Hasta siempre, Chavela

Ya lo dijo Sabina: "Las amarguras no son amargas cuando las canta Chavela Vargas y las escribe un tal José Alfredo." Lo que Sabina no dijo, pero sabía, es por qué Chavela era grande: por que cantaba con el corazón.

Perfecto, no voy a discutir con nadie si su voz dejaba mucho que desear. Cantar es una cosa, pero decir algo o tocar a alguien con tus palabras es otra. Chavela, así como el mismo Sabina, Leonard Cohen, Dylan, Tom Waits y muchos más, era una cantante que te hacía vivir y sentir las canciones más allá de su voz quebrada. Escuchar el disco de Carnegie Hall (2006), es una experiencia que me pone los pelos de punta.

No digo más porque una canción dice todo. Aquí les dejo una de mis favoritas (quería un video de Se Me Hizo Fácil, pero los que encontré era una basura).



Hasta siempre, Chavela. El día que quieras, nos bebemos una botella.

Literalmente enamorado de la literatura

Por lo general dejo fuera del blog el 99% de lo que hago para otros foros. En primer lugar, este espacio siempre ha celebrado el castellano y la mayoría de lo que escribo es in inglés. Además, entre artículos, entrevistas, columns de opinión y reseñas literarias, me pasaría la vida metido aquí si compartiera todo. No obstante, lo que sigue es algo único y pensé que merecía ser compartido.
Desde hace algunos meses soy el editor de la sección de poesía de Black Heart Magazine. La revista también publica ficción, entrevistas y algo que camina sobre la línea divisoria entre la ficción y la no ficción: confesiones amorosas dirigidas a personajes ficticios. En otras palabras, se explora el espacio donde se siente algo por una persona que no existe. De más está decir que se hace con el propósito de entretener y para burlarse un poco de la manada de no-lectores que viven suspirando por personajes blandengues de esos que hoy pululan en la literatura light y su plétora de cagarrutas cinematográficas. Aquí les dejo my "crush" con la bailarina exótica Coco Darling, heroína de Trashland A Go-Go, de Constance Ann Fitzgerald.
--
  
Coco Darling. Say that name a few times. You probably think it belongs to an exotic dancer. If so, you’re right. How could it not? Notice how your tongue lasciviously licks the back of your front teeth when you say her last name. Ah, it’s a beautiful thing. It’s hard not to fall for a woman with such a name. It’s even harder if you take into account the fact that she earns a living spinning around a pole in a g-string. Well, she used to dance, right up until she had a little accident and two guys threw her in a dumpster. Don’t worry, she woke up in a world full of trash, befriended a fly and went on to become a queen. I know because Constance Ann Fitzgerald wrote all about it in a book titled Trashland A Go-Go.

If you’re familiar with this section, you’re probably wondering why I’m referring to a character from a book as if she was a person. The only thing I can say is this: watch Cool World or Who Framed Roger Rabbit and get off my case. Now allow me to tell you how I was able to talk to, and then more or less get a date with, the woman of my dreams.

About a month ago I spent a few days in California. I’d love to tell you why, but that would most likely ruin the excellent work the good folks at the Witness Protection Program have done recently. In any case, I walked into a bar and ran into Constance. Who hadn’t seen each other since our band, Boys Can Be Riot Grrrls Too!, dissolved. We hadn’t kept in touch, but I’d read her book. Constance was bummed because she’d just put a restraining order against Henry Rollins. I comforted her for a while. Then, when she went to the bathroom, the creep that lives inside me looked through her phone. A name popped up: Coco Darling. I ran outside and dialed. A woman picked up and this is what went down.

