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Archive for February 22nd, 2007

Rigoberta for President

5:59 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Guatemala|Politics|Women · Comments Off

22 Feb 2007

rigoberta%20menchu%20portrait.jpgWhile the U.S. is caught up in the Obama vs. Hillary for president game, many Guatemalans are celebrating the announcement that Nobel Peace Prize laureate and indigenous activist Rigoberta Menchu will run for president of their country:

Rigoberta Menchú said Wednesday that she will run for president of Guatemala, backed by a center-left coalition, in an attempt to become the second indigenous leader of a Latin American nation.

Menchú, the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and defender of the Mayan victims of the brutal civil war that tore through Guatemala between 1960 and 1996, will participat in the September 9th elections together with the Juntos por Guatemala coalition and Winaq, a newly formed indigenous political party.

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Favelas As Art

4:00 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Arts|Brazil|housing|travel · Comments Off

22 Feb 2007

favelaart.jpgWhen people travel, housing projects aren’t usually part of their itineraries. Just like most people don’t seek out their art in housing projects either. The housing projects of Brazil, favelas, are notorious for their violence. Those same favelas ,though, are becoming canvases for art by outsiders.

The open air gallery, where crumbling shacks have become giant canvasses, is the brainchild of Jeroen Koolhaas, a Dutch illustrator who works for New Yorker magazine, and Dre Urhahn, an art director from Amsterdam.

“Normally, outsiders would only come here to buy cocaine,” said Mr Urhahn, who admits to having found empty cartridges on the scaffolding used for the painting. “The museum is about giving them another reason to visit the community.”

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Clown murder in Colombia

12:50 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Colombia|society · Comments Off

22 Feb 2007

clown.gifI’m guessing this piece of news isn’t going to really encourage anyone to visit Colombia, but as weird as it is, it could have happened anywhere:

Two clowns that participated in a circus act in the Colombian city of Cúcuta, on the border with Venezuela, were shot and killed by an unknown suspect, according to local authorities.

The victims, who worked for ‘El Circo del Sol’, situated in a working class neighborhood of Cúcuta, capital of the state of Norte de Santander, were doing a number for about 20 people when a man jumped into the arena and shot them in the head, said colonel José Humberto Henao, chief of the state police.

Perhaps even more interesting are the comments made by visitors to the site where I found this piece of news, many of which say they would “never go on vacation” to Colombia, precisely the problem Mala posted about yesterday. Many of the commenters (mostly Spaniards) have the perception that in South America and especially in Colombia, “la vida no vale nada”. It’s sad that people generalize entire populations based on problems that countries go through at certain times in their histories, but as Mala suggested yesterday, we are all a bit guilty of it.

Via / 20 Minutos

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Cuba Embargo Still on “Go”

12:48 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Cuba|Money|Politics · Comments Off

22 Feb 2007

cuba-dr.jpgThere were some rumors within the Spanish language media that the U.S.’s 45 year old trade embargo on Cuba could be lifted or at the very least, loosened. Especially interested in this possibility are U.S. businesses who see the Caribbean island as an untapped source of dollars. This combined with the health issues of Fidel Castro has bolstered calls for the embargo to be reevaluated. U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez couldn’t disagree more. Speaking February 21 to the Council of the Americas, a Washington business organization, Gutierrez said:

I submit to you that foreign businesses will not flourish on the island as long as there is an active communist regime in control.

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VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.

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