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I S S U E: J U N E
2 0 0 9
 In
the midst of the world economic crisis, Américas
reminds our readers of some of the encouraging
happenings in our hemisphere: beautifully preserved
environments that continue to exist in spite of
global warming; a cultural bank that creates jobs
and income in disadvantaged communities; the
internationally recognized quality of our products;
the resilience of our people; and the fact that the
past informs our present.
We found good news (green news) in Guyana, a small
Amazonian country that has preserved an intact
ecosystem and promoted sustainable logging and a
growing number of ecotourism activities. These
assets are attracting the attention of scientists
and policy makers working on sustainable development
and environmental conservation. We also visited
Coiba National Park, a living jewel of the
Panamanian Pacific and one of the few places in the
world that shelters mangroves, coral reefs, and
tropical jungle in the same archipelago. This is a
paradise that must be saved from unregulated
fishing.
The natural world, and human actions within that
world, have also left their mark on history. One
Américas author uncovered some interesting
comparisons and contrasts between the reconstruction
process that followed an eighteenth century
earthquake in Lima and the one that occurred three
centuries later after the devastation of New Orleans
by Hurricane Katrina.
Then, as a reminder of people’s resilience and
tenacity, we travelled to Ecuador where we found
that small producers have revived the production of
cacao for high quality chocolate now in demand all
over the world.
Américas also joined the celebration of the 50th
anniversary of the creation of the Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB)—originally part of the
OAS—and focused particularly on how one of the
Bank’s programs is making a difference by supporting
cultural initiatives that contribute to employment
and quality of life in many communities.
Speaking of culture, in this issue we were able to
visit with three of our hemisphere’s masters:
artists Luis Felipe Noé and Carol Miller and writer
Sandra Cisneros. Noé, a neoexpressionist of the
Nueva Figuración movement in Argentina spoke to us
in Buenos Aires about chaos and the art of creation.
North American sculptor Carol Miller gave us a tour
of her workshop in her beloved adopted country of
Mexico. And Sandra Cisneros, author of House on
Mango Street and a “Mexican born on the US side of
the border,” told us some of the stories of her
literary past.
Amidst the hurry and urgency of the today’s rapidly
changing daily news, Américas continues to take the
time to explore our continent, looking for news that
can inform and inspire our readers with the wealth
of the American reality. |
