A quick primer to understanding Latin America

Why is this man (me) on top of the world at the Middle of the World? Does he know anything at all about a yaggi antenna or is merely “fiddling on the roof”?

First of all, it only felt like I´d reached the top of the world because for four years now I´ve intended to get a coaxial cable hooked up to the antenna on top of our house. It took the painters´arrival with an extension ladder to put me on the summit. It is a two-story structure, and I will now dispense with my hyperbole.

However, the Middle of the World is Ecuador´s boast. On shortwave radio, we used to say “we´re broadcasting from the Middle of the World - Quito, Ecuador.”

I connected up and with great anticipation. I tuned in and I caught . . . Radio China International (not such a great catch considering Okeechobee, Florida is just a bouce or two away of the shortwave signal), the BBC and a couple other shortwave stations.

A precious few. Two few. (Hear the minor key strains of “Anatevka" playing as you read on.) BBC had already announced in February its end of English-language shortwave service in Europe after 75 years. It was just one of many such announcements over the last several years. (story is here.)

But I got it hooked up in time for Ken and Polly´s arrival in Ecuador. Twenty-five years ago he wrote in his first book*, news is the staple of most international broadcasts.

An avid shortwave listener over the years and a news junkie, Ken's lament has been long over the flight from shortwave frequencies by international broadcasters.

I will mark it as one of life´s little ironies the comment Ken made as he arranged to housesit our place for awhile: “if you have Cable TV, don´t disconnect it as we would like to use it.” My effort and his loyal shortwave listening! Replaced by cable?!

But I´m only pretending to be overwrought. Times change, technologies change. We adjust, some by a downward adjustment in their news intake. Others by more aggressively hunting out non-filtered, from-the-closest-to-the-event source.

A constant over the two decades I’ve known him is Ken´s voracious appetite for news–especially about Latin America. And the fact it is not fed by media based in the US. (See column by Andres Oppenheimer in which he provides examples of minimal coverage of Castro’s power handover, a three-way flap after a cross-border raid in Ecuador, and other stories. Oppenheimer summarizes a media study by Excellence in Journalism.)

As part of Ken´s personal campaign for more information from and about this region, he has recently released the book From Rio to the Rio Grande: Challenges and Opportunities in Latin America .

World magazine calls the book “A quick primer on the current geography, politics, faith, and economics of the region.” It is reviewed here but World asks a subscription fee.

A former U.S. ambassador to Paraguay says it is “An excellent sweep of key topical issues.”

The book can be ordered here. As the reviews (and the title) indicate, the book covers a lot of ground with the incisive writing of a journalist and the perspective of a longtime pastor and missionary. Not only is it a good book to buy and read, it’s quite a bit easier than climbing up on the roof.

*Tune In the World - The Listener's Guide to International Shortwave Radio (1983)