“the rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor and there’s a mighty judgement coming, but I may be wrong” —Leonard Cohen, Tower of Song The waitress in my Panama City restaurant last night immediately asked how easy it is to immigrate to Canada and thus I regaled her with stories of eternal winter, ridiculously high prices and huge distances … yet here I am … [Read more...]
Panama
Much like a vulture, the contrived country of Panama looks like a bird of prey with a shiny head and two vibrant green wings in full span. Split in half. The canal feeds the vulture and its appetite is insatiable. Panama is the nexus between two continents and two oceans. Once a province of Greater Colombia, Panama is now one of the seven counties (excluding the two Mexican … [Read more...]
Cuban-American Relations: Feel the Thaw
Panama just hosted the Summit of the Americas April 10-12, 2015 and although there were presumably many subjects on the agenda, the headline grabber was indisputably the opening of relations between Cuba and the USA for the first time since Castro’s communists ousted the American-backed dictator, Bautista in 1959. … [Read more...]
Drugs, Prostitution & the American Dream
I expect I will continue thinking about Darien for some time to come and indeed the region shocked me. It is quite easy to understand why a road has not been punched through to Colombia. The harsh jungle does create a rather natural barrier against smuggling in all forms. What I find difficult to understand is what sort of misery one must feel they are living in. It must be … [Read more...]
