The last couple of days made me realise once more how little information we get on countries other than US or Europe in Swiss newspapers...
If you really read a newspaper you might have picked up that there were some heavy rainfalls in Ecuador but more than a few lines? I hardly doubt it. But there is more to that actually. Over 23 people died and damages reach up to 1 million USD. Pictures and German story
http://www.n-tv.de/927005.html
Due to these rainfalls, a pipe burst and a lot of oil entered a swamp in the Amazonas region and finally reached a river people used to drink from and fish in. Also other rivers robbed several families of their houses and therefore their whole existence. Like this family with 6 children, the father earning USD 40 (!) every week to feed 8 people (I would like seeing us all living on that amount of money..I know Ecuador is cheap, I have lived there, but that, believe me, is little money especially for 8 mouths
http://www2.elcomercio.com/noticiaEC.asp?id_noticia=174554&id_seccion=10
But most of all I am scared because of the recent incident with Colombia. Colombian forces shot 16 members of the Farc rebels, including number 2 (senior commander) Raul Reyes. Even though some people claim that his death is a drawback for the liberation of the hostages, including the former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, this is not the big problem. The Colombian forces however had to shoot those Farc members on Ecuadorian ground and that is where all the trouble originates. Here is a small BBC video about it http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7270000/newsid_7276200/7276291.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&ms3=54&ms_javascript=true&bbcws=2
The Ecuadorian president ordered already some 6000 men to the Columbian border, with a back up of Chavez, sending his troops to the Colombian border on the North of the country. Although the other Southamerican nations like Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Chile as well as Mexico and the UN are trying to step in and find a peaceful solution, this is a highly dangerous situation. The Brazilian president, Luiz InĂ¡cio Lula da Silva, said that South-America is not prepared for such a conflict and that no one wants a war because the region needs peace in order to develop further. http://www.lahora.com.ec/frontEnd/main.php?idSeccion=689884
Well I really hope that there will be no fighting and that they can get back to being neighbours again. I really believe that Ecuador has other problems and does not need to follow some crazy ideas of the northern neighbour of Colombia...
With that little research I just wanted to point out that even if we claim our newspapers to be covering every part of the world, they hardly really do it. Just bits and pieces but not all.
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Portobello College
My way to school...
The Swiss Girls in Dublin