GI: Coco? Is that you?”
CD: Yes, it’s me. Who the hell is this?
GI: I’m…I’m a friend of Constance. Could I ask you a few questions…for a magazine?
CD: Sure!
GI: Okay…How has life been since you decided to stay in Trashland?
CD: I know it sounds kind of ridiculous to say that living in a trash heap is the best thing that ever happened to me, but it’s true. I’m the queen here. I get to do whatever I like, whenever I like and not a single person questions me. You can’t really beat that, can you?
GI: NO, you certainly can’t. Have other people tried to reach you now that you’re a character in a book?
CD: Oh, sure! Damned internet… Girls I used to work with looking to ride a little coat-tail and some exes here and there pop up just “wondering how things are.” It’s a bore. I didn’t like them then, and chances are I won’t like them now.
GI: And how do you feel about Constance fictionalizing you?
CD: I wish she would have asked my permission first, that’s for damn sure. It’s sort of invasive and awkward. Seeing someone else’s impression of you can be…interesting. Do I really swear that much?
GI: You make drunk truckers blush, gorgeous. Er…since those two douchebags left you in that dumpster, how do you feel toward the opposite sex?
CD: I’m pretty skeptical. I guess I always have been. I try to remember that not all men are terrible pieces of shit like Arnie and Victor. It’s much less of a problem now that I am in charge. Go ahead, TRY and disrespect me. See what it gets you.
GI: Do you miss your…profession?
CD: You know, at first, I really thought I was going to. Not the job itself so much as the attention. But I have more attention here than I could have dreamed of. Now I relish my few hours of solitude and want for nothing. No rent, no sleazy boss or grope-y dirtbags.
Life off the pole is pretty fucking great.
GI: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve found in Trashland?
CD: Amelia Earhart. We have brunch every Tuesday.
GI: Awesome! And what’s Rudy up to these days?
CD: Sadly, he died shortly after I was crowned. We had a nice service for him and buried him in the pornography heap on the west end of Trashland. He would have wanted it that way, the little perv.
GI: Speaking of pervs, what would your perfect prince be like? You know, besides having the common sense to not throw you away like an old hamburger.
CD: Right? That’s kind of a give in. “All I want in life is a guy who’s going to cover me in filth.” Excuse me? It’s funny, because although a lot of ladies don’t come outright and SAY that, they seem to agree on some subconscious level. All I really want is someone I enjoy spending time with and vice versa. Someone interesting, adventurous and filled with great stories. Cute doesn’t hurt though…
GI: I’m not cute, but adventure’s my middle name and I’ve got stories out the wazoo. If I found my way there…would you like to get some coffee or…some Fernet?
CD: You silver tongued bastard. You’re buying.
There you have it, folks. Maybe I dreamed all that in my drunken stupor (Constance can drink an alcoholic Irish powerlifter under the table), but the conversation lives in my heart. Now I only have to find a way to make it to Trashland…

Note: The author would like to thank Constance Ann Fitzgerald for maybe, in an alternate universe, channeling Coco Darling so she could answer some questions.
–
Gabino Iglesias is a writer and journalist currently living in Austin, Texas. His work has appeared in The New York Times, the Austin Post, Business Today magazine, San Antonio Magazine, Bizarro Central, CultureMap Austin, Divergent Magazine, MicroHorror, El Nuevo Dia and a few anthologies. He’s also a book reviewer for HorrorTalk, Horrorphilia, the Lovecraft eZine and most recently joined Black Heart Magazine as its new Poetry Editor. He can be reached at gabinoiglesias@gmail.com or via Twitter at @Gabino_Iglesias.

Pueden ver el original aquí.

Buscapié: Parteras

Esta semana hicieron un pequeño cambió en Buscapié y mi columna salió ayer. Por alguna razón, nunca apareció en la versión digital del periódico. Aquí se las dejo. 

Parteras

Gabino Iglesias          

El presidente del Colegio de Médicos Cirujanos de Puerto Rico, Eduardo Ibarra, le solicitó esta semana al gobernador Luis Fortuño que no firme el proyecto que reglamenta la partería y la reconoce oficialmente como una profesión relacionada a la salud.

Ibarra nombró los peores escenarios posibles para respaldar su opinión de que los partos naturales asistidos por parteras implican coquetear con la tragedia. El galeno, sin duda defendiendo los intereses, cuentas de banco y tardes de golf de sus compañeros, optó por dejar fuera de la discusión algunos puntos importantes. Por ejemplo, Ibarra no mencionó que en el Reino Unido, país con una tasa de mortalidad infantil en hospitales mucho menor a la de Estados Unidos, el Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists y el Royal College of Midwives firmaron un documento en el 2007 que establece que, en embarazos normales, dar a luz en casa con una partera es perfectamente saludable, libre de riesgo y puede representar beneficios para la madre y el bebé. 

Otro pequeño dato que el cirujano obvió es que en un sinnúmero de países de Europa y en Japón, las parteras atienden alrededor del 70 por ciento de los partos. Interesantemente, Japón es uno de los países con menos muertes de recién nacidos al año a nivel mundial. Debe ser que los Japoneses y los Europeos tienen mucha suerte en eso de coquetear con la tragedia. 

