Interesting little piece in the New York Times yesterday from Juan Forero. Seems that Ecuadorians on the coast are harvesting shark fins and selling them to Asia for big bucks — but that shark numbers might soon be thinning. (At $100 for a dorsal and pectoral set, I might’ve been right there with these guys […]
According to the NYT’s Juan Forero, coca-legalization proponent and indigenous coalition leader Evo Morales just might become the next president of Bolivia.
The election of Morales in Bolivia would represent the triumph of indigenous groups over the minority white elite ruling class — as well as the rejection of what’s viewed as American imperialism and the […]
With my students in Ecuador
Kate Santich, writing in The Orlando Sentinel, surveys current research on what makes people happy — and discusses the so-called “Latino Bonus”:
One of the most intriguing finds to come out of the research so far is that Latin Americans consistently rank happier in life-satisfaction surveys than would otherwise be expected, […]
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Transitions Abroad has just published an article I wrote about how to readjust to life at home after living abroad.
In order to conquer what I’ve termed the “at-home blues” — feelings of restlessness encountered during extended time at home between trips — I suggest five tactics:
1. Start planning your next trip.
2. Surround yourself with […]
This weekend I went to see my friends Mike and Angelica — two pals from my Ecuador days. Mike and I taught English together (and traveled all over the country) while I was there between 2003 and 2004. He and Angelica got married after I left; they’ve got a delightful six-month-old daughter named Sabine and […]
AP:
SANTIAGO, Chile — Peru’s disgraced ex-President Alberto Fujimori, wanted there on human rights abuse and corruption charges, was arrested during a surprise visit to Chile, Peru’s foreign minister said late Sunday.
Fujimori, who led Peru from 1990 to 2000, has been a fugitive in his ancestral homeland Japan since he fled there in November 2000, when […]
Tourists are flocking to Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, where a volcano’s been erupting for a week.
AP:
Ousted Ecuadorean President Lucio Gutierrez said Thursday he was renouncing his asylum in Colombia and would return to his own country where he faces arrest and attempt to regain power.
“I will use all legal and constitutional means to retake power,” Gutierrez told a news conference in a Bogota hotel.
Ecuadorean Interior Minister Galo Chiriboga warned […]
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They’re partying in Quito, Cuenca, Guayaquil, Esmeraldas, and all points in between at latitude zero: Ecuador drew 0-0 at home with Uruguay yesterday to book their passage to World Cup ‘06 in Germany this summer.
Elsewhere, four teams from the African region — newcomers all — have clinched their spots: Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and […]
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Here’s a fabulous collection of unusual words from foreign languages.
Two to add: In Spanish (at least in Ecuador), the word for hangover is the Quechua-inspired chuchaqui. I always thought it sounded more like what a hangover feels like — it’s more guttural.
I don’t know how to say it, but in Mandarin Chinese, my Taiwanese students […]
BBC:
Ecuador’s ousted President, Lucio Gutierrez, who faces charges of damaging his country’s security, has requested asylum in Colombia.
The Colombian authorities have granted him a 90-day safe conduct, to give him time to make a formal request.
Mr Gutierrez, who arrived from Peru, was reportedly told at Bogota airport that there was an international warrant for […]
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Here’s an interesting — if alarmist* — assessment of a potential US military buildup in Paraguay.
(*I mean, c’mon, it’s not like our government has a history of meddling in Latin American affairs or anything.)
(Via Sploid.)
Paraguay, Chile, Nicaragua, Grenada, Venezuela, Chavez
In the rare instances when news from Ecuador trickles into the American media, it usually involves strife: another democratically-elected president outsted, indigenous protesters railing against oil companies, etc.
So you can imagine my surprise when my grandmother* recently handed me this week’s New Yorker magazine and said “hey, there’s an article about Ecuador in here.” […]
Watching America has the translation of an article from Spain about developing ties between the US and Paraguy. Interesting passage:
This was admitted by the vice president himself, who said that Secretary Rumsfeld was worried about the situation in the zone. “… We also spoke of countries closer to us in the region; they […]
The details, from the BBC:
Ecuador’s state oil company says it is suspending crude oil exports following five days of protests in two provinces that have slashed production.
Hundreds of demonstrators in Sucumbios and Orellana have occupied oil installations and airports.
What it all boils down to:
Not all sections of Ecuadoran society have benefited equally from oil […]