Every now and then I check up at a few of the independent media sites. Independent media tends to be left of center, which is an interesting point in itself.
In any case, in a quick skim of the Common Dreams web site, I found a few interesting articles.
First, a commentary on the president of Venezuela's social spending, which many of our leaders have criticized. One other thing the article forgets to mention is that illiteracy has virtually been eliminated from the country, as it has in Cuba. Hmm spending on the poor might actually work!
Also, the US has recently backed out of an election race to have a representative in the new United Nations Human Rights committee. This is probably for the best, as we have a horrible international human rights record, supporting terrorist governments left and right while claiming to be at war with terror. This is an embarrassment for the US, but perhaps one that will wake some of us up to our foreign policy realities.
Third, and interesting article on Wal-Mart's efforts to oppose homeland security efforts in the name of greater profit. While I'm not sure what the low-down is on some of the measures, such as how effective "smart containers" really are, the company's actions speak for themselves.
Check out the main page of Common Dreams for other commentaries and articles...there are many.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Friday, April 07, 2006
My Experiences with Tap Water and Street Food in Latin America
When I told people I was going to Guatemala last summer, most people I talked to had one of two things to say: be careful and/or don’t drink the water. Most people also didn’t know the first thing about Guatemala, including where it was. I can’t blame them. I barely knew where Guatemala was and certainly didn’t know the first thing about its history, culture, or the United States’ government’s role in their 30 year civil war, which just ended 10 years ago. So now I have learned that Guatemala is in Central America, just below Mexico and next to Belize. To the south follows El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Alter crossing from Panama into Colombia you enter South America. Here’s a map if you’re interested.
So back to the water story. I spent 5 weeks in Guatemala brushing my teeth with bottled water for fear of swallowing just a little bit. When I ordered something with ice cubes I made sure to ask if the ice was made from agua puro. I even shaved with bottled water I was so paranoid from the stories I had heard from my gringo friends and family in the states. I was convinced something really bad would happen if the water penetrated me in any way.
As for food, I was scared after reading about the potential for all sorts of diseases from undercooked or poorly washed food after reading about the health risks in Lonely Planet. It took me 4 weeks to build up the courage to eat something from one of the street vendors, which happened to be a pupusa, a Salvadoran food that I would become much better acquainted with 8 months later in El Salvador. If you’ve never had one, it’s a small, round, fat tortilla stuffed with cheese, bean, and sometimes pork or something else, and melted on a grill or sometimes, if you’re lucky, in a brick oven. It’s one of the tastiest things I’ve had in the 3 countries I’ve been to so far, although it’s hard to match a Mexican street taco with hot sauce and lime. I had my days of diarrhea in Guatemala, but nothing too bad. I never felt sick to my stomach from anything. It’s inevitable that you’re going to pick up new germs in a new place, but I didn’t phase me as much as some others. It just want to show me how different everyone’s body is in what it can take.
So after coming back home and finishing my last social work course, I headed to Mexico with the resolve to eat off the streets, which I did with zeal. Perhaps one of my most favorite activities became eating a late night taco from the cheapest street vendor I could find. Sometimes we were even lucky enough to find those 3 for a dollar hot dog deals. They’re serious about their condiments on the hot dogs down there, which usually come with ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos. I usually opted for the first two and the last. I even concocted my own 5am special when I got back to the house, a hot dog wrapped in a tortilla with the 3 condiments of choice and melted cheese as an adhesive to keep the tortilla rolled. It’s pretty sweet…don’t knock it til you try it.
Anyhow in Mexico I was still scared of the water. My friend Dan mentioned that he drank 5 glasses in Mexico when he was drunk one time, but we both agreed that the high level of alcohol must have killed the parasites because he didn’t get sick. We were, after all, studying medicine at the time and knew exactly what we were talking about. So I got up the courage to brush my teeth and shave with the faucet water, although it did have a bit of a funky smell to it. And I stopped asking if the ice cubes were made from agua puro, in Mexico called something else that I can’t remember.
I came back home for Christmas with more courage, and a theory – that it was possible to drink the water, my body just needed to become accustomed. My theory was to break my body in slowly, first taking the melted ice cube water and then working up to more. When I came to El Salvador in late January, I was still careful at first. Again, as with the last two countries, I got a little diarrhea as I was growing accustomed to the new bacteria. When I moved from San Salvador to San Francisco Chinameca in early February, I was becoming less worried about it. I ate from local places all the time. In fact, the worst diarrhea I’ve had in all three countries has come from eating at one of the American-style fast food joints. In El Salvador KFC put me on the latrine for a whole morning. In Guatemala it was the one-time trip to McDonalds and I think the same in Mexico. And I got worse diarrhea when I returned to the states and made my first meal greasy friend chicken tenders and fries from the diner. My body had apparently been accustomed to eating healthier and the Jersey grease was a shock.
