Cuba’s socialist economy relies on tourism, which was ramped up out of necessity following the collapse of the U.S.S.R., but foreign dollars are creating a new class of Cubans The faded photograph at Havana’s Museum of the Revolution shows a group of Americans in 1950s-style bathing suits relaxing on a white-sand beach. The picture illustrates, [...]
Rich young women in heavy eye makeup and tight abayas, the over-garments worn by women in some Muslim countries, cruise in a rental car with tinted windows, a car they were able to procure by posing as men. The car is surrounded by men who, recognizing that tinted windows mean female passengers, hang placards bearing [...]
Guatemala is one of many countries that has attracted the investment of Canadian mining companies—but at what cost to its people? The town of El Estor, on the shore of Lake Izabal in eastern Guatemala, was founded at the time of the conquistadores. The lake’s strategic location on the Río Dulce, the gateway to the [...]
If lounging on a sundeck is too sedentary for you, why not try marching with the penguins? The expedition ship National Geographic Endeavour is off to the icy bottom of the world in November on a cruise led by contributors to the magazine. There you’ll find gentoo penguins at Petermann Island, as well as icebergs [...]
We promise guest workers many of the benefits Canadian citizens enjoy–until something goes wrong It was the Thursday before Easter that Henk Sikking Jr. got the doctor’s call. The 28-year-old tulip farmer was getting ready to take his crew of Mexican migrant workers grocery shopping. The workers live on his property and get around with [...]
Every year, some 18,000 Mexican and Caribbean farm workers come to toil on Canadian farms through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker program, a guest worker program that has been in existence since 1966. The farm workers remain in Canada for up to 10 months a year. Some of the participants have been coming to Canada for [...]
CHANGO’S FIRE by Ernesto Quiñonez (HarperCollins Canada), 288 pages, $33.95 cloth. Rating: NNNN When Latino writer Ernesto Quiñonez was growing up in Spanish Harlem, he used to support himself by stealing dogs and then returning them for the reward. It’s this kind of illicit economic transaction that gave him the inspiration for his novel Chango’s [...]
When Wendy Maxwell Edwards was sexually assaulted by a security officer in 2001, she reported it to the police, which set in motion a series of events that almost saw her deported. Partway through the trial the Crown decided her testimony wasn’t needed. As an immigrant from Costa Rica living in Toronto with no legal [...]
Feds forcing city to snitch on illegals using social services As the feds hint at a clampdown on churches providing sanctuary to refugees under deportation threat, a network of local orgs is pushing in exactly the opposite direction. A campaign called Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell asks the city to buck the policies of senior governments [...]
On the night that Carlos was born, his father, Urbano, walked to the nearest town, Pampa Union, in order to register his son. On his journey through the desert, he came upon a large black dog, red-eyed and wearing a gold chain, wandering through the dunes. Urbano thought he had seen the devil. Carlos grew [...]
Category: Publications