South America Blog
About this blog
Wayne Bernhardson is the author of Moon Handbooks to Buenos Aires, Chile, Argentina, and Patagonia. Here he shares his vast knowledge of South America and its people.
Recent Posts
- The Papal Cumbia
- The Uruguayan Sacraments: Tango & Mate
- Taxing the Tourist: Argentina's AFIP Aims Low
- Fortress Falklands: A Book Review
- Pope Argentinus I, The Musical: Ragtime Meets Tango
- Credit Where Credit Is Undue?
- ¿Adios Hugo?
- When "No" Is A Positive
- Chile and Its "Crazies"
- The Oscars: A Post Mortem, So to Speak
- Sacrificing the Atacama? A Chilean View of Dakar
- Chilean Oscar Faceoff? "No" v. "Kon-Tiki"
- Friday Digest: Southern Cone Nuggets
- Dancing in the Mud? The Andean Aftermath
- Floods & Mud: Summer Storms Hit the Andes
From the Obelisk: Argentina's Latest Cacerolazo
In mid-September, middle-class residents of Buenos Aires held an unprecedented cacerolazo (pot-banging demonstration) against the administration of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Usually, the biggest demonstrations are working-class throngs convoked by her own Peronist party, labor unions, or some faction thereof, at the central Plaza de Mayo (popularly known as the Plaza de Protestas). more >>
Throwing a FIT? Argentina's Tourism Fair
After arriving in Buenos Aires Sunday morning – 24 hours, door-to-door, from my Northern Hemisphere home in Oakland – I took a brief restorative nap until the early afternoon. Still groggy with jet lag, I took a spring stroll to the grounds of the Sociedad Rural, the traditionally powerful landowners’ organization. more >>
Tobacco-Free Chile: Another Step Forward?
Numerous times, in this column, I’ve made critical remarks about Chile’s ineffective tobacco control laws, which lag far behind those of Argentina and, especially, Uruguay. Now, it seems, the country is due to tackle the issue again: according to the online Santiago Times, the Chilean Senate is due to vote on legislation that would, among other measures, expand tobacco-free public spaces and restrict advertising of tobacco products. more >>
Storming Across the Pampas
Around the world, the biggest news the past couple days has been the impact of Hurricane Sandy on North America. The surging tropical deluge that began in the western Caribbean and worked its way north, colliding with polar air over the eastern seaboard, has inundated large areas with tidal surges and river flooding, shut down essential services including hospitals and subways, and dislocated or confined millions of people. New York City, of course, has drawn the most attention, as the local infrastructure has been unable to deal with a storm of this magnitude. more >>
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