So, back to my water story. I realized after a few days at the house in Chinamequita that I had been drinking the wrong Sunny D type orange drink, the one that was made with agua potable (potable water), and not the one made from agua filtrado, the “safe” kind. I even drank the refrescos made at the house with the water from the tap. This took a little getting used to, but I was never sick from it. Still, I had a theory that the reason I could drink the Sunny D potable water drinks was because they must be made with a higher standard potable water in order to sell throughout the country. Another scientific fact directly from my medical background. However, last weekend, we hiked up a volcano, which took us 5 hours to climb and another 2 and a half to descend. The view from the top was wonderful and worth the walk, but it took a lot of energy to say the least. On the way down I was parched and out of my bottled water, so I figured what the heck it was time to go for it. I took a few swigs of the potable water, which had been taken directly from the spicket in Chinamequita. A little later I drank more, maybe 15 or 20 ounces in total. I still was a little scared, but nothing happened. I have now succeeded in becoming accustomed. Of course, it’s still probably not the best water to drink, and there was a cholera outbreak in Chinamequita about 6 years ago, resulting in some deaths. But when there aren’t any other options or when I’m drinking refrescos, a juice like drink made from water and crushed fruit, I know I shouldn’t have any problems.
So, all of my talk of water and my stomach problems is to tell you about my experiences, and perhaps shed some light on the hype. Most people think you’ll outright die or get severely sick from water or food in Latin America. For many people, this indeed happens. I think I have a stronger stomach than most, probably because I don’t take as much care with washing my hands all the time before eating, vacuuming the house, or other normal US habits. It’s my theory, again, grounded in empirical medical research that I’ve become famous for in the medical community, that if you’re not overly clean in the States, you’ll build up your system a bit. Of course, I’m sure everyone’s body is different, but I think we all have the capacity to build up our systems. So when someone tells you it’s impossible to drink the water in Latin America, tell them you have a silly gringo friend named Rocky who’s been doing it for a couple months without problems. As weird as it might sound, I think this story has some consciousness-raising value. We don’t learn much about Latin America, or the rest of the world for that matter, in the States. At least, we didn’t in my K-12 experiences, and if I hadn’t studied Sociology and made an effort to read on my own, it’s possible I could have went through most of college without learning much as well. So here is one lesson, you won’t necessarily die from food on the street or water from the tap. One more stereotype we can break.
So back to the water story. I spent 5 weeks in Guatemala brushing my teeth with bottled water for fear of swallowing just a little bit. When I ordered something with ice cubes I made sure to ask if the ice was made from agua puro. I even shaved with bottled water I was so paranoid from the stories I had heard from my gringo friends and family in the states. I was convinced something really bad would happen if the water penetrated me in any way.
As for food, I was scared after reading about the potential for all sorts of diseases from undercooked or poorly washed food after reading about the health risks in Lonely Planet. It took me 4 weeks to build up the courage to eat something from one of the street vendors, which happened to be a pupusa, a Salvadoran food that I would become much better acquainted with 8 months later in El Salvador. If you’ve never had one, it’s a small, round, fat tortilla stuffed with cheese, bean, and sometimes pork or something else, and melted on a grill or sometimes, if you’re lucky, in a brick oven. It’s one of the tastiest things I’ve had in the 3 countries I’ve been to so far, although it’s hard to match a Mexican street taco with hot sauce and lime. I had my days of diarrhea in Guatemala, but nothing too bad. I never felt sick to my stomach from anything. It’s inevitable that you’re going to pick up new germs in a new place, but I didn’t phase me as much as some others. It just want to show me how different everyone’s body is in what it can take.
So after coming back home and finishing my last social work course, I headed to Mexico with the resolve to eat off the streets, which I did with zeal. Perhaps one of my most favorite activities became eating a late night taco from the cheapest street vendor I could find. Sometimes we were even lucky enough to find those 3 for a dollar hot dog deals. They’re serious about their condiments on the hot dogs down there, which usually come with ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos. I usually opted for the first two and the last. I even concocted my own 5am special when I got back to the house, a hot dog wrapped in a tortilla with the 3 condiments of choice and melted cheese as an adhesive to keep the tortilla rolled. It’s pretty sweet…don’t knock it til you try it.
Anyhow in Mexico I was still scared of the water. My friend Dan mentioned that he drank 5 glasses in Mexico when he was drunk one time, but we both agreed that the high level of alcohol must have killed the parasites because he didn’t get sick. We were, after all, studying medicine at the time and knew exactly what we were talking about. So I got up the courage to brush my teeth and shave with the faucet water, although it did have a bit of a funky smell to it. And I stopped asking if the ice cubes were made from agua puro, in Mexico called something else that I can’t remember.
