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Latin America

A multi-ethnic country.

Due to its varied history, Trinidad and Tobago represents one of the most multiracial countries in the Americas. The results of the 2011 census show the following ethnic composition: 35.4% of its inhabitants are of Indian descent, 34.2% are of African descent, and 22.8% are of mixed race while 7% are of other provenance, and…

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Colombia. Distant peace.

Despite the peace accord signed in Havana, Colombia is still caught in the crossfire between FARC and ELN guerrilla groups. The death of the former FARC leader Jesús Santrich casts a dark shadow over the future of the Colombian conflict. When the Havana peace agreement was signed in 2016, few people believed the fifty-year-long conflict…

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Peru. Against human trafficking during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Every two hours a woman disappears due to gender violence and human trafficking. Sister Benjamine Kimala Nanga, a Comboni missionary from Chad works for the prevention and reporting of human trafficking. We met Sister Benjamine on the outskirts of Lima at a place called Pueblo Libre. She told us: “I am part of the Kawsay…

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Colombia. Dreaming of a land free of the drugs trade.

It may be a small and insignificant place but Tumaco, in the south west of the country, has its ‘importance’ on the world stage: the city is the largest producer with 19,546 hectares under cultivation, 11% of the country’s production. In recent years, it has held the dubious record of the city with the most…

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Bolivia. Apthapi, a time for sharing.

Among the indigenous peoples of the Andes, every detail of life has a fundamental meaning because it strengthens one’s identity’. One example of this is the Apthapi: sharing food. The coexistence of the Andeans is interconnected with three existential spaces: Janaq Pacha (sidereal space), Kay Pacha (local space) and Ukhu Pacha (the space of depth)…

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Brazil. Rio de Janeiro clutching at straws.

The pandemic is raging with fury in Rio de Janeiro, aggravating the ancestral problems of a city weighed down by the burden of its own contradictions. The economic crisis is worsening historical inequality, increasing violence, and limiting possibilities while there is a general feeling that the Marvellous City has no other choice but to grasp…

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Ecuador. The Shuar. The people of the sacred waterfalls.

The Shuar are an Amazonian indigenous people whose culture, life, and spirituality are based on water. The Shuar people live in the foothills of the Andes, Cutucú and Condor mountain ranges in the Amazonian provinces of Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe in Ecuador. This is an area characterized by abundant rivers that form wonderful waterfalls,…

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Strategic control.

The discovery of oil, together with its geographical position, has brought Guyana to the attention of the major actors, local and distant, that are present in the Latin-American scene. The United States, in particular, has been working for some time to guarantee the security of the country within which United States oil companies operate, for…

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Guyana. An Unknown Country.

The recent discoveries of oil have brought Guyana to the centre of international attention. Many interests are at stake. Guyana is a South American country located on the Atlantic Coast and wedged in between Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname, bordering these countries to the south, east and west, respectively. The country is characterised by dense rainforests.…

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A New Constitutional Charter.

In 1966, Guyana became independent of its mother country and joined the Commonwealth as an autonomous entity. Legislative power was entrusted to an elected assembly composed of 35 members and, in 1970, the new Constitutional Charter was launched and the ‘Cooperative Republic of Guyana’ was proclaimed with Arthur Chung, judge of Chinese ancestry, as president.…

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The Latin American Church in Assembly. The challenge of ‘Synodality’.

In Mexico City, from 21 to 28 November, the first ecclesial Assembly of Latin America and the Caribbean will take place with the motto ‘We are all out-going missionary disciples’. The project originated with the dialogue between Pope Francis and the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) which, in 2019, during its XXXVII General Assembly, proposed…

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Advocacy

Maria Ressa. Information that gives hope.

“We want to create a federation of international journalistic organisations that collaborate in this effort, starting from the global South,” says Filipino journalist and 2022…

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Baobab

The Leopard, the Dog and the Tortoise.

Once upon a time, there was a leopard. He had a huge walnut tree that was full of nuts. Stingy as he was, however, he forbade…

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Youth & Mission

Mission. In the school of life and humanity.

Three young Comboni missionaries from three continents share their vocation stories and missionary experiences. Fr Victor Cunanan Parungao from the Philippines reflects on 15 years of…

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