Lorena de la Parra: Corona Mode in Mexico City

Mexico City is big, heavily populated, exciting, dangerous, and poluted thanks in part to all of the above. Along came a pandemic. Today on the podcast Lorena de la Parra takes us through her daily life and what she sees happening in CDMX, from the price of masks to the phenomenon that is López-Gatel. Listen and enjoy.

Zimbabwe Has No Oil

My good friend and longtime reader Jack wrote to me earlier in the day saying hello and asking if I’d address the forgotten issue of Zimbabwe. And he’s not the first to have done that, BadHAreDay in Lisbon has often asked me to talk more about the country-turned-tragedy.

Now I haven’t taken my eye off the sadness, mind you, Im still a devoted reader of “This Is Zimbabwe”. But it is true I haven’t produced anything on the subject in quite some time.

The numbers have grown worse in the last few years; one figure reads that 80% of the population now live in poverty. In what sounds like a story from 300 years ago, numerous people in the capitol have died of cholera! Life expectancy has dropped to 34. The list of horrors goes on and on… read more over TIZ’s retrospective of 2006.

And yet, Iraq gets billions upon billions of dollars for their so-called democracy thing. Somalia gets invaded by Ethiopia in the blink of an eye. Brazilian UN troops still occupy chunks of Haiti. And Palestine gets all its money frozen for electing a new government. Meanwhile in Zimbabwe.. nothing. Time keeps passing, people keep dying and suffering, and the world closes its eyes.

Which actually brings up a bigger question; above I seem to suggest that the international community should act. But I actually am not completely sure about that. Instead I wanted to point out the situations where the world gets involved either financially, politically, or militarily, while one of the most tragic crimes continues to go on in Zimbabwe. Somehow it doesn’t qualify. Maybe it lacks some alleged AlQaeda links or a profitable fossil fuel for exploration.

In fact, what I would rather have seen.. or see in the present.. is an internal change. Revolution from within for the country. I say that because I think it would be more sustainable and legitimate, rather than installed by an outside force. But still, if the population is starved, imprisoned and murdered… it may just require some type of intervention. And nevermind how I like or dislike intervention, with all the actions they’ve taken for different reasons, in different corners of the world. Surely Zimbabwe qualifies for immediate attention… and action.

Or maybe not… just go back to talking about dead models.