I came back home for Christmas with more courage, and a theory – that it was possible to drink the water, my body just needed to become accustomed. My theory was to break my body in slowly, first taking the melted ice cube water and then working up to more. When I came to El Salvador in late January, I was still careful at first. Again, as with the last two countries, I got a little diarrhea as I was growing accustomed to the new bacteria. When I moved from San Salvador to San Francisco Chinameca in early February, I was becoming less worried about it. I ate from local places all the time. In fact, the worst diarrhea I’ve had in all three countries has come from eating at one of the American-style fast food joints. In El Salvador KFC put me on the latrine for a whole morning. In Guatemala it was the one-time trip to McDonalds and I think the same in Mexico. And I got worse diarrhea when I returned to the states and made my first meal greasy friend chicken tenders and fries from the diner. My body had apparently been accustomed to eating healthier and the Jersey grease was a shock.
So, back to my water story. I realized after a few days at the house in Chinamequita that I had been drinking the wrong Sunny D type orange drink, the one that was made with agua potable (potable water), and not the one made from agua filtrado, the “safe” kind. I even drank the refrescos made at the house with the water from the tap. This took a little getting used to, but I was never sick from it. Still, I had a theory that the reason I could drink the Sunny D potable water drinks was because they must be made with a higher standard potable water in order to sell throughout the country. Another scientific fact directly from my medical background. However, last weekend, we hiked up a volcano, which took us 5 hours to climb and another 2 and a half to descend. The view from the top was wonderful and worth the walk, but it took a lot of energy to say the least. On the way down I was parched and out of my bottled water, so I figured what the heck it was time to go for it. I took a few swigs of the potable water, which had been taken directly from the spicket in Chinamequita. A little later I drank more, maybe 15 or 20 ounces in total. I still was a little scared, but nothing happened. I have now succeeded in becoming accustomed. Of course, it’s still probably not the best water to drink, and there was a cholera outbreak in Chinamequita about 6 years ago, resulting in some deaths. But when there aren’t any other options or when I’m drinking refrescos, a juice like drink made from water and crushed fruit, I know I shouldn’t have any problems.
So, all of my talk of water and my stomach problems is to tell you about my experiences, and perhaps shed some light on the hype. Most people think you’ll outright die or get severely sick from water or food in Latin America. For many people, this indeed happens. I think I have a stronger stomach than most, probably because I don’t take as much care with washing my hands all the time before eating, vacuuming the house, or other normal US habits. It’s my theory, again, grounded in empirical medical research that I’ve become famous for in the medical community, that if you’re not overly clean in the States, you’ll build up your system a bit. Of course, I’m sure everyone’s body is different, but I think we all have the capacity to build up our systems. So when someone tells you it’s impossible to drink the water in Latin America, tell them you have a silly gringo friend named Rocky who’s been doing it for a couple months without problems. As weird as it might sound, I think this story has some consciousness-raising value. We don’t learn much about Latin America, or the rest of the world for that matter, in the States. At least, we didn’t in my K-12 experiences, and if I hadn’t studied Sociology and made an effort to read on my own, it’s possible I could have went through most of college without learning much as well. So here is one lesson, you won’t necessarily die from food on the street or water from the tap. One more stereotype we can break.
A Trip to an Ecuadorian Drug Prison
below is an email that i received from a friend currently traveling latin america. we lived in the same house for a week in mexico, met up once in el salvador, and might even run into each other again if we both make it to colombia around the same time! how interesting it is to travel, for so many reasons.
in any case, her email about her experience visiting a prison for alleged and convicted drug traffickers in quito, ecuador. i found it really interesting and thought i'd pass it along...thanks for your permission to post it pei!
-------------------
Original Email
-------------------
Greetings from the equator line!
Hola mis amigos!....I just had the most amazing day of my travels so far, and I say this without any reservations. It was definitely one of the most interesting days of my life!!! So.....today we spent the whole day visiting foreign inmates in Ecuador prisons that are in for drug trafficking. Well, fact is there are over 100 foreigners in Ecuador prisons and 99.9999999999999999999999% are in for drug trafficking or consuming.
WOMENS PRISON
Okay, so we started our day with a visit to the womens prison. It was such an awkward moment for us, there we were 5 foreigners standing around laughing and talking about the amusement factor of being able to do something like this whilst not realising that for everyone else in line this was their reality. We came bearing gifts in hand of cigarrates, tampons, pads and chocolates. The majority of persons waiting outside were men and children. The sweetest thing I saw was one man brushing his hair just before entering. Female and male visitors waited in separate lines. We are so eager to meet Zoey from Ireland. How it works is you dont have to pay anything to go in, as long as you know the name of an inmate inside. Once we were in, we were padded down thoroughly, and I mean THOROUGHLY. I distinctly remembered just after entering, seeing the jail looking with apartment complexes in poor neighbourhoods,all the guards in their full military outfit with salsa music playing in the background - at that point I thought IM IN SOUTH AMERICA DUDE!!!!!!
