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: Venezuela
Half-spring forward
The last time I was in Venezuela, I never quite figured out what time it was. My laptop clock was always off by a half hour, in one direction or the other. When I got home, I remembered that Chávez had ordered the clocks moved back by half an hour to give kids more time [...]
Honduran ex-President Mel Zelaya has found himself a job with Venezuela’s PetroCaribe project as “Political Council.” PetroCaribe gives Venezuelan oil to member states at preferential rates, one would assume in exchange for political favors. [link]
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Criminal
Violent toys and video games are now illegal in Venezuela. The law – called the Law for the Prohibition of Violent Video Games and Toys (Ley para la Prohibición de Videojuegos Bélicos y Juguetes Bélicos) – was passed in November and went into effect on Wednesday. So what does it say, exactly? The law prohibits [...]
A human rights group is reporting that 91% of the murders in Venezuela go unsolved. In fact, the Venezuelan Violence Observatory used government statistics to conclude that only in 9% of murder cases is anyone even arrested, much less tried and convicted. Venezuela has the second highest murder rate in the world. [link]
Also posted in Human Rights, Side notes Leave a comment
Lightning not crashing
One of the coolest natural phenomena on the continent is the Catatumbo Lightning, a peculiar electrical storm that occurs at the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it empties into Lake Maracaibo, in Venezuela. The 10-hour storms normally happen 140 or so nights out of the year, and are characterized by almost constant electrical discharges, [...]
Less money, mo’ problems
Chávez’ innovative experiments in centrally-planned capito-socialist economy are looking pretty shaky these days. For one thing, the Venezuelan economy shrank 3.3% last year, which isn’t surprising except for the fact that the slump worsened in the 4th quarter – to 5.8% – just as the rest of Latin America is beginning to recover. The oil [...]
Law enforcement officials in Venezuela have arrested Luis Correa, the deputy chief of the country’s domestic spy agency. The whole thing is being handled with extreme secrecy, but apparently he’s accused of spying on government officials, or more specifically, “intercepting messages and e-mails from top government officials, betraying the fatherland, illegal weapons possession and sale [...]
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Venezuelan connection
Those laptops discovered after Colombia bombed a FARC encampment in 2008 continue to tell tales. The latest is evidence “that demonstrates Venezuelan governmental co-operation in the illicit collaboration between Farc and Eta,” according to Spanish judge Eloy Velasco, who just filed charges against several ETA and FARC members. Specifically, the two groups collaborated in an [...]
Chávez was interrupted by a power outage during one of his long, habitual rants on state-sponsored television. Reuters has the story, and a video can been seen here. Power outages have plagued the country in recent months.
Also posted in Odd, Side notes Leave a comment
The chilling effect