April 2025 Newsletter

Dear Latin Americanist Community,

Despite the heightened uncertainty regarding federal support for area studies centers, like our own LAI, we are pushing through with an amazing set of events, which cover Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, Brazil and Colombia. Among the many events we are organizing and sponsoring this month, I’d like to highlight a few. On April 1st, we kick off the quarter with a presentation on Venezuelan politics by Alejandro Velasco (History, NYU). Velasco is an award-winning author and expert on Venezuela, who will discuss prospects for the country after the respective reelections of Nicolás Maduro and Donald Trump. Find details of this event here.

On April 7, we come together to celebrate and discuss the publication of Landscaping Indigenous Mexico: The Liberal State and Capitalism in the Purépecha Highlands, a new book by our colleague Fernando Pérez Montesinos (History, UCLA). Find details of this book presentation here. The very next day we will continue our “LAI Lunch & Learn” series with a talk on curatorial practices and contemporary art in Brazil by Alex Flynn (World Arts and Culture/Dance, UCLA). As the name of the series indicates, lunch is on us! Check out details and register here.

This month, we also welcome Alexander Huezo, an alumnus of the MA program in Latin American Studies and currently an assistant professor of Global and International Studies at UC Irvine, who will present his new book Visions of Global Environmental Justice: Comunidades Negras and the War on Drugs in Colombia. This is an open access book published by UC Press, which can get here free! This event is scheduled for April 23. Get details here. Finally, check out the LAI Calendar for dates and times of a “Festival of Cineastas Mayas,” spearheaded by our colleague Patricia Arroyo Calderón (Spanish and Portuguese, UCLA). Not to be missed!

I close this message inviting you to give to the mission of the UCLA Latin American Institute and its centers, programs, and working groups. Your generous contributions support the lively intellectual life of the institute, student research, and our vibrant outreach activities. Thanks!

Rubén Hernández-León,
Director of the UCLA Latin American Institute