Si estos datos sólo se encontraran escondidos entre las amarillas páginas de alguna ignota publicación académica, las retrógradas y alarmistas palabras de Ibarra serían perdonables. Sin embargo, sus declaraciones apuntan a una ignorancia que se podría iluminar con un par de revistas, algún documental y una búsqueda en Internet.

Por desgracia, parece que el Colegio de Médicos Cirujanos de Puerto Rico no tiene reparos en participar de prácticas de fast food con sus embarazos. En lugar del bienestar de la madre y el bebé, Ibarra apoya la santísima trinidad estadounidense: Pitocin, epidural y cesárea.

Esperemos que Flojuño haga lo correcto y firme el proyecto.

Buscapié: Zombi

Aquí les dejo la columna de hoy. 

 

10 de junio de 2012

Zombi

Gabino Iglesias

Recuerdo una infancia en la cual la posibilidad de que un huracán azotara nuestra isla era razón suficiente para que las caras de mis vecinos se iluminaran con un sonrisa. No entendía por qué un fenómeno atmosférico que acarreaba destrucción y pérdidas podía ser convertido en elemento de jolgorio. Sin embargo, con el paso de los años entendí la magia que traían consigo los vientos del huracán: un cambio pasajero que destrozaba el agrio sabor de nuestra desesperante y agitada “estagnación”.

Ahora los americanos se dedican a almorzarse los unos a los otros y los puertorriqueños tiene una quimera de la que agarrarse mientras esperan por los huracanes: el apocalipsis zombi. Los cómics nos dieron mucha acción que desear, George A. Romero demostró que un centro comercial puede ser un lugar excitante y la plétora de series de televisión, películas, juegos de vídeo y libros que hoy inundan el mercado nos hacen desear una oportunidad de ser héroes.

Si bien las diferencias entre los muertos ambulantes y la población general son ínfimas, pensar que podemos salir de este estancamiento, que podemos levantarnos mañana en un mundo donde darle rienda suelta a nuestros impulsos más violentos es la única manera de sobrevivir. Es una utopía que le gana a cualquier realidad actual.

La televisión nos enseñó que las situaciones tensas y peligrosas son terreno fértil para el cambio, el heroísmo y el romance. Es más excitante contemplar la idea de pintar una pared con los sesos del vecino que te cae mal que chuparse la avalancha de anuncios políticos que saturan la caja tonta. Aunque los zombis traigan muerte, las posibilidades son más apasionantes que este aborrecimiento cultural.

Es fácil criticar a los que apetecen un mundo de podredumbre y violencia, pero pensémoslo bien: dientes que rasguen la piel de algún político, los ricos refugiándose con los pobres, los gatilleros haciendo de las suyas, libres de repercusiones y salvando vidas con sus balas, nada de tapones y un poco de ejercicio.

No suena nada mal.

El autor es estudiante doctoral.

Pueden leer el original aquí. 

Entrevistando al entrevistador

Algunas veces se vira la tortilla. Después de años haciendo entrevistas todas las semanas, me tocó ser entrevistado a mi. Brooklyn James, autora de The Boots My Mother Gave Me y la trilogía de Vigilare, me pidió que hablara de libros y reseñas. Aquí les dejo la entrevista. 

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Ever read a great book, or maybe a not-so-great book, and had the desire to share your opinion? Book reviews are a superlative way to share your thoughts about the books you read. Consider the time you invest in reading, whether it be occasional or daily undertakings. Your opinion is just as viable as one offered from The New York Times. If you fancy yourself a reader, you are only a few informed steps away from donning another cap; REVIEWER.

Trust me, as a writer, we want to hear from readers. It's the only way we truly have to adapt/improve our writing and implement the necessary changes to please and gain our readership. Writing, most often is a solitary act. The lone writer, pecking away at a keyboard, fingers flying, concocting words in hopes of scribing a story to take readers on a journey. Once that work is published, that lone act, hopefully, becomes a shared experience, a shared journey, with readers. 

At its most basic form, it's simple economics; supply and demand. Tell us what you want, what you like, what you expect from the books you read. Writers read reviews. Good writers, take heed of such reviews. Readers who review are a writer's lifeline. Tell us what you want. Give us your demands. I promise, we're waiting to supply you with such. 

My guest today is Gabino Iglesias, a professional Book Reviewer, whose work has appeared in the Austin Post, San Antonio Magazine, The New York Times, Bizarro Central, Business Today, among a few other places.

