DAILY LINKS
The Nation has a long, wonky, wonderful article on Mexican maize cultivation, the effects of NAFTA, and the dangers of genetically-modified seeds. Author Peter Canby backs up his excellent writing with piles and piles of meticulous research. Not to be missed. [link, via SM] (Image from Joel Penner.)
Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas ended his hunger strike yesterday after 134 days. Farinas decided to end his strike after the Cuban government said it would release political prisoners rounded up in the "Black Spring" crackdown of 2003. Get well soon. [link]
The Uruguayan selection, which has made it to the quarter finals of the World Cup, just received a shipment of half a ton of fine cuts of beef for the mother of all asados in preparation for a contest against Ghana on Friday: "450 kilos of lomo, 200 of entrecot, 75 of vacío, 75 of colita de cuadril, 150 of ojo de bife and 50 kg of picaña." [link]
Hitmen have assassinated the PRI candidate for governor of Tamaulipas State, Rodolfo Torre Cantú. Torre was gunned down along with six others at about 10:30 this morning on a highway on the way to a campaign event. Drug mafias are assumed to be responsible. [link]
From the days when coups were something of a regional sport, new documents detail a famous British ballerina's role in a plot to topple the government of Panama. The plan was to use her yacht to gather men and arms, then "land somewhere and collect in the hills." It didn't work. [link]
Mexico's Attorney General's Office has posted on its web site irrefutable evidence that gold-plated AR-15s and diamond-studded pistol grips are not nearly as cool-looking as they sound. The deadly knick-knack collection is said to belong to Valencia Cartel leader El Lobo. [link]
Two Brazilian ranchers were sentenced to 30 years in prison apiece for ordering the killing of an environmentalist nun: "Prosecutors said the pair offered to pay a gunman $25,000 to kill the 73-year-old [Dorothy] Stang because she had prevented them from stealing a piece of land that the government had granted to a group of poor farmers." [link]
This video of a kidnapping and car chase in Mexico is notable mainly for the bad-assitude of the TV journalists who were on this like white on rice. Well done, gentlemen.
The Economist takes a peak at the Mockus phenomenon in Colombia: "His moustacheless beard gives him the air of a Baltic pastor... He is financing his campaign with a bank overdraft. His supporters rely on Facebook and make their own posters; street vendors sell unofficial campaign T-shirts." [link]
Some cruise lines will cease traveling to Antarctica after this cruise season, as a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil goes into effect next year. The ban came after a 2007 incident when a Gap Adventures ship got punctured by ice and sank, causing a mess. [link]
Author Archives: Peter Krupa
A judge in Buenos Aires ordered police to suspend the use of electric stun-guns until it rules on the merits of a complaint filed by the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office. Controversy erupted when the stun-guns were purchased back in January. [link]
Posted in Argentina, Human Rights, Side notes Leave a comment
Law enforcement officials in Venezuela have arrested Luis Correa, the deputy chief of the country’s domestic spy agency. The whole thing is being handled with extreme secrecy, but apparently he’s accused of spying on government officials, or more specifically, “intercepting messages and e-mails from top government officials, betraying the fatherland, illegal weapons possession and sale [...]
Posted in Politics, Side notes, Venezuela Leave a comment
Portillo back in the clink
After 10 days in a military hospital, Guatemalan ex-President Alfonso Portillo is being transferred back to prison. A court finally ruled that according to a medical examination, his health problems were not serious enough to merit hospitalization. During his stay in the military hospital, it was never clear why exactly he had been transferred there. [...]
Chile earthquake news roundup: Day 3
Everyone’s favorite photo: Emol.com has the story behind the above AP photo, which has become emblematic of both the devastation and the hope found in the wake of Saturday’s monster earthquake. The man in the picture, Bruno Sandoval, is an artist living in the coastal town of Pelluhue. He was out of town the moment [...]
After a two-hour closed-door meeting with Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed to act as mediator in the conflict between Argentina and the U.K. over oil exploration near the Falkland Islands. [link]
Posted in Argentina, Politics, Side notes Leave a comment
The Magician
Here’s what Juan Manuel Santos doesn’t have: He’s never been elected to anything. He’s terrible at giving speeches. He didn’t join Uribe until relatively late in the game. So why is he the front-runner to succeed Uribe? What’s his secret? La Silla Vacia has published a long, interesting essay to answer that question. In a [...]
Hardball
If at first you don’t succeed, ram it through. When Argentine President Cristina Kirchner issued a decree earlier this year to pay US$6.6 billion in debt with Central Bank reserves, it caused an uproar. Congress objected, the Central Bank president rebelled, and the courts froze the funds. Even after Kirchner sacked the Central Bank head, [...]
Indigenous anger
Now in power for a little more than three years, President Rafael Correa’s administration is getting a little long in the tooth by Ecuadorean standards. In the last 18 years, only one Ecuadorean president has made it all the way through his four year term, and none of the other presidents out of the eight [...]
Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim has denied a rumor that he intends to buy out the New York Times Co. and take it private. Slim owns 7% of the company, as well as warrants on 15.9 million shares. [link]
Posted in Economy, Mexico, Side notes Leave a comment
On holiday