Publications
Book Chapters
Acuña, R. 'Petrocaribe: A project for Development in the Caribbean and Central America?' in Luis Fernando Angosto-Ferrández (ed.), Democracy, Revolution and Geopolitics in Latin America: Venezuela and the International Politics of Discontent (London: Routledge, 2014), pp. 67-86.
Academic Publications
Acuña, R. & Yin-Hang To, E. ‘China and Venezuela: South-South Cooperation or Rearticulated Dependency?’, Latin American Perspectives, March 2019, Vol.46 (2), pp. 126-140.
Acuña, R., 'From Allende to the Pink Tide: Issues Past and Present with the Left in Power', Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research (JILAR), vol. 21, no. 3 (November 2015), pp. 405-414.
Acuña, R. and Valverde, E. 'Can the Bolivarian Experiment Implement Transitional Justice in Venezuela?', Macquarie Law Journal, vol. 13 (2014), pp. 129-146.
Acuña, R. 'Competing Visions Past and Present for Latin America and the Caribbean', Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research (JILAR), vol. 19, no. 2 (December 2013), pp. 304-313.
Acuña, R. and Valverde, E. 'Venezuela: transitional justice and Chávez' in Lavinia Stan and Nadya Nedelsky (eds.), Encyclopedia on Transitional Justice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), (vol. 2), p.503-509.
Acuña, R. 'America's Backyard: The United States and Latin America from the Monroe Doctrine to the War on Terror', Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research (JILAR), vol. 16, no1 (July 2010), pp. 78-79. (Book review).
Creative Publications
Acuña, R. ‘The General’s Dreams’, Unsweetened 2007 Literary Journal.
Media Publications
Acuña, R. ‘Australia’s Intelligence Organizations Helped Overthrow the Allende Government in 1973’, North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA), 6 October 2021.
Acuña, R. ‘In Colombia, Hundreds of Ex-Rebels Have Been Murdered Despite Peace Agreement’, Truthout, 2 May 2021.
Acuña, R. ‘Inventing Reality: Venezuela’s Parliamentary Election’, Alborada: Latin America Uncovered’, 31 January 2021.
Acuña, R. ‘Pinochet-era Intelligence Agent Faces Extradition from Australia’, North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA), 10 July 2020.
Acuña, R. ‘Trump’s Ex-Security Company and Their Botched Plot to Overthrow the President of Venezuela’, American Herald Tribune, 12 May 2020.
Acuña, R. ‘Chileans Face State Repression as They Continue Revolt Against Neoliberalism’, Truthout, 13 November 2019.
Acuña, R. ‘Ecuador: Rebellion against Lenin’, American Herald Tribune, 19 October 2019.
Acuña, R. ‘Colombia: the FARC returns to war?’, Latin America Bureau, 20 September 2019.
Acuña, R. ‘Chile: Killing of Mapuche activist provokes large protests’, Latin America Bureau, 27 November 2018.
Acuña, R. ‘Venezuela: Regime Change in Real Time’, American Herald Tribune, 20 July 2017.
Acuña, R. 'Castro, la revolución cubana y sus lecciones para América Latina', Enero 2017, Alborada: Latin America Uncovered.
Acuña, R. 'Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolution and its lessons for Latin America', Progress in Political Economy (PPE), Blog of the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney, 20 December 2016.
Acuña, R. 'Strength in Unity', Alborada: Latin America Uncovered, iss. 1, Spring/Summer 2015, p. 40.
Acuña, R. ‘VII Summit Of The Americas: The New York Times Versus Reality’, New Matilda, 23 April 2015.
Acuña R. and Angosto Ferrández, L. F. 'Don't write off Maduro: why Venezuela is not another Ukraine', The Conversation, 24 March 2014.
Acuña, R. 'Venezuela: same old, same old...', Latin America Bureau, 25 February 2014.
Acuña, R. 'Contrasting Perspectives on Latin America', Canadian Dimensions, vol. 47, no. 5, September-October 2013, pp. 44-45.
Acuña, R. 'Chavez's death: a Latin American perspective', ON LINE Opinion - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate, 8 March 2013.
Acuña, R. 'The dubious removal of Paraguay's former bishop president', Eureka Street, July 2012, vol. 22, no. 13, pp. 57-60.
Acuña, R. 'Cuba, the two blockades and more...', ON LINE Opinion - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate, 5 January 2012.
Acuña, R. 'The Captain Of A Sinking Ship?', New Matilda, 10 October 2011.
Acuña, R. 'American influence?', The Drum Opinion , Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 15 July 2009.
Acuña, R. 'Petroleum and progress', The Drum Opinion, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 19 May 2009.
Acuña, R. ‘El Salvador: rise of the left’, Eureka Street, 24 March 2009.
Acuña, R. ‘Hugo Chávez until 2019!’, The Drum Opinion, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 24 February 2009.
Acuña, R. 'Fidel Castro: His last days in Havana?', The Drum Opinion, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 3 February 2009.
Acuña, R. 'My Fellow Americans', New Matilda, 3 December 2008.
