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: Odd
An especially creepy rapist was captured in Cali, Colombia, yesterday. He called himself “El Zorro,” and after raping his victims, he took them to a tattoo parlor where they were tattooed with the phrase, “Property of El Zorro.” The police say he’s connected with at least six assaults. [link]
Also posted in Colombia, 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, [...]
Fine architecture
Colombian actor Cecil Avendaño has the heart of a social activist and the brain of a Madison Avenue ad man. So what does he use to draw international attention to a national monument that’s crumbling into disrepair? Boobies, of course! Avendaño and a trio of buxom, topless women are doing some sort of writhing, performance-arty [...]
On holiday
I guess drug kingpins need vacations too. Honduran Security Minister Óscar Álvarez is saying that Sinaloa Cartel head Joaquín “El Chapo” (Shorty) Guzmán is hanging out in Honduras, getting a little R&R. He’s rumored to be staying in an area known as “El Paraíso” (paradise). Among evidence cited is the possibility that Mexican narcocorrido group [...]
Too sexy for Brazil
This ad is causing outrage. In Brazil. Yeah, I don’t get it either. (h/t The Latin Americanist.)
Asking for it
TIME Magazine has a theory that’s so awesome, they wouldn’t want to invalidate it by thinking. The reason the Haiti earthquake was so terrible and the Chilean earthquake so less terrible, they say, is because of corruption: In recent decades, Chile has mandated earthquake-proofing for new structures, requiring that materials like rubber and features like [...]
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 El Salvador, Side notes Leave a comment
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 Side notes, Venezuela Leave a comment
In Colombia, two teenage girls – 16 and 14 years old – cut a baby out of an 18-year-old, who was seven months pregnant. Supposedly, the 16-year-old girl had been pregnant but miscarried, and she thought her boyfriend would leave her if he found out. Amazingly, both the baby and the mother are alive and [...]
Also posted in Colombia, Side notes Leave a comment
They Want You
The FARC have taken to recording revolutionary merengue to attract new recruits. According to an article in El Tiempo, they spent US$150,000 on a CD produced by professional musicians. One song on the disk – “La Canción del Guerrillero” – is quite the booty-shaker. Grab your rifle and grenades.
