Back in February of this year, 40,000 Mexicans gathered in the Zocalo, Mexico City’s main plaza, for a massive kiss-in, setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of people to gather together for a big collective kiss.

Still high from setting one record, they gathered again this weekend, this time to set a different record: the largest number of people to gather together simultaneously in a single place to re-enact Michael Jackson’s video for the song “Thriller.”

Feature photo: Guerry; Photo above: Eneas

While New Yorkers were gathering in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park to celebrate the late pop star’s birthday in a bash sponsored by the film director Spike Lee, Mexicans gathered at the Monument of the Revolution in full Jackson regalia: black fedoras, aviator sunglasses, and bloody make-up, according to NPR’s Mexico City correspondent, Jason Beaubien.

It didn’t take much to break the existing record, which was set by 242 people at the College of William and Mary earlier this year.

An estimated 12,000-13,000 people showed up to dance, while as many as 40,000 more showed up to watch.

While the Guinness officials convene to ensure whether all of the dancers performed the song from start to finish, you can check out some video footage from the event:

Community Connection:

Interested in bizarre record-breaking feats? Peru won the world’s largest ceviche title earlier this year, and Anandita Dutta Tamuly won a Guinness title for downing the most hot chiles –51–in less than a minute. I don’t know about you, but I think I’d rather moonwalk.

An inked finger is evidence that this woman has voted. Photos courtesy of author.

Bachelet will not run for re-election, as Chilean law prevents presidents from campaigning for a consecutive term after their first four year term has lapsed.

As the next election cycle gets underway, the question on everyone’s lips is, will the centrist-socialists (Concertación) pull off the vote again for a fifth consecutive win, or will the political right (Alianza) be swept in on an upset?

Chilean law requires that the president must win with more than 50% of the popular vote, and the 2005 election results had no clear majority, so the country held runoff elections. Bachelet (Concertación) won 53.49% of the runoff vote, and left Sebastian Piñera (Alianza) in second place, with four years to fortify his position for the December 13, 2009 elections.

The presidential palace.

Since the dictator Augusto Pinochet left power and democracy was restored to Chile in 1989, the nation has held four presidential elections, each of which has resulted in a win by the centrist-socialist Concertación group.

This year’s election sees six candidates gearing up for their campaigns: Sebastián Piñera, Eduardo Frei, Marco Enríquez-Ominami, Jorge Arrate, Alejandro Navarro, and Adolfo Zaldívar, with Piñera, Frei and Ominami as the frontrunners.

Of these candidates, first-round interviews of the public conducted by national newspaper La Tercera in late April indicated that Piñera (Alianza), the economist and investor who is responsible for bringing credit cards to Chile, is in the lead, with 30% of voters planning to cast their vote for him.

Frei (Concertación), who recently claimed himself to be heir to Bachelet’s presidency and said the Concertación always wins because it promotes progress for the nation and its people (reported on Radio Biobio, August 23, 2009), is in second place with 25%.

Dark horse Ominami (Concertación) who comes further from the left, has already garnered 21% of the intended vote according to the survey. He’s the son of the leader of Chile’s Leftist Revolutionary Movement (MIR) is just 36 years old.

Campaigining in Chile will not begin in earnest until one month before the election, when flag-waving, sandwich-boards, bulletins and telephone campaigns are legally permitted. Chile has universal suffrage, and voting is compulsory for registered voters (with some exceptions), who are subject to fines if they do not comply.

Approximately 8.2 million Chileans were eligible to vote in last year’s election, and those having reached the age of majority may register to vote this year by September 13. The election will be held December 13.

Community Connection:

Interested in learning more about Chile? Check out these articles from our archives:

*7 Reasons to Learn Spanish in Chile

*10 Reasons to Base Your Study Abroad Experience in Chile

Screenshot from WordPress Showcase

First up, many thanks to WordPress for including Matador at the WordPress Showcase. Currently we’re rated #1 based on our implementation and use of WordPress. To vote, please click here and roll over the number of stars you feel we deserve, then click the mouse. You don’t have to sign up or register for anything, however, please vote only once.

