Tag: South America

Luis Gerónimo de Oré: The World of an Andean Franciscan from the Frontiers to the Centers of Power (Review)

In 1586, a 32-year-old Franciscan friar named Luis Gerónimo de Oré began his first job in an Indigenous parish in the Colca Valley in the Peruvian Andes as an “outsider and perhaps more alone among the ‘others’ than he had been at any time in his life” (p. 91). When he left the valley nine years later, he carried with him a set of religious manuals, dictionaries, and grammars that he had written and translated into Quechua and Aymara, that would reshape the Catholic Church’s missionary efforts in the Americas.… Read More Luis Gerónimo de Oré: The World of an Andean Franciscan from the Frontiers to the Centers of Power (Review)

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Mastering the Law: Slavery and Freedom in the Legal Ecology of the Spanish Empire (Review)

In 1629, Catalina Angola and Domingo Angola, two African-born captives enslaved near what is today the northern Colombian city of Cartagena, learned that Catalina’s enslaver was moving her to the city. Fearing their separation, the couple petitioned their parish priest for marriage, hoping the Catholic Church’s respect for the sacrament of matrimony would help them resist the move. Catlina’s enslaver, however, quickly uncovered the stratagem and did everything he could to prevent their union. While unable to intervene legally, he beat Catalina violently and shipped her downriver to separate the two. By the end of the next year, however, it was the enslaver who found himself excommunicated, publicly shamed, and forced to pay hefty fees and fines for his actions. In a society generally viewed as hostile to enslaved Africans, why did Catalina and Domingo win, and what does this tell us about slavery as an institution in the early colonial period?… Read More Mastering the Law: Slavery and Freedom in the Legal Ecology of the Spanish Empire (Review)

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Assassination Days Before Presidential Vote Shakes Ecuador – and Region

For years, Ecuador has been labeled a bastion of peace in a region racked by violence and political unrest. But the recent assassination of anti-corruption presidential hopeful Fernando Villavicencio shattered that perception, highlighting how the small South American nation is facing down a rapidly expanding war on organized crime amid political divisions and limited economic resources.… Read More Assassination Days Before Presidential Vote Shakes Ecuador – and Region

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Ecuador President Dissolves Congress as Impeachment Investigation Expands

Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the Andean nation’s congressional assembly and called for new elections, citing “grave political crisis and internal commotion.” Lasso, a 67-year-old former banker who took office in May 2021, used a constitutional provision known as “muerte cruzada,” to end a congressional impeachment inquiry into corruption and embezzlement allegations. … Read More Ecuador President Dissolves Congress as Impeachment Investigation Expands

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Correa, China y la Asamblea, Afectados por el Informe de la Deuda

El informe borrador –el cual aún no es concluyente– de la Contraloría sobre la deuda pública, presentado el 14 de marzo pasado, es un triunfo estratégico para el presidente Lenín Moreno. No solo permite responsabilizar al expresidente Rafael Correa del despilfarro fiscal, sino que Moreno también puede hacer corresponsable a la Asamblea Nacional de futuros… Read More Correa, China y la Asamblea, Afectados por el Informe de la Deuda

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Ecuador Habló: La Minería es Peor que Correa

El referéndum del 4 de febrero fue significativo. En su nivel más obvio, le dio al presidente Lenín Moreno una sólida victoria política y al expresidente Rafael Correa una derrota asombrosa. Pero más allá de las reacciones en Quito, los votantes en las zonas mineras de la Sierra y el Oriente enviaron un mensaje inequívoco:… Read More Ecuador Habló: La Minería es Peor que Correa

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Lenín Moreno Wins Ecuador Election with Correa Support

Lenín Boltaire Moreno Garcés, a popular former vice-president, won Ecuador’s presidential elections with 51 percent of the vote, defeating Guillermo Lasso, an executive of the nation’s second-largest bank. Outgoing President Rafael Correa, in power since 2007, supported Moreno in an election campaign marred by irregularities.… Read More Lenín Moreno Wins Ecuador Election with Correa Support

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Bailout Risk Grows for Ecuador After Worst Earthquake in Decades

