In 1954, democratically elected president of Guatemala—Jacobo Arbenz—was overthrown in a CIA-backed coup. Castillo Armas, a lesser-known military man, immediately took his place in the presidential chair. What were the motives behind such an abrupt change in power? Why did the CIA, an American organization, feel the need to get involved? On the surface, the …
For years, certain Democrats have taken for granted that the Latino population will naturally vote in favor of the Democratic Party. So, when the results emerged that President Donald Trump had gained a significant number of Latino voters in the 2020 election, Democrats had to take a step back and reassess the situation. Although increased …
Continue reading “My Reaction to Latino Voters in the 2020 Election: Confronting False Assumptions”
On the northern end of the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic lies the infamous Massacre River. Spanning for roughly 30 miles, the river is the site where thousands of Haitians were brutally executed due to their darker skin color and linguistic discrepancies. In her book, The Farming of Bones, Haitian American author Edwidge …
Continue reading “The River in Edwidge Danticat’s The Farming of Bones”
Located high in the Andean mountains in Bolivia, the site of Tiwanaku remains one of the world’s greatest archaeological mysteries. When was the site constructed? By whom? How was such an immense quantity of stone transported and cut so precisely? Questions like these and more are bound to arise when examining such ruins. While the …
Continue reading “Dr. Matthew Gildner and the Mysterious Ruins of Tiwanaku”
“También la Lluvia” (Even the Rain), directed by Icíar Bollaín, depicts the horrors of colonization through highlighting the Spaniards’ inhumane treatment of native populations. The film follows a group of filmmakers on their quest to make a movie about the arrival of Columbus in Latin America, paying close attention to the interactions among the Spanish …
Continue reading “A Brief Exploration of “También La Lluvia””
One might argue that no class at Davidson is as broad in scope than Intro to Latin American Studies. To cover such a region as Latin America in less than three months seems improbable, yet that is precisely what drew me to this class. Like many sectors of academia at Davidson, LAS 101 is interdisciplinary …
