LatAm Dialogues

This episode focuses on Latin America's mining industry and the opportunities but also the negative consequences it has brought the region. Sonja Rijnen, LatAm Dialogue's editor-in-chief, interviews Tom Gatehouse, author of soon-to-be-published book 'The Heart of Our Earth: Community resistance to mining in Latin America'.

In this episode of LatAm Dialogues, we focus on the situation for human rights defenders in Latin America where it has become increasingly dangerous to protect human rights. We are lucky enough to have the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor as our guest. She also founded the NGO Front Line Defenders and is a global expert on this topic. 

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent war have dominated headlines around the world in recent weeks. In this episode, LatAm Dialogue's team looks into Latin America's historical relationship with Russia with the help of Andre Pagliarini, a professor in Latin American history. We then discuss with Bryan, a political risk analyst from Cuba, what Latin America's immediate response to the invasion was as well as some likely repercussions that the events will have on the region.  

We are back with LatAm Dialogues season 2! To kick off this season, we have this in focus episode on LGBTQ+, and specifically transgender, rights in Latin America. First, we speak to Tom, who is writing his thesis on the transmasculine community in Cuba, about where the region is in terms of rights for LGBTQ+ individuals. We then had the pleasure of having Liam on the podcast, a Cuban LGBTQ+ activist and the writer, director and cinematographer of the award winning documentary Mi Alma Azul (https://vimeo.com/424896529 password: LiamyAnabel). He discusses what it is like to be a trans activist in Cuba and the work he has been doing to support the community, including his documentary. 

Episode notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qhmkTOUYPcRDhxEQTGTrBx4-k0GIlGoMUtQBRHb6Bak/edit?usp=sharing 

Towards the end of November 2021, both Chileans and Hondurans went to the polls to elect their new Presidents. In the first half of this episode, Isabel discusses these all-important elections in Chile with Carolina, a political activist living in Santiago. It is said that Chileans are more polarised than ever and this Sunday, the 19th of December, they will vote in the second round between two very different (or not so different depending on how you see it) candidates. After this, listen to Lucas interview Jalileh, a student from Honduras who explains who Xiomara Castro is and why her election is significant. 

In a few weeks, Argentina will hold mid-term legislative elections. This comes after primaries that were held in September and weeks of political crises. In this episode, LatAm Dialogue editor, Lucas, runs us through what has been happening in the country. After this, Sonja and Isabel discuss the revelations of the Pandora Papers and what this means for Latin America. 

Earlier this month, in a historical ruling celebrated by feminists all over the world, Mexico's supreme court decriminalised abortion. In this episode, Sonja and Isabel discuss in more detail what this new legislation actually entails. In the second half of the podcast, Lucas talks with two activists from Latin America about abortion rights and feminist movements more broadly in Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador as well as the region as a whole. 

In this episode of LatAm Dialogues, a new member to our editorial team, Lucas, interviews an El Salvadorian multi-media journalists about a recent ruling in which El Salvador's highest court decided that the country's president can serve two consecutive terms in office, paving the way for current president Nayib Bukele to run for re-election in 2024. Following this, Isabel talks with Sonja about how recent negotiations have been going between Venezuela's authoritarian ruler, Maduro, and the opposition. 

In this episode, Sonja talks with Tom Kissock-Mamede about Brazil's president, Bolsonaro's, claims of election fraud. We discuss what he means by this and what the likely consequences are. In the second half, Isabel and Sonja discuss Castillo's chosen cabinet members in Peru and why these have been so controversial. 

In this episode, Sonja interviews Bryan, a Cuban freelance political risk analyst who helps explain why the protests in Cuba happened now and what it has been like in Havanna over the past few weeks. In the second half, Isabel and Sonja discuss the shocking assassination of Moise, Haiti's president on the 7th of July and the political context of one of the world's poorest countries. 

Over the past month, Ortega has arrested over 26 members of his opposition in the lead up to elections in November. In this episode, Latam Dialogue's Sonja and Isabel interview two young activists in Nicaragua who explain the context and history that has led to this blatant effort to undermine democracy. 

In a world-first, under the leadership of President Bukele, El Salvador passed a law making Bitcoin an official currency in the country. In this episode, we explain what this actually means and what some of the benefits but also drawback this will have for the country. In the second half, we discuss the results of Peru's presidential election held in the beginning of June. 

In this episode, the team at LatAm Dialogue discuss the significance and implications of Mexico's midterm elections in which 93 million people were eligible to vote. Importantly, we discuss the preliminary results and their meaning for president AMLO. In the second part of the episode, Sonja and Carlos discuss the inauguration of Guillermo Lasso, Ecuador's first right-wing president in over a decade. 

LatAm Dialogues Episode 1! In this first episode, with the help of Fabien Muñoz, a politics student at PUC in Chile, we explain and discuss the recent referendum in Chile in which citizens elected those who will be drafting their new constitution over the coming months and the implications of this. We also analyse the recent mass protests in Colombia that have made headlines around the world and how the protests fit into regional social and economic trends.