-
-
Our man in Havana
Alan Gross, a 62-year-old US citizen, has been imprisoned in Cuba since December 2009. He fell foul of the authorities while working for USAID, liaising with Cuba’s small Jewish community. The Washington Post earlier this month demanded his release, saying that ‘Cuba’s accusations stem from Mr Gross’s humanitarian work’. When he was convicted for ‘acts…
-
Costa Rica puts its eco-reputation at risk
Known as one of the originators of eco-tourism, and appearing a very creditable third in a world index of sustainability, Costa Rica has a reputation to maintain. Its tourism industry, based around the country’s slogan ‘No artificial ingredients’, is worth over £2bn annually, more than its coffee and banana exports combined. Though the smallest country…
-
-
-
-
Brazil ♥ India
Britain may have invented the soap opera but nowhere has the format been promoted more vigorously than in Latin America. For decades, telenovelas have been produced in Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina and elsewhere, and viewed by hundreds of millions daily from Mexico City to Buenos Aires. Their reach extends to the US and (on a more…
-
An Open Letter to David Brooks on Haiti
Dear Mr. Brooks, In your January 15, 2010, opinion piece in The New York Times, The Underlying Tragedy, you present what you seem to believe is a bold assessment of the situation in Haiti and what you certainly know is a provocative recommendation for Haiti’s future. You also offer some advice to President Obama. In…
-
Letter from Cuba
The old car was typical of Cuba. This time it wasn’t a half-century old Chevrolet, but a slightly younger and less glamorous Lada. Broken door handles and window-winders had been replaced by locally-made spares; the road was visible through a hole below the driver’s legs, ventilation came from a desk-top fan clamped to the dashboard. …
-
Book Review: Planet of Slums by Mike Davis
If you have ever worried that we might be concreting over south-east England, this book could be a useful antidote. The problem is not in Greater London. If anywhere is being concreted over, it’s Mexico City, Mumbai, Sao Paulo and the many other southern cities that have grown tenfold in just fifty years.