Diego A.

Diego focuses on stories from North and South America, from colonial history and pirates to cartels and the modern underworld. He is especially drawn to places where crime, power, and myth collide.

The most recent posts by

Diego

A.

House of the Temple: The Masonic Tomb That Guards a Dead Confederate in Washington

The Underground

House of the Temple: The Masonic Tomb That Guards a Dead Confederate in Washington

The headquarters of American Freemasonry is built as a tomb of the ancient world, with a Confederate general entombed inside the wall.

Portrait of a male author wearing a cap and backpack, smiling with a city skyline at sunset in the background.

Diego A.

ESMA: The Naval Academy in Buenos Aires That Hid Argentina's Largest Death Camp

Tragedies & Disasters

ESMA: The Naval Academy in Buenos Aires That Hid Argentina's Largest Death Camp

A working naval academy on Buenos Aires' most elegant avenue hid Argentina's largest death camp inside one building, where Argentina's military killed 5,000 people.

Diego A.

Palenque: The Maya City That Hid a King's Tomb Inside a Pyramid for 1,300 Years

Ruins of Civilizations

Palenque: The Maya City That Hid a King's Tomb Inside a Pyramid for 1,300 Years

In 1952 an archaeologist broke into a sealed crypt beneath a Maya pyramid and found a king in a jade mask. He had waited 1,300 years.

Harardhere: The Somali Town That Listed Piracy on a Stock Exchange

A Somali town built a stock exchange where you bought shares in upcoming hijackings. The founder was lured to Brussels by a fake film deal.

Eyl: The Puntland Fishing Town That Became the Face of Somali Piracy

A fishing village with no electricity ran a billion-dollar piracy economy from its beach — anchoring the largest ship ever hijacked at sea.

The Darien Gap: The Roadless Jungle and the World's Most Dangerous Migration Corridor

A hundred kilometers of jungle between Colombia and Panama became the most-used migration corridor in the Western hemisphere. By 2025 it was nearly empty.

The Trans-Amazonian Highway: Brazil's 4,000-Kilometre Road of Death That Failed to Conquer the Amazon

Brazil's military launched history's largest road project in 1970 to conquer the Amazon. 55 years and thousands of deaths later, it never reached Peru.

North Sentinel Island: The Forbidden Outpost of Earth's Last Uncontacted People

The Indian government enforces a five-mile exclusion zone around a forested island where the modern world has agreed, after a century, to stop trying.

Diego A.

Cidade Baixa, Salvador: The Brazilian Port That Disembarked More Enslaved Africans Than Any Other in the Atlantic Trade

Tragedies & Disasters

Cidade Baixa, Salvador: The Brazilian Port That Disembarked More Enslaved Africans Than Any Other in the Atlantic Trade

1.3 million enslaved Africans came ashore at the lower city of Salvador — more than at any port in the Americas. Today the market is built on top of it.

Cracolândia: São Paulo's Open-Air Crack Market and the District the State Cannot Erase

Central São Paulo holds an open-air crack market that has outlived every government for thirty years. Each crackdown only moves it a few blocks.

Mactan: The 1521 Battle That Killed Ferdinand Magellan and Made Lapu-Lapu a National Hero

Ferdinand Magellan crossed an unknown ocean to reach the Philippines. He died in waist-deep water, killed by a chieftain who refused to kneel.

Diego A.

Potosí: The Silver Mountain That Financed the Spanish Empire and Killed Eight Million People

Tragedies & Disasters

Potosí: The Silver Mountain That Financed the Spanish Empire and Killed Eight Million People

A Bolivian mountain financed the Spanish Empire for 250 years. It also killed eight million miners. The city on its side is poorer now than it was in 1650.

Diego A.

Diego A.

The most recent posts by Diego A.

House of the Temple: The Masonic Tomb That Guards a Dead Confederate in Washington

ESMA: The Naval Academy in Buenos Aires That Hid Argentina's Largest Death Camp

Palenque: The Maya City That Hid a King's Tomb Inside a Pyramid for 1,300 Years

Harardhere: The Somali Town That Listed Piracy on a Stock Exchange

Eyl: The Puntland Fishing Town That Became the Face of Somali Piracy

The Darien Gap: The Roadless Jungle and the World's Most Dangerous Migration Corridor

The Trans-Amazonian Highway: Brazil's 4,000-Kilometre Road of Death That Failed to Conquer the Amazon

North Sentinel Island: The Forbidden Outpost of Earth's Last Uncontacted People

Cidade Baixa, Salvador: The Brazilian Port That Disembarked More Enslaved Africans Than Any Other in the Atlantic Trade

Cracolândia: São Paulo's Open-Air Crack Market and the District the State Cannot Erase

Mactan: The 1521 Battle That Killed Ferdinand Magellan and Made Lapu-Lapu a National Hero

Potosí: The Silver Mountain That Financed the Spanish Empire and Killed Eight Million People

The most recent posts by

Diego

A.