Changes in Latitude

Worldwide, people want a lot more chilies these days. Global consumption of chilies is rising rapidly. Chiles have been a staple in Latin America, India and Asia for centuries. Decades ago, grocery stores in the southwest USA began carrying a greater volume of more varieties. The 21st Century has seen this rise in popularity spread to the rest of North America and Europe. Chefs are spicing up traditionally bland recipes, and food producers are adding chilies to a wide range of products such as jams and chocolate.

Dr. Andrew Weil published his study of the physiological effect of chilies in his first book, The Marriage of the Sun and the Moon. “The effect of capsaicin on the oral membranes is spectacular. A person uninitiated into the mysteries of chili eating who bites down on a really peppy capsicum pod may exhibit all the symptoms of furious rabies. It is difficult to convey to such a sufferer the truth that relief comes only of eating more chilies, but that is the case. Water makes the agony worse. The only real help comes of plunging in and developing tolerance to the effect.”

According to herbalist Jethro Kloss, author of Back to Eden, “There is, perhaps, no other article which produces so powerful an impression on the animal frame that is so destitute of all injurious properties. Capsicum seems almost incapable of abuse, for however great the excitement produced by it, this stimulant prevents that excitement subsiding so suddenly as to induce any great derangement of the equilibrium of the circulation. It produces the most powerful impression on the surface yet never draws a blister on the stomach, yet never weakens its tone.”

The rush that comes from eating chilies is what keeps aficionados coming back for more. The eyes light up, nasal passages and the respiratory tract are cleared, concentration is increased, the liver is cleansed, and perspiration clears the pores of toxins and acts to cool the skin. Chilies deliver more vitamin C than citrus, bolstering the immune system. In the end, a sublime sense of well being comes from eating hot chilies.

This great pleasure has been sustained in Latin America for 8000 years, and cultivated for 5000, according to Dr. Wiel’s research. “It is a sensible remedy because chili brings a great deal of blood to the surface of mucous membranes, and increased blood supply should promote healing.” In 1493 historian Peter Mart reported that Columbus had discovered peppers more pungent than those of Asia, and within a few years the plants reached the Far East. They established themselves so well in SE Asia and India that some early botanists thought they were native there!

Carbon dioxide emissions in Latin America are 74% lower, per unit of power, than China & India’s emissions. Why? Hydroelectric power and bio fuel usage are two areas where Latin America has pioneered advantages. It is with enlightened self-interest that countries like Brazil and Mexico tackle environmental challenges. Brazil’s Amazon Basin and Mexico’s Gulf Coast are critical habitats threatened by global warming.

Such habitats are critical because their disappearance would trigger greater global warming. Already the conversion of Amazon rainforest habitat to farms represents 50% of Brazil’s total emissions. The world average for emissions from deforestation is 17%. New World Bank data predicts crop failures caused by global warming will cut farm revenue in half as soon as the year 2100.

Two other critical habitats in Latin America are the glaciers in Patagonia and the barrier reefs along C. America’s Caribbean coast. In Belize, the rising ocean temperature is causing coral in the world’s second largest reef system to emit algae that threaten the coral that produce them. Honduras is experiencing similar degradation off the coast of the Bay Islands.

The world’s most powerful economies are being invited by Latin American nations to lead developing economies on issues related to climate change. For now, Latin America is providing much needed leadership by way of example.

The Kogi view themselves as “elder brothers” to modern man, having descended from the Tairona civilization which dates back to the 1st Century. They existed and thrived long before their lands were decimated by “younger brothers” of colonizing civilizations arriving in the region more than 1,000 years later. The Kogi see themselves as custodians of our planet and meditate on its future. They see climate change because their mountain is dying. Their mountain lies in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta near Columbia’s border with Venezuela, the highest coastal mountain in the world.

The Kogi do not see us as sleeping (as some Hindu and Oriental religions do); they see their little brothers as dead or dying, as “shadows of the energy of what they could be”, according to Drunvalo Melchizedek. This is because the Kogi have witnessed the destruction of mother Earth caused by industrialized cultures. The Kogi invited NPR to broadcast their message which translates as “Younger brother, you are killing our mother”.

The Bush Administration ignored the climate change alarm, while Latin American governments continued to take and recommend actions that will heal the ecology that sustain us. To learn more, see the BBC film “Message from the Heart of the World” by making a donation to the Tairona Heritage Trust. Also, read the book “The Heart of the World” for the story told by The Kogi Mamas (priests) to Alan Ereira.

Brazil is also requesting greater say with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. “Brazilians view the current economic crisis as an opportunity” according to Brazil expert Jeffery Carson. They want to see Brazil “in a leadership position on behalf of poor countries. Brazil has a strong fiscal standing with $200 billion in foreign reserves to address the global meltdown.

After towing the line with IMF guidelines for decades, many Latin American economies are at least as solid as the USA’s nose diving economy. In addition to fiscal strength, Latin American countries are important producers feeding much of world demand for food and fuel.

Brazil is the world’s #1 exporter of orange juice, bio fuels, poultry, beef and coffee. It produces more iron ore than the USA and is fast approaching our levels of grain exports. Mexico is the fruit and vegetable basket of the USA. Venezuela is the world’s #5 oil exporter with a proposal to create an alternative to the World Bank.

Brazil also wants more influence within the United Nations. President Lula is quick to point out that it has one of the world’s largest stable democracies.

Mexico has recently taken a global warming leadership role with a plan to cut greenhouse gas emission levels in half by 2050, making it the only developing country to set emissions caps below existing levels. The plan is intended as a wakeup call to the G-7 and includes emissions limits on its main polluting industries which produce cement and electricity and refine oil. Companies will be able to sell unused emission allowances.

