The contrast was just too much. On one channel, I watched as tens of thousands of people struggled to survive the devastating impact of the tsunami that left more than 250,000 dead and countless others injured and homeless, and on another channel, presenters at last month\’s Golden Globe Awards leaving the ceremonies with their \”travel-themed\” gift baskets worth $37,890 each.
The siren will mark the moment 10 years ago when a bomb went off, killing 85 people in the most devastating terrorist attack in modern Latin American history. Hundreds of Argentines are expected to be standing on Pasteur and in nearby streets to commemorate the anniversary of the tragedy.
The DAIA political umbrella group, together with AMIA and Familiaris de Las Victims — the biggest group of victims\’ relatives — jointly organized the commemoration ceremony in Buenos Aires.
By phone, e-mail and word-of-mouth, the bad news kept piling up at Congregation Emanu El in San Bernardino.\n\nThe homes of six families had been burned to the ground in the devastating wildfires sweeping across Southern California.\n\nAnother 30-40 families had been forced to evacuate their homes, and no one knew the present whereabouts of eight other families.\n\nRabbi Douglas Kohn, the Reform congregation\’s spiritual leader, was at the point of utter exhaustion.
These are sad days for the Jewish community in Venezuela as many begin to question whether this country, once so hospitable to Jewish life, can still be called home.
As the country faces nearly its sixth week of a devastating strike calling for early elections or the resignation of President Hugo Chávez, Venzuela\’s economy, already set to shrink by 6 percent this year, has been hurled into utter chaos. Poverty levels are estimated at 80 percent — a tragedy for one of the wealthiest and most stable countries in Latin America.
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