The journalist Paulo Antonio Paranaguá uses images from the turbulent continent to weave a history of the region, covering colonisation, slavery and dictatorship

Its tumultuous past, marked by massacres, slavery, violent domination, coups d’état, revolutions and uprisings, often overshadows another narrative of Latin America: that of a vibrant, culturally rich region where art, creativity and solidarity hold a central place in society.

Throughout its post-Columbian history – the period after Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas in 1492 – Latin America has grappled with the tension between subjugation to colonial and imperial powers, resistance and the pursuit of independence.