When Zoey first appeared, she wasnt what I was expecting. She looked like a matured lady in her 30s. We were standing in the stairways talking for a fair bit about how she got there. She was a BBC reporter who had gone to Columbia and Ecuador for the first time in her life to do a documentary on the drug trafficking business. On the day at the airport in Quito, her name was announced over the PA, she thought there was a complication with the flights or something. It turns out, they were arresting because the camera equipment was completely laced with cocaine. The three cameramen had fled the scene by then, all the bags had been checked under her name. She fainted. Whats worse, one of the men had been her best friend for the past 11yrs and the godfather of her children. All her rights were stripped. There is no law here. It was not till a month after being detained that she made her first contact with anyone, her husband. Not even the consulate up until that time. Hearing her story made our stomaches churned.
Shes been in jail for three years with a 8yr sentence. But with all hope, she will be repatriated back to Ireland next month (if not she will have to serve the remaining 5 years of her sentence). BBC has been fighting for her case hard, its been covered to the extent that it caught the attention of Oprah. But it had been blocked by Ecuador officials because of all the media exposure and public suppórt she would gain from it. She was incredibly inspirational, writing a book about her experience, staying positive the whole time. There are another 30 or so other foreign girls in there for drug trafficking, only two of them are innocent. Most of them have given up hope and succumbed to a lifestyle of an addict, choosing to live in the worst quarters of the prison because thats the only place you are allowed to do drugs. Drugs is readily available inside the jail, they are brought in by the prison guards themselves!!!! Theres no shame in that for them.
Zoey is lucky enough to be living in the quarter where living conditions are better - simply because everyone must pay for their room. There is a housing renting system inside. The most expensive room goes for US$3000. For the Ecuador women, and most of the foreigners inside, they live in rooms big enough for two ppl but fitting 8 or 9 inside, and thats not including the children that live inside the jail with their mums. The most heartbreaking thing is knowing that once these kids turn 12 they will be kicked out of the jail and become streetkids. There are little food vendors, a general store and even an ice cream stand inside the compound. Everything, everything costs money inside the jail for these women, toilet paper isnt even provided!!!!! With drugs and money of course fuels rivalries, you pay for protection if you are not part of a gang and as told by Zoey, stabbings are a daily occurence. The story of a Columbian girl not being able to pay for her food of US$4 had her eyes gauge out by a knife. The guards do not do anything about the fights.
We spent the day with Zoey talking about the whole drug business, US foreign policy is unavoidable on this issue. Judges in Ecuador are under a lot of pressure to put away anyone caught with drugs on them, proven innocence or not it doesnt matter. The fact is the US awards judges with money, visas to US if they do their job. How disgusting.
Back to the men in lines......the men in line are not necessarily there to see anyone in particular. They come bearing gifts of rice, potatoes or anything else and stand in the courtyard, if a girl wants a particular commodity she will approach him and exchange it for sex. That came as a shock to us. Inmates can then rent out rooms for US$10 for them. That was disgusting too.
When we left Zoey Savage, we were just blown away by her story, courage and her faith. She was also three months pregneant. If anyone is interested, her book is called Fight for Freedom. It will be publish in the future.
MENS PRISON
Now....after hearing the personal story of a woman inmate we headed off to the mens prison to visit a friend of Zoey. His name was Tony from Nigeria. When we arrived, it was just so creepy. When we went to the womens prison, we didnt get that feeling because it didnt look like a jail. But this, this did! Walking through the initial corridors with all the inmates lining up on the side, playing pool, eyeing us, it was uncomfortable.
Tony greeted us with his friend and they were so hospitable. Providing us with snacks and drinks. They had been waiting eagerly. His friend ran a general store from his room. This visit was distinct from the women prison in the sense that we met so so many inmates inside from every corner of the world and talked to them about the life inside the prison. Unlike the women prison, there are guns and machetes inside. The foreigners inside range from the ones that kept a very low-key profile to the ones that were well.....shifty really. The ones that have earned their respect from the locals. The shiftiest of all was definitely this guy from Canada. He didnt want to talk about his experiences but was more than willing to show us around the compounds and talk about prison life. Masima from Italy amused me, he had a smile on his face and instead of choosing to pay for a room in the well off quarter (where most of the foreigners are) - he chooses to live in the quarter with the Ecuadoreans. I talked to him quite a bit and he told me that it was better to keep your enemies closer. In both of these jails, there is so much freedom. All day long they are allowed to roam around out of their rooms - this is not what I had imagined! There are no cells with bars!!! They have cabled TVs, entertainment units, dvd players and a big prison shake em down party every two weeks when women are allowed to stay for the night. Of course, the risks are pretty high. Stabbings are a daily occurring, interestingly enough every quarter has a King, an inmate who is the unofficial authority, we were told one of them are shot two weeks ago by his own fellow inmates and there will be a vote soon for the next King. It was just so so interesting. I even met a Chinese Malaysian inside there!!!!....we met and talked with a lot of them, even the Russian mobster was there! Then we were told we should leave soon because there was going to be prison riot soon. With that, we said our goodbyes and walked out eyeing the delicious food stands inside!
