David Sasaki · March, 2007

Latest posts by David Sasaki from March, 2007

Mexico: Harvard University and Oaxaca

  30 March 2007

George Salzman on the good and bad of the involvement of Manuel Stefanakis, Director of the Master of Public Administration Programs in the John F. Kennedy School of Government, in Oaxaca's long-standing conflict with the local and federal government.

Mexico: Biofuels, corn prices and food security

  30 March 2007

Sitna Quiroz on “Biofuels, corn prices and food security in Mexico:” “Media reports attributed the rise in tortilla prices to dwindling imports of corn due to its increasing demand for ethanol production. Others argued that the problem was not lack of corn, but rather the monopolizing practices and speculation carried...

Chile, Costa Rica: “Un Computador por Niño”

  30 March 2007

Ricardo Carreón, General Manager of Intel for Latin America, describes a pilot test of Classmate PC (“laptop for kids in emerging markets”) that he attended in Costa Rica with Intel CEO Craig R. Barret. On a related note, Carreón points us to a collection of YouTube videos about Chile's “Un...

Nicaragua: Eric Volz

  30 March 2007

Bloggings by Boz links to a Miami Herald article about Eric Volz, a 27-year-old California native imprisoned in Nicaragua for rape and homicide. Writes Boz, “it doesn't sound like the Nicaraguan authorities have any evidence other than one convicted drug trafficker's statement to back up their arrest.” Citizen 192 has...

Peru: Reviews of El Comercio's New Design

  30 March 2007

El Comercio, one of Peru's leading newspapers, redesigned their website. Bloggers, no doubt, were quick to pen their opinion. Letra Suelta is glad to see the use of blogs [ES], video, tags, and RSS feeds. Waldo Dominguez points out some early coding hiccups [ES] and claims the redesign is a...

Mexico: Protests Against New Retirement Age

  30 March 2007

“Streets blocked, schools and universities closed, public transportation services suspended and violent demonstrations in front of the National Senate, all in the name of . . . what, exactly, I'm not too sure.” But Mark in Mexico does his best to find out. Ana Maria Salazar has more on the...

Honduras: World Water Day

  27 March 2007

“March 22, 2007 was World Water Day. And guess what? Sunday we had no water! How ironic. Or how prescient.” So begins La Gringa's reflections on water resources in rural Honduras.

Peru: Football Frenzy

  27 March 2007

“Since last Sunday, when Peru’s U-17 youngsters (barely) qualified for the 2007 World Cup hosted by South Korea in August and September, Peruvian football pride has been restored.” Wolfy Becker has more on the football frenzy welcoming back Peru's national youth team. You can see a video of highlights of...

Panama: Taxis

  26 March 2007

“It occurred to me that for people like Carlos, assuming the worst about strangers is one of life’s great little pleasures. A pleasure which can transform something as boring and mundane as a taxi ride, into something dangerous and risky and rash,” writes Matt Landau in his meditation on “Taxis...

Guatemala: Account of Anti-Bush Protests

  23 March 2007

After enduring some intestinal unpleasantries, Scott Lamorte made it to Guatemala City where he convinced local cops that he was a journalist for a behind-the-lines look at the protests that met US President George Bush on his one-day visit.

Guatemala: Improving the Electoral Process Pedir más, para…

  23 March 2007

As political parties organize their campaigns for the presidential elections, Jose Zamora hopes for a much more serious electoral process than just catchy campaign songs, ubiquitous street banners, and empty stump speeches. “We should demand concrete plans of governance from all the candidates, plans which we can study and debate...

El Salvador, Chile: Roque Dalton and Roberto Bolaño

  23 March 2007

Venezuelan-American poet Guillermo Parra, recently in San Salvador to research Salvadoran poet Roque Dalton (1935-1975), describes the interests in leftists politics and experimental fiction shared by Dalton and the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño. A follow-up essay, “Poor Poets: Roque Dalton and Roberto Bolaño“, goes into further detail about the lives...

Panama: Semana Santa Recipes

  22 March 2007

Melissa de Leon reminds readers that “in Panama and the rest of Latin America, Holy Week and Lent are among the most important dates on the calendar.” Here's a great introduction to the importance of Holy Week in Latin America along with some tasty recommendations for what to cook.