Big thanks to Gabino for stopping by to share with us a few pointers on how we, as readers, can be a driving force in the book market. Through book reviews, readers can affect the market, making their voices heard, whereby increasing the demand for books they find enjoyable.

Brooklyn James: Say I’m an avid reader who likes to post an occasional review of a particular book that merits my attention. I want to sound educated and informed in my review. Basically, I want other readers to notice my review. I want my opinion to count. What is the basic outline of a qualified book review?

Gabino Iglesias: There are many ways to write a book review. If you want to grab someone's attention, start with a few short sentences saying you truly enjoyed the book or comparing it to other books you've read. You can always use a powerful quote from the text to get people hooked. Regardless of your technique, just make sure that your review has an introduction, a paragraph in which you give a synopsis, which can be the trickiest part of all, and then a good explanation of what's so great about the book. If you want folks to take your review seriously, throw at least one or two of the book's weaknesses into your review. There are no perfect books, and reading an absolutely flawless review will not make me buy it. In fact, I'll immediately think the reviewer is the author's mom, friend, sister or girlfriend.   

 

Brooklyn James: How do I break out of the overused review, such as, “I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down!”

Gabino Iglesias: Breaking away from the classic "I loved this book!" review is fairly easy: Tell people why you loved it. If you can question yourself about why you liked the book and come up with a few honest answers, you're halfway done with your review. Think about what you read: What did you feel while reading the book? Could you relate to any of the characters? Was the tempo enjoyable? Would you compare it to a fast-paced movie, a creepy thriller or a tender love story? Was the prose poetic, telegrammatic, elegant or direct? Were there plot twists that you honestly never saw coming? Were the characters multidimensional? Did you laugh, cry or cringe at any point? Why?

 

Brooklyn James: Do you have an example of a book review, either yours or someone else’s (maybe one that piqued your interest enough to cause you to purchase said book for yourself simply based on the review) that would serve as a blueprint to a fantastic book review.

Gabino Iglesias: The more straightforward a review is, the higher the probability of me buying the book. One of the best book reviewers out there is HorrorTalk's Steve Pattee. He writes with absolute frankness. For example, take the first paragraph of his review for M.E. Patterson's, Devil's Hand:

"I always feel a certain trepidation when starting a new book from an author I've never heard of. Even more so when it's their first book and I am going into it completely blind. Usually, when it's not a book that I'm reviewing, I'll scour the web for reviews to see what others are saying. I completely disregard Amazon reviews because, let's face it, it's safe to assume that more than half of those five stars found on an authors first novel are from friends and family and can't be trusted. So I was a little nervous going into Devil's Hand by M.E. Patterson. It's written by an unknown author to me, I refuse to read anything written about it as not to skew my own thoughts and it looks to be self-published. To say that it has more against it than for, would be an understatement. Fortunately, by the end of the first chapter, I knew that I would be enjoying the novel, and I was right."

 

Brooklyn James: Lets talk about honesty. What are the rules about giving a bad book review? Is it best to practice what my first grade teacher told me, “If you have nothing nice to say, then don’t say anything at all?” Or if I feel compelled to state my discontent with the book, is there a more acceptable way in which to do this?

Gabino Iglesias: I think some people confuse honesty with cruelty. When you invest a few days of your life in a book you don't enjoy, it's understandable if you're tempted to write a scathing review. Don't do it. Move on to a different book and write the review a few days later. All my reviews are brutally honest. However, I think every book out there has at least one thing you could praise in order to make sure you're being honest and fair. If the story is horrible, maybe you can praise the author for keeping it short. If it's bad and long, maybe you can say the author had great work ethic, a rich vocabulary or maybe a good idea that was executed poorly. Saying "I hated it" is not a feasible option; honesty, whether we're talking about a bad review or a good one, has to go hand-in-hand with a thorough, concise and intelligent deconstruction of the text. If you want to tell me how bad a book is, I will trust your review only if you seem unbiased and show me that there are a plethora of weak points in the text.  

Words are very powerful and a reviewer should use them well in order to get his or her point across with some semblance of authority. Believe it or not, most authors actually appreciate a methodical, in-depth review that points out their accomplishments and flaws more than a short review where you say the book is the best one you've ever read. Here's how author William Cook shared with the world my review of his book, Blood Related: "One of the best reviews for Blood Related so far, by the illustrious Gabino Iglesias. And no, it wasn't 5-star, but it was objective and fair." If you can critique someone's book and still be called illustrious, you're probably doing something right!

