Posts:
Grandpa died the day after Valentine’s Day, at 9:10 a.m. on a sunny morning. He just stopped breathing and went peacefully where he belonged. Cancer had taken him over. He was never a grumpy person; he was always laughing, telling jokes, and playing tricks on...
By Minneapolis Star-Tribune Editorial Staff A frosty reception in sunny Mexico City awaited U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Wednesday, as they met with Mexican officials to talk about the implementation of the Trump...
By Marisa Kellam and Elizabeth A. Stein President Donald Trump continues to wage his self-proclaimed “running war with the media.” During yesterday’s press conference, he evaded inquiries about his campaign’s contact with Russian officials by ignoring mainstream...
By Mark Weisbrot In a shift supported and welcomed in Washington, Latin America has been moving to the right in the last year or so. Three of South America's largest economies — Brazil, Argentina, and Peru — now have right-wing presidents with close ties to Washington...
By José Hernández Rafael Correa lurches from one blunder to another. Responding to the latest corruption bombshells aimed at his administration, he appears visibly worried about the results of Sunday's election but doesn't say so. His fear was on display Saturday...
You can learn to model lucky behaviors that will give you an edge in life, without resorting to astronomy or carrying a rabbit’s foot. It’s better to be lucky than good. The large, impersonal forces that shape the economy, political movements, and ultimately the lives...
Three members of the Mexican Congress have an answer to U.S. President Donald Trump’s funding plan for his wall on the southern U.S. border. If Trump applies taxes to Mexican imports to the U.S. or to remittances sent home by Mexicans living in the U.S., the...
By the Shuar Collective In law, the Shuar Arutam People of Ecuador's Amazon control their ancestral forests. But the government has allocated more than 38% of their territory to large-scale mining, and a gigantic hydroelectric dam is about to be built. Peaceful...
The circumstances appear ideal for a conservative to win Ecuador’s presidency in 2017. The economy is in its second year of recession. Unemployment is up, as is the broader-reaching rate of under-employment. Support for President Rafael Correa has dropped below 40%,...
Commenting last week on Ecuador’s presidential campaign, one Quito journalist called it “colorless, odorless, and empty.” The reference was aimed mostly at front-runner and presumed heir apparent to President Rafael Correa, Lenin Moreno, and suggested that voters know...
According to our man in Quito, it will be a while before there’s real clarity to Ecuador’s new immigration law. And that lack of clarity will probably continue well after the law takes effect, probably in a few weeks. Jorge Duarte, who works with half a dozen Cuenca...
By Adriaan Alsema Under former President Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010), Colombia’s U.S.-backed security forces murdered more civilians than FARC guerrillas have in more than 30 years. This is the most inconvenient truth Colombia’s electorate will have to accept once a...
By Stephen Ellis Reading the reactions on social media — including those in the comments section on this website — to the new immigration law passed last week by the National Assembly, I am struck by two things. First, a lot of readers have never taken a civics class...
By Rob Gray We here at Gran Roca Farm are seriously committed to farming sustainably. As 2016 has come to a close, we wanted to look back and evaluate our "sustainability progress" and see how we were doing. But first we needed to document where we started. Going back...
To understand what’s at stake in next month’s presidential election, it's important to first consider Rafael Correa’s enormous impact on Ecuador. The election will be, in large part, a referendum on his presidency. It’s also important to understand that Correa’s...
When I worked on the staff of my university daily — ah, those many years ago — I was editor of a feature called the “Bitch Box.” There was an actual box in the newspaper office where students could drop their hand-written (how quaint) complaints about anything that...
By Alyson Penn "Tell me, what is your favorite brand of watches? Your favorite brand of chocolate? Your favorite brand of champagne?" "Now, what is your favorite brand of roses?" It is with these questions that Alejandro Henao piqued my interest when introducing me to...
By Patricia Rey Mallén Although Latin America is one of the fastest growing areas in the world, and unemployment remains relatively low, almost half of the population works informally, or "off the books." According to a report by the United Nations International Labor...
Rafael Correa is a megalomaniac, a loud-mouth, a control freak, a religious fanatic, the architect of a nanny state, a muzzler of free speech, and a court-packer. He is, by turns, intolerant, insulting, insensitive, paranoid, condescending and thin-skinned. He is also...
Ecuador’s Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion (MIES) said Wednesday that its campaign 'Give Dignity' has been reduced street begging in Ecuador by 80% since 2008. According to Cecilia Tamayo, MIES deputy director, the campaign has focused on child begging, which...