All and all - we couldnt stop talking it all in the cab ride back home. It felt so surreal, especially being in the mens prison. It was a dangerous place to be, for us girls it was fine - we just got undressing looks and whistles but the guys well, they were freaked out being fronted by some of the inmates. There are no guarantees inside. But, that is one thing that I can tick off my list of things to do after reading the book Marching Powder. Although, set in Bolivia this came pretty close to it. These societies are fucked enough on the outside, seeing it in the inside (its a jungle!!!!!) we all came away asking each other so how long do you think you would be able to survive in here?...
Sorry this has been long - but I felt compelled to write about my amazing day before it slipped from my mind. Thanks for reading guys!
in any case, her email about her experience visiting a prison for alleged and convicted drug traffickers in quito, ecuador. i found it really interesting and thought i'd pass it along...thanks for your permission to post it pei!
-------------------
Original Email
-------------------
Greetings from the equator line!
Hola mis amigos!....I just had the most amazing day of my travels so far, and I say this without any reservations. It was definitely one of the most interesting days of my life!!! So.....today we spent the whole day visiting foreign inmates in Ecuador prisons that are in for drug trafficking. Well, fact is there are over 100 foreigners in Ecuador prisons and 99.9999999999999999999999% are in for drug trafficking or consuming.
WOMENS PRISON
Okay, so we started our day with a visit to the womens prison. It was such an awkward moment for us, there we were 5 foreigners standing around laughing and talking about the amusement factor of being able to do something like this whilst not realising that for everyone else in line this was their reality. We came bearing gifts in hand of cigarrates, tampons, pads and chocolates. The majority of persons waiting outside were men and children. The sweetest thing I saw was one man brushing his hair just before entering. Female and male visitors waited in separate lines. We are so eager to meet Zoey from Ireland. How it works is you dont have to pay anything to go in, as long as you know the name of an inmate inside. Once we were in, we were padded down thoroughly, and I mean THOROUGHLY. I distinctly remembered just after entering, seeing the jail looking with apartment complexes in poor neighbourhoods,all the guards in their full military outfit with salsa music playing in the background - at that point I thought IM IN SOUTH AMERICA DUDE!!!!!!
When Zoey first appeared, she wasnt what I was expecting. She looked like a matured lady in her 30s. We were standing in the stairways talking for a fair bit about how she got there. She was a BBC reporter who had gone to Columbia and Ecuador for the first time in her life to do a documentary on the drug trafficking business. On the day at the airport in Quito, her name was announced over the PA, she thought there was a complication with the flights or something. It turns out, they were arresting because the camera equipment was completely laced with cocaine. The three cameramen had fled the scene by then, all the bags had been checked under her name. She fainted. Whats worse, one of the men had been her best friend for the past 11yrs and the godfather of her children. All her rights were stripped. There is no law here. It was not till a month after being detained that she made her first contact with anyone, her husband. Not even the consulate up until that time. Hearing her story made our stomaches churned.
Shes been in jail for three years with a 8yr sentence. But with all hope, she will be repatriated back to Ireland next month (if not she will have to serve the remaining 5 years of her sentence). BBC has been fighting for her case hard, its been covered to the extent that it caught the attention of Oprah. But it had been blocked by Ecuador officials because of all the media exposure and public suppórt she would gain from it. She was incredibly inspirational, writing a book about her experience, staying positive the whole time. There are another 30 or so other foreign girls in there for drug trafficking, only two of them are innocent. Most of them have given up hope and succumbed to a lifestyle of an addict, choosing to live in the worst quarters of the prison because thats the only place you are allowed to do drugs. Drugs is readily available inside the jail, they are brought in by the prison guards themselves!!!! Theres no shame in that for them.
Zoey is lucky enough to be living in the quarter where living conditions are better - simply because everyone must pay for their room. There is a housing renting system inside. The most expensive room goes for US$3000. For the Ecuador women, and most of the foreigners inside, they live in rooms big enough for two ppl but fitting 8 or 9 inside, and thats not including the children that live inside the jail with their mums. The most heartbreaking thing is knowing that once these kids turn 12 they will be kicked out of the jail and become streetkids. There are little food vendors, a general store and even an ice cream stand inside the compound. Everything, everything costs money inside the jail for these women, toilet paper isnt even provided!!!!! With drugs and money of course fuels rivalries, you pay for protection if you are not part of a gang and as told by Zoey, stabbings are a daily occurence. The story of a Columbian girl not being able to pay for her food of US$4 had her eyes gauge out by a knife. The guards do not do anything about the fights.