Acuña, R. ‘Bolivian crisis unites South America against US’, The Drum Opinion, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 30 September 2008.
Acuña, R. ‘Settling accounts: Latin American rage reaches the US’, The Drum Opinion, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 20 August 2008.
Acuña, R. ‘Colombia’s Uribe soaks up the glory of Betancourt’s release’, ON LINE Opinion - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate, 5 August 2008.
Acuña, R. 'Paraguay: how Lugo Méndez went from Bishop to President', The Diplomat, May 2008.
Acuña, R. 'Trouble south of the border’, New Matilda, 13 March 2008.
Acuña, R. 'Colombia: mixed messages', The Diplomat, January 2008.
Acuña, R. ‘Venezuela: no to socialism for the 21st century’, New Matilda, 6 December 2007.
Acuña, R. ‘Hurricane Hugo and Typhoon Mahmoud’, New Matilda, 19 November 2007.
Acuña, R. ‘Whose Che?’, New Matilda, 10 October 2007.
Acuña, R. ‘Cuban detainees hope for fair trial’, Eureka Street, 4 October 2007.
Acuña, R. ‘Latin America: Pilger goes Latino’, New Matilda, 27 September 2007.
Acuña, R. ‘The battle of Chile continues’, New Matilda, 12 September 2007.
Acuña, R. ‘Tariq Ali's Latin American “axis of hope”’, Eureka Street, 11 July 2007.
Acuña, R. ‘Chile of Venezuela - Which is the Good Democracy?’, Red Pepper, 20 June 2007.
Acuña, R. ‘Venezuela: eat the press’, New Matilda, 13 June 2007.
Acuña, R. ‘Cuba: after Fidel, who?’, New Matilda, 2 May 2007.
Acuña, R. ‘Chávez embraces Christian socialism’, Eureka Street, 17 April 2007.
Acuña, R. ‘Latin America: Dubya rides south’, New Matilda, 14 March 2007.
Acuña, R. ‘Latin America: the pink tide’, New Matilda, 31 January 2007.
Acuña, R. ‘Tariq the pirate: a review of 'Pirates of the Caribbean’, ON LINE Opinion - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate, 14 December 2006.
Acuña, R. ‘The return of the Sandinistas: a complicated affair’, ON LINE Opinion - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate, 24 November 2006.
Acuña, R. ‘The Mystery of the Missing Ballots’, New Matilda, 13 September 2006.
Acuña, R. ‘Howard’s Ten Years in Power’, ZNet, 23 March 2006.
Media Interviews
Acuña, R., quoted in Lozano, E., ‘Chilean refugees demand Australia apologise following revelation of secret spy operation’, SBS Spanish Radio, 20 September 2021.
Acuña, R., ‘A perspective on Latin America’, Radio Blue Mountains 89.1FM, 20 August 2021.
Acuña, R., ‘Peru’s new leftist president Pedro Castillo’, 2SER 107.3FM, 26 July 2021.
Acuña, R. in quoted in Fuentes, F., ‘Campaigners for Pinochet’s victims win two legal battles in Australian courts’, Green Left Weekly, 5 July 2021.
Acuña, R., ‘Australian intelligence played a role in 1973 coup in Chile’, TeleSUR English, 5 June 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_PxRsUptP8&t=53s
Acuña, R., ‘Que contecta la represión en Colombia con la violencia estatal en Chile?’, El Cuidadano TV, 12 May 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDRlRLG1hlw&t=229s
Acuña, R., ‘Indestructible: Latin America’, 2SER 107.3FM, 19 April 2021. https://2ser.com/indestructible-latin-america/
Acuña, R., quoted in Gail, K., ‘World closing in on Bondi’s accused Pinochet-era torturer Adrian Rivas, The Australian, 23 November 2020.
Acuña, R., ‘Use of Pellet Guns’, Indus News, 14 November 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCeSzkL0F7g&t=31s
Acuña, R., ‘Protests against the Piñera government spread in Chile’, ALBORADA: Latin America Uncovered, 20 October 2019.
Acuña, R., ‘Elecciones federales en Australia’, GPS Internacional, Sputnik, 22 May 2019.
Acuña, R., 'Crisis in Venezuela', ABC South East, 18 May 2017.
Acuña, R., 'Así ven la Revolución Bolivariana en Sidney, Australia', Vicepresidencia de Venezuela, 8 March 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2jEeLl9ZI0
Acuña, R., 'La importancia estratégica del pensamiento de Hugo Chávez', Venezolana de Televisión, 7 March 2017.
Acuña, R., ‘Venezuela votes for Constituent Assembly’, Al Jazeera, 31 July 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0v28I6xdpg&t=48s
Acuña, R. 'Y en eso se fue Fidel ¿y qué dejó su estela? ', SBS Radio Spanish, 27 November 2016. http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/spanish/es/content/y-en-eso-se-fue-fidel-y-que-dejo-su-estela?language=es
Acuña, R., 'Human Rights in Latin America Film Event 2016', 2RRR 88.5FM, 21 September 2016.
