I have often despaired at the way in which seemingly progressive leaders in Latin and South America show great initial promise and then drift into an autocracy not unlike their conservative counterparts. I was pondering this the other day when reading about Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known commonly as
Continue readingTag: Nicaragua
The Disaffected Lib: Where the Rubber Meets the Road – Climate Migration – Central America
Imagine Central America empty. Not exactly empty but heavily depopulated. Think of it as climate change for the Americas. It’s been coming for a while, several years in fact. A variety of plagues from gang violence to devastating severe weather events and food shortages has resulted in Central Americans in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: News Satire: U.S. will not tolerate foreigners acting like Americans, officials say
ILLUSTRATIONS: A map showing some of the countries in which the United States has interfered in the political process (grabbed from Geology.com). Below: U.S. CIA Director John O. Brennan, Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candid…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Plenty. When construction crews begin digging a new canal this month across Nicaragua, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic, it’ll be a boon to global shipping and, the government says, to the economy of the second-poorest nation in the Americas. But activists, scientists and others are increasingly alarmed by the environmental
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Video: Inside the Nicaraguan Maquilas
OPSEU is engaged in solidarity work that extends well beyond our borders. In February we travelled with Cobourg’s Horizons of Friendship to look at development projects in Nicaragua. Our 9-part BLOG has been well received, and there is a possibility of an … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Nicaragua Day 9: “From Misery to Poverty”
MANAGUA – At 5:30 am the sun is rising over the Las Mercedes industrial park. The walkway into the park is long, at times multiple railings appear as if organizing queues for a theme park. On either side is a … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Day 5: The other Nicaragua
The lobster fisherman of Puerto Carvaza don’t take boats out and cast traps in into the sea. Instead they take groups of men out in boats to dive into the sea to catch the lobsters by hand. It may be … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Nicaragua Day 2: A sense of persistence against tremendous odds
The entire bus erupted with laughter when the guide suggested that Canada was a balanced country. The young Nicaraguan was trying to describe how Nicaragua had skittered from the “dictatorship” of Anastasio Somoza to the “dictatorship” of the Sandinistas. Canada … Continue reading →
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