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: Human Rights
PERU — Indigenous peoples from the Amazon region are protesting again for the first time since clashes with the government last June and left dozens dead. Four thousand “elite” police were deployed to the region where the protesters will be holding a sit-in.
Also posted in Peru, Side notes | Tagged demonstrations, indigenous, Peru | Leave a comment
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, Costa Rica, Side notes Tagged Colombia, human trafficking, immigration Leave a comment
Remembering El Salado
February 18 was the 10th anniversary of the El Salado massacre, in which 400 paramilitary members spent two days brutalizing the small village of El Salado in Bolívar, Colombia. From a Human Rights Watch report describing the massacre: On February 18, 2000, an estimated 400 uniformed and armed paramilitaries arrived in the village of El [...]
Also posted in Colombia, History Tagged Colombia, El Salado, massacre, paramilitaries Leave a comment
RCTV International says it will obey Venezuela's media laws about official government broadcasts if it is allowed back on cable. Company president Marciel Granier said the channel will maintain an editorial stance that critical of the Venezuelan government.
Also posted in Side notes, Venezuela Leave a comment
Insulza is not the issue
With its typically retrograde, myopic, Inside-the-Beltway perspective on Latin America, The Washington Post lobbed a grenade a couple weeks ago when it strenuously objected to a second six-year term for José Miguel Insulza as secretary general of the Organization of American States, implying that the U.S. should “press for change,” whatever that means. Others much [...]
Military abuse
Amnesty International is reiterating its call for the Mexican government to start doing something about the horrible crimes its military is committing in the pursuit of its war on drugs at the border. Specifically, the organization cites a case in Chihuahua in which three Mexicans were picked up by 10 soldiers and never heard from [...]
Also posted in Mexico, War on drugs Tagged abuse, Amnesty International, forced disappearance, Human Rights, Mexico, War on drugs Leave a comment
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, [...]
Here to fix the leak
Cuba would not top anyone's list of go-to countries in matters of successful and efficient industrialization. So why is Venezuela enlisting the help of Cuba's technology minister, Ramiro Valdés, as an energy consultant?
CIA cover-up in Peru
Video has just been released showing the Peruvian Air Force - with the help of the CIA - shooting down a small plane flown by a family of missionaries.
Face of Violence
A comprehensive and chilling report released yesterday by Human Rights Watch extensively details the resurgence of right-wing paramilitary groups in Colombia and the government's failure to confront them.
