Panama City 2011
sábado, 16 de abril de 2011
Nemagon is the commercial name of the DBCP (dibromo chloropropane), developed and fabricated by some multinational chemical corporation.
DBCP appeared in the labs of the Dow Chemical Company and Shell Chemical Company. It was employed in the banana fiefs belonging to the multinational fruit companies to combat the nematode worms attacking the banana trees beginning with the end of the 60's, despite the lab probes that warned about its toxicity.
In lab rats it induced retarded growth, reduced testicles, and major lesions on the lungs and kidneys. But contacts between both companies silenced the evidence. Manipulated medical reports permitted DBCP's approval by the Food and Drugs Agency (FDA) of the US as without "excessive risk".
In 1969, Standard Fruit Company started its use in its banana plantations in Central America. There was no warning about the pesticide's toxicity and the workers did not receive protection equipment. Over the years, thousands of liters of Nemagon were employed in plantations in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Santa Lucia, Saint Vincent, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Philippines.
In 1975, the Environmental Protection Agency in US determined that DBCP was carcinogen (cancer-inducing). In 1977, 35 workers out of 114 making the product in a US factory were sterile. That year, its use in the US was stopped and its delivery ceased temporarily.
But Standard threatened with breach of contract, and Dow continued its delivery only when Standard assumed the cost of possible damages.
In 1979, DBCP was forbidden in Costa Rica, and Standard transferred its stocks to the neighboring Nicaragua. And in 2000, DBCP was still employed in Panama, 23 years after its prohibition in the US.
65,000 persons are supposed to have been affected by Nemagon all over the world. This while 67 % of the banana workers in Nicaragua are sterile or suffer of some DBCP-induced disease. 33 % of the women working in the banana plantations have uterus or breast cancer, while the average value in the rest of the population in poor countries is 1%.
DBCP is now recognized as one of the most powerful cancer inducing products, even in low doses. Other induced cancers are those of testicle, stomach kidney and duoden.
Other consequences of the DBCP are mental deficiencies, genetic malformations, still birth, spontaneous abortion, bone deformation, brittle bones, general pains (especially muscle and bones), muscle atrophy, eyesight loss, diabetes, weight loss, hair loss, teeth loss, skin spots lacking pigment, hormonal disturbances, menstruation alterations, tiresome, paralysis, insomnia, liver and spleen inflammation, diarrhea.
But the psychological and social consequences are equally tough: self-esteem loss, impotence, severe depression, sadness and confusion, translated in job loss, alcoholism and suicide. Many men were abandoned by their wives as they could not have children. Others appealed to other men to let their women pregnant, all of this resulting in matrimonial unbalances and separations.
The judiciary history of this insecticide in countries like Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras started at the beginning of the 90's. In 1997, 20,000 affected workers were convinced by their own lawyers and some politicians to receive a miserable severance pay of about $100, giving up future indemnities.
Now, only those who did not take the bait can ask for higher compensations. Manifestations and strikes came with no final result. The sued multinationals in Nicaragua are Dow Agro Sciences, Aka del Monte Fruits, Del Monte Tropical Fruits, Shell Oil Company, Occidental Chemical Corporation, Standard Fruit Company, Dole Food Corporation Inc., Chiquita Brands International and Del Monte Foods.
But the legislation lack in these countries makes these cases very difficult to judge. Only Costa Rica approved a law by which the affected ones receive state compensations. 4,000 victims of Nicaragua received about 4,800 million dollars due to the intervention of the Justice Department of the US on 7 multinationals.
jueves, 17 de marzo de 2011
Tree House, New Orleans March 2011
My name is Hanna Quevedo. I am a professional photographer from Spain, and have been living in the United States since 2007. I currently live in San Francisco working as a freelance photographer and staff photographer for San Francisco Weekly and Mission Local. I am also the photo editor for El Tecolote, a bilingual newspaper in the Mission District. In addition to working for three different media publications, I continue to collaborate with independent media as Matador and Indymedia as well.
I started my career in a lab shooting black and white photos. After a while, I began to integrate color into my work. Both have very meaningful purposes in my expression.
For the past 10 years I have been shooting photos with the same intention: to capture the moments I find memorable and share these moments with a wide audience. My theme is “PEOPLE, PLACES, and THINGS.” To observe and save these images with a 'click' makes me happy, and I believe that joy is felt by those who see my photos.
I am passionate about, and completely dedicated to, capturing “the moment.” Photography is the reason I wake up each day. I see beauty in the simplest things we take for granted. I feel that we are constantly bombarded with negative imagery adapted to manipulate the observer with empathy. I do not pretend to change the world with my photos but I chose to focus on the positive and the beautiful rather than negativity.
I love showcasing my own intricate, perspective of the world around us and I hope that you find my work alluring. Using colors, lights, compositions and the simple magic of PEOPLE, PLACES and THINGS reflect the beauty of the world. The artistic opportunities are endless. I love experimenting with digital and analog because the results reflect different experiences, views, feelings and textures. I shoot with medium format, 35 mm and digital.
My work has provided me scholarships and internships in Spain, an assignment in Germany with a European Community project with children, a project in El Salvador, teaching photography in Central America for 4 months in both Usulutan City and San Miguel´s University. I have collaborated with magazines and newspapers in Mexico, Spain and USA (Denver and San Francisco).
I have searched out and taken advantage of every chance to share my work in each city I lived in over the past 9 years including venues such as galleries, art spaces, cafes, collective and individual shows, projections and framed photos.
I continue to learn and grow in my work, to travel and experience the culture of different countries and cities. I plan to continue my travels and hope to publish books of my journeys. I want to have my name in the Magnum photographers list.
These are my dreams and I know they can be fulfilled if I continue to pursue them and fight for them.
Las Tablas, Panama 2011
martes, 1 de marzo de 2011
miércoles, 29 de diciembre de 2010
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