How will Mexicans respond to 'Bruno'?

It will be interesting to see how Sacha Baron Cohen's new movie, Brüno, is received here in Mexico when it launches in cinemas at the end of September.

In Mexico City, we have yet to see the latest effort from the British comedian, but the Miami Herald's columnist Andres Oppenheimer has -- and he's not happy.

"Its main character, an Austrian gay-model-turned-TV-reporter played by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, makes fun of almost everybody, but is particularly brutal to Mexicans. In his fictional TV talk show, Brüno invites his celebrity guests to sit on top of live men on their fours looking at the floor with a mixture of boredom and resignation. The men resemble the stereotype of Mexican laborers, mustaches included," writes Oppenheimer.

In the audio clip below, you can hear Brüno say: "Come and sit on our great furniture. These are our Mexican chair people. Demi Moore has two of them in her house.''

Sneak preview of Shakira's new video

Colombian pop star Shakira is expected to debut her latest music video on MTV tonight, and sneak previews are, of course, already circulating on YouTube.

"She Wolf" is the first single from the album of the same name, due for release later this year. Previews of the video show the singer hanging from the bars of a golden cage.

She told Rolling Stone magazine: “I am in a cage, but I am showing the desperation of being in it. I got a little carried away, hanging upside down.”

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Mexico's Diego Rivera murals get restoration treatment

Anyone with even a passing interest in Latin American art and culture will be familiar with Diego Rivera, the Mexican painter and muralist. Rivera, who is credited with being one of the founders of the Mexican muralist art movement, was also an active communist and husband of the equally famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted murals in Mexico City, Chapingo and Cuernavaca here in Mexico, as well as in San Francisco, Detroit and New York City. Mexico City's Palacio Nacional, or National Palace, is home to some of the paintings that Rivera did under government commission, and those works are currently the focus of a restoration project by the government.

Diligent specialists are touching up missing color with watercolor paints, and using a weak alcohol solution to wash away dust and grime that the murals have collected. The restoration is expected to be completed in September.

See the video for more.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Video: Specialists restore Diego Rivera's murals in Mexico City's Palacio Nacional. Credit: Deborah Bonello / Los Angeles Times.

Columbia's Cabot Prize honors Cuban blogger Sanchez

Cuban blogger Yoanie Sanchez has won Columbia University's Cabot Prize for her postings from the island she calls home.

The Cabot Prize, which recognizes reporting on Latin America and the Caribbean, gave Sanchez the gold medal for her work on her blog, Generación Y.

She was the only digital reporter of the four journalists recognized by this year's prize.

"Generación Y does not repeat the battle of words which Cuba and the U.S. have hurled back and forth for five decades. Instead, it is a pitch-perfect mix of personal observation and tough analysis, which conveys better than anybody else what daily life — with all its frustrations and hopes — is like for Cubans living their lives on the island today," says the press release, which you can see here.

You can read Sanchez writing about the prize here on her blog, Generacion Y.

"I think I will use the prestige and protection that the Cabot Prize brings with it to continue to grow the Cuban blogosphere.  The alternative journey that unites us every week has reached a point where it must become an authentic blogger academy.  As I don’t plan to wait to be allowed to open a school of digital journalism in order to realize this project, I will begin it [without] bureaucratic and legal formality.  The distinction that I have received today can contribute to the birth of a new kind of instruction here, one without ideological conditions, and without those ugly costumes which at one time made me distance myself from the academic world," writes Sánchez.

Cuba's Craigslist

The restriction and high price of Internet access in Cuba hasn't stopped the island's black market from flourishing online.

Nick Miroff reports for GlobalPost on Revolico.com, Cuba's answer to Craigslist.

"Cuba’s informal economy is an imperfect marketplace. Without advertising, it relies heavily on word-of-mouth, and its commercial activity tends to flourish in small circles — among neighbors, coworkers and other trusted acquaintances.

"Then came Revolico.com. Its name essentially translates as “disarray,” and while Havana residents jokingly call it “the Cuban eBay,” the site is really closer to Craigslist. For Cubans who make a living through the black market, it's a godsend."

Read the rest of the report on Revolico.com, which claims to be the third-most-visited site in Cuba, here on GlobalPost.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: Vendors sell spices, fruit, flowers and more every Sunday at the farmers market across the street from the Capitolio Nacional in Havana. Credit: Lianne Milton / For The Times

What's in a nickname? Plenty, if you're a Mexican drug trafficker

They're known by such appellations as "Barbie," "Smurf" and "Bunny Commander." But there's nothing warm and fuzzy about the men who've reportedly adopted these nicknames.

