Titulares de las Americas

Bolivia

• President Evo Morales took a surprise visit to Cuba today after being personally invited by Fidel Castro.

Brazil

• Over three million people are expected to congregate in Sao Paulo as part of a “March for Jesus.”
• More details are emerging from the supposed involvement of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s brother in an illegal gambling scheme.

Colombia

• President Alvaro Uribe confessed that he would not reach all his goals regarding foreign aid and free trade during his visit to Washington, DC.
• Lead by France, the members of the G8 agreed to back the Colombian government’s efforts to “find a humanitarian solution” to the country’s civil conflict.

Mexico

• Hundreds of teachers protesting government reforms blocked access to the Mexican Stock Exchange this morning.
• President Felipe Calderon urged the group of underdeveloped states invited to the G8 summit to debate over “global topics that especially affect developing countries.”

Paraguay

• The Supreme Court determined as unconstitutional the expropriation of lands formerly belonging to the Sun Myong Moon-led Unification Church.

Peru

• Disgraced former president Alvaro Fujimori is close to being extradited from Chile to Peru after a recommendation from Chile’s attorney general. Fujimori’s daughter- a Peruvian senator- said that her father was “in good spirits” and proclaimed his innocence.

United States

• By a vote of 63-33, the Senate voted to continue debate on the bipartisan compromise bill on immigration despite optimism yesterday that a yes-or-no vote would occur on Friday.
• In Chicago, several Mexican American community groups have pitched in to help a Rumanian couple in the U.S. seeking medical help for their daughter.
• Immigration authorities detained 29 illegal immigrants in New Haven, Connecticut only one day after the local government approved a measure to provide identification cards for immigrants.

Uruguay

• It may be presumptuous to start planning soccer’s 2030 World Cup, but that has not deterred a group of Uruguayans from proposing that their country host the tournament a century after the first World Cup was first held.

Venezuela

• Ten student leaders at the forefront of the protests in favor of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) voiced their ire during a National Assembly session.
• Speak of RCTV, Venezuelan news channel Globovision agreed to transmit programs still being produced by RCTV that are currently aired online and through a few foreign TV networks.

Sources (Spanish)- El Tiempo, La Tercera, El Comercio, Granma, Globovision, Clarin, El Diario/La Prensa, La Raza, La Opinion, Hoy Internet, Diario ABC, Jornada, Sol de Mexico, RCN

Sources (Portugese)- Folha Online