Gabriela Bocagrande
Go For The Gold: The Global Blame Game
And the Money Kept Rolling in (and out): Wall Street, the IMF, and the Bankrupting of Argentina On January 3 of this year, the long sorry saga of Argentina and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) took an astonishing turn. The … Read More
Las Americas
Make Levees Not War'
Washington is bustling these days, as the hottest September ever draws to a close. On Saturday the 24th, more than 100,000 people gathered near the Bush White House for a long-planned protest against the Iraq war and other official crimes. … Read More
My Head is Flat
My Head is Flat BY GABRIELA BOCAGRANDE The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century By Thomas L. Friedman Farrar, Straus, Giroux 496 pages, $27.50 ou will be glad to know that the world has, in the … Read More
Las Americas
If It Ain't Broke....Which It Ain't
If It Ain’t Broke….Which It Ain’t BY GABRIELA BOCAGRANDE n Wednesday, February 2, 2005, the terror continued. The President of our patriotic and free national homeland spoke from his bully pulpit once again to varnish and hype the State of … Read More
That Other Dubya
That Other Dubya BY GABRIELA BOCAGRANDE The World’s Banker: A Story of Failed States, Financial Crises, and the Wealth and Poverty of Nations By Sebastian Mallaby Penguin Press 462 pages, $29.95 he first and most basic of Sebastian Mallaby’s many … Read More
We’re Expecting Some Turbulence
Normally we spend our time reporting on what is referred to in polite society (and in our bio at the end of the “Las Americas†columns) as “mulilateral malfeasance,†with an emphasis on dirty dealings south of the Rio Grande. … Read More
Las Americas
Rough Trade
In light of our recent and unfortunate adventure in Iraq, we, as U.S. citizens, may be learning a couple of important lessons: a) Although international affairs are often boring and far away, we should pay attention because our government lies … Read More
Las Americas
A Bigger Piece of the Pie
The United Nations, with its diplomatic, peacekeeping, and humanitarian functions, is an unlikely site for guerrilla warfare, but among its diverse sub-agencies a deepening schism has developed. Over the years, the UN system has grown to include numerous subsidiaries with … Read More
Las Americas
The Permanent Kleptocracy
On May 13 of this year, Richard Lugar, the Republican Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, convened the first hearing on Combating Corruption at the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs). Summoned to defend their respective institutions, Carol Brookins of the … Read More