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]
Category Archives: Colombia
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]
Also posted in Side notes, War on drugs Leave a comment
My inner kid is jealous
I’ve seen people do some pretty dangerous things to get around in remote areas, but this probably takes the cake: Kids in Colombia going to school on a zip line 400m above a ravine. Of course, if you’re the kid this is probably the best part of your day, but still. Here’s an obnoxiously-breathless video [...]
I really like Patrick Corcoran’s latest piece for Mexidata.info on narconovelas. He makes the excellent point (among others) that once certain criminal archetypes become fixtures of mainstream pop-culture, it’s a good indication that their hay-days are over. But please, read the whole thing. [link]
Also posted in Side notes, War on drugs Leave a comment
False positives documentary
Colombian journalist Felipe Zuleta has produced an excellent two-part documentary on the “False Positives” scandal that rocked Colombia in 2008. Basically, it turned out the army was taking poor youths from Bogota’s slums and killing them to pump up their supposed FARC body counts. So, not so much false positives as murders. Current presidential front-runner [...]
Snip snip
This week was a tough call for Creepy Colombia Story of the Week. I almost went with The Farmer who Fathered Seven of his 17 Children Via his Daughter, but instead I think I’ll stick with similarly- yet opposite-themed Rich Guy who Pays Peasants To Get Sterilized. The former story almost argues for the latter’s [...]
Also posted in Human Rights, Odd Leave a comment
Colombia’s ambassador to the OAS walked out of a meeting of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights when Ecuador proposed a resolution condemning Colombia for its attack last year on a FARC encampment on Ecuadorean soil. Relations between the two countries have been cold ever since the attack, and now it appears they will remain [...]
Also posted in Politics, Side notes Leave a comment
In its report as an observer of the Colombian legislative elections, the OAS is complaining that lots of vote-buying went on. Apparently the going rate for a vote is $10 and a sandwich. The report also complains that the election material was hard to understand and the system of telephonic results reporting was chaotic. However, [...]
Also posted in Politics, Side notes Leave a comment
Dirty politicians win big
The consensus in Colombia seems to be that the parapolíticos – politicians with links to paramilitaries – won big in Sunday’s legislative elections. Specifically, the National Integration Party (PIN) won eight of the country’s 107 Senate seats, making it the fourth largest party in the Senate. The distressing thing is that the candidates with ties [...]
Not your grandma’s country club