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10 Swashbucklin’ Islands in South America
Avaste ye fellow travelers! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! And shiver me timbers — it be the 10th anniversary of this pirate-y great, grand day. Thar be bountiful isles in South America,...
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South American street names: San Martín
Just about every town you visit in Argentina (and many in Peru) has a main drag called Avenida San Martín or a plaza of the same name. Probably both. But who was this guy, and was he even a saint?...
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South American street names: Bernardo O’Higgins
Of all South American nations, Chile dishes up the most surprising street and plaza names. Say goodbye to the predictable who’s who of Spanish staples and say hello to out-of-place Scottish and Irish...
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Wind back the clock: Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
If, like me, you’ve ever wondered why Brazil is Portuguese-speaking and the rest of Latin America speaks Spanish, then you’ll be relieved to hear about a document signed in the Spanish town of...
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Cusco through the ages
Don’t make the mistake of discounting Cusco as nothing more than the gateway to Machu Picchu. It’s one of the most important historical cities in South America, spanning as it does the history of no...
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An Experience Among Lost Cities and Lost Cultures in Peru
The Rebellion of Manco Inca Yupanqui and Choquechaca The Spanish arrival in 1532 to Peru under the direction of the Conquistador Francisco Pizarro was the beginning of the end for the Inca Empire,...
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¡Terremoto! Earthquakes in South American history and culture
The recent earthquake near Iquique and Arica in northern Chile got me thinking about the role earthquakes, and plate tectonics have played in the history of South America. For as long humans have lived...
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Who was Francisco Pizarro?
Over the past couple of months we’ve been examining the history of the Incas through the biographies of their emperors. But now the time has come to introduce another of the main protagonists in...
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The etymology of the word ‘Indian': an error of history
When Columbus set off on his famous voyage of 1492, he carried with him a passport from the Spanish monarch which permitted him to travel ad partes Indie (to the regions of India), as the entire Asian...
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Book review: Heading South, Looking North by Ariel Dorfman
Today Ariel Dorfman is recognized as one of Chile’s most important literary figures; the voice of the leftist Allendista revolution and one of the most vehement and outspoken critics of Pinochet’s...
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