Crackdown

By Peter Krupa | Published: March 25, 2010

A few months out from legislative elections, the Chávez administration today intensified its crackdown on opposition media by arresting Guillermo Zuloaga, the owner of Venezuela’s only remaining opposition television station, Globovisión.

He was arrested by military intelligence police. Supposedly he is being investigated for criticizing the Chávez administration’s record of attacks on freedom of speech. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Ironic. The AP is also reporting that opposition politician Wilmer Azuaje was also arrested for comments he made linking Chávez’ family to corruption. The charges against Azuaje have not been specified.

In the last 12 months, the Venezuelan government has shut down 34 radio stations, removed RCTV from the airwaves a second time, threatened to hold Web portals responsible for their commenters, and arrested politician Oswaldo Álvarez Paz for statements he made about Chávez and drug traffickers.

Amazingly, freshly-re-elected OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza has immediately come out requesting the release of Zuloaga. Frankly, as if Venezuela’s recent track record of violations and oppression weren’t enough, these recent arrests are a flagrant violation of the OAS Democratic Charter.

If the OAS wants to maintain any kind of moral relevancy in the region, it’s time to either sanction Venezuela and order it to pay reparations, or kick it out of the democracy club.

Posted in Human Rights, Venezuela | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Not your grandma’s country club

By Peter Krupa | Published: March 24, 2010


A group of country folk in Colombia’s Boyacá municipality maybe didn’t quite grasp the idea behind water polo, so they’re just going ahead and playing polo, in the water. Basically, to play, the townspeople set up goal posts in a river bed and then have at, riding horses in the shallow water and using clubs to knock a floating rubber ball through the goals.

The game was invented by Fredy Naizaque – currently the mayor – as a way for people to relax, have a good time, and attract tourism. This year’s Chapaleo Festival (as it’s called) attracted hundreds of sight-seers, as well as competitors from all over the municipality anxious to show off their jockey skills.

Chapaleo is only one of the ridership events at the festival. The photo gallery has more great shots. Looks like a blast.

Posted in Colombia, Odd, Travel | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Whither the wrath of the Empire?

By Peter Krupa | Published: March 24, 2010

It’s all well and good that the U.S. and Mexico are chummy and joining forces to fight crime and whatnot. But I seem to recall that the reason Hillary & Co. made a rush visit to Mexico – the last straw, let’s say – was that three people connected to the U.S. Consulate in Juárez were gunned down in front of their children by a drug mafia.

So? What’s the deal? Any leads?

Normally I wouldn’t even ask, except that right after the shooting happened, the FBI was rather loquacious, falling all over itself to inform the press it was all a big mistake, that the Azteca gunmen (professional gunmen, let’s remember, who’ve done this lots) killed the wrong people.

Unless I’ve missed something, the only reporting I’ve read that might even tangentially be related to the killings is that the FBI has put a US$100,000 bounty out for the leader of Los Aztecas. The FBI’s initial statements notwithstanding, we still don’t know if or why a deadly drug gang is targeting U.S. government employees. If it were Al Qaeda, the media would be defecating in its pantaloons.

I know journalists have a short attention span, but it’s really odd that such a pivotal story would be left so egregiously hanging.

Posted in Mexico, War on drugs | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The collapse that shouldn’t have been

By Peter Krupa | Published: March 24, 2010

Oops?

One of the most dramatic images from the Feb. 27 Chilean earthquake is that of the Alto Río building in Concepción, split in half, lying on its side. Eight people died in that building, and the broken structure served as an emblem to the world of the earthquake’s incredible power.

Except, Alto Río was a glaring exception. Amazingly, almost nothing else straight-up collapsed from the 8.8 earthquake, and certainly nothing else that had been built in just the last few years.

People immediately sensed this was odd. So did the company that built the building – Constructora Socovil – which stealthy transferred its assets to three other corporations to avoid losing them in a civil trial. The sneakiness caused a scandal that culminated in the resignation of the regional head of the Chilean Construction Chamber.

Now with a report out from the Chamber saying that the building could have been damaged, but shouldn’t have fallen, the civil complaints have begun in earnest, with 72 apartment owners suing the company for fraud. At least five families are bringing murder charges against Socovil as well.

The collapse of Alto Río was bad. But it’s a stark reminder that absent Chile’s generally effective building codes and enforcement, the earthquake would have been much, much worse.

