John Otis
NPR
Colombia
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Past articles by John:
Brazil's President-elect Lula will address protection of the Amazon rainforest at COP27
Brazil's President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is heading to the COP27 summit this week, to reassure the world that Amazon rainforest is in safe hands. → Read More
The U.S. is trying to mend ties with Venezuela. One big reason? Oil
The Biden administration has extended an olive branch to Venezuela. It might sway Caracas to resume talks with the opposition for elections, and eventually let Venezuelan oil back on the world market. → Read More
How an ex-president who had been jailed rose back to power over Brazil's far right
President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made a stunning political comeback by defeating incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. But he could face a short honeymoon — and a long four years in office. → Read More
Lula beats President Bolsonaro to win Brazil election
The results bring to a close the most consequential election in Brazil in decades. Now, President-elect da Silva faces the huge task of reinvigorating Brazil's economy. → Read More
A Brazilian road project cuts through the Amazon, paving the way to vast deforestation
Plans to pave Brazil's highway BR-319 through the Amazon rainforest have raised alarm from environmental groups. → Read More
He's known as Chile's greatest poet, but feminists say Pablo Neruda is canceled
"He's been canceled," a Chilean activist says of 20th century poet and Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda. Five decades after his death, feminists are denouncing him as a male chauvinist and sexual predator. → Read More
For Chileans blinded in police violence, making music has become one path to healing
All members of Hacía la Victoria ("Onward to Victory") sustained eye injuries during clashes with police in anti-government protests in 2019. Their lyrics focus on police brutality and their own pain. → Read More
Feminists in Chile are fighting to repaint Pablo Neruda's legacy
The legacy of the Nobel-prize winning Chilean poet is in trouble. In the latest controversy Chiles' feminist movement is calling out Pablo Neruda as a male chauvinist and a sexual predator. → Read More
Defying preelection polls, a divided Brazil heads to a presidential runoff
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the left-wing former president, won more votes than right-wing incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro, but not enough to win outright in the 11-candidate race. → Read More
Brazil's election could determine the fate of the Amazon after record deforestation
Under President Jair Bolsonaro, who is running for reelection in Sunday's vote, forest clearing and wildfires have surged in the Amazon. → Read More
In Chile's desert lie vast reserves of lithium — key for electric car batteries
Chile is part of a South American region known as the "lithium triangle," where miners are trying to meet skyrocketing demand for the material. → Read More
Chileans have rejected a new, progressive constitution
The constitution would have put a focus on social issues and gender parity, enshrine rights for Chile's Indigenous population and put the environment and climate change center stage. → Read More
Why Brazil's Bolsonaro is courting evangelicals in the world's biggest Catholic nation
Jair Bolsonaro is relying on support from the country's quickly growing evangelical community to pull off an upset against former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in October. → Read More
Brazil's firearm ownership booms, and gun laws loosen, under President Bolsonaro
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has issued more than a dozen decrees in favor of Brazilians' right to bear arms. Sales have spiked and gun shops and shooting ranges have opened up all over Brazil. → Read More
Colombia's tribunal exposes how troops kidnapped and killed thousands of civilians
Colombian army officers kidnapped and executed over 6,400 civilians from 2002 to 2008 and falsely reported them as Marxist guerrillas killed in combat to boost body counts, a special tribunal found. → Read More
After Colombia's election surprise, a populist TikTok star poses stiff competition
A 77-year-old populist who campaigns over TikTok and promises budget cuts and jail for corrupt officials is now neck and neck with his leftist opponent ahead of Sunday's runoff election. → Read More
Colombia goes into elections Sunday with a leftist looking to make history
Colombia's presidential election is Sunday, and for the first time, a leftist candidate is favored to come out ahead. Business elites are nervous. → Read More
South America's traditional cowboys are still at home on the range in Colombia
livestock in Colombia are raised on vast, open ranges. Overseeing the herds requires the special skills of Colombian cowboys who are known as llaneros — Spanish for "plainsmen." → Read More
Colombia legalized abortions for the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. A backlash ensued
The Constitutional Court issued the ruling in February of this year. It's part of a so-called "green wave" of liberalizing abortion rights in some Latin America countries. And it's led to protests. → Read More
He's running to be Colombia's 1st left-wing president. Here's what he plans to do
Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro sits down with NPR and talks about his time in a guerrilla group and proposals to tackle poverty and climate change. → Read More