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: Environment
Right whales off the coast of Argentina are dying in large numbers. According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, 308 have washed up dead since 2005, and it is estimated that 28% of calves are dying, an unusually high number. A BBC report blames seagulls, which have bred in large numbers due to nearby fisheries and [...]
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Chevron takes Ecuador to arbitration
A New York court has declined to block Chevron from taking the nation of Ecuador to international arbitration before UNCITRAL over an ongoing pollution lawsuit brought by Ecuadoreans (not the state itself) against Chevron in 1993. Basically, Chevron is complaining that it is not getting due process in Ecuador, even though no ruling has yet [...]
Environmental groups have been burning up the internet, trying to get James Cameron to give an Academy Awards shout-out to the people of Ecuador and their lawsuit against Chevron. They call it a real-life version of what happened in Cameron’s Avatar. [link]
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Slick
The problem with documentaries – especially issue documentaries – is that they go over the top, often mistaking haranguing for journalism (think Michael Moore). It is possible to be simultaneously an advocate and a journalist, but it is exceedingly difficult. So I was happy to find that Crude – a 2009 documentary on petroleum contamination [...]
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, [...]
For the first time in history, the spiny lobster is out of season. Found in the Caribbean from Belize to Panama, the crustacean was being over-fished. It’s now illegal to catch them during their mating season. No word yet on how anyone plans to enforce the ban. [link]
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Two school teachers are suing the Argentine military for burning garbage on a base in Antarctica less than 50 meters away from a major penguin mating and nesting grounds. [link]
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Salon has a post up about the Chilean salmon die-off. Quote: _sarcasm_”Who could have predicted that the mass forced farming of an exotic fish to please the Wal-Mart low-price palate would result in a horrific virus-borne plague of anemia?”_/sarcasm_ [link]
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Latin America lost 6.97% of its forest between 1990 and 2005, more than double the world average. The UN reports that the majority of the deforestation took place in South America, in the Amazon.
