Random Reading 2

Here are a few interesting Nica-themed articles from the last few months, for anyone who is interested:

• With a lot of geothermal, wind and solar capacity and a big hydro project about to come online, Nicaragua hopes to generate an astounding 94% of its energy from renewables by 2016. ¡Sí se puede! (Nicaragua Dispatch)
  
• Mystery Disease in Central America Kills Thousands (Huff Post). Anecdotally, in addition to the very tragic outbreak of CKD among sugar cane works, more run-of-the-mill kidney problems seem to be really common too.
  
• Got Food? (World Pulse)
  
• Why Nicaragua Chose Ortega (Le Monde Diplomatique)
  
• International Volunteer Service: Good Intentions Are Not Enough (Chronicle of Higher Education)
  
• Two articles by volunteers from the Batahola Norte Cultural Center: Nicaragua's Trash and The Call of Mission
  
• The 7 Worst International Aid Ideas

• The Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral was murdered last year in Guatemala while being driven to the airport after a concert by a Nicaraguan businessman named Henry Fariñas. Fariñas is believed to have been the real target of a hit by the drug cartels, and is now on trial in Nicaragua accused of drug trafficking and money laundering. And to make the story even weirder, the Nicaraguan police apprehended 18 Mexican nationals posing as journalists, traveling in Televisa vans with over $9 million in cash and drugs. Many have speculated that the phony journalists had plans to "gain access" to the Fariñas trial.
  
  Cabral was a much beloved singer, and seems to have become yet another tragic victim caught in the cross-fire of the drug trade. This song is his most famous: Yo no soy de aquí, ni soy de alla (I am not from here, nor from there). The song proper starts at the 4 minute mark.