  September --and by that I mean college-- is just around the corner. I'm not brimming with joy; that's for sure. It's not that I don't look forward to the coursework, though I do possess an impressive body of work in the wonderful art of procrastination. Actually, it's more due to the fact that I have not fulfilled all of my summer plans. "Aaaaaaaaah, poor baaaaaaaaaaaaaaby", you may say. But no, I'm not going to languish over my shortcomings and, besides, there are obviously more important events in this world to consider. On my homeland, the Dominican Republic, Mr. Leonel Fernández became the new head of state. Like most of his predecessors, he'll have to face, confront, avoid or just simply ignore (isn't it always a mix of the four? ) the rampant corruption, resource maldistribution, and the eternal G8 hegemony that afflicts DR, along with almost all other Latin American states and developing nations throughout the world. Latin America is one region where government leaders address these perennial challenges in their own distinctive ways. On the day of President Fernández inauguration, for instance, President Hugo Chávez was voted to remain in power by the Venezuelan electorate. Here you have Mr. Fernández, a mild-mannered lawyer in favor of privatization against Chávez, an energetic, lefttist populist whose firebrand rhetoric riles all the way to Mr. Cheney's pacemaker. Go west and you have president Uribe working alongside the DEA to eliminate the drug cartels in a war that apparently will never end, to the lament of Colombians, Latin Americans, and North Americans as a whole. Go south and there's Mr. Toledo of Peru who's mostly known as the Latin American president with the least amount of public support.
In Bolivia president Mesa also won an important election, although not for the right to remain in power. Instead, it was about public approval of a controversial plan to export the nation's gas, which entails a brew of Big Bussiness meddling, native indian rebellion and the fair distribution of the nation's wealth amongst the populace. It is sad to learn that part of the controversy also involved using Chile's ports to export the gas of land-locked Bolivia.
How regrettable that between Chile and Bolivia, brothers in history and language, there is so much contempt; one that according to the news stems from the war in which Bolivia lost to Chile her access to the sea. Hopefully, somewhere down the road these two nations will reach some form of compromise. I also hope that president Kirchner and his cabinet continue to lift Argentina from the devastating economic collapse that ocurred not long ago.
Sometimes I feared that DR would also fall into economic chaos, as inflation and apagones (blackouts) continue to threaten its stability. In this ominous state in which poverty fuels desperation, many of my countrymen embarked on a treacherous sail to Puerto Rico that ultimately yielded nothing more than death and sorrow. Amid their peril lies the abhorrible treason that's forever present in the developing world. After two or three days on sail, the yola , as the standard-fare migrant boat is commonly known, ran out of fuel. Desperate and helpless in the vastness of the sea, the migrants were relieved to see another yola pass by. The captain of the stranded boat told everyone that he will board this incoming vessel to then return with the necessary fuel and supplies. After three days in which the migrants ran out of their boiled eggs, water, and sardines, they came to realize that the captain, el maldito captain, deserted them.
After more than week at sea, they were finally rescued by some fishermen not far from where they began their odissey. Back in DR, the survivors came with tales of comptemplating cannibalism, of women being forced to share their breast milk, and of people in utter upheaval jumping to the sea. It was ultimately an endeavor marred by risk, treason and death. The most heart-wrenching part of this story is how the "leader" dared to say that he'll come back; that he'll save the people who payed and risked so much to understake this trip under his wing.
How many leaders, from coyotes and oligarchs to liberals and neoconservatives, have left their people in the cold? Alas, nepotism and cronysm are kings and unscrupulous self-interest their driving force. What a shame. Four our sake, let us not forget all that we are risking, the perilousness of our ongoing trek and the responsibility of our leaders, regardless of affiliation, to never, never , dare to abandon ship, for that's one of, if not the most, vile and inhumane act that could arise from the heart of man. As I said before, I have many personal regrets about this summer. But, needless to say, the real worries are those on the global scale. In this yola of ours, we ought to be cautious against those who would dare abandon ship and more so against those passengers that upon reaching their destination, would forget about those that stayed behind. 
