This event convened a panel of experts to discuss the upcoming October 2022 federal elections in Brazil, arguably one of the most pressing elections of modern contemporary Latin American politics. In 2018, Brazilians elected the far-right Jair Bolsonaro to the presidency. Bolsonaro's election represented the most serious challenge to Brazil's democracy since the restoration of civilian rule in 1985 after over two decades of military dictatorship (1964-85). In conjunction with Bolsonaro's sustained weakening of democratic institutions and norms, his presidency has seen record deforestation of the Amazon, rising violence against Afro-Brazilians, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ persons, and a troubled response against the COVID-19 pandemic in which Bolsonaro spread misinformation about vaccines. His main opponent is Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from the Workers' Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores), the former trade union leader and president of Brazil (2003-10), whose previous imprisonment on corruption charges based on flimsy evidence preemptively ended his 2018 presidential campaign. The current election promises to be no less dramatic and our panel of experts will address a complex, highly fluid situation whose implications extend beyond Brazil and will engage anyone interested in the global rise of right-wing authoritarian populists, climate change, and the potential redux of the 2000s "Pink Tide" of leftist leaders across Latin America.
You can view the recording here: Precarious Democracy recording
Students detail the struggles of their predecessors to achieve better Latinx representation on campus in the late 20th century.
[more]Todd Miller from The Border Chronicle speaks with Jorge Cuellar
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LALACS congratulates Society of Fellows member Jorge Ramirez-Lopez who has received several awards for his completed dissertation.
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"Immigration status plays a significant role in how one navigates old age," says Melanie Plasencia Cesar Chavez Fellow in Generations Today.
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Professor Matthew Garcia has been appointed to the advisory committee for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Latino.
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