article from May 11, 2012
by Julie R Butler
Argentina: Dignified
death law
The Argentine Senate has approved a “dignified death” law by
a vote of 55-0, with 17 abstentions. The law was already passed in the Lower House
last year. It eliminates the need for family members to find a judge who would
sign a court order to refuse treatment or put an end to life-support.
Medical ethicists assure that removing feeding tubes is more
humane than force-feeding the dying because the human body naturally shuts down
its systems and can even induce feelings of euphoria that make the passing more
calm and comfortable. Euthanasia is expressly prohibited by the new law, and
the patient or representative must have signed document stating their wishes
before a notary and two witnesses.
The Andes: Quinoa
exports soar
Quinoa, a grain-like member of the spinach family, has been
grown for food in the Andean regions of Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia
for thousands of years. It is high in protein and has an excellent amino acid
profile and good amounts of calcium, iron, and phosphorous. Like many
indigenous foods, it was once looked down upon as “Indian food,” fit only for
the poorest of the poor. But now, it has become a profitable cash crop for Peru
and Bolivia, with a growing market in industrialized nations.
While this is good news for the farmers of these countries,
it also raises several concerns. Suitable land is scarce in regions of Bolivia,
causing violence over land claims. Another issue is that all of this nutritious
food will be exported, leaving none left for the poorest of the poor.
Paraguay: Widespread
flooding
Devastating floods began to hit the Chaco region of western
Paraguay in mid-April. Some areas could not even accommodate emergency
helicopters because of a lack of dry land.
The Paraguayan Chaco is nicknamed “Infierno Verde” (Green Hell), due to its extreme weather. The heat
in the summer is intense, and the agriculture in the region has been plagued by
extended droughts in recent years.
Heavy rains there continued through the end of the month,
causing the affected area to spread to the capital city of Asunción, the latest region to have
been declared a “state of emergency” due to flooding along the banks of the Río
Paraguay.
As of April 29, 1,000 people had to be evacuated in Asunción and about 500 in Concepción, 570
km from the capital, while some 70,000 have been displaced in the Chaco.
Chile: Piñera, polls, and police
Recent news out of Chile serves as the perfect follow-up to
the point I made recently in my article about the "Red Diaper Baby."
First, there is the recent polling that has Piñera’s approval rating
dipping lower than it
has ever been since he became president of Chile in 2010. This,
despite the healthy economy, as food and fuel prices have fallen over the past
few weeks. Political scientist Jose Viacava says that Chileans want more than
good economic indicators; they are pushing for deeper reform in the country’s
political and economic model. At least the president can take solace in the
fact that the Concertación, the
center-left opposition party, fares even worse in the polls. Perhaps part of
the reason for so much discontent is that the carabineros spent US$6.7 million on 10 new riot control vehicles
equipped with water cannons, feeding directly into the point that education
reform activist, Camila Vallejo, was making in her response, as
reported by The New York Times, to Piñera’s comment that “nothing in life is free. Someone has to
pay”:
“Obviously someone has to pay, but there’s no reason why it
must be families financing between 80 and 100 percent of it.” Why not the state
— through taxes on large corporations, the nationalization of resources, a
reduction in financing for the military? When yet another march ended in
violence, Vallejo and her fellow students collected hundreds of tear-gas shells
and brought them to La Moneda. “Here are more than 50 million pesos worth of
tear-gas bombs,” announced Vallejo, money, she said, that could have been spent
on education. Students formed the shells into a peace sign on the plaza, and
Vallejo crouched in the center. The resulting image was published all over the
world.
Julie R Butler is a writer, journalist, editor, and
author of several books, including Nine Months in Uruguay and No
Stranger To Strange Lands (click here for
more info). She is a contributor to Speakout at Truthout.org, and her
current blog is Connectively
Speaking.
email: julierbutler [at] yahoo [dot] com, Twitter: @JulieRButler
