The Force of Nature and the Tragedies

On March 11, 2011 one of the strongest earthquakes of the last century happened in Japan. The nation was ravaged by a brutal 9 magnitude (on the Richter scale) earthquake, followed by a tsunami with waves of 10 meters high and then a nuclear crisis in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant that brought back memories of the shocking tragedy of Chernobyl.

On the other hand, drought and famine were the scenes in African regions such us Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and the Horn of Africa faced.

In the city of Joplin, Missouri (USA), a tornado was considered the deadliest natural phenomenon in the area over the past 60 years. The death toll reached 125 and there were thousands of wounded.

An earthquake of 5.2 jolted on May in Lorca (Spain). The event left a dozen dead and at least 20,000 people spent the night outside their homes fearing the aftershocks.

The Economy of the Big Wobble

The major global economic Powers experienced tense moments during 2011. The prime ministers of Greece and Italy left their charges because of the fiscal meltdown.

In the U.S. the Dow Jones and the German Dax had historical falls.

In Spain, the Socialist Party was punished by the citizens because of mishandling the crisis and they prefered to name the Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy as their new president due to his economic proposal.

The “Outraged” Year

In Santiago de Chile, Madrid, Bogota, New York, Washington, Seattle, Boston, Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, thousands of young people raised their voices in protest of what they see as corruption, lack of public education and mishandling of the economic crisis.

The Outraged, 15 M, Occupy Wall Street were the names used by Protestants from around the world.

The approval of new taxes and economic adjustments in Greece and Italy originated disturbances in expression of opposition to the measures taken.

Presidents and their Health Issues

During 2011 three Latin American presidents were diagnosed with cancer: Hugo Chavez (Venezuela), Cristina Fernandez (Argentina) and Ignacio Lula da Silva (Brazil). Lula da Silva and Hugo Chavez underwent chemotherapy treatments.