By Nathan Gill April 19, 2016 (Bloomberg) — Before a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador on Saturday, the South American nation’s finances were already in tatters as the government struggled to meet payments to municipal authorities, oil companies and even cancer hospitals. Cut off from global bond markets, President Rafael Correa must now find enough money to… Read More Bailout Risk Grows for Ecuador After Worst Earthquake in Decades

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Ecuador Quake Death Toll Rises as World Leaders Offer Support

By Benjamin Bain and Nathan Gill April 16, 2016 (Bloomberg) — World leaders from the Vatican to Washington offered support to Ecuador as casualties mounted following one of the strongest earthquakes to strike the South American country in decades. By Sunday evening, the number of dead had climbed to at least 246, from 77 earlier… Read More Ecuador Quake Death Toll Rises as World Leaders Offer Support

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77-Year-Old Wall Street Favorite to Face Fujimori in Peru Runoff

By Nathan Gill and John Quigley April 12, 2016 (Bloomberg) — The victory by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a former finance minister, for second place in Sunday’s Peruvian president elections sets up a showdown between two business-friendly candidates, part of a regional backlash against left-wing politicians. Kuczynski, a 77-year-old Oxford-trained political economist who’s spent more than 50… Read More 77-Year-Old Wall Street Favorite to Face Fujimori in Peru Runoff

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Everything Is Going Wrong in Ecuador

By Nathan Gill August 24, 2015 (Bloomberg) — As emerging markets come unhinged around the world, few nations face tougher challenges than Ecuador, a dollarized oil producer in El Nino’s path, where street protests are flaring up alongside one of the planet’s most dangerous volcanoes. “Sometimes it makes you want to laugh,” said Jose Hidalgo, director… Read More Everything Is Going Wrong in Ecuador

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Pope Apologizes for Church Abuse in Conquest of the Americas

By Nathan Gill July 9, 2015 (Bloomberg) — Pope Francis asked for forgiveness for crimes committed by the Catholic Church during the colonization of the Americas at a summit in Bolivia, home to one of the region’s largest indigenous populations. “I say with sorrow that the church has committed many serious sins against the indigenous… Read More Pope Apologizes for Church Abuse in Conquest of the Americas

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Venezuela Bonds Trapped by Oil’s New Normal as Relief Rally Ends

By Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — This year’s climb in crude prices, however slight, brought relief to Venezuelan and Ecuadorean bondholders after last year’s crash decimated the oil producers’ revenue and prompted concern they were running short of cash. Now, the pessimism is back. While New York oil futures have surged 36 percent from a six-year… Read More Venezuela Bonds Trapped by Oil’s New Normal as Relief Rally Ends

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Ecuador Cocoa Forecast Cut to 230,000 Tons After Rains Hit Crops

By Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — Ecuador, the world’s biggest grower of flavored beans used in fine chocolate, will probably lose about 15 percent of this year’s cocoa crop after heavy rains hurt farms in the Andean nation’s coastal region, the National Cocoa Exporters Association said. Anecacao, as the association is known, reduced its 2015 forecast… Read More Ecuador Cocoa Forecast Cut to 230,000 Tons After Rains Hit Crops

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Correa’s Back-Track on Tax Bills Fails to Halt Ecuador Protests

By Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — Ecuador President Rafael Correa’s attempt to defuse nationwide protests by back-tracking on two controversial tax proposals failed to prevent opposition supporters marching for a ninth straight day Tuesday. Protesters gathered in the capital city, Quito, less than 24 hours after Correa called for calm and announced he would delay plans… Read More Correa’s Back-Track on Tax Bills Fails to Halt Ecuador Protests

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JPMorgan Says Not to Worry as Ecuador Promotes Digital Currency

By Nathan Gill (Bloomberg) — Ecuador’s home-grown digital currency is nothing to fear. At least that’s the conclusion of analysts from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to Credit Suisse Group AG and Nomura Securities International Inc. The country’s bonds fell last week after the government ordered banks to start accepting a new electronic tender it created… Read More JPMorgan Says Not to Worry as Ecuador Promotes Digital Currency

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