Iker Sin Igual

Mine is a house divided.  My oldest son, whose collection of FC Barcelona gear nearly quadrupled this past Christmas, is a boy committed to the misguided notion that the best soccer team in the world plays regularly at the Camp Nou in Barcelona.  His father--older, wiser--knows that the beautiful game is at its most beautiful in the Santiago Bernabéu.  Each Clásico is an opportunity for me to prove to him just how right I am.  Of course, the last several games between Los Blancos and Los Azulgrana have made it difficult for me to make my point (most especially the unfortunate events of the late fall of 2010).  Nevertheless, the Federación Internacional de Historia y Estadística del Fútbol recently gave my side something to smile about when it named Iker Casillas the best goalkeeper in the world for the fourth year in a row.  Congratulations to Iker.  And to my son...told you so.

Dead in Cuba, but no, it's not him.

The internet was abuzz yesterday with rumors that Fidel Castro was, finally, dead.  Of course, there was no official confirmation of the dictator's demise.  No report in Granma.  Nothing on the Cuban evening news (I use that word loosely).  Maybe the tweeteros of the world were confused.  You see, while it appears that Fidel is still alive and kicking (what's that old Spanish saying about "no hay mal que dure cien años...?") a Cuban did die yesterday.  His name was Rene Cobas and, according to sources in Cuba, he died after having gone on a hunger strike at Fidel's infamous Boniato prison.

Welcome

I have been thinking about creating a blog for some time and with the start of the New Year I figured this was as good a time as any to get started.  La Vuelta is a place to discuss the culture and politics of Latin America and the Latino communities of the United States.  Whether it's Latinos and baseball, narcotraffic in Puerto Rico, racial politics in the Dominican Republic, trade policy in Peru or anything else you can imagine matters in the Spanish(or Spanglish)-speaking world, you might find it here.  I don't know where these conversations will lead but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens.

Bienvenidos a todos.

John