Category Archive: Laura Schroeder

Russia is Re-Engaging with Latin America. What Does This Mean for the Region- and for the U.S.?

Image: Flickr

By Laura Schroeder

As violence continues in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, more light has been shed on Russia’s presence across the globe over the past decade. In Latin America, Russian efforts to expand its influence to challenge the hegemonic power of the United States have revealed a decades-long reassessment of its strategic interactions in the region. After the Soviet Union’s withdrawal from Latin America in the 1990s, Russia has gradually been reengaging with the region, from rekindling former political ties to investing in new partnerships to deftly employing soft power. 

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“En Guantánamo luchaba por mi libertad; aquí lucho por mi vida”: Una conversación con Mansoor Adayfi

Créditos de la imagen: Salwan Georges

Traducido por Pilar Espitia

Hace poco tuvimos el placer de sentarnos a conversar virtualmente con Mansoor Adayfi, autor de “Don’t Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantánamo” [“No se olviden de nosotros: De cómo me perdí y me encontré en Guantánamo”]. Mansoor es activista, ex-prisionero de Guantánamo y actualmente reside en Serbia. A la edad de tan solo dieciocho años, fue secuestrado en Afganistán y vendido al gobierno de los Estados Unidos. Retenido en Guantánamo por catorce años, fue torturado y despojado de sus derechos más básicos.

Hablamos con Mansoor sobre lo que le diría a la versión más joven de sí, si pudiera volver en el tiempo, sobre su vida en Serbia y su reciente graduación de la universidad. Como gestor de proyectos de la ONG llamada CAGE, Mansoor y sus antiguos compañeros de prisión, o sus “hermanos”, han publicado un plan de ocho puntos para instruir al Presidente Biden sobre cómo cerrar Guantánamo de forma apropiada. Alrededor del cuello, Mansoor portaba un pedazo de tela naranja para simbolizar su solidaridad con sus hermanos y explicó sus planes para defender el cierre de Guantánamo hasta que sus hermanos fueran libres. Mientras Mansoor hablaba con convicción y humor, llamando al silencio “la herramienta de los opresores”, poco a poco se volvió claro que su voz será un instrumento poderoso de la justicia en los años venideros.

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“At Guantánamo, I was Fighting for my Freedom, but Here I’m Fighting for my Life:” A Conversation with Mansoor Adayfi


Photo Credit: Salwan Georges

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down virtually with Mansoor Adayfi, the author of Don’t Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantánamo. Mansoor is an activist and former Guantánamo detainee now residing in Serbia. At the age of only eighteen, he was kidnapped in Afghanistan and sold to the U.S. government. Held in Guantánamo for fourteen years, he was tortured and deprived of his basic human rights.

We talked with Mansoor about what he would go back and tell his younger self, his life in Serbia, and his recent college graduation. Now the Guantánamo Project Manager at the NGO CAGE, Mansoor and fellow former detainees, or “brothers,” have published an eight-point plan to instruct President Biden on how to properly close Guantánamo. Wearing a bright orange cloth around his neck out of solidarity for his brothers, Mansoor explained his plans to advocate for the closure of Guantánamo until they were free. As he spoke with conviction and humor, calling silence “a tool of the oppressors,” it became increasingly clear: Mansoor’s voice will be a powerful instrument of justice for years to come.

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Extremist Attack on the U.S. Capitol: “Absolute Banana Republic Crap?”

By Laura Schroeder

Like many fellow U.S. Americans, January 6, 2021 found me glued to a flurry of disturbing news reports. While a mass of pro-Trump extremists lay siege to the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers worked to certify election results, I couldn’t tear myself away from reports of the insurrection and chaos that President Trump incited. Tweets aggressively vied for viewers’ attention at the top of the screen, and my heart thumped in my ears in reaction to the inexcusably slow police response to the attack.

When I saw the term “banana republic” trending, I quickly eliminated any inkling that the fancy clothing store* had announced a poorly timed loungewear sale and continued scrolling. 

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“Dark Places Definitely Bring the Light Out:” A Conversation with Obie Anthony

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down (virtually) with Obie Anthony, Executive Director of Exonerated Nation, an organization that meets the immediate needs of exonerees by helping to heal the debilitating spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical effects of being wrongfully incarcerated and affects policy change for restoration and the righting of wrongs.

At only 19 years old, Obie was convicted of a murder he did not commit and spent 17 years in prison before being exonerated and released in 2011. When he left prison in 2011, he didn’t have a social security card or birth certificate and had to learn how to use a cell phone and write a resume. Since then, he’s helped other exonerees navigate the often difficult transition out of prison. He has been instrumental in the passage of California Assembly Bill No 672 (Obie’s Law) along with other key pieces of legislation.

We talked about identity and personal growth, what gets him up in the morning, his important work with Exonerated Nation, and which Seinfeld character he relates to the most.

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El reggaetón: ¿Enemigo del feminismo?

Por Laura Schroeder

Traducido por Pilar Espitia

Mi gran confesión

Soy fan del reggaetón. Ya éstá, lo dije.

Nada me hace bailar tanto como el bajo palpitante y el seductor ritmo del popular reggaetón, y no hay nada como una canción clásica de Daddy Yankee o de Don Omar para llenar la pista de baile de caderas danzantes y pies que se mueven. A lo mejor tiene que ver con los gratos recuerdos de mis viajes a República Dominicana y Perú, y mi año como becaria Fulbright en Colombia, lo que alimentó mi afinidad con el dembow de este género musical y sus letras dichas con frenetismo. A lo mejor, simplemente, el reggaetón es propicio para el baile.

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Constructing Meaning: A Q&A with Castelline Tilus, Data Lab Co-Founder

Castelline_Tilus

The following interview is part of a series of conversations with young change-makers across the Western Hemisphere. From women’s rights to education to good governance, these leaders, founders, and creators are advocating for social good in a variety of ways across multiple platforms.

In this Q&A, Castelline Tilus, the co-founder and CEO of Ayiti Analytics, discusses how she fell in love with data science and went on to found Haiti’s first data science lab. Ayiti Analytics is focused on addressing challenges in Haiti through data science education, consulting and research. It leverages the potential of data science and analytics to connect youth in Haiti with meaningful employment opportunities and to co-create solutions to community identified challenges.

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