Americas | GlobalPost

On Location: Easter traditions in Guatemala

Julia Kumari DrapkinApril 2, 2010 07:11Updated May 30, 2010 13:27

Teaching Twitter in Havana

Nick MiroffApril 2, 2010 06:57Updated May 30, 2010 14:46

Photo caption: Yoani Sanchez sits with her computer in her apartment in Havana, Oct. 3, 2007. Sanchez runs a Blogger Academy out of her living room. (Claudia Daut/Reuters) HAVANA, Cuba — As an educational institution, Cuba’s Blogger Academy suffers from a few notable deficiencies. Its six-month course doesn’t grant an accredited degree, and its single, cramped classroom — the living room of founder Yoani Sanchez — isn’t even hooked up to the internet.

Bloodshed returns to Medellin

Nadja DrostMay 20, 2010 06:23Updated May 30, 2010 13:27

MEDELLIN, Colombia — Even the prescience of 13-year-old Luis Serna Varela couldn't save him. He worried he would find himself caught in a shootout, or even with his finger pressed to the trigger of a gun, just another teenager unable to escape the gang warfare in his poor neighborhood atop Medellin. He asked his mother one morning: "Why don’t we leave from here?”

Saying "I do" to Chile

Lezak Shallat April 11, 2010 07:36Updated May 30, 2010 13:27

SANTIAGO, Chile — When Cathy Casanga relocated to Santiago with her Chilean husband, she needed other women to help her figure the place out. So the lonely gringa started Chilespouses: an online support group for foreign, English-speaking wives of Chilean men. Ten years later, the 500-plus virtual community is the best virtual meeting place in town to make connections. It's also a reflection of the changing face of Chile.

FARC rebels release hostage held for 12 years

Nadja DrostMarch 31, 2010 13:54Updated May 30, 2010 13:27

BOGOTA, Colombia — For more than 12 years, the family of Sgt. Pablo Emilio Moncayo received only periodic assurances the captured soldier was alive. They heard reports from former hostages and saw proof-of-life photos sent by the country’s main rebel group.

Opinion: Improving slums, one step at a time

Anthony FlintMarch 31, 2010 08:48Updated May 30, 2010 13:27

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — High on a hillside west of Rio, workers in the Tijuacu favela smooth mortar on bricks near shiny sewage treatment tanks, and carry bags of concrete on their shoulders to a new gravity-fed water system at the edge of the forest. Soccer fields punctuate the base of the steep slope, cluttered with makeshift homes.

Ontario a mecca for mixed martial arts

Sandro ContentaApril 1, 2010 06:26Updated May 30, 2010 13:27

TORONTO, Canada — If you believe Dana White, the charismatic president of Ultimate Fighting Championship, the urge to reduce someone to a bloody pulp dates back to the beginning of human time. “Fighting was the first sport,” White told some 300 adoring fans at a downtown mall in Toronto last week. “Two men were put on this Earth and somebody threw a punch. And if people were around, they watched it — you know what I mean?

Marketing to Brazil's emerging middle class

Seth KugelMarch 30, 2010 06:46Updated May 30, 2010 13:27

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Armed with a list of 70 names and addresses, a pile of surveys and a box of plastic bottles, Luciana Tavares and Elane Rosa Da Silva Freitas set out last week in search of their target population: denture wearers.

Meet the new Ticas

Alex LeffApril 3, 2010 09:17Updated May 30, 2010 13:27

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — In Costa Rica, one woman will soon be president. Another is training to summit Mt. Everest. Meet the new Ticas. They are increasingly taking jobs out of the home and putting their careers first. Many are opting out of motherhood altogether. They are slowly rising up the corporate ladder and climbing the echelons of government.

Opinion: Let’s hear it for urban agriculture

Sara FranklinMarch 29, 2010 08:24Updated May 30, 2010 13:27

NEW YORK — Growing food in cities isn’t a new concept for the poor. Rural farmers forced to migrate to urban areas in the developing world in search of work have long turned to their agricultural skills as a way of feeding themselves and their families when all else fails. It is only recently that urban agriculture has garnered attention in the first world, something many attribute to the growing popularity and romanticizing of small-scale organic farming.