Archive for May, 2007
North Dakota Wants Cubans to Have its Papas
8:50 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Cuba|Politics · Comments Off
24 May 2007
Despite a trade embargo against Cuba, one state has its heart on figuring out a way to get one of its key crops to the island nation. That state is North Dakota and the crop is potatoes to Cuba. The biggest concern is getting the papas to Cuba without them spoiling.
“If we can begin sales of North Dakota potatoes and do it in a way that gets them down here in good shape, that would be a very successful trade mission because we’ve been talking about it for five years and so far it hasn’t happened,” said Roger Johnson, agriculture commissioner for the state.
Judge says “no” to housing discrimination in Texas
5:38 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration|Justice|Texas · Comments Off
23 May 2007
We’ve written a couple of times about Farmers Branch, Texas, and the quest of some there to make discrimination against undocumented immigrants city policy. In addition to attempts to make English the “official” language of the city, legislation was proposed which would impede landlords from renting to the undocumented. Voters in the town supported discriminatory law, pushing it to approval with 68 percent voting in favor, but at the urging of MALDEF and attorneys for landloards, a federal judge said “no”:
U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay wrote in granting a temporary restraining order that only the federal government can determine whether a person is in the United States legally.
Brazilian samba and bossa beats, with its sound nowadays often mixed with electronica, can be called a soundtrack to summer. It is the perfect accompaniment to barbecues and outdoor cocktails. The mother of that breezy blend may well be Bebel Gilberto, who with her latest release Momento, has birthed a must have on this summer’s playlist. Momento, Bebel’s third solo cd was released April 24th and opens with Bebel singing the title track in a breathy chill style. Bebel’s sex appeal continues with her collaboration with Brazilian Girls on the track Bring Back the Love.
Momento features three covers. Cacada, written by her uncle Chico Buarque, Tanquilo featuring a Rio’s Orchestra Imperial, and a Bossa – Jazz hybrid version of the Cole Porter song Night and Day.
Sneak Peak at Michael Moore’s “Sicko”
1:50 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Cuba|Health|Movies|World · 1 Comment
23 May 2007Filmmaker Michael Moore has just released a short clip from his new documentary, Sicko, which compares the American healthcare system to that of Cuba and other countries. The clip shows Moore at a NHS hospital in the U.K., where patients pay nothing for procedures and are even reimbursed for transportation expenses to the facilities:
Michael Moore was recently warned by the U.S. Treasury Department that unauthorized travel into Cuba by Americans is prohibited. This seems to have only fueled media attention around the film, in addition to the movie’s success at Cannes:
In a choice that certainly endeared “Sicko” to the local audience, Moore spends much of the film focusing on France’s socialized medicine. Doctors lead comfortable lives, patients receive attentive care, employers grant extended health-related leaves — all reasons the World Health Organization ranked France tops in its global 2000 survey of the best healthcare countries.That the United States ranked only 37th on the WHO list, just two slots ahead of Cuba, particularly infuriates Moore: With more wealth and technology than any other country, we nevertheless have 50 million citizens without insurance, 9 million of them children.
What do you think of the clip? Will you see the movie when it comes out? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Via / YouTube and LATimes.com
Colombian National Liberation Army Wants to Talk Paz
11:54 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Colombia|Politics · Comments Off
23 May 2007
The second largest leftist militant organization in Colombia, the National Liberation Army, said yesterday during talks with the Colombian government in Cuba that they were seeking a cease-fire and a freeze in efforts to reach a free trade deal with the United States.
Under the cease-fire, the rebels “will suspend offensive military actions, sabotage and actions of force to obtain finances,” the National Liberation Army, or ELN, said in a statement sent to news media.
Given the close relationship of Colombia’s President Uribe with the U.S. Bush administration I highly doubt that ELN will get what it wants.
Via / CBS News
Organic food “Made in Mexico City”
6:54 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Environment|Food|mexico · 1 Comment
22 May 2007
Mexico City, a metropolis famous for its smog and crowds (among other wonderful things) isn’t the first place you’d think of when you hear the words “organic crops”. But that a new breed of farmers known as have set out to produce food free of contaminants and totally natural in the Mexican capital:
Conceived as a strategy to promote organic agriculture in rural areas within the Federal District, the Sello Verde (Green Stamp) — certification means that chemicals have been definitively eliminated throughout the production chain — has begun to pay off, with 84 organic products free of contaminants being grown, which have even been exported to the U.S. and Europe because of their high quality.Vegetables, fruits, corn, honey and nopal (edible cactus) are only some of the items which, through the help of 23 farmer organizations have reached the level of quality demanded by certification.
Immigration Reform Vote Pushed into June
2:49 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration|Politics · Comments Off
22 May 2007
I hate to say I told you so, but yesterday I told you not to hold your breath waiting for the latest immigration reform agreement to be voted on and become reality and well look the Senate has postponed a vote on the bill in order to allow for more debate and more amendments which will surely leave the bill looking nothing like the original. Which may or may not be a good thing.
Via / NPR
Daddy Yankee to be at Puerto Rican Day Parade
1:32 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities|Music|New York City · 3 Comments
22 May 2007
We already know that Ricky Martin is the King of the Puerto Rican Day Parade but another Puerto Rican musical act will also be holding court on Fifth Avenue on June 10th. It’s been confirmed that Daddy Yankee will be on the MTV Tr3s float, spitting some reggaeton and waving to the expected millions of onlookers.
Via / El Diario/La Prensa
Consumer group calls Cuba ad racist and sexist
12:32 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|Cuba|Marketing|race|sex|Spain|Women · 10 Comments
22 May 2007
Spanish airline Iberia is in hot water for an ad they used to promote a contest for a trip to Cuba on Iberia.com. The commercial (video after the jump), which depicts a white baby (yes, baby) on a trip to Cuba, where hordes of scantily clad Cuban women dance and satisfy his every need, is at the center of the controversy. Spanish consumer rights group FACUA was outraged by the ad, calling for its immediate removal because:
…it presents “denigrating stereotypes of Cuban women, showing them as mulattas in bikinis who are at the service of tourists around the clock to dance for them, give them massages, fan them and give them food and drink”
According to Spain’s 20 Minutos, the ad was created for a promotion celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Iberia.com. And it gets worse:
Botched abortions lead to injury and death in Brazil
5:26 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Brazil|Controversia|Women · Comments Off
21 May 2007
As Mexico City leads the way in the legalization of abortion in Latin America, the rest of the region remains behind. With the pressure of Pope Benedict urging the Brazilian government to keep abortion illegal on his recent visit to the country, new statistics from the Brazilian Health Ministry about deaths related to botched abortions is opening up a heated debate:
In the last five years, 1.25 million women — some 200,000 women per year — were hospitalized for complications related to illegal abortions.
According to the World Health Organization, nearly one million illegal abortions are practiced in Brazil every year. 20 Minutos reports that, in addition to the fact that 13% of deaths in pregnant women in Brazil can be attributed to illegal abortions, the financial toll of the injuries and deaths related to the procedures over the past five years amounted to 81 million dollars.
Via / 20 Minutos
Image via Belfast Telegraph
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