Latin America Bureau Books
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Chile In Focus
Once a byword for military repression and human rights abuses, Chile's image is now that of a dynamic success story. The "Chilean Miracle", based on radical free-market reform and export-led growth, has been presented as a model for all developing countries. Yet this transition has also created its...
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Costa Rica In Focus
Distinctive among the turbulent nations of South America, Costa Rica enjoys a reputation for political stability and prosperity. Since abolishing its army in 1948, the "Switzerland of Central America" has experienced unbroken democratic rule and respect for human rights. Yet this small country has a...
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Peru In Focus
Peru is perhaps one of the most dramatic and unpredictable of all Latin American countries. Blessed with natural wealth and historical sites, it is also cursed by widespread poverty and a legacy of political violence. A gulf separates the westernized elites of Lima from the indigenous majority of th...
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The Flavour of Latin America
Forget the mass-produced tortilla chips and E-flavoured salsa dips. Discover the taste of real Latin American food, as diverse as its beautiful landscapes, drawing on age-old indigenous recipes with influences from Spain, Portugal and Africa. From the snow-capped mountains of the Andes there is drun...
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Benedita Da Silva
Benjamin Medea, Benedita da Silva
The first black woman from a favela to become a congresswoman and a senator in Brazil, Benedita da Silva has overcome an intimidating range of social obstacles. Born into a poor slum-dwelling family, she became a councillor in Rio, then a Federal Deputy and is now a congresswoman for the PT (Workers...
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Brazil In Focus
Brazil is depicted as a land of global superlatives, boasting the best football, the largest rainforest, and the world's worst social and economic inequality. It's vibrant culture is best known for Carnival and samba and attracts thousands of visitors each year. The Carnival capital of Rio also show...
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Eastern Caribbean In Focus
The idyllic landscapes of the Eastern Caribbean belie a dramatic and often cruel history. Fought over by the imperial Navies and vulnerable to natural disasters, these small islands have also been marked by slavery, migration and a tradition of resistance. With their population rooted in every conti...
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Ecuador In Focus
Wilma Roos, Omer Van Renterghem
Ecuador is one of the major tourist destinations in the Americas, offering unparalleled colonial architecture, dramatic landscapes and the eco-tourist mecca of the Galapagos Islands. But behind its colourful markets and mountain scenery lies a more complex country, divided by geography and race and...
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Daughters of Caliban
Haitian women and "voodoo" healing; Cuban women in the midst of economic crisis; Jamaican women and the unspoken racism of beauty contests. These are just three of the dimensions of this multifaceted survey of contemporary Caribbean women. Looking at a region where race and gender play vital roles i...
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Guyana: Fragile Frontier
Guyana's environment is in danger of wholesale destruction. In the name of economic liberalization, this small, indebted country is promoting a dramatic escalation of logging, mining and other forms of extraction. In the 1990s, millions of hectares of rainforest have been leased to foreign companies...