"Bondi’s precipitous fall laid bare a cornerstone truth of Trump’s second term: Loyalty, flattery and obeisance are prerequisites for power, but they don’t provide durable protection from a president intent on carrying out his maximalist personal and political goals."
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/u...
Cuba’s leaders "may be able to find space for negotiation" around Washington’s central objective: removing CCP and military control over Cuba’s economy and lifting restrictions on private-sector development and foreign investment, writes Peter Kornbluh. www.thenation.com/article/worl...
Who was the source of Honduras' scandalous narco-video? How Insight Crime Tracked Down an Explosive Narco Video in #Honduras (my latest investigation into the depths of the Honduran narco wars, with Jeff Ernst)
English: insightcrime.org/news/how-ins...
"It’s still anybody’s guess whether Trump recognizes that the most important commodity it needs to secure in #Venezuela isn’t its oil wealth but its commonwealth." Adroit analysis from Tim Padgett who knows Venezuela well. www.wlrn.org/commentary/2...
"Pumping heavy, sour crude in Venezuela to sell at a discount looks even less appealing when Chevron can tap lighter, sweeter stuff in next-door Guyana, which it can extract more cheaply and peddle at a premium."
"With global demand soft and the possibility of it peaking as early as 2030, the supermajors have become pickier about which projects to pursue. These days any old barrels won’t do: they should be low-cost and low-risk. Venezuelan ones are neither." www.economist.com/business/202...
Cuba’s Long-Suffering Economy Is Now in ‘Free Fall'. Reported with Frances Robles and photos by Michael Adams Lozano www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/w...
Venezuela: US risks human rights disaster by allying with remnants of Maduro regime, says
@hrw.org Venezuela: US Risks Rights Disaster www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...
"I would like to hear more from the administration about how we move from this moment to a democracy in Venezuela," says Elliott Abrams. "We’ve heard nothing about how and why they think this bunch of criminals is going to commit suicide by leading to a democratic transition." tinyurl.com/46ywkxn7
Highly recommend this lesson in media integrity about who really took the shocking 1972 photo of Vietnam’s “napalm girl.” youtube.com/watch?v=Plxr...
“For those fools, everyone from Venezuela is a criminal.” Great reporting on ICE in Chicago from
@propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/chic...
“We feel a bit marooned right now,” says Richard Solomon, the mayor of Black River. Our story on the scene at the epicenter of Hurricane Melissa in Black River, on Jamaica's south coast. Hopefully aid arrives soon. With
Annie Correal and Frances Robles @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/w...
American Convicted of Murder Is Freed by Trump From Venezuela Prison. The Trump administration said it was protecting Americans unjustly held abroad. One of the rescued men, Dahud Hanid Ortiz, killed three people in Madrid and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/w...
'In Cuba, There Are No Beggars,’ Minister Claims, Before Being Ousted. Feitó’s words exposed what many Cubans concluded long ago, that the government is out of touch with the lives of ordinary people while their leaders cling to a state-run economic model. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/w...
Story has been corrected to say the Oloffsons were German-Haitian.
Mr Courlander describes an interview with Mr Oloffson. In this passage, he describes him as: "a German of Scandinavian-German ancestry. His spoke German at home, as well as French and Creole. Mrs Oloffson, who managed the hotel was "a light-skinned Haitian woman."
Nor was he a Swedish sea captain, as some say. Nadege sent me this document written by Harold Courlander, an important cultural figure who spent a lot time at the Oloffson in the 1930s and 1940s. That was around the time the original owners were there, so he is a very reliable source.
CORRECTION: It turns the Oloffson family were not Norwegian-German family as I reported on Monday. They were German-Haitian. Mr Oloffson was German with Scandinavian roots and his wife Haitian, according to Nadège Nau, anthropology PhD candidate at the University of South Florida.
Actually, more German-Swedish. He was principally German with Scandinavian ancestry. Not a sea captain at all, from what I can tell.
Did some more research. Looks like he was German of Scandinavian origin.
So, I am reaching out to someone who may know the Oloffson family. Richard tells me he thinks they are Norwegian. Checking back I realize now why I wrote Norwegian as it appears that way in a feature story in the NYT in July 1988.
Thanks for spotting that Jonathan. I think you are right. I’ll get it corrected. Enjoyed reading your memories on the old place.
The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on ICE authorities to respect an immigration court ruling and release on bail journalist Mario Guevara, a native of El Salvador who has been legally in the U.S. for the past 20 years. cpj.org/2025/07/ice-...
A Hotel Made Famous by Graham Greene Is a Victim of Haiti’s Violence. Haiti’s famed Oloffson Hotel, a cultural landmark and celebrity haven, was incinerated amid rising violence by gangs that control most of the country’s capital.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/w...
The iconic #Oloffson Hotel of Graham Greene fame, was burned down at the weekend. A great loss of Haitian 'gingerbread' architecture. Like other journalists, I spent many nights there in the past. Greene set some famous scenes there in his novel, 'The Comedians'.
