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
The era of Uribe is over
The Constitutional Court of Colombia just struck down a referendum on whether Uribe can run for a third term in office. The vote was 7-2. Not much else to say. The era of Uribe is over. As mentioned earlier, former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos is expected to try to pick up where Uribe left [...]
Uribe out, Santos in
La Silla Vacia is reporting that Colombia’s Constitutional Court will say no to a referendum on whether Álvaro Uribe may seek a third term in office. There were rumblings of this a few weeks ago, when a judge reportedly submitted a draft opinion recommending the referendum be struck down. La Silla Vacia says it has [...]
Peru is on its way to overtaking Colombia as the world’s largest producer of cocaine. Colombia producers 48.3% of the world’s coke, and falling, while Peru produces 33.5%, and rising. All this is according to the 2009 annual report of the U.N.’s International Narcotics Control Board.
Also posted in Peru, Side notes, War on drugs Leave a comment
In Colombia, two teenage girls – 16 and 14 years old – cut a baby out of an 18-year-old, who was seven months pregnant. Supposedly, the 16-year-old girl had been pregnant but miscarried, and she thought her boyfriend would leave her if he found out. Amazingly, both the baby and the mother are alive and [...]
Also posted in Odd, Side notes Leave a comment
Neutral parties
The indigenous peoples in Colombia just want to be left alone. Instead, they’ve been systematically victimized by left-wing guerrillas, paramilitaries, and the military alike. According to a new report just out from Amnesty International, the attacks increased in 2009.
Also posted in Human Rights Tagged Colombia, farc, guerrillas, indigenous, paramilitaries Leave a comment
Chávez and Uribe started “yelling and called each other names, using obscene language” during a private dinner at the “Unity Summit” taking place in Mexico. The 31 Latin American countries in attendance are supposedly in the process of forming a regional political group that excludes the U.S. and Canada.
Colombia has become a hub for human trafficking, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Many of the illegal immigrants shipped north from Colombia are Africans. This explains why beleaguered boatloads of Somalis and Eritreans keep washing up in Costa Rica.
Also posted in Costa Rica, Human Rights, Side notes Tagged Colombia, human trafficking, immigration Leave a comment
Remembering El Salado
February 18 was the 10th anniversary of the El Salado massacre, in which 400 paramilitary members spent two days brutalizing the small village of El Salado in Bolívar, Colombia. From a Human Rights Watch report describing the massacre: On February 18, 2000, an estimated 400 uniformed and armed paramilitaries arrived in the village of El [...]
Also posted in History, Human Rights Tagged Colombia, El Salado, massacre, paramilitaries Leave a comment
They Want You
The FARC have taken to recording revolutionary merengue to attract new recruits. According to an article in El Tiempo, they spent US$150,000 on a CD produced by professional musicians. One song on the disk – “La Canción del Guerrillero” – is quite the booty-shaker. Grab your rifle and grenades.
Venezuelan connection