Stories about Latin America from February, 2007
Venezuela: Una tarde con campanas / Juan Carlos Méndez Guédez
Guillermo Parra translates an excerpt from Juan Carlos Méndez Guédez's novel “Una tarde con campanas.” Explains Parra, “the book is narrated by a boy whose family migrates to Madrid after a military government comes to power in Venezuela. Una tarde con campanas was a finalist for the Premio de Novela...
Venezuela, Brazil: Chavez Versus O Globo
Daniel Duquenal posts and narrates two video clips from a Chavez press conference in Caracas in which he criticizes Brazilian media conglomerate O Globo for its opposition to Lula in Brazil's last presidential elections. In the second clip, Chavez focuses on O Globo's reporter, accusing him of not understanding Venezuela.
Uruguay: Negotiating Outside of Mercosur
About Lula's recent decision to let Uruguay negotiate outside of South America's Mercosur trade block Gaby writes “It's a bit pathetic that we have to go by asking permission to do things, when is something that doesn't happen the other way around, but that's the way it is (let's face...
Peru: Thunder in Lima
Waldo of El Mundo de los Pendrejos creates a storm in the comment section when he writes [ES] “I'm in Lima in the early morning and I've heard thunder, supposedly it's spread from Carabaillo to Huachipa.” His readers nod excitedly at a weather phenomenon that almost never visits Peru and,...
Honduras: Operation Scissors
“La Gringa” describes how Honduran President Mel Zelaya is trying to literally cut corruption with “Operation Scissors.”
Panama: More Deadly Than War
#1: Panama Guide reports on Charity Expat Social: …We ate dinner with Sister Griselda Rios who has been working with the orphanage for more than three years. They have about 160 children there at any one time. She came to the dinner with Felipe Arosemena (hijo) who has been at...
Colombia: Radio Cápsula
blogsColombia recommends the fantastic internet radio program Radio Cápsula with its focus on Colombian and Latin American electronic music. Archives of the Creative Commons-licensed show can be downloaded as podcasts.
Guatemala: Forced Evictions on Canadian Mine Land
Patrick of the Guatemala Solidarity Network links to a recent podcast from the Rabble Podcast Network featuring an interview with Dawn Paley about the controversial forced evictions which took place on land owned by Canadian mining company Skye Resources.
Chile: Bloggers That Don't Listen to Reggaeton
Chilean blogger Leo Prieto was featured in the New York Daily News in an article about so-called “cosmopolatinos” (Latinos that don't listen to Reggaeton, it seems). Referring to an earlier incident in which a Chilean newspaper used a photograph he took without permission, Prieto writes, “the funniest thing is that...
Guatemala, El Salvador: A Web of Corruption and Murder
“The recent case of the open assassination of three prominent Salvadoran politicians and their driver in Guatemala provides a dramatic snapshot. It's shone a light on the criminal justice system in Guatemala; and the state of relations between El Salvador and Guatemala.” writes Patrick Hall. Tim Muth has also been...
Ecuador: Protecting Your Blog
Ecuadorean blogger Milton Ramirez adds to the warnings for Blogspot users to protect their accounts after many Spanish-language weblogs have been hacked.
Chile: Artisan Beer
Chileno on the ecstasy of discovering Chilean micro-brew: “So I'd pretty much resigned myself to beer austerity (satisfied with Escudo) until the flames of temptation danced up from the south. While traveling there earlier this month, I stumbled upon a decent pint of micro-brew, on tap, for 2 bucks …...
Bolivia: Disaster and Climate Change
Jim Shultz on how Bolivia and Evo are weathering the storm: “You could call it Bolivia's Katrina (though with a far more active national government than the one that so terribly botched relief to New Orleans). Whole sections of the country are under water. Thousands are displaced. A huge effort...
Cuba: “Vamos a Selma”
Babalú Blog‘s Val Prieto posits an imaginary book entitled “Vamos a Selma” (“Let's go to Selma”) which offers a false and revisionist history of the American south and the civil rights movement, and asks: “How many of the same people that have lobbied for the “Vamos a Cuba” book to...
Mexico: Unsentenced Prisoners
Mark in Mexico cites a study by the Open Source Institute and the Centro de Investigación para el Desarrollo (CIDAC) which found that 42% (90,000 inmates) of those in prison in Mexico have never been sentenced.
Brazil: Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto
“Brasil has two Atomic reactors in one nuclear Power generation plant near Angra dos Reis. The reactors and the central have been controversial due to environmental concerns,” write Ricardo Carreón, who has published pictures of the Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto power plant on his blog.
Argentina: Buenos Aires Blog Roundup
The prolific Alan Patrick has put together his 11th Buenos Aires Blog Roundup. Also, bowling in Baires.
Bolivia: One Year of Evo
Bolivia Rising has translated an article [ES] by Alberto Cruz titled “One Year of Evo: economic boom, the threat of balkanisation and the role of the military.”
Honduras, USA: Cultural Differences
La Gringa's Blogicito has three great posts on cultural differences between Honduras and the United States. On the pervasiveness of guns: “Armed guards are outside banks, grocery stores, other stores, gas stations, restaurants, government offices, hospitals, inside malls, on delivery trucks, you name it. I doubt if you could walk...
Bolivia: The Changing Face of the Flag
Photo taken by Patricia Vargas Claudio and used with permission. National symbols played a role in the presidential elections of December 2005. Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, the main rival to the eventual winner, Evo Morales, accused his opponent of wanting to change the traditional red, yellow, and green flag to something...