We spent the day with Zoey talking about the whole drug business, US foreign policy is unavoidable on this issue. Judges in Ecuador are under a lot of pressure to put away anyone caught with drugs on them, proven innocence or not it doesnt matter. The fact is the US awards judges with money, visas to US if they do their job. How disgusting.
Back to the men in lines......the men in line are not necessarily there to see anyone in particular. They come bearing gifts of rice, potatoes or anything else and stand in the courtyard, if a girl wants a particular commodity she will approach him and exchange it for sex. That came as a shock to us. Inmates can then rent out rooms for US$10 for them. That was disgusting too.
When we left Zoey Savage, we were just blown away by her story, courage and her faith. She was also three months pregneant. If anyone is interested, her book is called Fight for Freedom. It will be publish in the future.
MENS PRISON
Now....after hearing the personal story of a woman inmate we headed off to the mens prison to visit a friend of Zoey. His name was Tony from Nigeria. When we arrived, it was just so creepy. When we went to the womens prison, we didnt get that feeling because it didnt look like a jail. But this, this did! Walking through the initial corridors with all the inmates lining up on the side, playing pool, eyeing us, it was uncomfortable.
Tony greeted us with his friend and they were so hospitable. Providing us with snacks and drinks. They had been waiting eagerly. His friend ran a general store from his room. This visit was distinct from the women prison in the sense that we met so so many inmates inside from every corner of the world and talked to them about the life inside the prison. Unlike the women prison, there are guns and machetes inside. The foreigners inside range from the ones that kept a very low-key profile to the ones that were well.....shifty really. The ones that have earned their respect from the locals. The shiftiest of all was definitely this guy from Canada. He didnt want to talk about his experiences but was more than willing to show us around the compounds and talk about prison life. Masima from Italy amused me, he had a smile on his face and instead of choosing to pay for a room in the well off quarter (where most of the foreigners are) - he chooses to live in the quarter with the Ecuadoreans. I talked to him quite a bit and he told me that it was better to keep your enemies closer. In both of these jails, there is so much freedom. All day long they are allowed to roam around out of their rooms - this is not what I had imagined! There are no cells with bars!!! They have cabled TVs, entertainment units, dvd players and a big prison shake em down party every two weeks when women are allowed to stay for the night. Of course, the risks are pretty high. Stabbings are a daily occurring, interestingly enough every quarter has a King, an inmate who is the unofficial authority, we were told one of them are shot two weeks ago by his own fellow inmates and there will be a vote soon for the next King. It was just so so interesting. I even met a Chinese Malaysian inside there!!!!....we met and talked with a lot of them, even the Russian mobster was there! Then we were told we should leave soon because there was going to be prison riot soon. With that, we said our goodbyes and walked out eyeing the delicious food stands inside!
All and all - we couldnt stop talking it all in the cab ride back home. It felt so surreal, especially being in the mens prison. It was a dangerous place to be, for us girls it was fine - we just got undressing looks and whistles but the guys well, they were freaked out being fronted by some of the inmates. There are no guarantees inside. But, that is one thing that I can tick off my list of things to do after reading the book Marching Powder. Although, set in Bolivia this came pretty close to it. These societies are fucked enough on the outside, seeing it in the inside (its a jungle!!!!!) we all came away asking each other so how long do you think you would be able to survive in here?...
Sorry this has been long - but I felt compelled to write about my amazing day before it slipped from my mind. Thanks for reading guys!
Who was Ben Linder?
a story i just came across...worth reading...
Who was Ben Linder?
Benjamin Ernest Linder (July 7, 1959—April 28, 1987), born in California, was a young American engineer who was killed in an ambush on April 28, 1987, by a group of CIA-funded Contras while working on a small hydroelectric dam that was to bring electricity and running water to a village in the middle of Nicaragua's war zone. Linder's death made front-page headlines around the world and polarized opinion in the United States.
Linder graduated from the University of Washington in 1983 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He left his Oregon home that summer and moved to Managua. In 1986, Linder moved from Managua to El Cuá, a village in the Nicaraguan war zone, where he helped form a team to build a hydroplant to bring electricity to the town.
Linder and two Nicaraguans -- Sergio Hernández and Pablo Rosales -- were killed in the Contra ambush while working at the construction site for a new dam for the nearby village of San José de Bocay. The autopsy showed that Linder was first wounded by a grenade, then shot at point-blank range in the head. The two Nicaraguans were also murdered at close range, Rosales by a stab wound in the heart.
