Global Voices Online

Havana Times reports that one of the founding members of the famous Buena Vista Social Club, Cuban bass player Orlando “Cachaito” Lopez, has died at a Havana hospital after complications following surgery.

Recent Links also in Americas

Contributor El Alteño of blog Hazme el Chingado Favor confronts an e-mail chainletter against official sources regarding Mexican government's abrogation of the vehicle ownership tax [es] that will be enforced in 2012.

Adil Najam discusses about a recently released list of 8000 persons including the president of Pakistan and 34 Pakistani politicians who have benefited from the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), promulgated by former president Pervez Musharraf on Oct 5, 2007. This ordinance “grants amnesty to all those against whom politically-motivated cases were registered between Jan 1, 1986, and Oct 12, 1999.”

Political humor blog El chiguire bipolar (The bipolar capybara) mocks the Government of Venezuela [es] after intervening four of the most important banks of the country: from now on, author parodies, Bancolchón [Mattress Bank] will manage public money, as customers can carry out cash withdrawals, make national and international transfers and “keep a glass of wine from tipping over while a bear makes itself comfortable beside it”.