture and Language

Where in Latin America is Voting Mandatory?

I thought this was an easy question I could find the answer to in an hour, or no more than an afternoon. A week later, I am humbled. I was confused with the range of answers. There were 14, 12, 13, 11 or 8 countries in Central and South America where citizens are required to […]