Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Daily headlines: January 30, 2007

* Hundreds of youths in the Madrid suburb of Alcorcon that were “fed up of some of the things the Latin Americans do” rioted for the second straight weekend against anti-riot police.

Update: Commenter and "Madrileña" Katie Smith gives her insightful views of the incidents in Alacorcon via her blog.

* Are National Guard troops obligated to defend the U.S.-Mexico border or is that the duty of the Border Patrol? Arizona state legislators are trying to figure that out in light of an incident earlier this month along the border.
* The only road connecting Bolivia to neighboring Paraguay and Argentina is being blocked by protestors calling for more nationalizing of the private sector.
* Good news for Argentine president Nestor Kirchner- recent polls say that he would win reelection by a landslide should he choose to run.
* El Salvador continues being the only Latin American country with troops in Iraq as their latest contingent of 380 troops left on Monday for the war-torn country.
* Renewal of the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in Haiti is being jeopardized by the threat of a veto by China.

Links- ABC News, Monsters & Critics, BBC News, New Zealand Herald, International Herald Tribune, Angus Reid Consultants

Image- 20 Minutos (Spain) (Police in Alcorcon, Spain trying to keep things under control on January 21, 2007)

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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:04 PM

    Hi guys, I've just stumbled upon your site and think what you're doing is great. But I'm not so sure about your headline on the apparent anti-Latino riots in Madrid ... in my opinion, as a Madrileña, it somewhat leaps to its conclusions.
    There was little violence on Saturday night. The so-called "riots" also weren't so much nationality-based as gang-based. And a group of residents spent the afternoon holding anti-racism placards. I have discussed Saturday's non-events
    here     if anyone is interested in looking at the issue further.
    Oh, and I can't help wondering why you linked to a New Zealand Herald article on the issue? It's difficult to find a place further from Spain than New Zealand!
    But otherwise great stuff guys, keep it up!

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  2. Erwin C.5:03 PM

    Katie-

    Thanks a lot for your feedback on the issue and link to what you observed in the Madrid area.

    Perhaps you are right and the international press jumped to conclusions. Indeed when I was watching a newscast from Colombia they were reporting that the incidents of this past weekend were not as bad as the previous weekend. Otherwise, the international media focused a lot on the incidents in Alcorcon. (Do a Google News search for "Alcorcon" and you see what I mean).

    Regarding the article being from a New Zealand newspaper it was reported from Reuters news wire. Yes New Zealand is many time zones away from Spain but their source was definitely European (from their Spanish correspondents, I think).

    What makes me curious is to know if there are any distinctions in the attitudes of Spaniards towards immigrants from Latin America in comparison to those from North Africa and other regions.Perhaps you could clarify this for me.

    Once again Katie thank you very much for your comment and for reading our blog!

    ReplyDelete