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]
Tag Archives: Colombia
Old school
Former Colombian drug lord Evaristo Porras Ardila died last week of a heat attack, without a penny to his name. He was 62. Porras was one of Colombia’s original drug traffickers, from the generation of Pablo Escobar. He had a mansion modeled on the one from U.S. soap opera Dynasty (Escobar’s was based on the [...]
Parapolíticas on the ballot
La Silla Vacia has published a great interactive map showing where the sketchy politicians will be running for office during Colombia’s legislative elections this month. Colombia has had a tough time putting together a Congress free of links to paramilitaries, drug trafficking, and left-wing guerrilla groups. Dozens of former lawmakers are under suspicion or actually [...]
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. [...]
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.
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 [...]
The Magician
Here’s what Juan Manuel Santos doesn’t have: He’s never been elected to anything. He’s terrible at giving speeches. He didn’t join Uribe until relatively late in the game. So why is he the front-runner to succeed Uribe? What’s his secret? La Silla Vacia has published a long, interesting essay to answer that question. In a [...]
The era of Uribe is over
The Constitutional Court of Colombia just struck down a referendum on whether Uribe can run for a third term in office. The vote was 7-2. Not much else to say. The era of Uribe is over. As mentioned earlier, former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos is expected to try to pick up where Uribe left [...]
Uribe out, Santos in
La Silla Vacia is reporting that Colombia’s Constitutional Court will say no to a referendum on whether Álvaro Uribe may seek a third term in office. There were rumblings of this a few weeks ago, when a judge reportedly submitted a draft opinion recommending the referendum be struck down. La Silla Vacia says it has [...]
Neutral parties
The indigenous peoples in Colombia just want to be left alone. Instead, they’ve been systematically victimized by left-wing guerrillas, paramilitaries, and the military alike. According to a new report just out from Amnesty International, the attacks increased in 2009.
Posted in Colombia, Human Rights Also tagged farc, guerrillas, indigenous, paramilitaries Leave a comment
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