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Is Decriminalization Enough to Stop the “War on Drugs” Violence in Latin America?

28 Aug 2009

Marijuana Two Latin American countries recently have made moves to decriminalize the possession of certain drugs for personal use, a move that some are touting as a positive new direction in the “war on drugs”.

In Argentina:

Argentina’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that it is unconstitutional to prosecute cases involving personal marijuana use as long as it does not harm others. It did not, however, set a weight limit for what it considers personal use.

The judges’ decision urges the Argentine government to “create policies against illegal drug trafficking and adopt preventive health measures, with information and education against drug consumption directed at the most vulnerable groups.

And in Mexico:

Under the new law, a police search that turns up a half-gram of cocaine, the equivalent of about four lines, will not bring any jail time. The same applies for 5 grams of marijuana (about four cigarettes), 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams of methamphetamine or 0.015 milligrams of LSD.

April is National Poetry Month : Alfonsina Storni

9:36 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Argentina| Women| literature · Comments Off

20 Apr 2009

180px-alfosinastorni The inspiration for the heart wrenching song, Alfonsina y el Mar, Argentine poetisa Alfonsina Storni was an actress, teacher, and mother.

TÚ ME QUIERES BLANCA
Tú me quieres alba,
Me quieres de espumas,
Me quieres de nácar.
Que sea azucena
Sobre todas, casta.
De perfume tenue.
Corola cerrada

Ni un rayo de luna
Filtrado me haya.
Ni una margarita
Se diga mi hermana.
Tú me quieres nívea,
Tú me quieres blanca,
Tú me quieres alba.

Tú que hubiste todas
Las copas a mano,
De frutos y mieles
Los labios morados.
Tú que en el banquete
Cubierto de pámpanos
Dejaste las carnes
Festejando a Baco.
Tú que en los jardines
Negros del Engaño
Vestido de rojo
Corriste al Estrago.

Tú que el esqueleto
Conservas intacto
No sé todavía
Por cuáles milagros,
Me pretendes blanca
(Dios te lo perdone),
Me pretendes casta
(Dios te lo perdone),
¡Me pretendes alba!

Huye hacia los bosques,
Vete a la montaña;
Límpiate la boca;
Vive en las cabañas;
Toca con las manos
La tierra mojada;
Alimenta el cuerpo
Con raíz amarga;
Bebe de las rocas;
Duerme sobre escarcha;
Renueva tejidos
Con salitre y agua;
Habla con los pájaros
Y lévate al alba.
Y cuando las carnes
Te sean tornadas,
Y cuando hayas puesto
En ellas el alma
Que por las alcobas
Se quedó enredada,
Entonces, buen hombre,
Preténdeme blanca,
Preténdeme nívea,
Preténdeme casta.

English translation after the jump.
Read more…

Archeologists Dig Up Remnants of Legendary Tango Cafe

12:07 pm By Maegan La Mala · Argentina| Culture| Music · Comments Off

29 Dec 2008

Just 50 centimeters below the ground in Buenos Aires‘ posh Palermo neighborhood, there was a piece of the city’s musical history just waiting to be discovered — and no one new it. The Cafe Hansen, called by some “the cradle of tango”, had been lost to the world for over a century now. But this cafe which saw tango rise to fame at the end of the 19th century is being uncovered by a group of archeologists who look to make their finding a way of educating citizens about the city’s history:

“The idea is to keep excavating and take advantage of the discovery to install a hall in which neighbors can get to know the way the city was in those years,” the minister of Culture of the Government of Buenos Aires, Hernán Lombardi, told Argentine newspaper Clarín.

The cafe bore the name of its first owner, Juan Hansen, and is mentioned in historical chronicles as one of the places in which tango began.

BBC Mundo reports that the cafe was originally torn down in 1912 to make room for road infrastructure in the neighborhood.

Via / BBC Mundo

Argentinian Journalists for Non-Sexist Reporting

11:27 am By Maegan La Mala · Argentina| Media| Women · Comments Off

28 Oct 2008

With a mujer president leading the country, an organization of over 100 journalists in Argentina want to change the way crimes against women are covered in the media. They have drawn up 10 “commandments” for news coverage of gender-based crimes, which include avoiding expressions like “crime of passion” and incorporating terms like “femicide.”

The Argentine Network of Journalists for Non-Sexist Communication (PAR) will officially release the guidelines on Nov. 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The list is a really good one that all of us should strive to use, not just those who work in media.

For the 10 Commandments of reporting gender-based violence, see after the jump.

