The Court Case On Feb. 21, Colombia’s Constitutional Court delivered a groundbreaking decision for reproductive rights. The country’s top court voted in a 5-4 ruling to decriminalize abortion for up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, delivering another victory for the Marea Verde, or Green Wave in Latin America—a movement that has caused landmark reforms that […]
Tag: Colombia
Colombia’s Back-Breaking Battle for Reproductive Rights
Vibrant green banners ripple through the air, joined by cheers, chants and triumphant fists. Crowds of women publicly rejoice, embracing each other and jumping with joy. Some shed tears, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the moment. Over the past year, advocates for legal abortion in Latin America have greeted several success stories with emotion and […]
Environmental Activism in Latin America Comes with a Deadly Cost
In December 2020, Indigenous Honduran environmental activist Félix Vásquez was killed in front of his family by a group of masked men in the village of El Ocotal. His assailants were armed with pistols and machetes, scarring his family forever. This attack was a response to Vásquez’s efforts to help protect the environment and advocate […]
Venezuela’s Unintentional Regional Influence
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, much like his predecessor Hugo Chavez, often appears on national television to address the country on the problems facing the nation and to boost approval ratings. However, during a television appearance in November 2017, Maduro made a very public gaffe that highlighted the growing corruption and inequality in Venezuela. During the […]
Venezuela’s Humanitarian Crisis: Not The Exception, But The Rule.
As Syrian refugees continue to arrive in battered dinghies to the shores of Europe, a migration of similar urgency is taking place in Latin America. The Venezuelan crisis has its roots in the poor transfer of dictatorial power and an over-reliance on oil exports. However, this issue of politics and economics has transformed into a […]
Be Careful What You Wish For: A Contentious Peace in Colombia
In October of 2016, the Colombian government put forward a national referendum. Voters were asked to approve a new peace deal with the FARC rebels, ending decades of civil war – but they rejected it. This was a major setback, but the legislature ratified a revised peace agreement two months later. Since then, the government […]
Colombia’s Conundrum: An Elusive Peace
When the Colombian government’s peace agreement with the Farc (The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), to end the 52-year war was rejected, many were shocked. After all, it was turned down by an incredibly thin margin, about 0.2%. However, that thin margin highlights what a fragile peace it would have been. For half of voters […]
Medellín Rising: Interview with Governor Sergio Fajardo
This past March, UC Berkeley’s Center for Latin American Studies Department held a series of guest lectures by Sergio Fajardo, current Governor of Colombia’s Antioquia department and former Mayor of Medellín. A mathematician who studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Fajardo implemented transformative policies in Colombia’s 2nd most populous department and Medellín, its main urban center and former […]
Lessons from the School of Trumpian Politics along the Venezuelan-Colombian Border
Xenophobic ideology is not new to politics. It is, however, relatively new to Venezuela, which has been one of the more welcoming South American countries to immigrants throughout the second half of the 20th century. On August 19, 2015, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced “Operation Liberation of the People” (OLP). Since then, over 1,500 Colombians have […]