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
Peru is the deadliest country in the world to be a pedestrian, according to a report from the World Health Organization. Of the country’s 3,510 traffic fatalities in 2007, 78% were pedestrians. An article in El Comercio blames lack of infrastructure development. [link]
Posted in Peru, Side notes 1 Comment
Crackdown
A few months out from legislative elections, the Chávez administration today intensified its crackdown on opposition media by arresting Guillermo Zuloaga, the owner of Venezuela’s only remaining opposition television station, Globovisión. He was arrested by military intelligence police. Supposedly he is being investigated for criticizing the Chávez administration’s record of attacks on freedom of speech. [...]
Posted in Human Rights, Venezuela Tagged Chávez, freedom of expression, Insulza, OAS, Venezuela Leave a comment
Not your grandma’s country club
A group of country folk in Colombia’s Boyacá municipality maybe didn’t quite grasp the idea behind water polo, so they’re just going ahead and playing polo, in the water. Basically, to play, the townspeople set up goal posts in a river bed and then have at, riding horses in the shallow water and using clubs [...]
Whither the wrath of the Empire?
It’s all well and good that the U.S. and Mexico are chummy and joining forces to fight crime and whatnot. But I seem to recall that the reason Hillary & Co. made a rush visit to Mexico – the last straw, let’s say – was that three people connected to the U.S. Consulate in Juárez [...]
The collapse that shouldn’t have been
One of the most dramatic images from the Feb. 27 Chilean earthquake is that of the Alto Río building in Concepción, split in half, lying on its side. Eight people died in that building, and the broken structure served as an emblem to the world of the earthquake’s incredible power. Except, Alto Río was a [...]
Chilean José Miguel Insulza was elected today to a second 5-year term today as Secretary General of the Organization of American States. [link]
Posted in Politics, Side notes Leave a comment
A car bomb detonated this morning in Buenaventura, on Colombia’s Pacific coast, killed six and injured 42. The 40-kilo charge was placed in a Mazada and detonated a few meters from the public prosecutor’s office and the municipal hall. The government is blaming the FARC. [link]
Posted in Colombia, Side notes, War on drugs Leave a comment
And now, for something totally different…
… a surfing alpaca. Well, it’s getting late.
Today from The Mex Files, a brief look at a despicable figure from Mexican history, Victoriano Huerta: “He hunted down Zapatistas (and anyone who looked like they might be a Zapatista — meaning, basically — everybody), stringing them up and engaging in a scorched earth policy across Morelos State.” [link]
Posted in History, Mexico, Side notes Leave a comment
Santos in the lead