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: El Salvador
El Faro‘s long, weird interview with a man who was involved in the 1980 killing of El Salvadoran Archbishop Romero has been translated into English. “How we killed Archbishop Romero” reveals that an ex-president’s son was the trigger-man. [link]
Also posted in Human Rights, Side notes Leave a comment
Martyr’s anniversary
Wednesday is the 30th anniversary of the assassination of El Salvadoran Bishop Óscar Romero by right-wing thugs. They shot him to death while he was saying mass. Tim’s El Salvador Blog has been doing a bang-up job during the last week or so blogging on the upcoming anniversary. Of particular note is a recent post [...]
A legislative coalition in El Salvador is proposing mandatory Bible reading in school as part of a series of measures to combat rising crime among young people. [link]
Also posted in Odd, Side notes Leave a comment
Funes has vetoed a law that would have doubled the maximum penalty for minor offenders in El Salvador to 15 years, according to La Página. “President Funes decided to veto the increase in penalty for minors ‘for considerations of unconstitutionality’ and because it violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
Also posted in Human Rights, Side notes Leave a comment
El Salvador could get sued before the World Trade Organization for subsidizing exports. The country currently gives a subsidy of 6%, which is against WTO rules. Nevertheless, many smaller WTO countries – especially in Central America – have subsidized exports for years, getting repeated exemptions from the WTO on this rule.
Also posted in Side notes, Trade Leave a comment
Find something else to cry into
Down near the bottom of the list of things you want during a recession is smaller beers with lower alcohol content. Unfortunately for Salvadoreans, that’s exactly what they’re getting, as domestic beer company Industrias La Constancia (ILC) reduces the size and punch of it’s beverages. They say it’s supposed to “lower costs.” The Morenita, for [...]
Two massacres
Two massacres are unsettling a tenuous calm in El Salvador. The first took place about a week ago. A group of gunman wearing black ski masks and armed with an M-16, a 9mm handgun, and a .22 caliber handgun appeared at a swimming hole where about a dozen gang members were bathing. They opened fire, [...]
TACA and Avianca merge
El Salvador's Grupo TACA and Colombia's Avianca have completed a "strategic" merger.
Gang documentary wins award
The documentary film La Vida Loca, on El Salvador's youth gangs, has won a critics award in France for best documentary film.
Untethering