Stories about Latin America from February, 2006
Venezuela: President Chavez Until 2031?
Analyzing Hugo Chavez's recent proposal of amending the constitution to allow for his indefinite re-election, Oil Wars calls it a tactic to force the opposition to participate in the upcoming elections which they have threatened to boycott. Miguel Octavio, however, argues that the amendment “would essentially fulfill Chavez’ autocratic ambition...
Panama: David's Newest Supermarket
Don Ray got exclusive permission to photograph the newest mega-supermarket in Panama's northern city of David.
Brazil: “The Calm Before Carnaval”
Sangroncito describes the preparation that has gone into Salvador's Carnaval and says that today feels like the “Calm Before Carnaval.” Mama Lisa posts an English translation of a Brazilian folk song about the Carnival called “Mama Paquita.” Made in Brazil has a picture of U2 fans camping out for tonight's...
Caribbean: Food stories
Iriepeople.com publishes a recipe for Escovitch Fish, while Can Cook Must, Cook hunts for a good roti in London and reviews a new Caribbean cookbook.
Guatemala's Gay Porn Uproar
Commenting on the political uproar which has followed the shooting of a series of homosexual pornographic films in Antigua, Guatemala, El Blog Diablogico writes from the colonial city: It's not exactly clear what most disturbs the Guatemalans about this piece of news. It's as if an apparent act of disrespect...
DR: Mixtape
Dominican hip-hop group R-1 invites (ES) all visitors to their blog to download their latest mixtape, ““Pa Que Vayen Cogiendo”.
Cuba: Macheteros
Que Bola? posts a lovely black-and-white photo of two macheteros, or Cuban sugar cane workers, remarking that “it is mindboggling to see the old antiquated equipment and ox drawn wagons that are still being used in the small sugar industry that persists in Cuba.”
Venezuela: Frustration and Despair
While most Venezuelan bloggers lament the site outage of the directory, VeneBlogs, Miguel Octavio was full of despair and frustration on Valentine's Day as he lists nine examples of corruption and lawlessness which he says have come to define contemporary Venezuela.
Uruguay: Montevideo Wiki
Andrés Calamaro is hoping to recruit volunteers (ES) to help fill out his Montevideo Wiki (ES), a collective information resource about Uruguay's largest city. He is starting with a collection of famous regional sayings.
El Salvador: Anti-poverty Program Increases School Enrollment
Tim Muth notes that a government-run anti-poverty program has, so far, been successful in increasing school enrollment.
Colombia: “Manual eradication in parks: set up to fail?”
Adam Isacson explains that aerial fumigation has caused Colombian coca growers to plant their crop in Colombia's national parks and that new proposals call for extending the fumigation to the parks or recruiting manual eradicators to dig the plant up.
Costa Rica: Ballot Counting Continues and E-voting in 2010?
Bob Glass says the ballot counting continues in Costa Rica while José Daniel of elecciones2006.com hopes that this year's close count won't serve as an excuse to implement electronic voting in 2010.
Venezuela: From Classical Musician to Drum and Bass DJ
glowMain features (ES) 29-year-old Venezuelan DJ, Juan Carlos Azuaje, better known as Take. He studied classical music as a young child and the began his Drum and Bass career in 1999 in Caracas.
Peru: More Voters Undecided
Peru Election 2006 says that Ollanta Humala has withstood recent political attacks and that perhaps the most interesting news recently is the 10% increase in the undecided vote.
Panama: Impressions
Roy Jones has a a recent series of posts offering his impressions of Panama.
The Week That Was – Bolivian Blogs
Want proof that the Bolivian blogosphere is a steadily growing community? In a recent email to the Bolivian blog listserv, Sebastian Molina, one of the masterminds behind the Mundo Al Revés series of blogs, announced his upcoming wedding and how blogs will play a big part in the big day....
Argentina: Valentine's Day in Buenos Aires
Dan Perlman, Robert Wright, and Jeff Barry all recount their Valentine's Day in Buenos Aires.
Argentina, Brazil: An Argentinean's Experience in Rio
Argentine super blogger, Jorge Gobbi, has four posts (1, 2, 3, 4) on his recent trip to Rio de Janeiro. (With videos!)
Brazil: Getting Rolling Stoned in Rio
Cuaderno Latinoamericano, a group blog maintained by students at Tulane University, says that the Rolling Stones will be playing a free concert this weekend in Rio de Janeiro. Free, that is, unless you take into account the $750,000 that the city is paying to make it happen.
Puerto Rico: Education ills
Gil the Jenius compares the Puerto Rican Department of Education's announcement that they're laying off of 5,000 personnel to “a patient with cancer-riddled internal organs being told he's about to have his appendix removed,” and offers his own diagnosis of the problems plaguing the Department.
Cuba: Mission Miracle
Cuban blog Proposiciones reproduces an article (ES) on the Cuba-Venezuela medical cooperation program, Misión Milagro.
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