WorldcrunchBorn in Tehran, educated in Britain and France, I have been a freelance translator since the late 1990s.
Thieves in Bogotá have been displaying impressive gymnastic prowess by forming human ladders to break into homes. Security footage from one incident shows a seamless, efficient thieving chain as a television is passed out the window to an accomplice below. This circus-style robbery took place in the district of Usaquén. The understandably stunned homeowner, Daniela […]
While the pandemic has restricted people’s movement, climate change will increasingly do the opposite as populations move from the worst to less affected zones.
A new Greenpeace report warns that foreign fishing fleets, mostly from China, are gobbling up every bit of marine life they can into ‘stadium-sized’ nets.
In many ways we’ve moved beyond outdated parenting models of the past. But the modern parent too often produces ‘little tyrants’ who wind up as dysfunctional adults.
Even with his blood pouring out, Jorge Eduardo Yaso exhibited serious sang-froid. The Colombian policeman had intervened to break up a brawl earlier this month in San Cristóbal, just south of Bogotá, when his lower right arm and his right hand was severed with a machete. In spite of the “stress’ of the situation, Yaso […]
For a brief, strange moment this week, the geopolitics of the COVID-19 pandemic shifted from world capitals and pharmaceutical giants to a small town in Argentina. That’s where Juan Carlos Gasparini, district mayor of Roque Pérez, population 10,000, went for his second dose of the Sputnik V vaccine with the intention of sending a message […]
People around the world and around Latin America are wary of the vaccination campaigns to fight COVID-19. But there is a particular hesitancy toward the vaccine solution arriving from China that by now should be discarded, along with stereotypes.
For drivers in Mexico, the rule of thumb for traffic accidents is simple: el que pega, paga! In other words, the perpetrator of a crash — i.e. the incoming vehicle — pays. In a country where many are uninsured, that kind of unspoken understanding makes sense. But the pega-paga approach has also created an opportunity […]
Sugar dating, where an older partner provides ‘a little assistance’ to those who are usually younger and ‘needy’ has quietly found a niche in the land of Latin lovers.
The Democrat Joe Biden may not sound as aggressive as Trump in protectionist policy to support American firms global competitors, but will broadly follow his policies.
The pandemic has caused an overall drop in clothing sales. But is it also changing how we dress? External shocks have had an impact on fashion trends throughout history.
An 86-year-old identified as the last male member of the Juma, a Brazilian tribe on the verge of extinction, died of the coronavirus last week, Rio-based daily O Globo reported. Amoin Aruká died in a hospital Feb. 18 in Porto Velho, in the northern Brazilian state of Rondonia, where he was receiving treatment since earlier […]
Faced with an unprecedented health crisis, the López-Obrador administration has proven itself to be incompetent, overpoliticized and self-involved.
Argentine landscape historian Sonia Berjman deplores a lack of long-term planning and park maintenance in Buenos Aires.
Venezuela’s PDVSA, once among the world’s most powerful oil firms, was transformed and largely gutted under Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. But the story is more complicated than it may seem.
Once part of the cocaine kingpin’s private zoo, the animals are now an invasive species impacting the local environment. But few in Colombia have the heart to kill them off.
Argentina must discern and deftly negotiate for its national interests in the rising, global trading order dominated by China.
The pandemic has prompted financial authorities to take a more relaxed approach to debts. For Latin America, overspending in response to the crisis may take them back to the poverty pits of the past.
History, as it takes place on the local level, is more than just a precious heritage. It also reflects the multiple visions that our societies need to remain healthy and vibrant.
The new administration isn’t likely to prioritize relations with Latin America and the Caribbean. But after the Trump era, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Mexico’s current leader, and loud-and-proud leftist, has more in common with the outgoing U.S. president, a conservative Republican, than many people realize.
A motley crew barging into the U.S. Capitol can hardly be considered to be an attack on democracy in a country where capitalism has already systematically squeezed the rights of common folk.
The price, however, is being paid in lost lives.
Civil society’s scope and powers are taking a hit in places like Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil.
From Moroccan migrants to British pensioners, Spain has plenty of foreign-born residents. Each group differs, however, in terms of where and how they concentrate upon arrival.
This new year may be one of greater justice and better social conditions, but only if people fight for them.
Javier Franco, a mountain guide in Argentina Patagonia, started with an idea. Next he had a prototype. Now, he and his siblings run a small but thriving business in Buenos Aires.
‘Covidization’ of healthcare systems worldwide has led to rising mortality rates in pathologies like cancer, and more births in the Third World.
There are more and more elected leaders these days willing to ride roughshod over the rules of democracy. But that hardly means the system’s doomed.
President-elect Joe Biden’s ample support base is fluid and can melt away, if his administration ignores the social and political grievances that led millions to vote for Donald Trump.
Countries like Argentina, Chile and Mexico have begun charging a value added tax (VAT) on digital purchases. But that may just be the tip of iceberg, especially if governments can reach a regional consensus.
In a time of public impatience and online mobilization, the region’s governments are feeding frustrations with an outdated leadership approach.
In a country famous for its carne culture, a new generation is opting for a far different kind of diet, and food retailers are paying attention.
A global pandemic and weariness in many places of cheap, mass tourism may hasten a real paradigm shift in the travel sector. Or not.
Sweden was not driven by any libertarian ideas when it chose not to impose lockdowns. It simply opted to play a long-game when on the pandemic, for better or worse.
Like former presidents Álvaro Uribe and Evo Morales in South America, Donald Trump may keep infecting public life, even after he exits the White House.
The South American soccer legend has left us, but his spirit and exploits will live on, along with the country he so perfectly personified.
As the world is distracted by COVID-19 and regional leftists turn a blind eye, the Cuban regime relaunches its secretive practice of civil-society repression.
The coronavirus crisis has been stressful and tedious. But it’s also a reminder that we can’t have everything we want, when we want it. And that, in many ways, is a good thing.
Unlike his populist predecessor, the U.S. president-elect has an opportunity to engage with the leftist forces within Latin America that can then bring pressure to bear on the Maduro regime.