There’s no shortage of Latin Americans who’ve helped boost Vancouver’s international reputation and cement the city’s identity. Dr. Julio Montaner came from Argentina in the early 1980s and went on to write more than 800 scientific papers on HIV/AIDS.
His team at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS played a major role in turning this deadly condition into a chronic, manageable disease.
Actor, director, and writer Carmen Aguirre came to Vancouver as a refugee from Chile, only to blaze new trails in Canadian theatre while promoting greater understanding about the nature of oppression.
Melania Alvarez, who grew up in Mexico City, is one of B.C.’s foremost mathematics educators, winning the Canadian Mathematical Society’s Adrien Pouliot Award in 2012 for her contributions.
Another former resident of Mexico, Adolfo Gonzalez, is one of Canada’s most sought-after consultants on medicinal cannabis. And Peruvian-born Annelise Sorg led the fight to stop the display of whales and dolphins at the Vancouver Aquarium.
Sitting in the boardroom of the Latin Plaza Hub in Gastown, Paola Murillo is eager to nurture the talents of the next generation of Latin American achievers who can transform Vancouver.
The nonprofit group Latincouver opened this coworking space in May to help people from Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean forge new connections, grow their own businesses, and develop social enterprises.
Murillo, the organization’s Colombian-born executive director, recognizes the challenges that people face in a new country with different systems, having moved here in 2005. But she also knows that the Latin American community is an awakening giant in Vancouver.
“There are over 125,000 Latin Americans living in Metro Vancouver, counting students and children from Latin parents,” Murillo told the Straight.