South America
Chile turns rightward
Chile has joined the right-wing trend sweeping Latin America by electing the ultra-conservative candidate Jose Antonio Kast as its first…
All that was bravest and best: William Miller, forgotten Victorian hero of South American independence
A meticulous account masquerading as adventure story of the life of the baker’s son from Kent who became a brilliant military tactician and soldier pivotal in the struggle against slavery and imperialism
The great explorers of the past dismissed as mercenary opportunists
Simon Park follows the current trend of accusing Columbus, Magellan, Da Gama and other famous navigators of seeking personal enrichment above all else
Bolsonaro isn’t finished yet
São Paulo The polls got it wrong again. In the first round of Brazil’s presidential election on Sunday, challenger Luiz…
Nazi on the run
Who would have thought that someone would write a novel about Josef Mengele, the Auschwitz doctor and infamous experimenter on…
How long can Peru’s new socialist leader last?
The symbolism could hardly have been clearer when Pedro Castillo was sworn in yesterday as Peru’s new President on the country’s 200th anniversary…
Wings of desire
Maria Sibylla Merian was a game old bird of entrepreneurial bent, with an overwhelming obsession with insects. Born in Frankfurt…
Marvellous, murderous city
When Stefan Zweig first arrived in Rio de Janeiro in 1936, he was overwhelmed not only by the city’s magnificent…
The murderous gangs who run the world
Rosalio Reta was 13 years old when recruited by a Mexican drug cartel. He was given a loyalty test —…
South America’s silent apartheid
In The Spectator of 21 March a column by Toby Young caught my eye. Discussing the pros and cons of…
Low life
The pub was disappointingly empty, so I took my first pint of the evening upstairs, where some sort of New…
The incredible journey
Sam Leith marvels at a lone horseman’s 10,000-mile ride, braving bandits, quicksands, vampire bats and revolution in search of ‘variety’
