Portal:Latin America

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The term Latin America is commonly used to describe the Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries in South America, Central America, Mexico, and the islands of the Caribbean.

The term Latin America was first used in Paris at a conference in 1856 called "Initiative of America: Idea for a Federal Congress of the Republics" (Iniciativa de la América. Idea de un Congreso Federal de las Repúblicas), by the Chilean politician Francisco Bilbao. The term was further popularized by French emperor Napoleon III's government of political strongman that in the 1860s as Amérique latine to justify France's military involvement in the Second Mexican Empire and to include French-speaking territories in the Americas, such as French Canada, Haiti, French Louisiana, French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe and the French Antillean Creole Caribbean islands Saint Lucia, and Dominica, in the larger group of countries where Spanish and Portuguese languages prevailed.

The region covers an area that stretches from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego and includes much of the Caribbean. It has an area of approximately 19,197,000 km² (7,412,000 sq mi), almost 13% of the Earth's land surface area. In 2019, Latin America had a combined nominal GDP of US$5,188,250 trillion and a GDP PPP of US$10,284,588 trillion. (Full article...)

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Kirchner in 2005

Néstor Carlos Kirchner Ostoić (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈnestoɾ ˈkaɾlos ˈkiɾʃneɾ] ^ⓘ; 25 February 1950 – 27 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007. A member of the Justicialist Party, he previously served as Governor of Santa Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003, and mayor of Río Gallegos from 1987 to 1991. He later served as the first ever (and still only) First Gentleman of Argentina during the first tenure of his wife, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. By the time he died in October 2010, he was First Gentlemen from 2007, President of the Justicialist Party and National Deputy from 2009, and Secretary General of UNASUR from May 2010. Ideologically, he identified himself as a Peronist and a progressive, with his political approach called Kirchnerism.

Born in Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz, Kirchner studied law at the National University of La Plata. He met and married Cristina Fernández at this time, returned with her to Río Gallegos at graduation, and opened a law firm. Commentators have criticized him for a lack of legal activism during the Dirty War, an issue he would involve himself in as president. Kirchner ran for mayor of Río Gallegos in 1987 and for governor of Santa Cruz in 1991. He was reelected governor in 1995 and 1999 due to an amendment of the provincial constitution. Kirchner sided with Buenos Aires provincial governor Eduardo Duhalde against President Carlos Menem. (Full article...)

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... that Guatemala City is the largest in Central America?

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WikiProject South America
WikiProject Latin America (semi-active)

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Paraguay (/ˈpærəɡwaɪ/; Spanish pronunciation: [paɾaˈɣwaj] ^ⓘ), officially the Republic of Paraguay (Spanish: República del Paraguay; Guarani: Paraguái Tavakuairetã), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. It has a population of around 6.1 million, nearly 2.3 million of whom live in the capital and largest city of Asunción, and its surrounding metro area.

Spanish conquistadores arrived in 1524, and in 1537 established the city of Asunción, the first capital of the Governorate of the Río de la Plata. During the 17th century, Paraguay was the center of Jesuit missions, where the native Guaraní people were converted to Christianity and introduced to European culture. After the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish territories in 1767, Paraguay increasingly became a peripheral colony. Following independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Paraguay was ruled by a series of authoritarian governments. This period ended with the disastrous Paraguayan War (1864–1870), during which the country lost half its prewar population and around 25–33% of its territory. In the 20th century, Paraguay faced another major international conflict—the Chaco War (1932–1935) against Bolivia—in which Paraguay prevailed. The country came under a succession of military dictators, culminating in the 35 year regime of Alfredo Stroessner, which lasted until his overthrow in 1989 by an internal military coup. This marked the beginning of Paraguay's current democratic era. (Full article...)

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... that Franz Grave, the first bishop of Essen born in Essen, focused on intercultural dialogue with Latin America?
... that the Latin American travesti gender identity has been considered to be a third gender, akin to the hijras of India and the muxe of Mexico?
... that UK prime minister Rishi Sunak complained when a joint declaration was made at a summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States that used the term Islas Malvinas?
... that Brazilian computer science researcher and internet pioneer Tadao Takahashi negotiated with drug lords to install internet equipment in his country?
... that despite an attempted "extermination" of homosexuals in the 1960s and 1970s, the LGBT community in Argentina is now the most accepted in Latin America?

General images

The following are images from various Latin America-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The Guadalajara International Film Festival is considered the most prestigious film festival in Latin America. (from Culture of Latin America)
Image 2The joropo, as depicted in a 1912 drawing by Eloy Palacios (from Culture of Latin America)
Image 3The military junta of Argentina saw widespread repression against those it deemed to be political dissidents (from History of Latin America)
Image 4Fiambre, Guatemalan traditional dish, eaten on November 1, the Day of the Dead (from Culture of Latin America)
Image 5Left-leaning leaders of Bolivia, Brazil and Chile at the Union of South American Nations summit in 2008 (from History of Latin America)
Image 6Instituto Arnoldo Gabaldón, declared August 30, 1984, as a National Historic Landmark (from Culture of Latin America)
Image 7A 17th-century map of the Americas (from History of Latin America)
Image 8In blue countries under right-wing governments and in red countries under left-wing and centre-left governments as of 2023 (from History of Latin America)
Image 9The Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida is the second largest in the world, after only of the Basilica of Saint Peter in Vatican City. (from Culture of Latin America)
Image 10Intermediate level international-style Latin dancing at the 2006 MIT ballroom dance competition. A judge stands in the foreground. (from Culture of Latin America)
Image 11Villa de Leyva, a historical and cultural landmark of Colombia (from Culture of Latin America)
Image 12Holy week, Ouro Preto-MG, 2010. Chrome. Photo: Guy Veloso. (from Culture of Latin America)
Image 13Monument to Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City (from Culture of Latin America)
Image 14Mexican Stock Exchange (from Culture of Latin America)
Image 15Countries in Latin America by date of independence (from History of Latin America)
Image 161903 political cartoon: President Roosevelt intimidating Colombia to acquire the Panama Canal Zone. (from History of Latin America)

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Selected panorama

Panorama of La Paz, the capital and second largest city in population (after Santa Cruz de la Sierra) of Bolivia. The city hosts numerous local festivities, and is an important cultural center of Bolivia.