Brutal, vibrant and creative: capturing the soul of Latin America in 100 photographs

‘Molotov Man’, a famous photograph of Sandinista guerrillas at the walls of the national guard headquarters in Estelí, Nicaragua, in July 1979. Photograph: Susan Meiselas/Magnum Photos

Its tumultuous past, marked by massacres, slavery, violent domination, coups d’état, revolutions and uprisings, often overshadows another narrative of Latin America: that of a vibrant, culturally rich region where art, creativity and solidarity hold a central place in society.

Throughout its post-Columbian history – the period after Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas in 1492 – Latin America has grappled with the tension between subjugation to colonial and imperial powers, resistance and the pursuit of independence.