Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies, Spring - Fall 2018

Andes mountains with packhorse and reasearchers

The Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies is published by the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

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From left: Professor Harley Shaiken, President Ricardo Lagos, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Director Michael Witherell, and Professor Beatriz Manz in January 2018. (Photo courtesy of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.)

COMMENT: Spring - Fall 2018

By Harley Shaiken | Commenting on the Spring - Fall 2018 edition of the Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies.

A new school in Peque, Antioquia, built by Governor Sergio Fajardo (2012–2016).  (Photo courtesy of Sergio Fajardo.)

COLOMBIA: Teaching a New Kind of Politics

By Natalia Garbiras-Díaz Sergio Fajardo is trying to practice a new kind of politics in Colombia, mounting a challenge to the established system.

A Brazilian flag painted on a pitted and cracked sidewalk. (Photo by AKRockefeller.)

BRAZIL: An Unfolding Tragedy

By Peter EvansLooking at the roots and processes leading to the overthrow of Brazil's Rousseff government.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro waves to supporters following his swearing-in ceremony, January 2019. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo.)

BRAZIL: The Life and Death of the New Republic?

By Elizabeth McKennaExamining Brazil's "coup in three acts," which ousted Dilma Rousseff and installed Jair Bolsonaro.

Giorgio Jackson as one of the leaders of Chile’s student movement in 2011. (Photo by simenon.)

CHILE: From Student Movements to Congress

By James Gerardo LambGiorgio Jackson went from student leader to the most popular member of Chile's congress in the blink of an eye.

Riders commuting by colectivo (bus) in Buenos Aires. (Photo by Maximiliano Neira.)

ARGENTINA: A Consumer Subsidy Trap

By Adan Martinez | Alison Post and Tomás Bril Mascarenhas study how Argentina's subsidies for energy and transportation are constraining policy moving forward.

Susan Meiselas on the streets of Léon, Nicaragua, June 1979. (Photo by Alain Dejean/Sygma via Getty Images.)

NICARAGUA: An Endless Search for Truth

By Aryeh Neier | The author reflects on his experience of Nicaragua's 1979 revolution and the photography of Susan Meisalas.

From Jinotepe, Nicaragua: A defaced FSLN mural honoring the heroism of Arlen Siu. July 2, 2018.  (Photo by and © Susan Meiselas/Magnum Photos.)

ART: Mirror Images, 1979 and 2018: Nicaragua in the Photography of Susan Meiselas

Art and TextThe photography of Susan Meiselas, from Nicaragua's 1979 revolution and the protests of 2018.

In Nicaragua, Carlos Fernando Chamorro and other journalists harassed by police after asking about the government’s occupation and shutdown of their news outlets Confidencial and Esta Semana on December 15, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Herrera/Confidencial.)

NICARAGUA: Diptychs of Insurrection

By Lesdi GoussenBerkeley student and Nicaraguan-American Lesdi Goussen on the current state of the country and the Meiselas photos.

A portrait of Teodoro Petkoff in 2010. (Photo by Luís Carlos Díaz.)

VENEZUELA: Teodoro Petkoff (1932–2018)

A Reflection by Harley ShaikenTeodoro Petkoff, an eminent Venezuelan political critic who passed away in 2018, is remembered.

Soldiers line up detained students against a wall in Tlatelolco, October 1968.  (Photo by AP Photo.)

MEXICO: 1968: Fifty Years Later

An Interview With Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas | Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas reflects on Mexico's tumultuous 1968 after fifty years.

A photo of firefighters battling the Camp Fire in northern California, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Pacific Southwest Region 5, U.S. Forest Service.)

CLIMATE CHANGE: Investigating the New Abnormal

CLAS Student ResearchClimate change and its consequences are "the new abnormal." CLAS-supported research looks at two possible effects.

The inside detail of a cacao pod. (Photo by Everjean.)

RESEARCH: Making Landfall: Hurricanes and Agriculture

By Katherine SiegelBerkeley student Katherine Siegel examines the impact of hurricanes on Caribbean agriculture in an era of climate change.

The marbled four-eyed frog in its high-elevation wetland habitat. (Photo by Emma Steigerwald.)

RESEARCH: Frogs in the Frost

By Emma SteigerwaldChanges in glacial melting are affecting frog populations in the Peruvian Andes, in a study by Berkeley student Emma Steigerwald.

A large solar farm in the Atacama Desert, Tarapacá, Chile. (Photo by zwansaurio.)

ENERGY: Solar Powering Latin America

By Harley ShaikenOn the influence one innovative scientist had in Latin America.

Stan and Iris Ovshinsky. (Photo courtesy of  The Ovshinsky Family and the Bentley Library.)

BIOGRAPHY: The Legacy of Stanford Ovshinsky

By Lillian Hoddeson and Peter Garrett | Discussing the life and legacy of scientist and inventor Stan Ovshinsky.

This Issue's Team

Chair: Harley Shaiken
Vice Chair: Julia Byrd
Program Manager: Isabel Silver Nogueira
Special Projects Coordinator: Emily Fjaellen Thompson
Design and Layout: Greg Louden
Editor: Deborah Meacham

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Center for Latin American Studies or UC Berkeley.