Michael Jacobs explored the length of the Andes from the lush jungles in northern Colombia to the snow-covered peaks of Argentina’s southernmost tip.
Travel Writer Michael Jacobs Does Justice to the Andes
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Obama’s Dirty Energy Fixation
As radioactivity levels continue to spike in Fukushima, Obama’s support for nuclear power is unwavering.
Obama in Latin America: Another Missed Opportunity
U.S. President Barack Obama’s most audacious phrase during his trip to Latin America that ended this week was “We are all Americans. Todos somos Americanos.” The phrase seemed designed to provoke rants from the right wing in the United States. But in fact, the right wing and the mainstream media largely overlooked Obama’s tour.
Taking Advantage of Chile’s Moment in the Sun to Commemorate Letelier and Moffitt
The namesakes of the IPS Letelier-Moffit Human Rights Award were murdered in perhaps the first terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
Earthquake Olympics
The survivors of the devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Chile are still scrambling to deal with the damage. Here, however, pundits are still scrambling to explain the dramatic difference in impact. Haiti’s quake on January 12 came in at 7.0 on the Richter scale, leveled the capital city, and left more than 200,000 dead. Chile’s earthquake on February 27 registered a magnitude of 8.8, which means it was 500 times more powerful than the Haiti shock. But fewer than 1,000 Chileans died, and the damage to buildings was considerably less.
Postcard From…Chile
Tremendous effort is underway to rebuild Chile after it was hit on February 27 by an 8.8-magnitiute earthquake. This tragedy was followed by seven-meter high tsunami and several less devastating after-shocks. The coastal city of Constitucion and the resort town of Iloca lie in ruins, while much of the historic center of the city of Curico is either damaged or destroyed. It’s believed that around 550 people died overall.
Chile Turns Right?
The Chilean right-wing is salivating.
Buoyed by a better-than-expected showing in mid-December’s first-round presidential voting, conservative candidate and billionaire business magnate Sebastián Piñera is the frontrunner to triumph when Chileans return to the polls on January 17.
Why Bolivia Matters
Bolivia’s National Palace is a classic colonial building that sits on the pigeon-filled Plaza Murillo in downtown La Paz. It’s more often called the “Palacio Quemado” or “Burned Palace” because it’s been set on fire repeatedly by dissidents of one stripe or another over the centuries since Bolivia gained its fragile independence. Today, painted a cheery yellow, it stands as reminder of a conflictive past and a fresh future.
Release Secret Documents Now
Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet’s death robbed his victims and their families of the chance to obtain full justice. But they can still pursue the full truth. And the U.S. government can help.
Hurricane Milton
While economists laud the recently deceased Milton Friedman for being Âa champion of freedom whose work transformed economics and changed the world, as a full-page advertisement in the New York Times put it, people in the South will remember the University of Chicago professor as the eye of a human hurricane that cut a swath of destruction through their economies. For them, Friedman will long be associated with two things: free-market reform in Chile and Âstructural adjustment in the developing world.