Founders
Andrew O’Reilly (Editor-in-Chief, aoreilly@latindispatch.com)
Andrew worked for a variety of publications before helping start the Latin America News Dispatch, including The Philadelphia Bulletin, The Visitor of Panama, and The News of Delaware County. Andrew holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Pittsburgh and, along with working for LAND, is currently pursuing a global joint master’s degree in journalism and Latin American studies at New York University. His regional focus in reporting is Colombia and Central America.
Roque Planas (General Manager, rplanas@latindispatch.com)
Roque’s work as a freelance journalist has appeared in Foreign Policy Magazine, the World Politics Review, and the New Internationalist. He holds a master’s degree in history from Texas State University at San Marcos and he is currently continuing his studies in the global joint master’s program in journalism and Latin American studies at New York University, where he is Henry MacCracken Fellow.
Rachel Brooks-Ames (Staff Writer)
Rachel is a Henry MacCracken Fellow at New York University pursuing a joint master’s degree in journalism and Latin American studies. She grew up in Austin, Texas, and earned her bachelor’s degree from Smith College in Latin American/Latino studies. Her past work has focused on Mexico, U.S.-Mexico relations, and Mexican Americans and immigrants in Texas. She has recently turned her attention toward Venezuela.
Mari Hayman (Staff Writer)
Mari is a native of Forks, Washington and earned a bachelor of arts in comparative literature at Stanford University, where she studied the history, literature, and cinema of the Southern Cone. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in journalism and Latin American studies at New York University. Mari spent the last summer reporting on memory and human rights in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Staff Writers
Alison is a Missouri native and New York City freelance writer who has wanted to cover Latin America since studying Spanish in Central America. After moving to Brooklyn, her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Daily News, the Manhattan Times and Women’s eNews. She’s pursuing a joint master’s degree in journalism and Latin American and Caribbean studies at New York University. Her thesis focuses on immigration policies after September 11, including counterterrorism measures, and their effects on the daily lives of immigrants in New York City.
Paola is a native of San Diego, California. She graduated summa cum laude from Wellesley College where she majored in history and psychology. As an undergraduate, Paola spent time in Latin America interning at El Financiero newspaper in Costa Rica and conducting thesis research in Argentina. Paola is currently a master’s student and Henry MacCracken Fellow in New York University’s Latin American and Caribbean Studies program.
Mike earned degrees in political science and journalism from the University of Pittsburgh. After graduating from college in 2006, Mike joined the Peace Corp and spent two and half years living and working in El Salvador. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in political management at George Washington University.
Contributors
Raisa Camargo studies at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, where she is pursuing a double major in comparative international relations and minoring in French. Raisa grew up in New York City, Queens, with Colombian parents. As an intern reporter at Hispanic Link News Service in Washington, she is focusing on issues that affect the Hispanic community, with particular emphasis on immigration and the Western Hemisphere.
Reinhard Cate
Reinhard Cate is a native of Alameda, California. An avid rock climber and adventurer, he has traveled across the globe and written for Alpinist Magazine’s Online Newswire. He graduated from Santa Clara University in 2007, with a bachelor of science in Political Science, focusing on U.S. foreign policy and Middle Eastern Politics. He later worked for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York as a Program Coordinator for the dioceses’ Refugee and Immigration pro-bono law office. Reinhard is currently pursuing a master’s degree in journalism at New York University, where he focuses on
international affairs through video and photo platforms.
Jason Farbman is a Foreign Language/Area Studies Fellow at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University, where he is comparing class consciousness amongst workers in factory occupations in Argentina and the United States during times of economic crisis. A former Green Party candidate for State Representative in Chicago, Jason has since been an organizer for LGBT rights and in the anti-war movement in Seattle, both in civilian movements and as a close supporter of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Themes of struggle and community are featured in the music he writes and performs under the name Applekicker.
Nikolas Kozloff is a New York-based writer specializing in political and environmental topics. A former academic, he received his doctorate in Latin American history from Oxford University in 2002. Prior to writing his first book, he worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs, where he conducted research papers on Venezuela. He has provided political analysis on Latin America for such media outlets as BBC, WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, C-SPAN Washington Journal, and even put in a guest appearance on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Though he writes frequently on Latin America for such online publications as the Huffington Post, in more recent years he has focused increasingly on environmental topics.
Matt Landau is the founder of the Panama Report, an online travel and investment magazine. He has been featured in publications such as GQ, The New York Times and BusinessWeek for his take on life and investment in Central America.
Joel moved to Spain after graduating from Glasgow University with an M.A. in Hispanic Studies. After four years as a sports journalist in Madrid, he moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he is now based and works as a freelance journalist and T.V. producer.
James is an independent photojournalist based in Guatemala who specializes in documenting that country’s post-war social movement. Raised in Mexico City, James holds a B.A. in Cultural Geography from the University of California at Los Angeles. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including the Indypendent of New York and Yes! Magazine, and can be viewed at Mi Mundo.
Cesar Toscano
Cesar is a freelance journalist and photographer who grew up on both sides of the Tijuana, Mexico – San Diego, U.S. border. He earned a B.S. in management science and economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Since graduating in 2008, Cesar became the Co-Founder and CEO of Slique, a technical consulting and web application startup. His photos have appeared in several reports filed by The Latin America News Dispatch.
