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Coppola staking a claim in Latin America

1:47 pm By Maegan La Mala · Argentina|Brazil|business|Celebrities · 2 Comments

30 Aug 2007

It’s not enough that legendary director Francis Ford Coppola owns half of the San Francisco Bay Area, but now the ultra rich film mogul is going to go buy up South America. Coppolla already owns some properties in Buenos Aires, and is looking to expand his investment in hospitality in Brazil:

The five-time-Oscar winning director arrived this week in Florianopolis, on the Atlantic coast some 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of here, in search of real estate for his business venture, said the website without further details.

Coppola, 68, already has several investments including a couple of wineries in the US state of California and resorts in Guatemala and Belize.

In June, the director of “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now” was in Buenos Aires where he bought a hotel boutique and where he also plans to set up a film production facility and shoot a movie in 2008, G1 said.

I really like FFC’s work and I hope whatever he is doing in Brazil will benefit not only himself but the local economy.

Via / Yahoo! Entertainment – AFP

Strange Fruit

7:57 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · business|Immigration|Politics · 4 Comments

23 Aug 2007

Many who have left comments here at VL have cheered the recent immigrant redadas and the deportations that have followed but what would be really interesting would be to see how the loss of a large number of immigrants impacts individual communities and their economies and then hear people complain. Racewire takes a few stories from papers across the country that have covered the negative impact of the loss of immigrant labor. Immigrants, because of fears of being deported or actually being deported, aren’t around to pick fruits, veggies, and crabs, horses aren’t being walked, lawns aren’t being cut, and pizzas are taking a hell of alot longer to be delivered.

Spaniards want you to stay at a space hotel

11:35 am By Maegan La Mala · business|Lifestyle|Spain|World · Comments Off

15 Aug 2007

art.space.jpg Starting in 2012, those with the means will be able to stay at a hotel far away from home — in space. Spanish entrepreneurs will be taking reservations next year for stays at their space hotel — Galactic Suite — which will be located 450 miles from Earth. Venezuela’s El Universal reports:

The journey will be aboard a space shuttle, a hybrid between a commercial airplane and a rocket, and will arrive at the Galactic Suite hotel, also called Spaceresort, which will remain in orbit around the Earth…

…In each flight six people will travel: two crewmembers and four tourists. For the three day stay in the orbital hotel, the shuttle will remain anchored to the arrival module so that passengers feel more secure.

Space travelers able to pay for the 4 million dollar ride will be able to orbit the earth several times per day in 80-minute intervals and will be treated to seeing the sun rise and set 15 times daily.

And if you have the money, you’ll also need time off. Space tourists will have to undergo 18 weeks of preparation on a tropical island before the journey.

Read more at the Galactic Suite website.

Via / El Universal

Image via CNN/Galactic Suite

Mexico City: “City of the Future”

5:02 pm By Maegan La Mala · business|Media|mexico|Newspapers · Comments Off

10 Aug 2007

Bolsa-Mexicana-de-valores-%28.gif British newspaper The Financial Times has named Mexico City one of the its “Ten Cities of the Future”, after analyzing 108 cities in North America to create their list of cities with potential for economic competitiveness and ability to attract investments.

Mexico City ranked fourth out of the top five cities with the best economic potential and fourth among the top five most cost-effective cities.

The Editor of The Financial Times, Brian Caplen, presented Mexico City’s Mayor Marcelo Ebrard with a certificate of recognition, and said “Mexico City has done a lot and is doing a lot to increase its potential to attract direct foreign investment worldwide and that’s why it deserves a place among North America’s ‘Cities of the Future’.”

La Jornada newspaper reports that according to The Financial Times‘ ranking, Mexico City’s economy outranks those of Miami and Boston.

Via / La Jornada

Dora Teaches Kids : Can you Say Lead Paint?

