Andre Blackburn

I hail from the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, where I received all of my schooling. I hold a BA in Spanish and History (First Class Honours) and a Postgraduate Diploma in International Relations, both of which were awarded from the University of the West Indies. I worked as an English-language assistant in Bogotá and Bucaramanga, Colombia for 2 years.  There, my passion for Latin American culture, history and people deepened. For the last 4 years, I worked at the Embassy of the Argentine Republic in Trinidad & Tobago as the executive assistant to the Ambassador. For my extended essay, I wrote about the disparity of LGBT legal rights between Latin America and the English- Speaking Caribbean, which I discovered may be attributed to the framing processes used by LGBT social movements as well as political opportunity structure in each region. I hope to continue to expand my knowledge on Latin America and gain some on-the-ground experience working with NGOs that deal with minority rights in Latin America and the Caribbean.