(Image courtesy nazgulhead.)

Posted in Chile | Tagged , | Leave a comment

And now, for something totally different…

By Peter Krupa | Published: March 23, 2010

… a surfing alpaca. Well, it’s getting late.

Posted in Odd, Peru | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Touchy, touchy

By Peter Krupa | Published: March 23, 2010

The Chávez government has arrested former Zulia Governor Oswaldo Álvarez Paz “on charges of conspiracy, spreading false information and inciting hatred.” What Álvarez Paz did was go on television and state the obvious: That drug traffickers are operating more or less openly from Venezuelan soil with either the active or passive cooperation of the Venezuelan military.

Chávez did not like this, so he went on TV before a gathering of the party faithful to denounce Álvarez Paz. A week or so later, Álvaro Paz was arrested, Venezuelan intelligence service officials appearing at his house to take him into custody, as you can see in this video.

But come on, you say. What kind of an oppressive government allows a television station to film the arrest of a political prisoner? I’ll tell you. The kind whose legislature demands criminal charges be filed against the owner of said television station for denouncing the oppression of free speech in Venezuela (oh, the irony).

Maybe he and Álvarez Paz can be political prisoner cell mates.

Posted in Human Rights, Politics, Venezuela | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Rockin’ and a rollin’

By Peter Krupa | Published: March 23, 2010

This is what a 2-minute long, 8.8-on-the-Richter-Scale earthquake looks like on the 12th floor of a hotel in Valvdivia, Chile. Sweet Jesus.

Posted in Chile | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Fat Man is back

By Peter Krupa | Published: March 23, 2010

Boo.

Corrupt, sleazy Latin American politicians are like the proverbial horror movie monster that, no matter how many times you shoot it or set it on fire or run it over with a car, always come back for one more scare. No surprise then that in Nicaragua, eminent ex-presidential scumbag Arnoldo Alemán (1997-2002) has thrown his hat in the ring for 2011.

This is the same Alemán who was convicted of corruption in 2003 for stealing something like US$100 million from a country whose entire government budget amounts to  only about US$1.4 billion annually. The Fat Man (as he’s known) got sentenced to 20 years in prison. He only served about two. The rest of the time he spent under “house arrest” on his sprawling estate, when he wasn’t actively traveling around the country campaigning.

Thanks to a “pact” he had made with Daniel Ortega in 1999, Ortega got control of the government and Alemán got a Get Out of Jail Free card. Alemán was released in 2009 after the Supreme Court overturned his conviction for corruption.

Not content with escaping prison, however, Alemán is running for office again. As this kind of breaks the power-sharing pact, the government is going after him again with new charges of corruption. He’s undeterred. Here’s a video of the old charlatan that does a lot to blur the distinction between Alemán The Presidential Candidate and Alemán The Guy Selling You a Used Refrigerator:

Who knows if Alemán will win, but faced with a choice between Alemán and Ortega, the Nicaraguans are definitely the losers. And you wonder why Denmark is pulling its aid money out of Nicaragua.

Posted in Nicaragua, Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Good point

By Peter Krupa | Published: March 23, 2010

Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego told a group of journalists that Mexico should legalize the consumption of drugs. He’s apparently suggested this before, to the Fox administration, to no avail. But aside from the broad idea that prohibition never works, he’s making a specific appeal to basic fairness:

Salinas Pliego said that the United States holds part of the responsibility for the growing strength of the drug traffickers because “the money to buy cocaine and weapons comes from that country. So if these weapons are legal in the United States, why not make drugs legal in Mexico?”

Touché. It’s a new twist to an old idea, but I like it. Eventually Latin Americans will tire of getting killed over the United States’ schizophrenic pursuit of debauchery and puritanicalism and do something like this.

Posted in Mexico, War on drugs | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

My inner kid is jealous

By Peter Krupa | Published: March 23, 2010

I’ve seen people do some pretty dangerous things to get around in remote areas, but this probably takes the cake: Kids in Colombia going to school on a zip line 400m above a ravine. Of course, if you’re the kid this is probably the best part of your day, but still.

Here’s an obnoxiously-breathless video on the “primitive” mode of transportation. Faced with this versus a two-hour hike, I’d probably do this.


(H/T BoingBoing.)

Posted in Colombia, Odd | Tagged | 3 Comments

  • 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]