2:51 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · business|children|Health · Comments Off

2 Aug 2007

Reason 3,254 why that screamy Dora the Exploradora has never been a toy of any of my kids : she makes kids eat lead paint, seriously. Today toy company Fisher Price initiated a recall of nearly a million toys in the U.S. (over a million worldwide) including those based on the popular show Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street because the surface paint of the plastic toys likely contains lead paint. Lead paint exposure can lead to brain damage in children.

Can you say lawsuit in Spanish?

To see if a toy you may have is part of the recall click here.

Dallas store chain to accept pesos

11:44 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · business|Money · 1 Comment

17 Jul 2007

When Texas-based pizza chain Pizza Patron began accepting Mexican pesos as a form of payment for its pizzas last year, there was outrage among right-wingers who despised this “catering to” Mexican residents in the state. Well, the publicity must have worked well for Pizza Patron as another Texas business is replicating its model. Value Giant, a Dallas-area retailer, announced that it will also be accepting pesos at its stores.

Just a publicity stunt or a sincere attempt to better serve their Mexican customers? What do you think?

Via / Dallas Observer Blogs

Arizona Putting the Sqeeze on Companies that Employ Undocumented Workers

4:41 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · arizona|business|Immigration · Comments Off

5 Jul 2007

Arizona is on the record books for having the most recorded number of undocumented immigrants entering the state. This fact combined with the recent failure of the U.S. Congress to come to an agreement on immigration reform, has led to Arizona being the first state to target employer practices regarding the hiring of undocumented workers.

Its new law effectively sets up a two-strikes penalty. A business employing an illegal immigrant would have its business license suspended temporarily. A second offense would mean a permanent revocation of that license.

U.S Mining Distances Itself from Colombian Militants

2:31 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · business|Colombia · Comments Off

29 Mar 2007

Following in the footsteps of the Chiquita Corporation, an Alabama based mining company is being accused in a U.S. federal lawsuit of working with Colombian paramilitary organizations even paying to have union members killed.

A federal judge in Alabama last month allowed a civil suit to go forward against Drummond Co. Inc. for allegedly paying a hit squad to kill three union leaders in 2001 at one of its Colombia mines.
In a related move, Colombia’s chief prosecutor announced a formal criminal investigation into Drummond Tuesday for alleged ties with to paramilitaries.Drummond appears to have been shaken by accusations by a former paramilitary collaborator, Rafael Garcia, a key witness in the unfolding scandal, who is in prison.
Garcia says he was present when the president of Drummond Colombia, Augusto Jimenez, handed over “a suitcase full of money” in 2001 to a representative of regional paramilitary warlord Rodrigo Tovar Pupo.

Rafael Marquez kicks Bill Gates’ butt

2:38 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · business|Celebrities|Sports · 1 Comment

21 Mar 2007

…at soccer, that is, on a new Microsoft XBox game. The Mexican futbolista, currently playing for Barcelona, beat supernerd Bill Gates (looking particularly dorky in this picture) 2-1 at an event to promote XBox.

Bill Gates was in Cartagena, Colombia earlier this week highlighting his company’s work to help Latin America become more competitive, as well as his partnership with the Ricky Martin Foundation.

Via / El Confidencial

Image: Marcos Delgado

Bolivia Doesn’t Want the World to Have a Coke

12:54 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Bolivia|business · Comments Off

16 Mar 2007

The Bolivian constitution is being rewritten and that could impact business world wide. How? One of the provisions being pushed by the constitutional committee would ban foreign companies from using the name of their sacred coca plant.

Margarita Teran, head of the Coca Committee, told daily newspaper La Razon she was dismayed that Coca-Cola can sell soft drinks worldwide without restrictions while Bolivia is barred from exporting products made with coca.

Such a law is not unheard of. It’s what keeps sparking wine from being called champagne, for example. What’s different here is that coca is placed in the same catagory as opium and cannabis by the U.N. and that prevents its legal export, even when it’s not in cocaine. President Evo Morales is trying to change that by pushing coca leaf products. The U.S. ain’t having it though even though currently the U.S. is the number one market for coca’s most well known use, as an illegal drug.

Via / MSNBC

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