As far as why we were included in the showcase, WordPress wrote:

Matador is made up of a number WordPress blogs that work together to provide content on a variety of travel-related topics.The site averages more than 1.8 million monthly pageviews.

I fired off a couple questions to Ian MacKenzie, who (along with his wife Karen) has been the primary architect responsible for Matador’s design.

Continue reading this post >>

Photo: openDemocracy

No matter where he lodges when he visits New York to speak at the United Nations in September, Libya’s leader Muammar el-Qaddafi isn’t likely to receive a warm welcome, particularly after the jubilant homecoming his government orchestrated for the freed Lockerbie airline bomber last week.

But el-Qaddafi isn’t planning to join other world leaders at swanky, upscale hotels like the Waldorf Astoria.

Instead, he has made a request to pitch a tent in Central Park.

City officials were reported to have rejected el-Qaddafi’s request this afternoon.

He won’t be left without a bed, though: the Libyan mission to the United Nations is said to own a spacious mansion in nearby Englewood, New Jersey, where el-Qaddafi will be hosted.

Community Connection:

Looking for some unusual lodgings yourself? Check out “The World’s 10 Weirdest Hotels.”

Photo: elpablo

It was a small item in today’s New York Times: “Mexico Legalizes Drug Possession.”

But the news may have big implications for drug policy in the Americas.

Mexico’s federal government passed a law yesterday that decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana, as well as cocaine, heroin, meth, and LSD.

The law, which established legal limits for personal possession, represents a shift from a punitive drug policy to one that treats drugs as a public health issue. If successful, the law may serve as a model for other countries in the region.

The law went into effect today.

Community Connection:

Drugs can be taken too far, of course. Read about Bolivia’s cocaine bars and weigh in: Do these represent a “Latin American Adventure or Playing With Fire?”

The now-deposed TCI Premier, Michael Misick (center); Photo: Foreign & Commonwealth Office

Nobody says postcolonialism’s been easy.

To go from a state of dependence to one of autonomy with little support has proven understandably challenging for many of Europe’s former colonial states, especially the small islands of the Caribbean. And in the age of globalization, which has prompted a form of economic neo-colonialism, fledgling independent governments have struggled to develop infrastructure, support, and services for their citizens.

Economies have hiccuped as traditional sources of labor and income have disappeared in the past decade, prompting many countries to focus almost exclusively on tourism as an industry (which was fine until the global economic crisis hit, literally shuttering hotels on some of the smaller islands).

With all the challenges, though, few of the newly independent nations have been interested in reverting back to colonial status. That’s just what happened today in the Turks and Caicos Islands, though local news reflects widespread discontent with the action, which resulted in the suspension of the TCI’s Constitution and the dismissal of the islands’ House of Assembly.

It’s true that the Turks and Caicos have been undergoing political challenges that may be unique: the government has been accused of rampant corruption and the economy has been in a shambles. But critics charge that the TCI haven’t received the support they need to really achieve independence in the fullest sense of the word, and that the rollback to colonialism is punitive and infantilizing.

A British governor, Gordon Wetherell, was appointed to serve as head of government; Wetherell, in turn, has begun appointing other Brits for key government positions, including chief executive of TCI public service. “Belongers” (locals) will be appointed to serve on an Advisory Council and a Consultative Forum, though the functions and specific level of influence these entities will have are not yet clear.

The move is a “smack in the face of democracy” and a “backward step to colonialism,” according to Rosalind Cummings-Yeates, a Chicago-based travel writer who commented about the take-over on Twitter.

Community Connection:

Learn more about colonialism, postcolonialism, and independence movements in the Caribbean:

U.S. House of Reps Approves Proposal to Consider Puerto Rico’s Status

Photo: Matt Biddulph

Freelance writers and cafes have always gone hand in hand, but according to the Wall Street Journal, the relationship may soon suffer a permanent break.

