Week in Review: May 28 to June 03

In order to make up for the lack of posts last week, here are several headlines that were in the news over the past few days:

Monday May 28

* Radio Caracas Television ceased its transmission after not getting its broadcast license renewed, but the network has continued its transmissions via alternate means. (See Thursday May 31).

* Miss Japan won the 2007 Miss Universe pageant despite several pre-contest favorites from the Americas.

* Recently escaped Colombian police officer Jhon Frank Pinchao tells the Colombian press that an exchange between jailed guerillas and kidnap victims “will always be the best option.”

* Remember the riots several weeks ago in Argentina over the country’s rail service? On Monday, irate passengers lashed out again due to massive delays.

Tuesday May 29

* Bolivian president Evo Morales tries to unite other South American leaders against FIFA’s decision to ban all international matches at very high altitudes.

* Remember the brouhaha over Newt Gingrich’s remarks on Spanish being a “ghetto” language? Gingrich’s Spanish tutor tried to clarify his student’s statement in an article published in Politico.com.

* Negotiations have been “optimistic” between Argentine and Uruguayan representatives over the construction of a Finnish-owned paper mill.

Wednesday May 30

* Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebard said that first trimester abortions will be carried out despite the federal government’s legal challenge, while a study showed that over a million Brazilian women are at risk from illegal abortions.

* Nicaraguan heath officials seized thousands of tubes of tainted Chinese toothpaste that was sold there and a few other Latin American countries.

* Peru’s stocks suffered its largest drop in over seventeen years due to investors’ worries over China’s economy.

Thursday May 31

* From the boob tube to YouTube – CNN reported that Radio Caracas Television continues its daily broadcasts via popular Internet video site YouTube.

* Come back to “Macondo” – Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez returned to the town that inspired him to write "100 Years of Solitude."

* In an article published in the International Herald Tribune, a law study concluded that verdicts in asylum cases in the U.S. vary on the backgrounds and genders of immigration judges.

Friday June 1

* “Jesus loves you. I am your pastor and I will help you.” – The Guardian UK describes how religion is being used to combat violence in the slums of Rio de Janeiro.

* Condoleezza Rice expressed her displeasure at Spain’s government for establishing closer relations with Cuba.

* A Brazilian judge indicted two U.S. pilots and four Brazilian air traffic controllers involved in Brazil’s worst airplane accident.

Saturday June 2

* Thousands of “Chavistas” marched through Caracas in a show of support towards Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

* In an interview with CNN, Cuban national assembly president Ricardo Alarcon said that Fidel Castro has “fully recovered” from the numerous surgeries he has had.

* A Caribbean connection is behind a supposed terrorist plot that was broken up by U.S. authorities.

Sunday June 3

* In an interview with the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Mexican President Felipe Calderon blamed “U.S. demand for narcotics” as the cause of widespread violence by Mexican drug gangs.

* Cuban television showed the first video images of Fidel Castro since February.

* The father-in-law of a U.S. kidnap victim in Colombia offered himself as a part of a possible prisoner exchange with guerillas.

Sources (English)- CNN, BBC News, The Latin Americanist, Guardian UK, YouTube, International Herald Tribune, Yahoo! News, Monsters & Critics, Politico.com, ABC News, Reuters AlertNet, Scientific American, Bloomberg

Sources (Spanish)- El Tiempo, El Pais, La Nacion, Sol de Mexico, RCN

Image- United States Institute of Peace