NIU Latino and Latin American Studies

NIU Latino and Latin American Studies The Center for Latino and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) at Northern Illinois University is an inter

Fall 2026 Field Trips are here! 🍂 Join the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies Student Ambassadors for an amazi...
09/17/2026

Fall 2026 Field Trips are here! 🍂
Join the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies Student Ambassadors for an amazing lineup of cultural events.

Sign up by scanning the QR code on the flyer.

For more information, please contact Dr. Darius Jackson at [email protected].

GuĂ­sela Santa Cruz is a Bolivian singer and folklorist who blends Bolivian music with romantic ballads. Born on March 4,...
09/16/2026

GuĂ­sela Santa Cruz is a Bolivian singer and folklorist who blends Bolivian music with romantic ballads. Born on March 4, 1975, in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra , her most popular songs include: "Lastima ," " No te vayas ," "CorazĂłn corazĂłn ," " Romance Verde ," " Te dejo libre ," and "Misterios del corazĂłn," among others that possess a unique charm characteristic of this artist. She is considered one of Bolivia's best singers for her voice, simplicity, candor, beauty, and genuine heart.

https://www.guiselasantacruz.com/

On the barren outskirts of the small town of Uyuni lies the one-of-a-kind Train Graveyard, or “Cementerio de Trenes”. Th...
09/11/2026

On the barren outskirts of the small town of Uyuni lies the one-of-a-kind Train Graveyard, or “Cementerio de Trenes”. This unique site is the perfect starting point for one of the most unforgettable journeys you’ll ever take. Scattered across the desert are rusting train carriages, remnants of Bolivia’s railway boom. With its dramatic setting, the Train Graveyard is a photographer’s dream and a must-see stop before heading into the otherworldly landscapes of the Uyuni Salt Flats.

How did it become a train graveyard?
Uyuni became a key transportation hub for South American trains in the late 19th century. However, the mining industry’s collapse in the 1940s halted these developments. Trains imported from Britain were abandoned outside Uyuni. Rather than decommissioning the trains and selling them as scrap, the demoralized people of Uyuni left the trains to rot.

Over the decades, the harsh environment took its toll. Salt-laden winds from the nearby Salar de Uyuni corroded the metal, leaving behind rusty, skeletal remains. Without fences or guards, scavengers stripped some trains for metal. All these things combined and left us with the mass train cemetery we see today.

đź”—https://www.salardeuyuni.com/train-graveyard/
đź”—https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/great-train-graveyard

Check out this talk by LATS graduate certificate student Karina Diaz | September 17 at 3PM
09/10/2026

Check out this talk by LATS graduate certificate student Karina Diaz | September 17 at 3PM

Join us on 9/21 at Noon to learn more about NNGO & LATS careers
09/10/2026

Join us on 9/21 at Noon to learn more about NNGO & LATS careers

Bolivia: New Roadblocks Challenge Paz’s Repressive State of ExceptionPopular discontent is growing in Bolivia as the dea...
09/10/2026

Bolivia: New Roadblocks Challenge Paz’s Repressive State of Exception

Popular discontent is growing in Bolivia as the deadline for the state of emergency imposed by Rodrigo Paz is set to expire.
By Gabriel Fardin; September 1, 2026

With less than a month remaining before the legal deadline for the state of emergency imposed by Rodrigo Paz’s government expires, popular discontent is once again growing in Bolivia.

Last week, a group of farmers from the province of Marbán, in the department of Beni, set up a roadblock near the San Pablo Bridge. The move disrupted traffic on the highway connecting Trinidad and Santa Cruz and forced the suspension of departures from the Santa Cruz bus terminal to Beni.

In an official statement, Yacimientos PetrolĂ­feros Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) reported that the roadblocks are preventing tanker trucks carrying liquefied natural gas from passing, leaving several municipalities in northern PotosĂ­ without a supply. YPFB reported that several tanker trucks remain stranded on the blocked roads, directly affecting the regular distribution of natural gas in Llallagua, UncĂ­a, Chayanta, and Aymaya.

The Paz government mobilized a large contingent of police and soldiers to crack down on the protesters and clear the highway, using tear gas and rubber bullets, injuring at least five people and detaining two. Demonstrators responded by throwing rocks and setting tires on fire. The following day, August 28, the highway connecting San Pablo to Santa Cruz was blocked again, defying Paz’s repression and the state of emergency.

The blockade in San Pablo points to a possible return to the protests that paralyzed the country during the 53 days of blockades between May and June. However, discontent has been brewing for several weeks. In Potosí, organic quinoa farmers from Colcha K gave the executive branch 48 hours to repeal Supreme Decree 5676, which raises the country’s diesel prices, in addition to demanding a bill to protect the quinoa sector.

