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: Costa Rica
Falta de respeto
Two Costa Rican congressmen almost came to blows yesterday on the floor of the legislature over a “falta de respeto.” As is typical of a Costa Rican sissy-fight, everyone is pretty polite about the whole thing, at least up until the end. You will note that Oscar López, the diputado who steps, is blind. Often [...]
Location, location, location
I’ve experienced several earthquakes during my years in Costa Rica. I think the strongest was the Cinchona quake. At the time it hit, I was having lunch at a restaurant. The quake came on slowly, laterally, and went on for some time. I remember looking out the trembling window and seeing parked cars bouncing back [...]
Facepalm
In Costa Rica, some genius with a semi-truck load of fertilizer thought he’d try driving across a rickety, one-lane wooden bridge. Things did not go as planned.
Pura Coca
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton started her visit to the region today. She’ll be stopping by Uruguay for an inauguration, Chile for an earthquake, Brazil for Iran-related lobbying, and Costa Rica for… what, exactly? The tree frogs? The coffee? A gander at Oscar Arias’ Nobel Peace Prize? The lovely cosmopolitan atmosphere of bustling downtown [...]
A deal too good to make
A classic scam from Costa Rica’s early days as a place for feverish, poorly-researched gringo investment was The Teak Farm. It went like this: Give us a million dollars. We’ll give you a share in a sustainable teak farm. Soon you’ll be making 25-30% ROI. We’ll manage the whole thing, so don’t bother visiting. Don’t [...]
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 Colombia, Human Rights, Side notes Tagged Colombia, human trafficking, immigration Leave a comment
Good start
Governing Costa Rica is hard. With only one four year term, presidents have little time to advance their agendas. The unicameral legislature, meanwhile, is fractured and sluggish. Representatives are also limited to a single four-year term, and minority parties can (and do) gum up legislation they don’t like with endless procedural motions. Governing Costa Rica [...]
Also posted in Politics Tagged Costa Rica, Frente Amplio, Laura Chinchilla, PAC, PLN Leave a comment
Blowout
Everyone knows that opinion polls in Costa Rica are notoriously inaccurate. But it’s never clear exactly how inaccurate they’ll be, or in which direction. Four years ago, Oscar Arias was supposed to win a comfortable victory, but barely squeaked it out by about 18,000 votes. The opposition was putting their faith in the inaccuracy of [...]
Also posted in Politics Tagged Chinchilla, Costa Rica, election, polls, president, Unimar Leave a comment
TACA and Avianca merge
El Salvador's Grupo TACA and Colombia's Avianca have completed a "strategic" merger.
Rush Limbaugh,
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