Latest posts by David Sasaki from February, 2006
Argentina: 82nd Child of the Disappeared Recovered
Jeff Barry links to an article in Argentina's largest daily, Clarín about the identification of a 28-year-old man by the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo as the son of two kidnapped victims during the country's military dictatorship. Now known as Sebastián, he is the 82nd disappeared child to be...
Bolivia: Visiting Chapare's Coca Farmers
As the Bush administration rethinks its policy towards Bolivia's coca farmers, Ben Dangl describes his recent visit to Eterazama in the coca-producing region of Chapare. He visits a market where vendors are surprised to hear that the coca leaf is illegal in the US, talks with two coca farmer organizers,...
Argentina, Cayman Islands: Gay Cruise Ships
Ian writes that South America's first “gay cruiser” has docked in Buenos Aires. Andres Duque has more on the controversial cruise journey – which plans on ending its voyage in Rio for Carnival – as he compares it to a similar cruise which caused an uproar in the Cayman Islands...
Honduras: Telenovelas
James compares and contrasts Honduras’ telenovelas with the soap operas of the United States commenting that “they both always feature incredibly rich families living in mansions with no discernable jobs or businesses to pay for their opulent dwellings, with nothing better to do with their days than scheme against one...
Mexico: Bono Sings “Chiapas-Mexico- No More!!”
León Felipe Sánchez says that the crowd went wild at U2's concert in Mexico City's Aztec Stadium when Bono added the lyrics “Chiapas!!! Mexico!!! NO MORE!!!” – referring to Mexico's longstanding Southern conflict – to the legendary song, Sunday Bloody Sunday.
Nicaragua: “Hail to The Micro Bus!”
Jason has learned to love Nicaragua's micro buses.
Peru, Panama: Interview with Chef Gastón Acurio
Elena Hernández posts her interview with Peruvian chef, Gastón Acurio (ES) which appeared in this week's magazine supplement to the daily, La Prensa de Panamá.
Guatemala: Police Accused of Mudering Transgender Woman
Erwin C. and Andres Duque both write about the murder of a transgender woman and the Guatemalan police officers who have been implicated in the case.
Nicaragua: Medical Strike
¡Pura Vida! posts about the 2,000 doctors and 20,000 health workers currently on strike in Managua, noting that “the average doctor here makes around $300 a month.”
Peru: Inequality as an Election Issue
Fabiola Bazo has a hyperlinked and bilingual analysis of inequality as an election issue as Peruvians get ready to head to the polls.
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...
Latin America: TeleSur's New Website
Boz convinces the Pan-American news network, TeleSur to redesign their website. OK, so maybe not, but whoever was responsible for the change, it brings a marked improvement.
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...
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.
