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I S S U E: D E C E M B E
R
2 0 0 8
 In
a place where silence reigns in the ocean depths surrounding the remote Isla
del Coco in Costa Rica, a group of voracious predators is exercising control
over the food chain. They are endangered, however, and if they were to go
extinct, ocean systems could collapse. In this issue,
Américas is a witness to this story. Moving from turbulent ocean waters to the
highlands between Bolivia and Peru, we see Aymara and Quechua inhabitants of
the area navigate their caballitos de totora
(reed boats) on Lake Titicaca. Titicaca, one of the highest lakes in the
world, is part of a border that is artificial in cultural terms; life on
both sides of the lake is imbued with the legends and myths of the Inca and
pre-Inca periods.
Also in the Andes, deep in the rainforests of
Ecuador, forests are being emptied of wildlife as vulnerable populations of
animals are facing the possibility of ecological extinction. Meanwhile, in
the Caribbean, an OAS financed initiative is contributing to the survival of
the harmless Antiguan Racer snake and discovering new challenges to
maintaining the delicate ecological balance of the island.
In other climates, thousands of coffee
producers in formerly conflictive areas like Chiapas, Mexico are finding
ways to make a living in ecotourism. And in Colombia, coffee farmers are
preparing “the world’s best coffee” for the most demanding consumers on the
planet.
Américas has sent the best and most
intrepid writers and photographers to the coast, highlands, and jungles of
our hemisphere. In these varied environments and across the entire cultural,
social, and political spectrum of the continent, we are focusing especially
on human initiatives and the “surprises of survival.”
In this issue we tell about how women are
ascending to power in a region that has traditionally been considered behind
on matters of gender, and we tell the story of artists who have, in their
own way, also conquered the context in which they live. We travel back to
the nineteenth century to refresh our memory on Frederic Church, one of the
most successful and influential landscape painters of the Americas. Then we
return to the present to show how Paraguayan Manuel Miranda is creating
works that have “their own light.”
And for those of you who enjoy travelling
around our hemisphere: don’t miss Louis Werner’s delicious notes on
“Concolorcorvo: Guide for Greenhorn Travelers.”
We continue to be a magazine dedicated to
showing the diversity and wealth of the hemisphere’s heritage, but we are
also mindful of the conflicts, debates, and challenges that exist around
issues of holistic development, democracy, human rights, and security.
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