The child labour unions of Latin AmericaIt’s the world’s most vulnerable workforce, but many of Latin America’s fourteen million child workers are joining unions and fighting for better working conditions. Bolivia’s Union of Child and Adolescent Workers represents 15,000 workers aged 8-18.
South America
Brazil’s biggest slum no longer under drug cartel control
It took 3000 members of Brazil’s security forces to take control back of the Rocinha slum in Rio de Janiero from drug cartels. The favela “pacification” is part of preparations for the 2014 World Cup.
Ecuador survives an all-too-familiar Latin coup
September 30, 2010 will be remembered as a historic day in Latin American and Ecuadorian history. The twice-democratically-elected government has survived a coup d’état, but the pattern of force pervades the continent, writes Leo Codutti from Argentina.
Cheers TV: Episode #7: South American wine tour
Intrepid independent sommeliers Ben and Dan were in South America recently, tasting their way from Argentina to Chile (tough job innit?). What did they learn? Competition with Aussie wines is about to heat up.
Can Columbia replace nose candy with nose jobs?
The Columbian city of Medellín was once the drug capital of the world, but now it’s trying to revive its economy by tapping into the growing market for “medical tourism”, offering cheap plastic surgery to tight-arsed but image-conscious Americans.
Can Latin America save Japanese electronics?
Japan’s ailing electronics industry is looking offshore to save the country from its economic woes, attempting to convince 400 million-odd South Americans to get on board with the country’s digital-TV standard in order to flog them new sets and TV phones. Will they buy in?
Hugo Chavez: the new leader of the Latin American left
How an alliance between Cuba and Venezuela, formed 15 years ago in protest to an American free trade agreement, has grown into a $7 billion socialist trading partnership, with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at its helm.
The Amazon: one jungle, many interests
Amazonian countries are meeting today to establish a mutual negotiating position for Copenhagen. But from Columbia to Brazil to Venezuela, each country has its own interests to protect — and they aren’t always ones that put the environment first.
The Amazon’s uprising is more urgent than Iran’s
The world is glued to the protests in Iran, but an even more important political uprising has been passing unnoticed — but its outcome will profoundly impact our lives, writes Johann Hari.