đź”—https://www.leftvoice.org/bolivia-roadblocks-paz-repression/

Between 1978 and 1982 there were 10 governments in Bolivia, including several periods of military rule. The old MNR (Mov...
09/09/2026

Between 1978 and 1982 there were 10 governments in Bolivia, including several periods of military rule. The old MNR (Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario) reemerged in 1978, and a complex set of new political parties and movements developed. These new groups gained wide support in the national elections of 1978 and 1979, and the electorate showed an even balance between conservative and radical positions. Moreover, peasants for the first time no longer voted as a bloc but were as equally divided as the urban populace.

Popular opposition had forced Banzer to call elections in 1978, which were subsequently voided in the wake of charges of fraud, and Banzer resigned under threat of a coup. Walter Guevara Arce was elected president by Congress in August 1979, but he stepped down in November after a failed coup, whereupon Lidia Gueiler Tejada was chosen by military, political, and union leaders to serve as interim president, becoming the first woman to hold the country’s highest office. In July 1980, before Congress could choose a new president, the military staged a bloody coup, during which one of the country’s most acclaimed authors and political leaders, Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz, was murdered. Over the next 13 months an extremist military government led by Gen. Luis García Meza committed widespread murders, incidents of torture, forced exiles, and political persecution. The government hired militant fascists (including ex-Nazis) and other paramilitary groups to attack opposition political and labor leaders, and corruption was widespread among military officers.

The new regime immediately lost credibility in the international community because of its repressive measures and because U.S. officials implicated some of its leaders in illegal co***ne trafficking; because of these illicit ties, García Meza’s coup has become known as the “co***ne coup.” Years later Luis Arce Gómez, who had served as minister of the interior under García Meza, was convicted in Miami on co***ne trafficking charges, and in 1995 García Meza himself was extradited to Bolivia from Brazil and convicted.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Bolivia/Bolivia-from-c-1980-to-2000

Deadline: September 18, 2026The Center for Latino and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) at Northern Illinois University inv...
09/08/2026

Deadline: September 18, 2026

The Center for Latino and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) at Northern Illinois University invites you to submit proposals for its seventh annual interdisciplinary conference, Treinta y tres, to be held on November 12-13, 2026. This year’s theme is Rhythms of Resistance: Music, Performance, and Cultural Expression and seeks to showcase the transformative power of performance alongside traditional scholarly presentations.

CLLAS invites faculty, graduate students, advanced undergraduate students, and independent artists to explore the ways music, performance, and cultural expression have served as sites of resistance, resilience, identity formation, and social transformation across Latin/Latinx America. Topics may include, but are not limited to, music and social movements, performance as protest, cultural heritage and identity, and community arts.

In keeping with the conference theme, we particularly encourage proposals of live performances, interactive workshops, and other hands-on sessions that engage participants through creative practices and collective experiences.

The deadline to submit proposals (150-300 words) for papers, panels, roundtables, performances, or workshops is September 18, 2026. Proposals should include a title, brief abstract, and contact information for each participant. Please also indicate if you prefer a virtual or in-person session. We will do our best to accommodate preferences, but flexibility on modality will be appreciated.

To submit a proposal, please email: [email protected]

For any questions, please contact: Dr. Christina D. Abreu ([email protected])

Armed with fake papers, a handful of gold nuggets, and a snazzy custom-made suit, an unemployed schoolteacher with a sin...
09/08/2026

Armed with fake papers, a handful of gold nuggets, and a snazzy custom-made suit, an unemployed schoolteacher with a singular passion for detective fiction sets out from small-town Bolivia on a desperate quest for an American visa, his best hope for escaping his painful past and reuniting with his grown son in Miami.

Mario Alvarez's dream of emigration takes a tragicomic twist on the rough streets of La Paz, Bolivia's seat of government. Alvarez embarks on a series of Kafkaesque adventures, crossing paths with a colorful cast of hustlers, social outcasts, and crooked politicians—and initiating a romance with a straight-shooting pr******te named Blanca. Spurred on by his detective fantasies and his own tribulations, he hatches a plan to rob a wealthy gold dealer, a decision that draws him into a web of high-society corruption but also brings him closer than ever to obtaining his ticket to paradise.

Juan de Recacoechea was born in La Paz, Bolivia, and worked as a journalist in Europe for almost twenty years. After returning to his native country, he helped found Bolivia's first state-run television network, served as its general manager, and dedicated himself to fiction writing. Recacoechea is the author of seven novels. American Visa is his first novel to be translated into English.

CLLAS Announcement!The center for Latino and Latin American Studies is please to introduce an internship partnership wit...
09/08/2026

CLLAS Announcement!

The center for Latino and Latin American Studies is please to introduce an internship partnership with WNIJ!

Earn 1-3 credits that count towards the Latino and Latin American Studies minor; available for fall, spring, and summer and open to any majors.

Interested students should reach out to Dr. Chirstina Abreu: [email protected]

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