Daily Headlines: June 07, 2007

* Brief follow-up #1: Soccer legend Pele and the Organization of American States have expressed their support to the leaders of several South American nations appealing FIFA’s high altitude ban.

* Brief follow-up #2: Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez claimed that Washington was masterminding an “imperialist conspiracy” and denied criticisms against his government (such as those by U.S. president George W. Bush that we mentioned in yesterday’s “Daily Headlines.”)

* The U.S. Senate turned down an amendment to the compromise bill on immigration that would have placed the proposal’s emphasis on reuniting families rather than job skills.

* Brazil’s Foreign Minister said that the group of developing nations invited to the G8 summit in Germany (such as Brazil and Mexico) will be unified and will “agree on a common position”.

* Costa Rica will break its diplomatic ties with Taiwan and reestablish relations with China.

*Colombian president Alvaro Uribe traveled to Washington yesterday in a bid to convince Congressional Democrats not to cut aid to Colombia and to ratify a free trade bill.

* Traffic was blocked briefly yesterday afternoon along the U.S.-Mexico border as demonstrators protested Mexico’s pension reform plan.

* Is Major League Baseball’s steroids investigation unfairly going after Latino players? Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen thinks so.

Sources- Monsters & Critics, International Herald Tribune, CNN, ESPN Soccernet, The Latin Americanist, Guardian UK, FOX Sports

Image- BBC News (Bolivian president Evo Morales plays a pickup futbol game high in the Andes Mountains as part of a campaign versus FIFA’s high altitude ban.)