Selected Articles

  • Mexican Youths Mobilize

    NACLA Report on the Americas, News Report, Jul 02, 2005

    “What we are witnessing here is a phenomenon of the ongoing transformation of the role played by youths in Mexican society,” says 28-year-old Ernesto Armendáriz, “because traditionally, young people are stigmatized in Mexico as a sector that is politically immobile or a sector that is politically apathetic.”

  • Bolivia's Separatist Movement

    NACLA Report on the Americas, News Report, Mar 05, 2005

    “What we should do is simply and smoothly separate ourselves [from Bolivia].” One might assume these words were spoken by a radical Aymara indigenista, but they were actually uttered by the powerful right-wing leader of a business association in the eastern city of Santa Cruz. The statement is representative of a growing social movement with interests that are diametrically opposed to those of the powerful indigenous-based popular movements.

  • A Tale of Two Bolivias

    The Narco News Bulletin, Investigative Report, Aug 27, 2004

    A geographic rift between rich and poor is making waves in Bolivian politics. The interests of wealthy landowners in the lowlands are diametrically opposed to those of the powerful indigenous-based social movements. Civic and business groups from the lowland media luna region, which is the crescent or “half-moon” shaped region comprising the northern, southern and eastern lowlands of the country, are at the forefront of this drive to challenge the indigenous movements’ supremacy as the nation’s most active political force.

  • AfroReggae: Brazil's Drumbeat

    Z Magazine, Feature, Jun 01, 2004

    If Brazil's pulse were audible, it would be a drumbeat. Undoubtedly, music breathes life into many of the country's traditions: there's the percussive twang in the martial arts dance of capoeira, the batucada drumming in the soccer stadiums, and the world-famous samba of carnival. But Rio de Janeiro's Grupo Cultural AfroReggae takes the concept of creating life through music to new heights.

  • The Beautiful Game? Race and Class in Brazilian Soccer

    NACLA Report on the Americas, Feature, Mar 02, 2004

    Soccer has become so rooted in Brazil that it’s hard to believe that when the ball first rolled upon the fields of the country only a small elite played the game. By the start of the 20th century, as the English mingled with the upper rungs of Brazilian “high society” in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, they began teaching the basics of the sport to the most aristocratic of Brazilians.

  • Globalizing Resistance in Cancún

    NACLA Report on the Americas, Feature, Nov 01, 2003

    As the World Trade Organization’s Fifth Ministerial Meeting was kicked-off September 10 in Cancún, Mexico, the battle on the streets began. Demonstrators and police in full riot gear exchanged blows with sticks and batons as large jagged chunks of pavement and rocks were being hurled at the police line.