Brooklyn James: Have you ever found yourself in the position where you agreed to do a book review for a book you really did not enjoy? How did you handle that situation?

Gabino Iglesias: If you agree to review books, this will happen regularly. What's even worse is when you go out and actually request a book because you think you'll love it and it turns out to be horrible. Again, the only way out is being unflinchingly honest. If the author never again contacts you or you never get another book from that publisher, don't fret: There are more books out there. What you cannot do, ever, is compromise your integrity as a reviewer. If you do that, you might as well join the rest of the trolls who post ten reviews a day on Amazon without reading a single book.

 

Brooklyn James: How did you become such an avid reader and reviewer of books?

Gabino Iglesias: I learned to read at an early age. While television gave me images, books opened up new universes, in which, I could construct other realities. By the time I was 12 or so I was reading Verne, Poe, Hemingway, Cervantes and many others with the same eagerness some kids play videogames or read comics. Reviewing started a few years ago. I became a journalist, a man who shared information, and telling people about amazing books just made sense. After I moved to Austin and met wonderful local authors, reviewing simply became a very regular part of my life.   

 

Brooklyn James: As an entertainment reporter, I’m sure you receive a multitude of requests from authors and writers about reviewing their works. How do you choose which books you will accept for review and which ones you graciously pass on?

Gabino Iglesias: I always rely on truthfulness. I know what I enjoy most and what genres are not my cup of tea. Thrillers, mysteries, noir, horror, bizarro, supernatural, biographies, well-researched nonfiction, surrealism, literary fiction, science fiction, poetry, true crime and non-genre fiction are all fine by me. If you ask me to review your romance novel or self-help book, I will decline because it could be a great addition to the genre and I will fail to see some of its merits simply because it's not something I regularly read or take pleasure in. I won't read your sparkling teenage vampire story or that tale about how a hunky ghost kindles an uncontrollable fire in your loins. That stuff is not for me so, for your benefit and mine, I stay away from it. Everything else is cool with me as long as you ask politely and don't tell me you'll send a PDF today and would like to see the review tomorrow afternoon. 

 

Brooklyn James: Do you have any advice for anyone as far as breaking into the book reading, reviewing and reporting field? Either as a career or a hobby?

Gabino Iglesias: If you want to be a reporter, get a journalism degree. Reporting has a few different styles that you'd have to learn in order to write successfully for magazines, newspapers or broadcast. As for reviewing, submerge yourself online and send out a few emails. There are many blogs out there who get more books for review than they can read. If you can help them out and get a few bylines, you can then jump into a bigger website. If you can write and have a passion for books, go for it!

 

Brooklyn James: What is your opinion on networking sites built to bring reader and writer together, such as Goodreads?

Gabino Iglesias: Anything that promotes reading and discussing books is great. However, reviews on Goodreads oftentimes suffer from the same lack of depth as those on Amazon. I know authors that get awful reviews from folks that haven't even read their books. Sadly, these places also tend to become forums for people who think they're purpose in life is to try to convince other readers of the literary merits of Twilight. If you want to meet people with similar tastes and learn about new books, then definitely join one of those places.

 

Brooklyn James: Where can we find your reviews/articles? Essentially, how can we follow Gabino?

Gabino Iglesias: I regularly write and review for CultureMap Austin, HorrorTalk, The Lovecraft eZine, Austin Vida, The Horror Review, Horrorphilia and Black Heart Magazine, where I'm also the Poetry Editor. Most of what I do I share on Twitter: @Gabino_Iglesias. If you love books or have something that you'd like to see reviewed, get in touch. Until then, happy reading!

Great points, Gabino! Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

Now, for a recap to writing viable book reviews:

• Compare the book to other books you've read (give readers a sense of what they're in for)
• Use a powerful quote or scene from the book as an example
• Be honest in your review
• Tell people WHY you loved or hated the book
• Even if you loved the book, include a weakness or two - no book is perfect!

Read Gabino Iglesias' Review of Vigilare from the Austin Post: http://www.austinpost.org/art-patrol/book-review-brooklyn-james-vigilare

Buscapié: Puertroliqueño

Escribo una columna contra los troles, y los animalitos iracundos salen de las grietas cibernéticas para intentar morderme. Hay que reírse. Resulta que sin trabajo y jodiéndome para pagar mis cuentas, soy un elitista de burbuja. En fin, espero que comenten todo el día. Por lo menos parece que alguno entendió por dónde iban los tiros. Feliz Día de las Madres! 

