November 2009 - Posts
A long term goal could be to expand direct scheduled commercial airline and ocean freight service between South American and African countries through private investors willing to establish a true global infrastructure. Help from governments is certainly useful, but our political systems are generally prone to corruption and diverted resources.
In terms of tourism and emigration, South Americans like to travel to North America and Africans like to travel to Europe. In that sociological context, promoting direct trave between Africa and South America is quite tough at this time. We should continue establishing online bonds between our people, so that eventually our fresh intercontinental market becomes big enough for transportation companies to profitably establishing direct air and sea routes. We need more convenient transportation options to develop our intercontinental tourism industry.
The borders between contiguous African and South American countries are inherited from colonial times and they continue separating kindred from each other. These intracontinental rivalries do not seem on their way to being resolved any time soon. In the mean time, we should promote a very strong bilateral relationship between South Africa and Brazil. The next two Football World Cups as well as a future Olympiad will take place in either of these countries. Africans and South Americans from across our continents should take advantage of the global rise of Brazil and South Africa, because the smaller countries might also accelerate the integration between our various local cultures through the help of the big two.
The history of slavery is far from having been exhaustively studied. It is easier nowadays to construct a person's genealogy tree through sites such as geni, myheritage and even facebook. It would be interesting that a team of Nigerian, Benin, Togo and Ivory Coast researchers teamed up with Caribbean, Colombian, Venezuelan and Brazilian counterparts with the goal of finding out their common ancestors.
The petroleum and gas industries of Venezuela and Nigeria are facing tremendous production challenges due to internal conflicts arising from our local populations. Perhaps a stronger integration among the people of our countries could divert some interest out of nationalistic subsidies back into meritocracy. Our countries are potentially rich in developing alternative sources of energy, but the legal issue of private vs. state ownership of resources remains as a significant drawback to investment, research and development.
I have not studied any of these issues in depth and I am sure there are people out there who are much more qualified than me to propose a framework for establishing further ties between our continents. The main purpose of this essay is to promote a wake up call to other Africans and South Americans to further develop our direct interaction within the context of competitive globalization.
Rubén Rivero Capriles
Caracas, November 19, 2009
http://www.riverocooper.com
http://www.rroopstr.com
This is an open letter to the people of Saskatchewan and anyone who has followed the rise of this beautiful, formerly forgotten Canadian province.
Although my business is based in Florida as I happen to hold a U.S. social security number which helped me incorporate it, I now live and work in my home country of Venezuela. The Venezuelan petroleum industry has produced over the whole span of the twentieth century a number of very qualified oil engineers and technicians, many of them are now looking for employment opportunities in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Several qualified Venezuelan petroleum experts actually turn to me in order that I recommend to them suitable people they may contact in the prairie provinces. Alberta in particular has recently benefitted from many Venezuelan immigrants who have lent their know-how to the benefit of the Alberta oil boom, and it seems that Saskatchewan is now becoming the hot spot to work in Canada. So you should not be surprised if, in the near future, you and your Saskatchewan kindred start noticing further international interest on what happens there, instead of the previous emphasis on the now unemployment-ridden Ontario and Québec.
When I studied the International Baccalaureate at the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West in New Mexico, I became a very good friend of Sask-born Ian Chisholm (now Senior Partner at the Roy Group in Sydney, British Columbia). We had a contest on naming Canadian provinces and their capitals, and I happened to win that contest! In return, my English was really bad at the time so I had to endure a few misleading jokes because of it, but that is the way great friendships are born.
Saskatchewan and Canada's experience with the first nations is also a topic of interest for me as here in Venezuela we must also deal with issues of integration to mainstream culture against the loss of traditional values and ways of life from our native population.
I am under the impression that people in Saskatchewan are wary of this sudden international interest in their province. I sympathize with you in your strive for keeping your province free of mega urban atrocities, so my request to the people of Saskatchewan is that you manage to find a way to keep your provincial assets while welcoming a few good input that may selectively come from the outside world.
I do look forward to exchange more impressions with Saskatchewans during these times of social changes and challenges.
Rubén Rivero Capriles
Caracas, November 17, 2009
www.riverocooper.com
www.rroopstr.com
The fall of the Berlin Wall never escaped my memory. Later I wrote a paper about it during college and looked up at the library for every single magazine published between October and November 1989. What struck me the most is that during October Honecker was just talking nonsense all over and somehow the media were hinting or predicting that such outcome would occur inminently, due to their extensive coverage of East Germans flocking to the West through Hungary.
I yearn for the day when the invisible border walls of Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela fall apart as it was the desire and legacy of Simón Bolívar. His dream was promptly destroyed a few months before his death. We should also be the same country, not through military invasions planed by our senseless leaders but rather through the slow and steady economic growth, tariff-free example of the European Union. But our caudillo politicians on the three sides will never let this heretic idea get a hold on our populations. It is ironic that, on this celebration day for humanity, the politicians from the Northern portion of South America are more interested in getting entrenched in power through possible fratricide war than in intertwining our economies and populations.
Rubén Rivero Capriles
Caracas, November 9, 2009
http://www.riverocooper.com
http://www.rroopstr.com
Based on my readers' comments on my all life hit parade, I attempt here to express the reasons why some great artists were either included or avoided within my ranking.
The Beatles certainly deserve their honored place in the history of contemporary music. However, I have not been excessively thrilled by their songs. Perhaps that is because I just like the Doors way too much.
