Latin American Heroes Trivia Quiz

Answer: Eva Peron

Eva Maria Duarte was born into a destitute family in Argentina in 1919. At the age of 16, she went to Buenos Aires, with aspirations of becoming an actress, and found work in radio and films. After several years in Buenos Aires, Eva met Juan Peron, an army officer and high government official.

They were married a year later. Peron was elected president of Argentina in 1946. Eva was invaluable to Peron, and took a high profile role in the country's affairs. She was tireless in her efforts to help the disadvantaged, and at the same time advance the career of her husband. Evita, as she became known to everyone, provided housing, medical care, financial aid and education for Argentina's poor, and she was enormously popular with them.

But not everyone was fond of Eva, particularly the rich and the military.

In 1951, she was found to have cancer, but wouldn't allow doctors to perform the surgery that might have saved her life. It is said that she felt it was more important to continue her work for the poor. Eva Peron died in 1952.

Answer: Argentina

Jose de San Martin was born in Argentina in 1778. After receiving a military education in Madrid, he returned to Buenos Aires to join the rebels involved in the crusade to liberate South American territory from Spain. In Chile, he united with rebel forces, and they went on to defeat the Spanish royalist armies.

They continued on to Lima, and after ousting the Spanish there, Peru was declared independent. San Martin is often called the father of Argentina and of Peru. He was an invaluable leader in the struggle for South American independence.

In Argentina, August 17th, the anniversary of his death, is a national holiday.

Answer: El Libertador (The Liberator)

General Simon Bolivar is a very well-known Latin American hero. He was instrumental in the struggle to win liberation from Spanish colonists in Venezuela, Bolivia, Panama, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. He was born in Venezuela in 1783. Upon the death of his parents, he inherited a fortune, and left Venezuela to travel in Europe. Like San Martin and O'Higgins, he became involved in the South American liberation movement.

He was victorious in many battles in the fight for independence from Spain. Bolivar is often referred to as the "George Washington of South America".

He is celebrated to this day for his many military accomplishments. He died of tuberculosis in 1830, at the age of 47.

Answer: Bernardo O'Higgins

Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was born in Chile in 1778. He studied in London, and while in Europe became acquainted with Jose de San Martin. In 1810 he returned to Chile and joined the rebels who were seeking independence from Spain. After a bitter defeat at the hands of the Spanish, he formed an alliance with San Martin. Together their forces crossed the Andes mountains, in a celebrated month-long march.

They defeated the Spanish and Chile was declared independent. O'Higgins was named Supreme Director of Chile, and instituted many reforms, but he angered church officials and rich conservatives, and finally was forced to resign.

He spent the rest of his life in exile in Peru, where he died in 1842.

Answer: Cuba

Jose Marti was born in Havana, Cuba in 1853, which at that time was still under Spanish rule. As a teenager, he was imprisoned and then exiled to Spain for his writings in opposition to colonial authorities. He finished his education in Europe, then returned to Latin America. Marti continued with his political activities in several countries.

He eventually moved to the United States, and spent the next 14 years in New York, continuing his work in opposition to Spanish colonial rule in Latin America.

He finally returned to Cuba in 1895, with a small army of men determined to win independence from Spain. Marti was killed in Cuba in the early stages of the war. He is revered as a great Latin American writer and poet, for his opposition to slavery, and for his dedication to freedom from colonial rule in Cuba.

Answer: Ernesto "Che" Guevara

Ernesto "Che" Guevara was born in Argentina in 1928. He studied medicine in Buenos Aires. As a student he became interested in politics, and eventually became radical in his political views. During a stay in Mexico, he joined with a lawyer named Fidel Castro in the crusade to oust Fulgencio Batista from power in Cuba. Guevara was one of the men aboard the "Granma", the yacht that made the famous crossing by sea from Veracruz to Cuba, landing in December 1956.

After a long struggle, the Castro forces finally overturned Batista in January 1959, and Guevara became a high official in Castro's government.

