¡Azúcar! - Whenever you hear this cry, you just know some amazingly good Salsa music is about to begin, as Celia Cruz's voice is moments away from hitting your headphones. And what a character she was, with her flashy hairstyles and extravagant clothing style, her wide smile and powerful voice. But what was her story, before all the fame? How did a young, female Cuban singer with no industry connections end up becoming the Salsa legend? It had a lot to do with her determination and...

Hidden in the Andes mountain range for close to 400 years, Peru's Machu Picchu has long been an incredibly famous South American tourist destination. After all, it's wonderful location, beautiful views and the advanced technology with which it was created (how were those rocks even transported up there?!) make it unique not only in Latin America, but the world. But was it just a temple for the Sun god, Inti, or was it something more? After all, there is evidence that leads scientists to...

Move aside, the Himalayas. The Andes might not have the highest peaks in the world, but it's actually the most extensive mountain range on our planet, encompassing 7,242 kilometers and stretching across SEVEN different nations. It's South America's pride. But what's so special about the Andes, and what type of terrain, flora, and fauna can you expect to find there? Oh, and why was it so important for human civilization, who not only lived there but turned it into the birthplace of great...

Eva 'Evita' Perón, a woman who caused so much amazement and admiration over the decades that even Madonna, the Queen of Pop, begged to play her in a film. A young woman who, despite growing into the wealth of Argentine politics, actually came from a poor background and knew what it meant to be hungry. The wife of controversial president, Juan Domingo Perón, Evita was a radically contrasting figure. On the one hand, she mingled with the poor and brought women's rights forward a few...

Do you love soccer? Argentinians do, that's for sure. Their two top teams - Boca Juniors and River Plate - are actually among the fiercest rivals in world soccer, and have seen some of the most amazing encounters that Latin American football has to offer. In this fantastic DUAL episode, we find Lucas and Paula getting ready to enter this year's Superclásico - that is, the duel between these two legendary teams. Having a bit of time to spare before the match, they decide to share a bit of...

Sometimes, waiting for law enforcement to help is not enough, especially if the local police are involved in the crime you expect them to solve. Such was the belief of a brave mother named Miriam Rodriguez, who in January of 2014, realized that nobody was going to help her get her daughter back after she was kidnapped. This woman, one of the bravest we've ever heard of, decided to take justice into her hands and commence both an investigation and manhunt like no other. She would go after...

How much do you know about what goes on in North Korea? Probably not much. Perhaps you think that a lot of what is said is just negative propaganda by anti-communists. But what if I told you that a Venezuelan communist was imprisoned there and got to see how horrible the prisoner treatment was up close? Now, you must be wondering... what was a Venezuelan poet doing working in North Korea? Today's story is precisely about this man and what led him there. Ali Lameda was a passionate dreamer,...

Have you ever heard of the Mapuche people, or the historical country of “Wallmapu”? Probably not, and there’s a reason for that: the Mapuche people have been conquered, colonized, and excluded for centuries, since the Spanish arrived in South America... to the present day when modern governments continue to ostracize and bar them from possessing the same rights as everyone else. It’s a controversial subject and one that has caused great bloodshed in the south of South America, with fierce...

While capitalism has undoubtedly brought us some of our most impressive advancements as a species, it has also done some pretty terrible stuff to people across the world. Latin America is not an exception. In the early 20th century, as corporations in the United States began looking outward and started entering poorer countries (under the guise of "foreign investment"), governments across Central and South America would greedily accept them and allow them to do whatever they wanted. Soon,...

When you watch a pirate movie, have you ever asked yourself where most of them are based? Heck, isn't the most famous movie pirate saga based in, precisely, Latin America (the Caribbean)? And I bet you didn't know that most of those characters, events, and legends are based (loosely) on real stories and treasures - yes, it's not an exaggeration when we're told that reality surpasses fiction. So... what is it that drove pirates and explorers to venture into the Caribbean and South American...

Did you grow up loving dinosaurs like me? Maybe, maybe not, but you have to admit that it's sad how they disappeared. One day they were out there doing their thing, and then BOOM! A giant asteroid fell from the sky and ended them all.   But where did that asteroid land? To be honest, there are mixed studies, but it is widely believed that the Yucatan extinction event was the cause for the disappearance of dinosaurs and 75% of all animal and plant life on Earth. Its crater, specifically known...

It may be surprising if you didn't already know this, but back in the late 1980s, a son of first-generation Japanese immigrants rose enough in political power and popularity to become president of a South American nation.   We're talking of the ex-president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, who was elected in a time of great economic and social struggle in the nation. There was even an ongoing war against the widespread terrorism brought about by Abimael Guzman's Sendero Luminoso (which we talked...

