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Another volcano has erupted, covering us with a dark cloud

Just a couple of weeks ago, Eyjafjallajökull, a volcano in Iceland, erupted and covered Europe for a week with dark cloud of ash, forcing the closure of airports and keeping on the ground powerful airplanes designed to fly even in the most adverse conditions.

Such was the impact of the volcano that, according to a report by Mario Osava published on Sunday, May 2, 2010, on Mirror Online, several airlines in Europe, Asia, and South America are already planning new routes and destinations.

In spite of more than a century of aeronautical progress and even using state-of-the-art technology, the dark volcanic ash cloud from a remote island was no match for modern airplanes.

There was recently another volcano eruption, in this case in Arizona, and this eruption is covering most of our country with a dark cloud of intolerance, anti-dialogue, and demagogic opportunism. Such is the impact of this dark could that many people are rethinking their plans and looking for new routes and destinations.

After Arizona’s governor signed the new immigration law, it seems many people in the media understood that was a green light for every racist who sits behind a microphone in this country to enter almost into a mystical trance speaking against immigrants.

The dark cloud of intolerance and false accusations has reached even usually calm and respected talk and religious shows on radio and television, that have turned now into a factory for the mass production of diatribes against not only immigrants but anybody who looks different or refuse to follow a certain ideology or conduct.

In the same way that many people were forced to use masks to cover their mouth and nose to avoid inhaling volcanic ash, I also decided to use an emotional and intellectual mask to stop racist and intolerant ideas from entering into my mind and heart.

But let’s not be confused. It is true many commentators and preachers on English-language radio stations have taken advantage of the new Arizona law to openly express what they always thought about immigrants but they seldom expressed before.

However, we need to be honest and admit the same intolerant speech, but in the opposite direction, has been heard again and again in the Spanish-speaking media. Unfortunately, mutual intolerance never leads to any practical solution.

I am also upset with the sudden presence of Latino pseudo-leaders, who now sue the state of Arizona, but who previously did nothing of that sort when similar laws were approved in other states, where those laws caused negative consequences to the whole community.

If somebody remains silent when he should speaks and only speaks when is safe to do it and only to say what people want to hear, that somebody is not a leader but just a demagogue.

In 1783, another volcano, Laki, erupted in Iceland. Laki’s ash cloud created such social tensions in Europe that in 1789 there was a profound political change in France.  Let history be our guide and warning to avoid repeating history.

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