latin american princesa {LAP}

I’m not dead. Just very busy and sick. I’ll be back soon to write about war widows, globalization and race in the Prez-Race. In the meantime entertain yourself with this musical fusion of color and cultures:

The colors, the rhythms, the passion and beauty that is Colombia. Una mezcla…que menea, que menea.

• DEVELOPMENT: MDGs Yardstick Too Generic, Critics Say [IPS]
  This article highlights the importance of context and scale. The MDG’s were established on a global scale but when applied locally they don’t make sense and are hurting nations, African ones especially. One size does not fit all.
• Material Support to Terrorism — Consequences for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the United States [Migration Information Source]
  Since 9-11 new counterterrorism laws and policies have made asylum and refugee resettlement to the U.S. more difficult. This is another example of one-size-fit-all policy damaging the world’s weakest and most vulnerable inhabitants.
• Meanwhile the French sentenced far-right Le Pen for hate speech but the Dutch delay prosecution of far-right member of parliament Geert Wilders (in Dutch sorry, can’t find an English story on this). Wilders heads a right-wing party, has called the Koran a fascist book and demands it be banned. He is about to release a documentary about the Koran and Islam. Wilders lives under guard having received numerous death threats.
• In Bronx School, Culture Shock, Then Revival [NYT]
  Here’s an example of what happens when you address the specific needs of a community (a school in this case) rather than applying a one-size-fits-all policy. Not to mention that it breaks down stereotypes and assumptions, which generic policies often rely on.
• Yesterday’s march in Washington [CIPCOL]
  An eye-witness account of the anti-FARC march in my hometown.

This event has been launched and promoted through Facebook. If you read Spanish see the event’s site: Un MILLION de VOCES contra las FARC. Or read Plan Colombia’s commentary in English, which includes the translation of an article from Colombia’s El Tiempo about the importance of dialogue and minimizing highly-charged nationalistic ideology. The goal is peace, after all.

Well, I survived a major gas leak in my new apartment!

I just received a reminder about an old cause. The American Anthropological Association sent an email calling for renewed support of a boycott of the Coca-Cola Company and all its products. This boycott was originally called by the Colombian union SINALTRAINAL.

The AAA boycott arose from concerns that the Coca-Cola Company has not done enough to protect workers and their families from intimidation and violence, has not respected workers’ internationally recognized right to organize unions, and has not disclosed information that independent sources can easily verify.

Consult the Coca-Cola brand list so you know what NOT to buy!! And spread the word about Killer Coke please.

Via Latina Viva:

Shakira does it again, as Colombia’s most beautiful ambassador, showing the world that Colombia is capable of producing incredible beauty and generosity. Marquez, Shakira and Juanes are just three Colombians that make me proud of my heritage, reminding me of the beauty that this world is capable of…and I don’t mean looks, but the beauty in art, music and literature.

Can you help them help the victims of natural disasters in Latin America? Visit Fundacion ALAS

Via Latin Americanist:

The Colombian government has sought the extradition of an ex-Israel Defense Force officer convicted of training Colombian drug cartels in the 1980s.

Oh the irony of it all: U.S. funds Israeli military (to the tune of ga-jillions) and the War on Drugs (to the tune of ga-jillions), only to have ex-Israeli train Colombian paramilitaries.

• CULTURE: It All Begins With a Webcam and a Smile
  “‘Soliya’ — derived from sol, the Latin word for sun, and iya, Arabic for ‘beam of light’ — connects groups of eight university students around the world through advanced online videoconferencing technology in an attempt to bridge thorny cultural divides between the West and Arab worlds.”
• ALBANIA: Forget Communism…or Sell It
  
  “The possibilities for what has been termed as ‘communist heritage tourism’ are present, but as with other post-socialist countries in the region, the attempt at creating a communist-free national identity since the 1990s is in conflict with Western tourists’ increasing interest in remnants of the communist past.”
• From the mundane to the heart-breaking: Colombians line up for trial by lie detector
  “Welcome to Nothing But the Truth, a Colombian gameshow which brings new levels of excruciation to reality television. The format has been so successful with Colombian viewers that it is due to be exported to Europe and the US, cementing Latin America’s growing influence on western popular culture.”
• American dream falters
  “‘The American engine of economic assimilation continues to be a powerful force,’ concludes the Pew Charitable Trust study of immigrant economic mobility.

  But it’s a force that may be faltering. The gains of second-generation immigrants have shrunk in recent years – in part because first-generation immigrants now are poorer than at any time since World War II.”

• Exclusion through language
  On the Inhofe Amendment and bilingualism
• We Want You. . . To Think Just Like Us
  Wendi Muse on Identity Imperialism
• Minimum-Wage Hike Celebrated With Name-Brand Ketchup
  black humor…gotta love it.

Gustavo Moncayo has taken Colombia by storm. This teacher walked the length of Colombia from his remote village on the Ecuadorian border to Bogota to raise awareness of the plight of kidnap victims. His son was kidnapped 10 years ago and appeared in the videos released recently by the FARC.

Continue reading Hero of the week: peace activist in Colombia…