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Bush Visits Guatemala
Last week President Bush visited various Latin American countries, including Columbia, Brazil and Guatemala.
Here is what MSM (mainstream media) and the blogosphere say about the trip. Tough crowd. Tough crowd.
- Spring break from the Economist
Expectations are low as George Bush sets off to a region he has neglected throughout much of his presidencyHere is a letter to the Editor from the Foreign minister of Guatemala in response to comments madethe above article
Why Mr Bush paid a call
SIR – You said that George Bush’s visit to Guatemala was “largely to thank the government for joining America’s ‘coalition of the willing’ in Iraq†(“Spring breakâ€, March 3rd). In fact, Guatemala was the only country in Central America that did not join the “coalition of the willing†in the absence of a UN Security Council resolution sanctioning the use of force in Iraq.
We would like to think that President Bush’s stop in our country was partly because Guatemala has had such a compelling story to tell since the signing of the 1996 peace accords. While still facing difficult challenges, we have made progress towards becoming a pluralist, democratic society. It is well known that the United States has not always been an objective bystander in domestic events, but I am happy to confirm the point you made that in more recent times our bilateral relationship has been very constructive and mutually respectful.
Gert Rosenthal
Foreign minister of Guatemala
Guatemala City - Guatemala: Photos from indigenous protest of Bush visit from Boing Boing
Read the text of the post for some commentary from Allen Sullivan, the photojournalist who snapped the shots.
- Latin America Trip Not Entirely Business as Usual from NPR
Bonus Latin American Story:
Banana profits went to terrorists from Foreign Policy Blog
Banana companies, like Chiquita, have had to pay protection money to terrorist orgs to prevent their employees from being murdered or harassed.
Kerry Event (This Moment on Earth Part IV)
Okay this is the last post on yesterday’s book talk/signing with the Kerry’s. Now we’ve come to the Q&A which had a lot of great questions.
1. Will Kerry change his position on the Cafe Wind Farm and not wait for the Minerals Management Service (MMS)?
His current position:
Seed banks and frozen zoos
I’m sort of fascinated by this:
Millennium Seed Bank
The San Diego Zoo’s Frozen Zoo
So let me put my biases on the table before I begin the discussion. I’m black, a nice chocolaty black, not so black that I’m purple, but black. In the black community as in many communities around the world, lighter skin is viewed favorably particularly in women. There is the whole “lighter is brighter” thing plus the “good hair vs. bad hair” thing. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, watch Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever, particularly the scene with the women are having a pow wow. Anyhoo, that’s where I’m coming from when I read about the Fair and Lovely Debate being played out between C.K. Prahalad and Aneel Karnani from U. of Michigan. See these posts from Salon’s HTWW () and NextBillion.net () for a summary.
Here are a few questions the whole debate made me think of:
1) Is it progress when a person purchases a product that allows them to rise above their station when the underlying discrimination that determines their station doesn’t change?
This is one of those questions is that much better with examples as my answers definitely vary.
Example 1: A person with a thick Mancunian accent gets elocution language to sound posh like Lady Di.
Okay, that seems fair enough. Sure it would be nice if all regional accents were equal (some are actually quite lyrical) but that doesn’t bother me too much. It saddens me because diversity is lost, but it doesn’t really bug me.
Example 2: A
Example 3: A person with dark skin buys Fair and Lovely to lighten their skin.
Now that really bothers me. I was trying to figure out why aside from the obvious reasons.
2) Is it empowerment when people who would not have dared to try to “pass” can buy things that allow them to do so now?
I think it is in that people are recognizing the racist system in which they live and doing what they can do get by within it. It is crafty and from the buyer’s side is a smart move.
3) Is it an example that I would use to illustrate the success of the BOP concept?
Uh no. It’s creepy. However you slice it and regale the customer’s rationale choices, Unilever is making a profit off the fact that a certain type of racism/classism exists in India and other places. Ew. Yes it is a product that the people want, but ew just the same. Sure, I probably would be less bothered if it were any other cosmetic and yes I am sensitive about this issue, but still.
Ask and you shall receive?
Hey folks,
I’m putting an all call out there to our friends and supporters. As you may know, we’re a young organization (we’re entering our third year of existence. Hurray!). We’re up and coming and have accomplished ALOT given a) how small and b) how young we are. We’re starting to have a bit of momentum in terms of getting our name out there, but we need your help.
So I want to ask you all a favor. If you believe in what we are trying to do and what to help us grow and build, please take 5 minutes out to tell four of your friends about us. You all are our best advocates and we need you to make our dream of getting green and renewable technologies to the rural poor a reality.
Click here to help us Spread the Word.
Other ways you can help
If you are signed up with Technorati, write a where’s the fire post about us: http://www.technorati.com/wtf?new&topic=AIDG. That would be a huge help!
If you have your own blog or website and want to help us with our 6 degrees campaign, post this charity badge on your site. The group with the most donors (not the most cash) by March 31st can get a $10,000 matching grant from Kevin Bacon.
http://www.networkforgood.org/pca/PersonalCharityBadge.aspx?pcaid=102749
Thanks so much for that taking this journey with us.
Warm regards,
Cat