Acuña, R., 'El estado de excepción en Venezuela', SBS Radio Spanish, 18 May 2016.
http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage
Acuña, R., 'La vanidad de 'El Chapo' fue su talón de Aquiles', SBS Radio Spanish, 11 January 2016. www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/spanish/
Acuña, R. 'Los desafíos que representa la “amistad” entre Cuba y Estados Unidos', SBS Radio Spanish, 13 April 2015.
Acuña, R. 'Gobierno australiano implementa medidas para evitar ataques terroristas', SBS Radio Spanish, 26 August 2014.
Acuña, R., 'Promoción del Festival de Derechos Humanos, PukaÑawi', El Mañanero, Canal 2 Red Uno Sucre, Bolivia, 10 July 2014.
Acuña, R. 'US stake in the Venezuelan protests unfolds..' The Wire, 26 February 2014.
Acuña, R. Interview on the Drive program 702 ABC Sydney (Digital Radio), Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 6 March 2013.
Acuña, R.Interview with Rear Vision program 'Hugo Chavez, the unlikely president', Radio National, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 7 October 2012.
Acuña, R.'Colombian Government and the FARC rebels begin to talk peace', The Wire, 18 October 2012.
Acuña, R. 'Presidential campaign started in Venezuela', SBS Radio Spanish, 11 July 2012.
Acuña, R. 'Covering the Honduran coup', Listening Post program, Al Jazeera (London), 31 July 2009.
Acuña, R. 'Media coverage of the rescue of Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt', Listening Post program, Al Jazeera (London), 5 September 2008.
Conference Papers
2019
Acuña, R. ‘U.S. Aggression against Venezuela: The Latin American Dimension’. Maritime Union of Australia, Sydney, 25 June 2019.
Acuña, R. ‘Venezuela: ¿La próxima Siria o Vietnam en América Latina?’. Casa de la Memoria de los Derechos Humanos de Valdivia, Valdivia, Chile. 7 February 2019.
2017
Acuña, R. ‘Manufacturing Consent: A Case Study of the Venezuelan Crisis’. Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies (ANCLAS) and the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Australia, Canberra, 11 August 2017.
Acuña, R. "Venezuela, la Guerra Mediática y una Visión desde Australia". Embajada de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Canberra, 16 June 2017.
Acuña, R. 'Venezuelan Foreign Policy under the Bolivarian Revolution: Its global impact & implications', paper delivered at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Caracas 8 March 2017.
2016
To, E. and Acuña, R. 'The Magical State and the Red Dragon: Sino-Venezuelan Oil Cooperation or Rearticulated Dependency?', ILAS@40 - Past, Present & Future: Celebrating Latin American Studies at La Trobe University, Melbourne, 3 November 2016.
Acuña, R. 'My story & research: From 'Mi Tierra' to Australia-Pacific', paper delivered at the Research Bites: Ibero-American Researchers in Australia, Cervantes Institute, Sydney, 8 September 2016.
Acuña, R. 'Venezuelan Foreign Policy & Latin American Unification: Pushing Back the Pink Tide', paper delivered at the Department of Political Economy, Sydney University, 7 April 2016.
Acuña, R., 'The History of Paramilitary Violence in Colombia', paper delivered at the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (NSW Branch, Lidcombe), Sydney 9 April 2016.
2014
Acuña, R. 'UNASUR: Achievements, Setbacks and the Potential for South American Integration', paper delivered at AILASA 2014 Conference, University of Sydney, 4 July 2014.
Acuña, R. 'Venezuela after Chávez', paper delivered at LATITUDES / Latin American Research Group Australia, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 6 June 2014.
2013
Acuña, R. 'Chilean Foreign Policy from Allende to Piñera: Sovereignty, servility and geostrategic complementarity with U.S. power', paper delivered at 40 years is Nothing: History and memory of the 1973 coups d'état in Uruguay and Chile seminar, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 4 October 2013.
2012
Acuña, R. 'Petrocaribe: Fostering development in the Caribbean and Central America, or plain old oil diplomacy?', paper delivered at Democracy, revolution and geo-politics in Latin America conference, University of Sydney, 12 October 2012.
2010
Acuña, R. and Valverde, E. 'Transitional Justice in Venezuela', paper delivered at AILASA 2010 Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, 4 July 2010.
2008
Acuña, R. 'Venezuela: The new engine for Latin American unity?', paper delivered at the Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies and LAIRS, University of Sydney, 8 October 2008.
Acuña, R. 'Salvador Allende and His Legacy', paper delivered at New South Wales Parliament Theatre, 24 June 2008.
Awards and Scholarships
2009
Australian Post Graduate Award (APA) Scholarship from the Australian Federal Government to complete a doctoral thesis
Learning and Teaching Award for Teaching Excellence Faculty of Arts, Macquarie University
2005
Benchmark Prize in Hispanic Studies
University of New South Wales (Awarded for the highest mark obtained by a student completing a major in history within the Department of Spanish & Latin American Studies)