00:00Latin America held a special place in Pope Francis' agenda with seven trips that included
00:1610 countries in the region. His first international trip was to Brazil shortly after his election
00:21and his last Latin American visit was to Panama in January 2019.
00:25Francis, the first pope in history born in Latin America, had in this region some of the priorities
00:34of his pontificate, but he also found enormous challenges and limitations. During his visit to
00:40Cuba, Francis met with Commander Fidel Castro, although it was a private meeting, it was an
00:45important moment because of his strong condemnation of the U.S. blockade against the island. The
00:50Supreme Pontiff also played a key role in the diplomatic rapprochement between Havana and
00:55Washington. During his visit to Brazil, the pope criticized the inaction of the clergy,
01:00called for the recovery of the faithful and asked Catholics to go to the favelas of the cities,
01:05one of which he visited on that occasion. With gestures such as his support for peace in the
01:10region, Pope Francis gave the Vatican a leading role in peace negotiations such as the case of
01:15Colombia to seek an end to the armed conflict that plagues the country. Francis toured the
01:20Bolivian cities of El Alto, La Paz and Santa Cruz. In this country, the pope spoke of the sea and
01:26asked forgiveness for the oppression against indigenous peoples. In the midst of a serious
01:31political and economic crisis resulting from the U.S. blockade against Venezuela, the pope took steps to
01:37establish a dialogue between the government of Nicolas Maduro and the opposition. Bergoglio took over
01:43the leadership of a church with great challenges and crises, two of which directly involved Latin America,
01:48the fall in the number of faithful and sexual abuse scandals within the church.
