Latin America

Question 1

A memorial service for victims of the 1960 explosion of the French freighter La Coubre in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, has been recorded (and duplicated) for posterity thanks to a photograph taken there of what man?

Answer 1

Che Guevara

Question 2

The indigenous Mexican guerilla movement that arose in 1994 in the southeastern province of Chiapas, fighting discrimination against the Mayan people and inequality blamed on the North American Free Trade Agreement, is named after what leader of the Mexican Revolution?

Answer 2

Emiliano Zapata

Question 3

Which Latin American country lost its coastline as a result of the War of the Pacific of 1879-83?

Answer 3

Bolivia

Question 4

A Spanish inquiry concluded that an explosion in the forward magazine caused the sinking of what battleship in Cuba’s Havana harbor, whereas a US naval inquiry blamed a submarine mine?

Answer 4

USS Maine

Question 5

This republic experienced two periods of independence from Mexico. One brief period shortly followed Mexican independence from Spain in 1823. The second lasted from 1841-48. The republic shares a name with a current Mexican state.

Answer 5

Yucatan

Question 6

British Honduras was renamed in 1973 to it’s current name, and given independence in 1981. What is the modern name?

Answer 6

Belize

Question 7

What Spanish businessman was the first settler given a permit in 1795 to bottle the previously banned product of tequila?

Answer 7

Jose Cuervo

Question 8

In 1810, in a sermon and early call for Mexican independence, Father Miguel Hidalgo issued the “Cry of” this town.

Answer 8

Dolores

Question 9

A heroic stand against an invading army from this nation at 1862’s Battle of Puebla is remembered every Cinco de Mayo.

Answer 9

France

Question 10

1991’s Treaty of Asunción created a free trade bloc whose full members today are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, and that goes by what name?

Answer 10

Mercosur

Question 11

At their peak in 2006, over half the taxis in Mexico City were what model of car, making it an iconic symbol of the city?

Answer 11

VW Beetle

Question 12

In 1847 Mexico City had its Independence Day under occupation as this general took the city two days before.

Answer 12

Winfield Scott

Question 13

This Cuban poet is considered to be both a national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. Through his writings and political activity, he became a symbol for Cuba’s bid for independence from Spain and is referred to as the “Apostle of Cuban Independence”. He was killed on May 19, 1895 during the Cuban War of Independence.

Answer 13

José Martí

Question 14

The individual in stripes in the image led a terrorist group for over 30 years – name him or the group he led.

Answer 14

Abimael Guzman, Shining Path

Question 15

What is the name of the largely indigenous rebel group that revolted against the NAFTA treaty beginning in 1994, capturing several towns in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas that it controls to this day?

Answer 15

Zapatistas (EZLN)

Question 16

A formal international collaboration in the Southern Cone of South America included coordinated secret intelligence activities, torture, kidnapping, disappearance, and assassination, and was founded by the regime of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1975 (and covertly backed by the US government). It was an “Operation” codenamed after what large bird, which is native to the area?

Answer 16

Condor

Question 17

What is the name commonly given to the first complex society in Mesoamerica, who established farming communities along the gulf coast of modern-day Mexico around 1500 BCE, had established chiefdoms by 1250 BCE, and greatly influenced the cultures that followed (including the Maya, Zapotecs, Toltecs, Aztecs, and others)?

Answer 17

Olmecs

Question 18

The Chilean independence leader who served as that country’s first Head of State in 1818 was a member of what Irish noble family?

Answer 18

(Bernardo) O’Higgins

Question 19

What is the term used for the skilled horsemen of South America, often indigenous American or mestizo, who took part in that continent’s wars of independence in the early 19th century and later were prominent in developing the cattle industry on the Argentine pampas?

Answer 19

Gauchos

Question 20

Mexico’s 2018 presidential election was won in a landslide by a center-left populist who is commonly referred to by what initials?

Answer 20

AMLO (Andrés Manuel López Obrador)

Question 21

Along with the Aztec, Maya and Incas, this indigenous culture is considered to be one of the four advanced civilizations of the Americas. They were based largely in the high plateau region of Altiplano Cundiboyacense in Colombia.

Answer 21

Muisca

Question 22

What is the name of the people who flourished on the desert coast of modern Peru beginning in 200 BCE, leaving behind enormous etchings (or “lines”) on the surface of the desert before their absorption into the Huari empire by 800 CE?

Answer 22

Nazca

Question 23

What man served as the President of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013?

Answer 23

Hugo Chavez