Linder's electrification project was typical of Contra targets. Near El Cuá, the agricultural cooperative of El Cedro had been attacked three times resulting in a number of deaths. On March 19, 1987, four coop members tried to fend off a Contra attack, providing cover for residents as they escaped. Two of them were killed, one a close friend of Linder's. The health clinic at the coop, its food supply center, and a house were burned to the ground.
The ambush was a deliberate strategy on the part of the Contras to undermine support for the Sandinistas by engaging in a campaign of sabotage against the nation's economy, and demonstrating the cost to the people if they continued to support their government.
The murder of Linder and the growing distaste in the U.S. for the covert war in Nicaragua finally led to the U.S. Congress prohibiting military aid to the Contras. But the Contra attacks, conscription into the army, the complete U.S. economic embargo on the impoverished country, and the Sandinista response of eliminating civil liberties in the mid-1980s all combined to cause the defeat of the FSLN in February 1990 elections.
In July 1995, Joan Kruckewitt, an American journalist who lived in Nicaragua from 1983 to 1991 and covered the war between the Sandinistas and the Contras for ABC Radio, located and interviewed one of the men who killed Ben Linder. The story became the basis for an article in The New Yorker and was later expanded into a book, The Death of Ben Linder.
Benjamin Linder, Sergio Hernández, y Pablo Rosales, presente!
Who was Ben Linder?
Benjamin Ernest Linder (July 7, 1959—April 28, 1987), born in California, was a young American engineer who was killed in an ambush on April 28, 1987, by a group of CIA-funded Contras while working on a small hydroelectric dam that was to bring electricity and running water to a village in the middle of Nicaragua's war zone. Linder's death made front-page headlines around the world and polarized opinion in the United States.
Linder graduated from the University of Washington in 1983 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He left his Oregon home that summer and moved to Managua. In 1986, Linder moved from Managua to El Cuá, a village in the Nicaraguan war zone, where he helped form a team to build a hydroplant to bring electricity to the town.
Linder and two Nicaraguans -- Sergio Hernández and Pablo Rosales -- were killed in the Contra ambush while working at the construction site for a new dam for the nearby village of San José de Bocay. The autopsy showed that Linder was first wounded by a grenade, then shot at point-blank range in the head. The two Nicaraguans were also murdered at close range, Rosales by a stab wound in the heart.
Linder's electrification project was typical of Contra targets. Near El Cuá, the agricultural cooperative of El Cedro had been attacked three times resulting in a number of deaths. On March 19, 1987, four coop members tried to fend off a Contra attack, providing cover for residents as they escaped. Two of them were killed, one a close friend of Linder's. The health clinic at the coop, its food supply center, and a house were burned to the ground.
The ambush was a deliberate strategy on the part of the Contras to undermine support for the Sandinistas by engaging in a campaign of sabotage against the nation's economy, and demonstrating the cost to the people if they continued to support their government.
The murder of Linder and the growing distaste in the U.S. for the covert war in Nicaragua finally led to the U.S. Congress prohibiting military aid to the Contras. But the Contra attacks, conscription into the army, the complete U.S. economic embargo on the impoverished country, and the Sandinista response of eliminating civil liberties in the mid-1980s all combined to cause the defeat of the FSLN in February 1990 elections.
In July 1995, Joan Kruckewitt, an American journalist who lived in Nicaragua from 1983 to 1991 and covered the war between the Sandinistas and the Contras for ABC Radio, located and interviewed one of the men who killed Ben Linder. The story became the basis for an article in The New Yorker and was later expanded into a book, The Death of Ben Linder.
Benjamin Linder, Sergio Hernández, y Pablo Rosales, presente!
Protecting Immigrants from Dying of Heat Deaths
Click the above link to read the petition, and use their online form to send a quick email to the regulating agency to make the temporary heat protections permanent before they meet on April 20th to discuss the issue.
Also, check out the story on the massive protests in Los Angeles for the new immigration bill.
Also, check out the story on the massive protests in Los Angeles for the new immigration bill.
A Basic Primer on the Israel-Palestine Conflict
I recently read a primer on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I have to admit, this was the first of in-depth information I had read on the conflict, and I was appalled by the consistent actions that the US has taken in the past 40 years to undermine real chances at an end to the violence and democratic change. In the process, we have created one of the largest and dangerous nuclear and otherwise military powers in the world. I was also shocked to learn about the consistent killing, including massacres, of innocent Palestinians. We have probably all seen news footage about Palestinian suicide bombers. This is of course wrong and unfortunate, and many innocent Israeli Jewish inviduals have died because of this. However, the impression I'm getting from various sources is that the Israeli military occupation and related actions have been responsible for the majority of violence over the years, and have sparked retaliation from a desparate community lacking sufficient resources to play by the same military rules as the military superpower that is Israel.