13 de mayo de 2012

Puertroliqueño

Gabino Iglesias

Son el ejército de la rabia mal enfocada. Son los implacables jueces de la moral. Son apasionadamente religiosos o premeditadamente rebeldes. Son dicharacheros, peleones, racistas e iracundos.

Por lo general carecen de sentido común y están preñados de agendas equívocas y atiborrados de datos ficticios. Suelen ser fanáticos de la política y generalmente viven en estado de agitada y colérica “estagnación”. Hacen alarde de lo mal informados que están y constantemente dejan claro que poseen la gramática de un niño de tercer grado que odia su clase de español. Me refiero a los “puertroliqueños”.

El “trol puertorricensis” habita delante de la pantalla de una computadora y se alimenta de odio, comida rápida o lo que cocine mami. Su actividad predilecta es otorgar al mundo su genialidad en pequeñas dosis vía comentarios dejados en los diarios del país.

En dichos diarios se les conoce como un cáncer autoimpuesto. Por otro lado, la academia los reconoce como el proyecto fallido de la participación digital, el daño colateral de aquello que llamaron Web 2.0 o la prueba fehaciente de que, a falta de soluciones para la brecha digital, al menos habría que arrojar al precipicio a la mitad de lado con suerte.

Una de las especialidades del “puertroliqueño” es leer una nota de prensa, emitir un juicio valorativo sobre el tema o individuo que en dicha nota se discute y escribir un comentario (que muchas veces poco tiene que ver con la nota) en poco menos de diez segundos.

Bendicen bebés, critican carreras, cuestionan a los periodistas, se declaran eruditos en cualquier cosa, celebran/maldicen al Gobierno y se insultan entre ellos. Calumniar es su oxígeno, todas las notas que han leído son una pérdida de tiempo y sus violentas inexactitudes, furiosos arrebatos e incoherentes palabras son más merecedoras de espacio que las diarreas incomprensibles de los “intelectualoides que escriben en Buscapié”.

Si alguien se topa con una de estas criaturas en sus exploraciones cibernéticas, simplemente ignórelo. Para el “puertroliqueño”, no causar una reacción es el equivalente de echarle sal a una babosa.

n El autor es estudiante doctoral.

Buscapié: Agriacultura

Aquí les dejo el buscapié de hoy. Buena suerte a todos lo que se sentarán a esperar los trabajitos en agricultura.

8 de abril de 2012
Agriacultura

Gabino Iglesias

Si mañana subieran a un cuadrilátero una yautía y una hamburguesa, la vianda saldría hecha puré. Lamentablemente, la obvia supremacía de la carne aglutinada en esferas y elemento sine qua non de los “fasfú” es sólo el principio. En Puerto Rico se dieron conversaciones para traer cientos de hermanos dominicanos a recoger café, una propuesta inescrupulosa, sin duda empeñada en moldear al país a su imagen y semejanza, intentó que beneficiarios de la Tarjeta de la Familia pudiesen comprar “comida” en locales de comida rápida y el ñame más famoso que hay es un blog.

Durante años, las sabias hormigas a cargo del desarrollo del País trabajaron arduamente en sembrar urbanizaciones y centros comerciales. Por desgracia, la economía se convirtió en veneno para las iglesias del capitalismo. Hoy, un paseo por cualquier centro comercial demuestra que lo que se sembró por tanto tiempo ahora parece fruta que se quedó tres días en el baúl del carro y el cemento con que se cubrió la tierra está negro por el hongo. Por último, insinuarle a un desempleado que busque trabajo en el sector agrícola es una invitación abierta para un sopapo.

Si bien es cierto que el panorama no pinta bien en términos culturales, se torna aún más deprimente si se le añade a la discusión el elemento práctico. En este país los terrenos agrícolas fueron víctimas de una veleidad literaria llamada progreso. Aunque en los llanos costeros del sur aún hay algo a lo que se le puede llamar agricultura sin fruncir el ceño, no hay que ser experto en el tema para saber que lo que se consume viene de fuera. Sin embargo, todo eso cambiará. Alejandro García Padilla tiene un plan digital (por eso es 2.0).

Aquí está el resumen del quimérico plan: mucha tecnología (huele a Monsanto), niños y presos a comer lo de aquí y a tomar mucha leche, 8,000 empleos más y producción que alcance para el País y para exportar. Sólo tengo una pregunta: ¿Tiene esto alguna relación con la realidad?

n El autor es estudiante doctoral.

Pueden ver el original aquí.