The history of Nobel Prize winners across Latin America

The 2020 Nobel Prize season came to a close on Monday, as the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced American economists Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson as the laureats for Economic Science.

No Latin Americans made the cut this year — though only two had outside chances: Mexican poet Homero Aridjis (33-1 odds), for the Literature Prize, and indigenous leader Raoni, for the Peace Prize. They were pipped by American poet Louise Glück and the United Nations World Food Program, respectively.

To date, just 17 Latin Americans have won a Nobel Prize. Today, we look back on their achievements:

Peace

• Carlos Saavedra Lamas (Argentina, 1936). The former Foreign Minister was Latin America’s first laureate, being recognized for his work mediating peace negotiations between Paraguay and Bolivia after the so-called “Chaco War,” which killed at least 90,000 people between 1932 and 1935. Mr. Saavedra Lamas was also pivotal in Argentina’s admission to the League of Nations in 1932, the first worldwide intergovernmental body whose principal mission was to maintain world peace.
• Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (Argentina, 1980). Born in Buenos Aires in 1931, Mr. Esquivel was one of the leading human rights defenders in Latin America during the 1970s — a time in which nearly all of the region’s countries succumbed to far-right military dictatorships. He headed human rights organization SERPAJ and built pro-democracy networks across the region. In 1977, Mr. Esquivel was arrested and tortured by the Argentinian military regime — only to be released 14 months later.
• Alfonso García Robles (Mexico, 1982). Born in the city of Zamora in 1911, the lawyer and diplomat played a crucial role in making Latin America a nuclear-free zone, following the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Mr. García Robles’ efforts led to a 1967 treaty signed by 14 countries in Mexico City — an effort that earned him the nickname “Mr. Disarmament.”
• Óscar Arias Sánchez (Costa Rica, 1987). During his stint as president of Costa Rica, Mr. Sánchez championed a peace plan to end the devastating civil wars being...