The primer is free online and is written in the format of Frequently Asked Questions and answers. It's written in language that makes it easily understandable even for someone completely new to reading about the conflict. It is written from the perspective of international law, but clearly leans towards the Palestinian viewpoint. However, the information is grounded in events that have passed and international law that is verifiable. It's a great start. Below is an example of one of the questions and answers.
Question
Why is there so much violence in the Middle East? Isn't there violence on both sides?
Answer
The violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories has come from both sides. Its human tragedies are equally devastating for all victims and all their families. Innocents, including children, have been killed on and by both sides, and both sides have violated international law. But the violence by Israelis and by Palestinians is not an equal opportunity killer, it does not have the same roots, nor are the two sides culpable in the same way.
Palestinians in the territories live under Israeli military occupation. They are not citizens of Israel or of any state, and have no rights of protest or redress. The occupation is a violent daily reality, in which Israeli soldiers, checkpoints, tanks, helicopter gunships, and F-16 fighter jets control every aspect of Palestinian lives, and have recently brought social, family and economic life to a virtual halt. In summer 2002 the U.S. Agency for International Development determined that Palestinian children living in the occupied territories faced malnutrition at one of the highest levels in the world--higher than in Somalia and Bangladesh. The occupation has been in place since 1967, although the current period has seen perhaps the most intense Israeli stranglehold on Palestinian life, and the highest levels of violence. What we often hear described simply as "the violence" in the Middle East cannot be understood without an understanding of what military occupation means.
Violence is central to maintaining Israel's military occupation. It is carried out primarily by Israeli military forces and Israeli settlers in the occupied territories who are themselves armed by the Israeli military, and its victims include some Palestinian militants and a large majority of Palestinian civilians, including many children. Because military occupation is itself illegal, all Israeli violence in the occupied territories stands in violation of international law--specifically the Geneva Conventions that identify the obligations of an occupying power to protect the occupied population.
Palestinian violence is the violence of resistance, and has escalated as conditions of life and loss of hope breed greater desperation. It is carried out primarily by individual Palestinians and those linked to small armed factions, and is aimed mostly at military checkpoints, soldiers, and settlers in the occupied territories; recently more attacks, particularly suicide bombings, have been launched inside Israel, many of which have targeted civilian gathering places. Those attacks, targeting civilians, are themselves a violation of international law. But the overall right of an occupied population to resist a foreign military occupation, including through use of arms against military targets, is recognized as lawful under international law.
The primer is free online and is written in the format of Frequently Asked Questions and answers. It's written in language that makes it easily understandable even for someone completely new to reading about the conflict. It is written from the perspective of international law, but clearly leans towards the Palestinian viewpoint. However, the information is grounded in events that have passed and international law that is verifiable. It's a great start. Below is an example of one of the questions and answers.
Question
Why is there so much violence in the Middle East? Isn't there violence on both sides?
Answer
The violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories has come from both sides. Its human tragedies are equally devastating for all victims and all their families. Innocents, including children, have been killed on and by both sides, and both sides have violated international law. But the violence by Israelis and by Palestinians is not an equal opportunity killer, it does not have the same roots, nor are the two sides culpable in the same way.
Palestinians in the territories live under Israeli military occupation. They are not citizens of Israel or of any state, and have no rights of protest or redress. The occupation is a violent daily reality, in which Israeli soldiers, checkpoints, tanks, helicopter gunships, and F-16 fighter jets control every aspect of Palestinian lives, and have recently brought social, family and economic life to a virtual halt. In summer 2002 the U.S. Agency for International Development determined that Palestinian children living in the occupied territories faced malnutrition at one of the highest levels in the world--higher than in Somalia and Bangladesh. The occupation has been in place since 1967, although the current period has seen perhaps the most intense Israeli stranglehold on Palestinian life, and the highest levels of violence. What we often hear described simply as "the violence" in the Middle East cannot be understood without an understanding of what military occupation means.
Violence is central to maintaining Israel's military occupation. It is carried out primarily by Israeli military forces and Israeli settlers in the occupied territories who are themselves armed by the Israeli military, and its victims include some Palestinian militants and a large majority of Palestinian civilians, including many children. Because military occupation is itself illegal, all Israeli violence in the occupied territories stands in violation of international law--specifically the Geneva Conventions that identify the obligations of an occupying power to protect the occupied population.
Palestinian violence is the violence of resistance, and has escalated as conditions of life and loss of hope breed greater desperation. It is carried out primarily by individual Palestinians and those linked to small armed factions, and is aimed mostly at military checkpoints, soldiers, and settlers in the occupied territories; recently more attacks, particularly suicide bombings, have been launched inside Israel, many of which have targeted civilian gathering places. Those attacks, targeting civilians, are themselves a violation of international law. But the overall right of an occupied population to resist a foreign military occupation, including through use of arms against military targets, is recognized as lawful under international law.
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