Rich industrial countries are facing growing criticism for damaging international financial markets and the environment through their unwillingness to address the interwoven nature of the global economy and ecosystems that draw their own borders. Brazil and Mexico won praise at recent UN talks in Poland attended by 145 environment ministers. Meanwhile, the USA and UK remain focused on their financial catastrophes with the notable exception of California.

California just adopted the USA’s most comprehensive climate plan. Gov. Schwarzenegger believes “these regulations will spur the state’s economy and serve as a model for the rest of country. When you look at today’s depressed economy, green tech is one of the bright spots out there, which is yet another reason we should move forward on our environmental goals.” California’s cap and trade system is similar to Mexico’s in that it provides companies financial incentives for reducing carbon emissions.

President Bush circumvented California’s tough 2006 restrictions on auto pollution by blocking the law from taking effect, but California officials trust that President-Elect Obama will remove this obstacle to clean air and growth in the state’s green economy industries. According to environmental ministers to the UN, “the attitude of rich countries borders on the immoral and is counterproductive”.

Brazil and Mexico are seeking a larger role in convincing an expanded G-7 that they can aid ailing international markets and reduce havoc from carbon emissions. The UN Secretary-General urged leading economies to provided real leadership on these two issues by answering the calls of emerging economies. He stating in Poland, “The economic crisis is serious; yet when it comes to climate change, the stakes are far higher.”

Accordingt to Janet Rodriguez of Mexico, “When you have that spark within you, it makes it easier to fit in, but you have to learn dance, singing & child psychology to make people laugh.”

If you are tired of the watching American clowns on the election year stage, turn your attention to the real deal at the 13th annual Latin American Clown Convention.

For insights from past years of this wonderful phenomenon, visit Stephania Silveria’s blog at http://reconstructionblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/latin-america-clowns-convention.html

Photo courtesy of Eduardo Vedurgo. Enjoy!

South, Central & North America have each had their share of revolution and civil wars since the 18th Century. Recently, unrest in Latin America has been too often instigated by the USA. Who can name one major Latin American country where the U.S. government did not meddle, finance opposition governments, send covert operatives, or otherwise intervene in affairs outside our borders? We’ve been a bully with our neighbors, in too many cases. The Bush Doctine of overt pre-emption is just a new twist on a long history of covert pre-emptive actions.

Congress continues to fund intervention in Latin America in its unwinnable “war on drugs”. Yet, the current administration can’t even take care of domestic problems and is running up record deficits. We are overextended and in debt to foreign governments, which was once the norm in Latin America. Our neighbors see the USA as increasingly unreliable and, when it comes to advice about their financial markets, they see the U.S. position as hypocritical.

How does this effect tourism? First of all, we must go beyond the U.S. State Dept. to get a useful travel advisory. Visiting host country’s websites is quite helpful. For objective advice in English, visit websites from the governments of Canada, the UK, and Australia. We do this for our clients. We find our own State Dept’s information to be the least useful, the most biased, its not geographically specific, and its not updated frequently enough.

In my work, we don’t rely on vague State Dept. advisories. We prefer detailed, up-to-date analysis on protests or conflicts taking place in Latin America. We prefer pertinent details and nuanced analysis. The U.S. State Dept. plays politics with travel advisories, knowing that tourism is a key revenue source for rival leftist governments in Latin America. Do we have a problem with peaceful protests of misguided government policies here or there? Not necessarily. Does the State Dept. use objections about a government’s policies to overstate a travel advisory? Yes.

The result of this hemispheric shift is positive for tourists. North, Central & South Americans are becoming closer neighbors on economic terms. We have a shrinking middle class. We’re engaged in nasty wars. Our economies are crippled. We’re facing the same struggles and this brings people together. The current administration’s misguided policies have eroded our economic standing in the world. We’re slipping from the “1st world” to the 2nd as Latin America has been reaching up from “3rd world” to the 2nd. We’re meeting our neighbors in the middle, slowly but surely.

The poverty rate in Mexico has dropped from 21 percent to 18.5 percent over the past 10 years, said a report published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The poverty rates in Turkey are 17.5 percent and in the United States 17 percent. Denmark and Sweden are with less inequality with only 5.5 percent of poor people. Out of dozens of countries in the OECD study, only Turkey and Mexico have more poverty to the USA. We are not even close to the top of the list on this measure because too many of U.S. workers earn less than half the median wage – a two class system is growing and the middle class is shrinking. Denmark and Sweden are 1st world countries. The USA and Turkey have the same levels of poverty, a level very close to Mexico’s.

Approach the USA’s 2nd world reality frankly, with humility, and you’ll make many friends when traveling. Increasingly, we’re in the same boat and it may be a banana boat. According to Micheal Shifter, an Inter-American Dialogue Analyst in DC, “Latin Americans have every reason to view the U.S. as a banana republic. U.S. lectures to Latin Americans about excess greed and lack of accountability have long rung hollow, but today they sound even more ridiculous.”

Bush has the lowest ranking of any U.S. President in the history of polling. In Latin America, his poll numbers are as low as Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez and Cuba’s Fidel Castro, places where people have little control over their own lives and where the middle class is nonexistent. What lesson will we take from this emerging reality?

The USA has done much good in the hemisphere, and more than a little harm. Now, more than ever, it is time to work together with our neighbors for a better future, and treat them the way we would like to be treated. For a related report, see the one below about Argentina…