Bob Marley was not included either because I happen to prefer ska (Banana Voladora & Yordano) over reggae. I do enjoy Soca as well, but my short exposure to that rhythm while on a Christmas vacation in Trinidad & Tobago prevented me to exploring it further.
Franco de Vita is not included because my favorite performers of Venezuelan 80s pop music are Guillermo Dávila and Yordano. It is, again, an issue on how deeply each performer's music has imprinted my soul. I should also mention Karina, Kiara and Melissa among the great Venezuelan female 80s pop singers.
Besides Willie Colón and Rubén Blades, I am also a fan of other Fania artists such as Héctor Lavoe and Celia Cruz.
Juan Luis Guerra is an outstanding merengue ambassador, and I have danced to his music with limited success. I failed to include him on this hit parade becuase it is already saturated with other music from the eighties.
Argentine rock truly rocks! I was pleased to read a comment from an English speaking blogger who expressed his admiration for Soda Stereo so deeply that his lack of understanding of the Spanish lyrics did not prevent him to enjoy their music at all. This reader seems to enjoy it as much as I used to like Queen when I was a kid and knew no English. Miguel Mateos and Enanitos Verdes would also have made it to my ranking if I had designed it a bit longer. But having placed Soda Stereo and Charly García on the third and fifth positions already, the ranking would be too biased toward Argentine rock if I had included other groups as well. I also started moving songs from their original ranking once I got past the fifteenth position, and that suggested me that the hit parade had to stop then.
Mano Negra was a French group of the nineties which has mastered the fusion of European, Asian, African and New World Rhythms close to perfection. Their lyrics in various languages naturally appeal to me very dearly. Most of their songs are unique. Manu Chao's solo career in my opinion does not do justice to the potential that was hinted by his former band.
I extend to the members of Nena my gratitude for their musical contribution to the fall of the Berlin Wall, which happens today to celebrate its 20th birthday!
I apologize to The Cure and Madness for not having included their great contribution to British eighties music in my ranking. But I could not have been able to sacrifice my lifelong appreciation to Culture Club in order to make room for them.
Madonna's career is an example of perseverance during almost thirty years. I have followed her complete path from the start. Her recent American life album crowns her lifelong pursuit of efficient controversy and paradigm shifts.
Daddy Yankee has the merit of being among the very few artists nowadays who still dare to be original. I initially did not like his music due to peer pressure, but now I do, and every day I like his reggaeton approach even further. Most other artists seem to have succumbed to retro and nostalgia. Our times are hostile toward creativity. Our generation (those of us in our late thirties and early forties) is prematurely aging, as we are obsessed to recreating the sixties and eighties. We are committing the same mistake from our ancestors to long for the good old times. I will probably never become a die-hard reggaetton fan, but I certainly enjoy listening to Daddy Yankee's music anytime I get fed up with never ending memories from last century.
Michael Jackson and Jim Morrison led incredibly similar lonely lives. They were each one of a kind. I congratulate Soda Stereo's Gustavo Cerati for his willingness to maintain the same high level of genius activity while simultaneously promoting an example of a long and sober life.
Rubén Rivero Capriles
http://www.riverocooper.com
http://www.rroopstr.com
Caracas, November 9, 2009
A reliable way
of getting to know people is through the music they listen to. I have written a
lot about issues but not much about me, so here I list the twenty songs that I
have most obsessively listened to during my life. Any ranking is subjective,
but I tried to be as objective as possible taking into account all periods of
my life, the different beats I enjoy, my shifting musical tastes, and the
influence of time and travel. I hope the artists of this planet compose great
music in the years ahead so that more tunes from the twenty-first century
eventually get included in future versions of this hit parade.
20) ABBA
Chiquitita (1979) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu-0IzEoDJo
19) DEBBIE
GIBSON Foolish Beat (1987) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jr7bjYFA8Q
18) GUILLERMO
DÁVILA Sólo pienso en ti (1982) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNKOPISxP_w
17) CULTURE
CLUB Time (clock of the heart) (1982) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-86O3y2GNrI
16) DESORDEN
PÚBLICO Tiembla (1997) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QuYHcfGwJE
15) MADONNA
American Life (2003) http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=4479751
14) WILLIE
COLÓN & RUBÉN BLADES Chica plástica (1978) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh5_veWa5p8
13) LA BANANA
VOLADORA Larry´s ska (1994) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAd0aUB3JAY
12) MIREILLE
MATHIEU Une femme amoureuse (1981) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWRrcjrJLWM
11) LAS KETCHUP
Asereje ja de jè de jebe tu de jebere sebiunouva majabi an de bugui an de
buididipi (2002) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFzyYYZsxGc
10) DADDY
YANKEE Llamado de Emergencia (2008) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekFaaEU8Yuw
09) NENA 99
Luftballons (1983) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztYSlNazJno
08) MECANO
Japón (1984) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL9_uwmT5CA
07) QUEEN
Bohemian Rhapsody (1975) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ
06) YORDANO
Días de junio (1986) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c22TkPpkOc
05) CHARLY
GARCÍA La Ruta del Tentempié (1987) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMajFUYHvzk
04) MANO NEGRA
Love & Hate (1994) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSusCYjKIqQ
03) SODA STEREO
Nuestra Fe (1992) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIh9aNFuBlA
02) MICHAEL
JACKSON Beat It (1982) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqxo1SKB0z8
01) THE DOORS
Light my fire (1967) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O6x_m4zvFs
Caracas, November 8, 2009