18 to Life for Argentine “Dirty War” Perps

11:14 am By Maegan La Mala · Argentina| Justice| Latin America| society · Comments Off

28 Jul 2008

8 men accused of torture and murder in Argentina’s “dirty war” have been sentenced to 18 years to life in prison for their actions. 18 years might not seem like much, but it’s significant if you are already 80 years old like ex-general Luciano Menendez:

Menendez commanded the army zone that ran La Perla, the biggest clandestine detention center in central Cordoba province, during the 1976-1983 dictatorship in which rights groups say up to 30,000 people died or disappeared.

“He was the main perpetrator behind the reign of terror our province lived under 30 years ago. He sowed death and terror, committing crimes against humanity,” Cordoba Governor Juan Schiaretti told local television after the sentencing.

Upon sentencing, Menendez was defiant. Reuters quotes him as saying: “Terrorists used to be illegal. Now they have taken over the system and pretend to be peaceful, law-abiding citizens who respect the constitution.”

What can you say about creeps like this? Even at the eleventh hour he refuses to take responsibility…incredible.

Via / Canada.com

Argentina Says No to Fur

12:18 pm By Maegan La Mala · Activism| Argentina| Celebrities · Comments Off

10 Jun 2008

In a country known for its fine leather, an awareness campaign around saying no to the purchase and use of animal skins may or may not go over well in Argentina. But some Argentine celebs are uniting their voices in a campaign to show exactly what becomes of the animal that is killed for your latest fashion statement. The poster above, featuring actress, Marcela Kloosterboer is just one of the shocking images that the non-profit organization AnimaNaturalis has posted all around Buenos Aires.

Via / 20 Minutos

Argentine Children Murder Baby

2:29 pm By Maegan La Mala · Argentina| Latin America| children| crime · Comments Off

22 May 2008

0%2C%2C6052096%2C00.jpg Some shocking news out of Buenos Aires, Argentina: two children, aged 7 and 9 have allegedly murdered a baby and declared to police that they did so “with pleasure”:

Argentine society is witness to the horror and confusion caused by the revelation of the details around the death of a 2 year old girl. It happened on Sunday…Milagros Belizán [pictured] was first beaten over the head, later hung on the wall and finally beaten relentlessly with wooden boards and suffocated little by little until she died. Medical examiners say she endured “long agony…

The crime was originally blamed on an adult, and authorities had to intervene to avoid the man being lynched by neighbors. Later the bizarre truth came out. Witnesses had seen two boys abusing the baby in the street, the police questioned them, and when they told the story of what they had done, they did so with pride and excitement.

The children accused of the crime reportedly come from a violent family environment. Police are looking to take the boys out of their homes because of death threats from neighbors.

Via / El País

Grandmothers Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

5:57 am By Maegan La Mala · Activism| Argentina| Justice| Latin America| society · Comments Off

13 May 2008

Las Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo, an Argentine activist group fighting for justice in the disappearance cases of hundreds of Argentine citizens — many children and pregnant women — during the country’s “Dirty War” have been nominated for a 2008 Nobel Peace Prize

…for their fight to give restore the identity of some 500 children stolen during the last dictatorship, in an act before congress.

Estella Carlotto, president of the organization, in a speech about the candidacy, said: “We are regular women among the thousands of Argentine women who do not back down in desperate situations…Each grandchild we get back is like a Nobel Prize.”

The last Nobel Peace Prize for Argentina was in 1980, for activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.

Via / El Universal

How To Offend a Nation : Argentina Mad About los Simpsons

1:30 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Argentina| TV · Comments Off

17 Apr 2008

Spot the offense. Is it the desaparecidos comment? That fact that Eva Peron wasn’t mentioned but Madonna was? Maybe it’s the idea that Argentina and other Latin American nations have a history of less than democratic governments?
One Argentine legislator wants the episode banned, following in the footsteps of Venezuela, who has banned not one episode but the whole damn show because of it’s moral quality (or lack thereof).

Via / The Latin Americanist

Kirshner Got Rich While President of Argentina

11:39 am By Maegan La Mala · Argentina| Celebrities| Money| Politics · Comments Off

18 Jan 2008

Néstor Kirchner, the former president of Argentina now ceding power to his wife Cristina, can’t complain about his time in La Casa Rosada. According to tax records, Mr. Kirchner increased his worth by 160% during his 4-year presidential term, from 1.8 million dollars to 5.6 million dollars, according to Spain’s 20 Minutos.

Not bad at all. Sounds like Néstor’s a good businessman. He certainly helped pull that country out of a nasty recession. Too bad he couldn’t do anything about inflation last year. Can Cristina fix what broke under her hubby?

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