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: Arts and Culture
El Ateneo
Just because it’s late, I’m tired, I’m still at work, and every so often you need to look at something beautiful, I give you, the most incredible bookstore in the world, the Librería El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires. More on Buenos Aires from NatGeo.
The Scissors Dance
I’m not sure what I like more, the music and the dancing, or the fact that the two guys competing in this Peruvian dance-off are nick-named “Terrible” and “Satan.” Subtle intimidation tactics. Also: Must visit the Andes again. Here’s a bit of background on the danza de las tijeras from Wikipedia. Search for danzante on [...]
Bigelow turns lens south
Fresh off her Best Picture win for The Hurt Locker, director Kathryn Bigelow is talking about her next movie. It’s called Triple Frontier, a mistranslation of Triple Frontera, which is the border region shared by Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The area is famous for being a no-man’s land, where anything goes, legally speaking. It’s also [...]
The new novela
In Medellin, Colombia, a newspaper poll found that 78% of the population believes narconovelas (soap operas about drug trafficking mafias) are bad for young people, that they’re “teaching young people to seek the easy life and believe wealth can been obtained quickly and illicitly.” Strictly speaking, however, that lesson is correct, especially in Latin America. [...]
Argentina’s “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at last night’s ceremony. The film is something of a detective thriller: A worn-out cop goes back to the past to solve a decades-old murder. [trailer, link]
Also posted in Argentina, Side notes Leave a comment
Los Reyes
“The Accordion Kings” looks like an awesome documentary, but it doesn’t appear to be out on DVD yet. Check it out at the Miami Film Festival this weekend and make me jealous. And just because it’s Friday, more vallenato.
Colombian singer Shakira was honored with an award from the U.N.’s International Labor Organization for her work in “social justice.” Shakira has long advocated on behalf of disadvantaged children. [link]
Also posted in Colombia, Human Rights, Side notes Leave a comment
Nicaragua has chosen its first African-American Miss Nicaragua in 18-year-old Scharllette Allen, a Caribbean beauty from Blue Fields. [link]
Also posted in Nicaragua, Side notes Leave a comment
“Chuntaro Style”
Daniel Hernández has had a few great posts recently on his Intersections blog about the urban street dancing culture in Mexico: The style of dancing [below] reflects a style celebrated in the video for “Chuntaro Style” by El Gran Silencio [also below], where norteños in cholo-like outfits, both men and women, dance a poppy, low, [...]
Here’s hoping for more episodes