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Latin America

Ecuador. June Festivals.

During the month of June, various traditional festivals are celebrated, including Inti Raymi, thanksgiving to the sun and the earth, for the abundance of crops. The history of these festivals dates back to the Inca empire when they were established to venerate the Sun King and Mother Earth (Pachamama) for the favours received in the…

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Brazil. Manaus. Sister Liliana and children of the favelas.

On the outskirts of the capital of the state of Amazonas, the Casa Mamãe Margarida school helps vulnerable girls to find hope and the concreteness of the Gospel in education and training. Sr. Liliana Daou Lindoso, the Salesian Sister in charge of the house, tells us about it. St. Joseph the Worker is a dormitory…

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Peru. The Asheninka Cultural Identity and Spirituality.

The Asheninka live in the departments of Pasco and Ucayali, which are part of the central jungle of Peru. They are estimated to be around 15 thousand people. The term Asheninka has to do with blood family and community family and means ‘Our kinfolks’. The social environment of the Asheninka is based on family, which…

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Latin America. Lithium Is a Key Resource for the Future.

Lithium is an increasingly important resource for clean energy systems of the future. Latin America, very rich in this material, however, has to deal with the meager earnings that derive from its extraction and the environmental impact that this entails. Among the raw materials that have had a significant increase in price in recent times,…

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Peru. The Asheninka Calendar.

Although the Asheninka, an indigenous ethnic group, who live in the central forest of the Ucayali department in the Atalaya province of eastern Peru, follow the Western calendar, they give an Amazonian meaning to each month. The year begins in January, when the waters of the rivers overflow due to the heavy rains, the tangerine…

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The extermination of the Mayan communities.

The political instability that affected the country following the 1954 coup d’état reached its peak in the 1980s, in which the terrible extermination of the Mayan community by the army led by the dictator Efrain Rios Montt took place, who did not spare even the women and children or the elderly. On that occasion, the…

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Guatemala. A Wounded Country.

A past full of violence and abuse. Drug trafficking, corruption, weak or non-existent institutions. Meanwhile, next June, the country will go to the polls for the general elections. Guatemala constitutes the northern edge of the Central American area nestled between Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras with which it shares borders to the north and…

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Migrants.

Among the many problems afflicting Guatemala, there is certainly also the migratory phenomenon. In fact, Guatemala, in addition to being the country of origin of large numbers of migrants heading to the USA, is also, due to its geographical position, a transit route for those leaving from other states both in Central America and in…

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Economic and Social Crisis.

Today, Guatemala continues to deal with a highly precarious social situation that places the country in the last rank in Latin America as regards human development, where the rates of violence and that relating to child malnutrition remain high. These conditions affect almost the majority of the population which has about 17 million inhabitants. Of…

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Bolivia. Anata. The Aymara Carnival.

The Anata festival –  Anata in Aymara means game – is of pre-Hispanic tradition. It is a moment of joy or Kusisiña. In the Anata, the relationship between the jaqi (person), nature and divinity is manifested. The Anata celebration is generally held in February, with a movable date, during the rainy season, when the plants…

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Guatemala. A Failed State.

Drug trafficking, corruption, the danger of fraud in the next presidential elections. The Church’s commitment to defending the poor following the example of the martyrs of Quiché. We talk about it with Monsignor Rosolino Bianchetti Boffelli, Bishop of Quiché. It was a day in August 1995. A farmer was working in his field. The hoe…

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Mexico. A Sound that Calls for a Missionary Commitment.

The Comboni magazine ‘Esquila Misional’ celebrates 70 years of life. At the service of the people and of the Mexican church open to the world. It was a mild Thursday afternoon of January 22, 1948, when the first five Comboni missionaries landed at the Tijuana airport in Baja California. Waiting for them was Msgr. Felipe…

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Advocacy

Adriano Karipuna. The Amazon. Protecting our territory.

He has inherited the legacy of his father, one of the few survivors of the genocide half a century ago, and represents a "people" that…

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Baobab

The cat... with a bag.

One day, a penniless farmer from an oasis went to a rich merchant in the neighbouring village to ask for a loan. The old harvest was…

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Youth & Mission

Peace in the Holy Land.

God of Comfort, send your Spirit to encompass all those whose lives are torn apart by violence and death in Israel and Palestine. You are the Advocate of the…

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