The Advocate
In Jamaica a country known as one of the most homophobic places in the world, young people are challenging the status quo of intolerance. A young man from a conservative family in rural Jamaica recently confided to me that five of his close friends are gay. He observed that although he did not share their … Read more
The Awakener
Conditions in my country Guatemala, are harsh. According to the Planning Secretariat of the Presidency of Guatemala (SEGEPLAN), as of 2006, 56.2 percent of Guatemalans are poor and 15.6 percent are extremely poor. But things are even worse for indigenous peoples, where poverty reaches 74 percent—compared to 38 percent for Ladinos (people of mixed Spanish … Read more
The Civilian Defenders
The political and ideological focus of today’s generation of Latin American youth has shifted. In the transition from military to democratic regimes, the generation of young people that came immediately afterward struggled to bridge the outdated forms of governance with the new ideas of democracy. The rewards for their struggle came in government posts, which … Read more
The Volunteers
Young social activists are playing a new role in Peru today. The previous generation of young Peruvians defined their priorities differently in response to the violence of the 1980s. Terrorist groups such as Sendero Luminoso and the Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru (MRTA) provoked heavy state repression, especially in the rural Andes and the Amazon. As … Read more
The Blogger
For the past 50 years, leadership in Cuba has been restricted to one person. As a consequence, the definition of a leader has been distorted and the dynamic of leadership skewed. The media refers to Fidel Castro as “Maximum Leader,” a phrase that connotes something perpetual, powerful and omnipresent. The term, and its widespread use, … Read more
Our Man in Haiti: Bill Clinton
Since his recent appointment as United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, former President Bill Clinton has been called, half-seriously, “president of Haiti” and “viceroy.” The lofty nicknames reflect Haitians’ belief that they have at last found a figure whose international prominence will open a new window of opportunity for this deeply troubled Caribbean nation of … Read more
Ask the Experts: The Environment
Hal Harvey Answers: The threat of climate change is our greatest environmental challenge. But the trend of increasing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases is not a fait accompli. A small number of highly effective policies can put us on track for a stable climate and a sustainable energy future. And all are … Read more
Dispatches: The Coup In Honduras
When more than 200 soldiers stormed the house of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on June 28, rousted him out of bed, and gave him a one-way ticket to Costa Rica, Latin America had a gut-wrenching sense of déjà vu. In the first successful military coup since the Cold War, the region’s long nightmare with de … Read more
Cuban Agriculture
For a country that prides itself on its scientific accomplishments, Cuba may, by necessity and desperation, have stumbled upon a modern-day economic niche that will serve it well in the future. That niche? Organic farming, the favorite of socially and health-conscious yuppies throughout the developed world. During what the government called, euphemistically, the período especial … Read more
Fat City
The planet has reached a weird moment: overweight people now outnumber those who are malnourished. Obesity, particularly among children, has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S., as has diabetes. And the problem is spreading around the globe, a plague correlated not simply with increased prosperity but with the forms of our accelerating urbanization. This doesn’t … Read more
Private Sector: Savage or Savior?
Since 1992, the Brazilian city of Cubatão has been a poster child for environmental responsibility. The United Nations even designated it as a global example of environmental recovery. But that title was won at a heavy cost. Less than a decade earlier, Cubatão, a city of 130,000 inhabitants in the state of São Paulo, was … Read more
Turn on the Lights
How we collectively produce and deliver energy, while coping with the catastrophic threat of climate change, will define our century. The challenges faced by the international community are monumental and multi-faceted. They include stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing energy security through reducing the risk of economic disruption and nuclear weapons proliferation, and eliminating the lack … Read more
Saving the Great Lakes (Again)
On June 13, 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon met in Niagara Falls, Canada, and announced plans to amend the landmark 37-year-old Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement to modernize it to meet new challenges. Residents in both countries welcomed the news—but with considerably less enthusiasm than … Read more
Land Rights and Preservation
Although Brazil is among the 15 largest economies in the world, its land policies remain stubbornly stuck in a state of limbo between the modern and the archaic. Technological advances in agriculture have turned Brazilian farms into some of the world’s most productive; yet we have continued a pattern of exploitive rural settlement that dates … Read more
What Role for Foreigners?
U.S. sporting-goods entrepreneur Douglas Tompkins first fell in love with Patagonia as a teenager on backpacking trips. Today, he is one of Latin America’s largest private landowners, controlling an estimated 2 million acres (800,000 hectares) straddling Argentina and Chile at the tip of the continent. However, the 66-year-old New York native, who founded the North … Read more