What if I told you that there was a "day in which the mountain rolled into the sea" in Venezuela? What would you think? It sounds almost poetic, but it describes the country's worst natural tragedy in history.   It all began with a week of heavy rain, a storm at the beginning of December 1999, when the whole nation's attention was fixed almost entirely on the shifting political events that would mark the end of an era and the beginning of something revolutionary - the age of a new referendum...

Did you know that one of the most influential writers in history is actually from Latin America? Colombia, to be exact – I’m talking of Gabriel García Márquez, of course!   Father of the amazing and refreshing genre known as “Magical Realism”, this Aracataca-born man changed the course of Latin American literature forever with his classic “One Hundred Years of Solitude”.   In this latest episode of the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast, we’ll cover his life, his inspiration, the way he...

Do you know what’s one of the strangest things in Latin America? The fact that the biggest country in a Spanish-majority region (with a third of the total population in Latin America) speaks a different language: Portuguese.   You’d think that somehow, Brazil would have adopted Spanish like their neighbors, but they never did, and even today, it is a minority language among many others. So… why? Why does Brazil speak Portuguese?   Basically, it has a lot to do with its origins and how the...

Have you ever wondered why Paraguay isn’t really a big, star destination in South America? In fact, it’s actually one of the least talked about locations in all of Latin America despite its size and location.   Well, this might have a lot to do with the fact that it went through a truly terrible war in the 1800s that decimated its infrastructure and even its population (up to HALF of Paraguayans died!), leaving the country more or less in ruins, and in need of serious rebuilding.   And who...

Many of the best heroic stories end in tragedy. Such is the case of Kiki Camarena, the ace DEA agent with a magnificent sixth sense and an ability to sniff out the bad guys unlike any other.   Although his career was centered on U.S. law enforcement, this Mexican-born special agent was transferred to Mexico to keep an eye on the ongoing events of the criminal underworld and soon realized that things were getting really bad, really quickly, way before anyone else did.   Infiltrating himself...

Some people are born different. Talented, special, prodigies… whatever you want to call them, they are able to do things others could only dream of. Gustavo Dudamel is one such man – from a young age, he demonstrated an immense ability in the world of music.   This music conductor not only became the best of his nation, Venezuela, by the age of 18, but also soon dominated South America, Europe, and the entire world with his ability to lead orchestras of all shapes and sizes.    Discover the...

In 1985, Colombia was going through one of its most terrible periods in all its history. On one side, Pablo Escobar was destabilizing the nation with his drug trade and violence, and the Cali Cartel was growing in power. On the other, only two years before, a terrible earthquake had destroyed the city of Popayán, scarring the memories of local citizens and bringing fear to those around the nation.   But before the nation could recover, an even more horrific event struck – one that would be...

Welcome back to the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast by Lingo Mastery! We’ve arrived once more, this time with Season 3, to bring you the best in Spanish learning.   This time, we want to travel across the world, away from Latin America… all the way to the Philippines, where a very interesting Spanish-related development happened between the 1500s and late 1800s – the colonization of these enchanting islands by the Spanish Crown.    In this episode, we want to tell you more about what...

We’ve reached the Season Finale of another wonderful season, and we want to thank you for your support all throughout the year, in which we became one of the biggest Spanish learning podcasts and reached thousands more than we ever had. And, to end Season 2, we want to take you on a journey like no other in this special DUAL-NARRATOR episode. Have you ever felt the threat of burnout, wanted to travel across Latin America and discover the hidden gems and beautiful locations that are nowhere...

When you think of the most impressive empires in the world, you cannot avoid thinking of the Aztec Empire, the powerful Mesoamerican civilization that conquered much of modern-day Mexico and was comprised of several million people. This is because, for a civilization that ruled over 500 years ago, the Aztecs accomplished many impressive feats in terms of medicine, society and technology, and were extremely skilled at the arts of diplomacy and war.   However… this civilization also had a great...

In the history of Latin America, political extremes have caused great pain and suffering, especially to innocents throughout the rural areas of Central and South America. Communism has not been an exception to this rule. And in Peru, during the 70s, 80s and 90s, one particular Communist party made Peru an extremely dangerous and unwelcome place to live in. Led by a narcissistic leader who believed in using violence to further his goals, Sendero Luminoso is a fantastic example of terrorist...

Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez. You may love him, hate him, or wonder who we’re even talking about – but the truth is that Nayib Bukele has changed the direction of El Salvador’s history forever, simply by turning it from the world’s most dangerous nation to one of its safest, practically overnight. But we must ask the important question here: is he the Central American nation’s savior? Or is he a tyrant slowly controlling the population’s lives with an iron fist?   In this episode of the Learn...

Did you know Panama has no army? Probably not, but it wasn’t an arbitrary or random decision. You see, it was all due to one man: a dictator, a tyrant, an enemy of the United States of America. Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno, who grew from low-ranking soldier in the Panamanian Army to the most powerful man in the country in just a few decades. And – while they initially loved him as a strong ally against Latin American communism – his relationship with the U.S. soon turned sour and brought...