Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Zetas drug cartel was formed by ex-special forces soldiers. It now has more than 10,000 men under arms. And a deserved reputation for unspeakable violence in its drive to dominate the lucrative drug trade with the US
This republished piece, from 1920, sees Hemingway observe the behaviour of Toronto's opportunistic mayor at a local boxing bout. More great stuff from the Toronto Star's new Hemingway Papers project
Charter cities: "Economic zones founded on the land of poor countries but governed with the legal and political system of rich ones." Model comes from 19C colonialism. Does it still work? Honduras will give it a try
"Brazil's economic rise forces it to deal with a problem it long regarded as the sole concern of rich countries like the US: The need to secure its borders and slow down a flood of drugs, illegal immigrants and other contraband"
Central and South American leaders are bracing themselves to break with the United States and abandon the "war on drugs". They can't win it. The costs are too great. What follows? Perhaps legalisation for marijuana, at least
In 1791, a mass insurrection broke out among Haiti's slaves. Today it is almost forgotten, and yet it shaped history almost as deeply as the two 18th century revolutions with which we are far more familiar – those of 1776 and 1789
Not to say much of its territory—about half of it in the 200 years since independence, owing to a concatenation of ill-judged treaties and small wars embarked upon by "a seemingly interminable procession of tin-pot dictators"
British were right to fight, but wrong not to make some compromise with newly democratic Argentina in the years that followed—for example, by agreeing to share revenues from offshore oil, or to transfer legal sovereignty
5,000 women murdered since 2000. Only 2% of cases get to court. Abuse of women probably worst in Central America, which is saying something. A 36-year civil war ended in 1996, culture of violence still part of everyday life.
A wall won't work. US-Mexico border is better understood as a "complex interrelationship of immigration laws, cyberspace money transfers, and international business connections". Tackle this if you want to tackle the problem (PDF)
If you're a Venezuelan in US major league baseball, you'd better be ready to buy some security at home. Family members get kidnapped for ransom. And so, now, might you. It happened to Wilson Ramos of the Washington Nationals
Gary Doer was a popular premier of Manitoba, widely seen as a green crusader. Then he became Canada's ambassador to the US. Now he's changed his tune, promoting Alberta's tar-sands industry. Good read, even for non-Canadians
