Racism and sexism in Latin America? Shocked ah wuz...SHOCKED ah tellz ya

The Inter American Development Bank (IADB) has just released a study on salary gaps between the sexes and between different ethic groupings in LatAm and you can read the English language synopsis here (or the Spanish language one here, if you prefer). The conclusion is yet another dose of 'No shit Sherlock'. Yup, whiteys make more money than those brown coloured people and men make more than women. But the best part of the survey (though admittedly I haven't studied their methodology) is that the samples are adjusted for education levels, too. This means you're really looking at like-for-like people and there's no escaping the racism and sexism that's part of LatAm society's fabric.

Here's the IADB chart for the salary difference between the sexes.

Here's the IADB chart for the racial differences.

No difference on this chart should be allowed, really, but I'd put my personal tolerance limit at 10%. This means that there are far too many states lined up on the wall of shame over these issues. But the funniest one is that of Brazil, so proud of the fact that there is no racism or sexism in its society. This study calls bullshit on that canard once and for all. The only part of "no racism" that is true is "no talk about racism, please". The only sexism stems from "she complains and we'll fire her".

Finally, you'll also note that Bolivian women earn more than Bolivian men. If you've ever been to the country you'll know why; those Bolivian women are a real hard-working bunch of people that just get their just desserts.

Alvaro Noboa and his banana

Ain't he pretty? No wonder he has to pay......

Scandaltime at IKN, as we catch up with Álvaro Noboa of Ecuador. The one-time presidential candidate beaten out for the job by our very own Studmuffin, head of Grupo Noboa, tax-evader and owner of the Bonita Banana brand that has made him very rich indeed (and his workers mainly miserable) has been accused of forcing a model to have sex with him, a certain US citizen named Nancy Malleo.

Hi Nancy

Here follows the first part of the news story, but click thru for the rest that has the bits about forcing her to give him oral sex in his office, how his condom broke and how he forced her to take a morning-after pill, all in the company of armed guards that made sure Nancy was under his powers. Here we go with the dirt:

"NEW YORK (CN) - A model claims an Ecuadorean billionaire banana exporter and politician lured her to Ecuador with an ad on Craigslist, intimidated her into having sex with him and forced her to take the "morning after pill."
The New York-based model claims she responded to a Craigslist job posting seeking a "fit model" in her 30s for a photo shoot in South America for La Verdad, a political and lifestyle publication owned by Alvaro Noboa, Ecuador's richest man and a perennial presidential candidate there.
Cragislist is not named as a defendant in the complaint in New York County Court. The woman, a mother of three, sued Noboa, Grupo Noboa, and La Verdad Magazine. Noboa's corporate holdings include Bonita bananas, according to the complaint.
The woman says one of Noboa's employees hired for a four-day photo shoot in Guayaquil after asking her to send a picture of herself in a bathing suit. Shortly after arriving in Ecuador, she says, she received a dinner invitation from Noboa, who arrived at her hotel with "a large number of men armed with machine guns and other weapons." She says Noboa took her to a private residence surrounded by armed men and immediately told her to go to the bedroom.
"Noboa ordered (her) to lie down on the bed and he began to engage in sex with her while wearing a condom," the lawsuit claims.
She says Naboa bit her several times, giving her painful bruises...."

Continues here

Damn, this is the calibre of President that Ecuador missed out on, is it? So anyway, Nancy is suing him for $25m. Here's hoping she gets the win.