Bad guys aren’t into hugs

Mexico’s new president is getting a very in-your-face lesson about hugs and bullets. As you may remember, her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador changed the approach and implemented the idea that hugs were more effective than bullets to fight criminal elements. It sounded good until the message was returned to sender address unknown, to paraphrase Elvis. I guess the bad guys are not into hugs!

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Ferdinand, Isabella, and when two young people exchanged wedding vows in Spain

Like some of you, I have a Spanish connection. My maternal grandfather was born in Asturias and came to Cuba in the 1920s. He met my future grandmother Adelina, also of Spanish stock. My other “abuelos” have Spanish heritage as well. The Canto side came to Cuba in the 1860s. Cool story, as my sons would say.

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Those terrible Spaniards and their conquests

Down in Mexico, the new “Presidenta,” as she likes to be called, is off to a confusing start, as a friend told me this weekend. The country is dealing with a massive crime wave, including a mayor being decapitated. Yes, I mean that his head was cut off. The poor man had been on the job for five days. There is a new man on the job.

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