The romantic image of the freelance writer sitting in a cozy cafe, sipping a steaming latte and tapping away at their next National Geographic article or bestselling novel, is a common one.

For many writers, the allure of the coffee shop is more than just caffeine addiction. It’s an escape from the distractions at home, where laundry needs folding and the dishes in the sink are begging to be washed. It’s also a solution for lonely writer syndrome, when the need to be with other living, breathing humans becomes unbearable.

While cafe owners used to encourage the regular business, recent economic woes have caused some to change their tune.

At some time or another, most of us have been guilty of nursing a cup of the house blend for hours, plugged in and surfing the web. With the current unemployment rate, it’s no surprise that more and more workers are trying to become location independent.

True penny-pinchers are bringing everything from food to teabags and setting up for the work day in their local cafe, draining electricity and eliminating the need to pay for internet service at home. Meanwhile, potential customers are driven away when they can’t find a table to enjoy their mocha and muffin.

Reaction from management is mixed. Unsurprisingly, some have put time restrictions on laptop use, or locks and signs on outlets politely informing customers that laptop plugs are not welcome. A few actually have a ban on laptops altogether. Other cafe owners have expanded their businesses, adding more outlets to encourage regular visits.

That may seem like the ideal option- if, of course, owners can afford it. Cafes are a popular place for business meetings and interviews, and a no-laptop policy or limited WiFi could be a deal breaker in those situations. But if smaller shops are struggling just to keep their doors open, it’s hard to blame them for shooing squatters away.

Where does this leave the travel writer? It’s usually easy enough for someone backpacking in a foreign country to stop at a cafe for a quick drink and a blog update. Perhaps it’s time to pick up the notebook and pen again- saving electricity, sure, but still taking up hours of valuable table time.

What’s the solution? Some claim angry owners are making a mistake by discouraging freelancers, that any business is good business. Can WiFi addicted customers help support their favorite cafe by splurging on a venti macchiato now and then, or is this long romance finally at an end?

Community Connection:

If you’re a location independent professional in one of the Techiest Cities in the World, is this all a moot point?

And what is a location independent professional anyway? Learn more about this special kind of freelancing in 10 Tips for Becoming a Location Independent Professional.

Photo: irene.

Visitors are coming in record numbers, the National Park Service announced on Monday. Visits rose nearly 4% this year and June alone showed an increase in over 700,000 visitors compared to June of 2008.

Chalk it up to fee-free weekends, a handful of dates set aside this summer when entrance fees were waived. The economic downturn and lower gas prices compared to last summer have also been factors. Americans are choosing to visit parks—especially easily accessible ones near large metropolitan areas—as a cheap alternative to more pricey summer vacations. And with Ken Burns’ newest documentary, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” set to air on September 27, interest in the parks is sure to continue to spike.

But what does all of this mean for the parks and the fragile ecosystems they protect? It seems the flock of visitors can potentially hurt the very environments the parks are intended to preserve.

The parks face numerous threats, according to the National Parks Conservation Association. “…[A]ir, noise, and water pollution, erosion, invasive species, inadequate storage facilities, insufficient funding and staffing, and inappropriate activities such as snowmobile and jet ski use—have compromised the integrity of the parks’ invaluable resources,” the NPCA website says.

Visitors, especially in large numbers, mean more trash, more cars that pollute, more hikers on fragile landscapes. All this will certainly strain the already huge backlog of maintenance projects and decades of underfunding for the 391 parks in the system.

The NPCA calls the parks “long-neglected and chronically underfunded,” reporting “a $750-million annual funding shortfall, and a backlog of maintenance and preservation projects of approximately $9 billion.” What’s more, the parks have some $2.5 billion in projects ready to go such as fixing roads and sewer systems and restoring historical buildings.

Some suggest capping the number of visitors allowed in the parks. Others look to the allotment of over $900 million to the parks in the Economic Recovery Bill and the goal to restore the parks by 2016—the NPS centennial.

