Lezama Lima: Speaking Freely

Lezama Lima: Speaking Freely (Lezama Lima: soltarla lengua) surveys the life and work of one of the most complex and interesting writers in the Spanish language. This documentary reviews the most outstanding traits of his rare personality, encompassing a broad panorama that includes the hermeneutical analysis of his work, the sociopolitical context in which he lived, and the more day-to-day anecdotes of this great Havana-born author. Through the eyes of his friends, disciples, and members of his Delphic course, viewers can enjoy and approach a polyhedral Lezama Lima, who will make them rave about his transcendental knolwedge-characterized by a heterodoxical mystical and cultural range-as well as attract them to the personality of a common man who equally liked gossip, heretical and esoteric conversations, and smoking a good cigar or tasting a fleshy fruit. Director Ernesto Fundora Hernandez\u27s fundamental motive in this audiovisual piece is to go beyond the myth surrounding Lezama Lima, bringing him closer to younger generations, based on an admiration that integrates poetic and mundane aspects of his life, transmuting the difficulting elements of his work, in the spirit of a Creole pleasantness which, without renouncing complexity, returns us to a potable and even funny Lezama Lima.https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cri_events/1420/thumbnail.jp

Bike Lanes, Not Cars: Mobility and the Legal Fight for Future Los Angeles

In 2015, the City of Los Angeles adopted the controversial Mobility Plan 2035. The Plan restructures city transportation planning by emphasizing alternatives to cars for the next twenty years. Predictably, bike lanes became its most polemic aspect. The Plan envisions dramatic increases in bike lanes throughout car-obsessed Los Angeles. This bike lane increase was challenged in court, with objectors claiming that eliminating car lanes would increase congestion and compromise air quality. These arguments are ironic, since environmental justifications typically motivate bike projects. The Mobility Plan illustrates how law supports and challenges bike lane projects. This Article argues that although this bike lane fight regards inches and miles of road space, the fight is primarily centered on how Angelinos will live in the future. As bike advocates attain popular and policy successes, they must confront legal contests driven by car-centric interests. Los Angeles shows how city planning achievements open a path for bike lane opposition armed with city governance, environmental, transportation, and land use doctrines

Trade War, PPE, and Race

Tariffs on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as face masks and gloves, weaken the American response to COVID. The United States has exacerbated PPE shortages with Section 301 tariffs on these goods, part of a trade war with China. This has a disparate impact felt by minority communities because of a series of health inequity harms. COVID’s racial disparity appears in virus exposure, virus susceptibility, and COVID treatments. This Article makes legal, policy, and race-and-health arguments. Congress has delegated to the United States Trade Representative expansive authority to increase tariffs. This has made PPE supplies casualties of the trade war. In political terms, the Trump administration prioritized increasing tariffs over public health readiness. Regarding race, PPE shortages exemplify the socioeconomic effects of trade policies and add to COVID’s racial disparities

The Discovery of New Export Products in Ecuador

This paper examines export diversification in Ecuador in the cases of fresh cut flowers, canned tuna, palm heart, broccoli and mangoes, using the theoretical framework on “pioneers” and “discoveries” developed by Hausmann and Rodrik(2003), as well as work by Sánchez and Butler (2006) on export costs and related uncertainties. It is found that the discoveries were mainly of traditional competitive advantage, with various degrees of technology adoption. The following policy implications are derived: i) innovative mechanisms to share the costs of new discoveries must be found and intellectual property rights strengthened; ii) cooperation among industry experts needs to improve; iii) deeper collective action to promote public-private partnerships should be undertaken; iv) relevant information and knowledge should be made available to all interested parties; and v) a national-level agenda should be undertaken to increase private investment in promising sectors while promoting the creation of public goods and minimizing rent-seeking behavior.Export diversification, Ecuador