They are some of Mexico's biggest drug traffickers and hit men, according to this story from the Associated Press.

 

According to AP's Mexico City correspondent:

Mexican drug traffickers' nicknames run from flashy and threatening to surreal and downright goofy. Some reflect a thug's rank in his cartel, others simply a school yard taunt that stuck. Still others denote a reputation, such as the cartel leader known as "El Mas Loco" -- "the Craziest One." . . .

Law enforcement officials say they list as many aliases as they can for each suspect -- sometimes as many as a half-dozen -- because individual nicknames are often used by more than one person. For instance, several drug suspects are known as "El Gordo" -- "Fatty."

-- Reed Johnson in Los Angeles

Banda el Recodo, Zoe, Wisin y Yandel shine at Reventon festival

 

Longevity in pop music often is measured in weeks or months, not years or decades. So it was remarkable, and thrilling, to see Saturday's Reventon Super Estrella music festival in Los Angeles practically be stolen by a group that's been around since the 1930s and that is proving itself to be more adaptive than the collective fauna of the Galápagos Islands, writes Times' music reviewer Reed Johnson. 

Banda el Recodo, one of the oldest and best-known outfits from the northwest Mexican state of Sinaloa, was founded by the late Don Cruz Lizárraga and is now led with consummate professionalism and contagious enthusiasm by his sons. The ensemble isn't trendy. It turned up at Staples Center resplendent in traditional black outfits and cowboy boots, with clarinets, trumpets, trombones and drums in tow.

The group then proceeded to blow away the arena, packed with mostly under-30s, who joyfully danced and sang the words to every corrido, ranchera ballad or banda tune inflected with salsa, cumbia or even here and there a touch of hip-hop.

Read the rest of the review of Reventon here.

Photo: Banda el Recodo at Staples Center on July 18, 2009, for Reventon Super Estrella. Credit: Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times

Brazilian singer Ceu continues to experiment with diverse genres

On her sophomore project, "Vagarosa," Brazilian singer-songwriter Céu continues to embrace music from far and wide, reports Reed Johnson:

If you've set foot in a Starbucks lately, chances are you've caught a few bars of Céu's music. The Brazilian singer-songwriter's self-titled debut album was picked by the coffee chain to be the first release from an international artist featured in its Hear Music Debut CD series.

Critics showered praise, the disc rose to the top of Billboard's world music chart and Céu (pronounced say-u) scored a Latin Grammy nomination for best new artist of 2006 and a Grammy nomination for best contemporary world music album of 2007.

Céu's creamy vocals and camera-friendly looks helped make her the rare foreign chanteuse who can break through the English-language barrier that often blocks world music artists from the U.S. market (she sings almost exclusively in Portuguese). With her much-anticipated follow-up, "Vagarosa," to promote, she's back on tour and has a return engagement Friday at the Roxy.

Read the rest of this report here on the LATimes Pop & Hiss music blog.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Mexico suspends diplomatic visa exemption for Canadians

Mexico's foreign secretary has announced the suspension of a visa exemption for Canadian diplomats and officials working in the country. The decision comes in response to the announcement late Monday by the Canadian government that it was introducing a new visa for Mexican nationals wanting to travel to Canada.

Canadian officials and diplomats will now have to obtain visas before going to Mexico, but the new restrictions will not affect Canadian tourists. Mexico's tourist industry was severely hit by the H1N1 flu outbreak this year. Adding restrictions for travelers would only cause a further drop in visitors to the country.

Mexico 'at the vanguard of the disabled-rights movement'

The Economist reports on how Mexico is now "at the vanguard of the disabled-rights movement in the developing world":

At the main international airport for Mexico City, the first thing to notice is that the path from the baggage claim is lined with smiling employees guiding passengers to their taxis or connecting flights. The second is that they are all in wheelchairs. Since the opening of a new terminal in November 2007, the airport has hired some 60 disabled, bilingual workers to serve as Mexico’s face to the world. Their presence delights both passengers, who frequently offer congratulations and ask to take their picture, and their superiors. “They’re professional, attentive, always in a good mood, and never miss work,” says Héctor Velázquez, the airport’s director.

Read the whole report on the Economist website.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City