Still, supporters and protectors of the park system straddle a fine line. Increased visitors mean a greater awareness and appreciation of this important part of America’s heritage. But more people driving near or walking through already fragile landscapes inevitably poses problems. The parks are also an important economic tool—an NPCA study found that every $1 invested by the government returns $4 in public economic value—but might this be counterproductive to their protection?

Is it possible to both protect the National Parks and encourage visitors in large numbers? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Community Connection:

Matador has lots of articles in our archives about national parks. Two of our favorites are:

Seven Best National Parks for Visiting Old Growth Forests

Photo Essay: The Stunning Colors of Glacier National Park

Matador member and Roads Scholar JoAnna Haugen has been on a tour of America’s national parks this summer. Visit her blog to read about her journey.

Colombian singer Juanes, in concert; Photo: Julio Enriquez

Artistically speaking, it’s been a banner year for Cubans.

In July, the Royal Ballet of London came to Havana for a joint performance with the Cuban National Ballet, appearing before a crowd so enormous that the Cuban government was forced to set up outdoor screens so the performance could be seen by those who hadn’t been lucky enough to snag a ticket.

The same week, the New York Philharmonic announced its intentions to perform in Havana this October.

But before then, the wildly popular Colombian pop singer Juanes is scheduled to play in a “Peace Without Borders” concert alongside beloved Cuban folk musician, Silvio Rodriguez, and the perennially popular Los Van Van.

He’s even met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to seek her support, asking her to permit U.S. musicians to visit the island to take part in the event (they’d be the first to do so since Audioslave’s 2005 concert, which drew more than 60,000 Cuban fans).

The concert, scheduled to almost coincide with the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, is the latest stop on Juanes’s Peace Without Borders tour, the first leg of which kicked off on the Venezuelan/Colombian border in March, 2008.

Juanes, like his fellow Colombian superstar musician, Shakira, has been actively involved in using his music as a means of supporting causes he cares about– he’s also started a foundation to help survivors of land mine explosions. But not everyone–especially certain sectors of the Cuban American community–view Juanes’s Peace Without Borders tour as an act to celebrate.

The singer, who lives in Miami, has been the target of outspoken criticism. Some Miami Cubans have been reported to be burning his CDs in the streets there. Even his wife, who is eight months pregnant, has been threatened.

In the Spanish language newspaper El Pais, Juanes responded to the criticism that he’s being insensitive to Cuban exiles’ concerns. Some highlights from the interview, translated by this writer:

“I am convinced that art plays an important role in the construction of peace.”

“I’m not interested in the government of Cuba. I’m interested in people, in the youth….”

“I’m fed up with us asking one another whether we’re Muslim, gay, Cuban, or Venezuelan.”

“Why can I go to Spain and no one asks me if I’m singing to the president, but if I go to Cuba, [everyone thinks] I’m singing to Castro?…. Just let us sing!”

The concert is still scheduled for September 20.

If you’re not familiar with Juanes’s music, here’s a clip from the Venezuela/Colombia “Peace Without Borders” concert:

Community Connection:

To learn more about the New York Philharmonic’s scheduled performance, read “New York Philharmonic to Perform in Cuba?”

The right Sydney. Photo: Corey Leopold

It was definitely a long-haul flight for Joannes and Nick Rutten, a grandfather and his grandson who planned to take their holiday in Sydney… Australia.

But when their plane landed and they made their way toward Customs and Immigration, something seemed a bit amiss.

The pair weren’t in Sydney, Australia; they’d landed in Sydney, Nova Scotia, located on the east coast of Cape Breton Island.

The wrong Sydney. Photo: Smudge 9000

They weren’t the first pair of travelers to make the mistake, according to this article in The Cape Breton Post. Apparently, the two Sydneys are mixed up with relative regularity.

Who can blame the Ruttens for wandering onto a flight that they thought was going to Sydney? The question is, who was checking their tickets as they boarded?

Community Connection:

Have you ever ended up in the wrong destination? Share your story below!