After conducting interviews in Montevideo, I took a short ferry ride to Buenos Aires. Just like Uruguay, Darwin uncovered large megafauna fossils in Argentina. When he wasn’t meeting with caudillo Juan Manuel de Rosas and dealing with chaotic local politics, Darwin fraternized with members of the influential English mercantile class […]
When he was not engaged in fractious local politics, Darwin traveled throughout the countryside where he uncovered large Ice Age fossils — extinct megafauna. I caught up with paleontologists at the National Museum of Natural History, an institution which had recently launched an exhibit dealing with Darwin’s legacy in […]
If anything, Elon Musk’s recent trip to South America demonstrates the futility of attempting to solve the climate crisis by means of technological innovation. Heading to Brazil, the Tesla billionaire and SpaceX chief executive met with President Jair Bolsonaro, as well as prominent business leaders and high-ranking military officers. Reportedly, […]
To be sure, Latin America has plenty of reason to criticize Washington given the region’s long experience with U.S. interventionism. However, the tendency to excuse Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, while blaming the U.S. for all nefarious misdeeds, has led many “south of the border” to commit a serious error in […]
In the midst of writing about the rising tide of anti-Semitism in my own native borough of Brooklyn, I was recently taken aback to read about an attack on a local rabbi in Buenos Aires. The incident spurred concern in Argentina, which is home to more than 180,000 Jews, that […]
Window view of the old historic quarter of Montevideo. The covered market of Montevideo, near Maldonado port. Native fauna at the museum of natural history
In the town of San Antonio de Areco, locals celebrate their historic gaucho heritage. In the pampas, vegetation is sparse and desolate. Back in Buenos Aires, the botanical garden displays vegetation more common to the coast. Nearby, a freemason temple brings together a fraternity of men in the downtown area. […]
Before he became known as a key figure in the struggle for Italian unification, Giuseppe Garibaldi played a military role in helping to defend the city of Montevideo from Argentine proto-dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas. To this day, Uruguayans honor the role of Garibaldi in their own independence struggle. Colonia […]