But Guevara had other plans, and in 1965 he left Cuban public life, and departed to organize revolutions elsewhere. He went to Africa, then on to Bolivia, where his revolutionary efforts were not successful. "Che" was captured by the Bolivian Army, who were assisted by the CIA.

He was executed by the Bolivians on October 9, 1967.

Answer: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Gabriel García Márquez was born in 1928 in Colombia. He went to the University of Buenos Aires and began the study of law, following his parents' wishes, although even then he knew he wanted to be a writer. He was greatly influenced by the writings of William Faulkner.

He worked as a journalist and foreign correspondent as a young man, spent time in Europe, and upon his return to Latin America began to write fiction. He spent some time in Cuba, covering the Castro revolution there, and began a friendship with Fidel Castro that has endured till his death.

His first published work, "The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor", was based on a famous actual incident. The author's most famous work is "One Hundred Years of Solitude", a complicated and fascinating tale spanning generations in the life of a family in the fictional town of Macondo, in South America.

It was written in the style that was to become his trademark, "magical realism". He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982, for his remarkable and complex work.

His autobiography, "Living To Tell the Tale" ("Vivir Para Contarla"), was published in 2003. I highly recommend his masterpiece, "One Hundred Years of Solitude".

Answer: Benito Juarez

Benito Juárez was a Zapotec Amerindian born in 1806, in Oaxaca, Mexico. As a young man, he studied law, then became involved in politics and government work. Juárez went on to became a federal representative, then was elected Governor of Oaxaca in 1847, with many achievements in education and public works to his credit.

When General Santa Anna came to power, Juárez was forced into exile in the United States for a time. Upon his return to Mexico, he assumed several important government posts, and after a long period of political turmoil, proclaimed himself president.

There was much difficulty and strife in Mexico at the time, and Juárez conducted himself with bravery and an iron will. Eventually he was legally elected to the Presidency of Mexico.

His accomplishments were many, including laws concerning the separation of church and state, improving the country's economy, reforms of the military, and educational reforms. He was reelected president for the last time in 1871, and died in office of a heart attack in 1872.

Answer: Miguel Hidalgo

Miguel Hidalgo y Castilla was born in Guanajuato, Mexico, in 1753. At that time, Mexico was a Spanish colony. Hidalgo was an intellectual man with many liberal ideas. He was a priest who didn't believe in celibacy, and who fathered two daughters. He eventually came to the parish of Dolores, Guanajuato.

There he began efforts to teach trades to his parishioners, to help them better their economic situation. He also began to plan a rebellion against the Spanish colonists. When they heard of the conspiracy, and Hidalgo and his followers were in danger of being arrested, he decided to act. On September 10, 1810, he ascended to the belfry of his church. From there he gave his famous cry ("el grito") - "Long Live the Virgin of Guadalupe and Death to the Spaniards!" This act inspired the revolt of 1810. Hidalgo and his cohorts were forced to flee, but in the end he was captured.

He was made to recant publicly, and then was executed for his acts. September 16th is the most important Mexican national holiday, and every year on that day, the President of Mexico delivers Hidalgo's "grito" from the belfry of the church in the town now known as Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato.

Answer: Buenos Aires

The "Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo" are a group of mothers and grandmothers, seeking information about their missing children. Every Thursday, they march for a half-hour, circling the Plaza. This demonstration began nearly 30 years ago, and there are still many thousands of men and women unaccounted for. Undoubtedly, they were killed by the military government in power at that time, during the period known as the Dirty War (1976-1983).

The formation of this group, and the demonstrations, were an act of incredible courage.

They began when the military was still in power, and it was very dangerous to criticize the government. One of the founders of the group, Azucena Villaflor, was taken off to a concentration camp in 1977, and was never seen again.

Her remains have been identified and have been buried at the foot of a statue in the Plaza de Mayo. There are similar groups of mothers and grandmothers in Chile, who march with the same objective.