This week’s music post will list several blogs that over the past week have mentioned musicians from the Americas or highlighted songs with a Latin American beat.Please be sure to check them our as well as two exceptional music blogs we have on our blogroll: La Onda Tropicalandzonaindie.
While leaders in Washington still try to bring back a stalled bill on immigration reform, we offer you a quiz.
Question: when was the following comment on immigration published in The Atlantic Monthly?
“The question today is not of preventing… our jails from being stuffed to repletion by new arrivals…but of protecting the American rate of wages, the American standard of living, and the quality of American citizenship from degradation through the tumultuous access of vast throngs of ignorant and brutalized peasantry.”
Over recent years more focus has been given over the disproportionate number of Latinas in the U.S. that have attempted suicide in comparison to other ethnic groups.One 2005 study placed blame on different levels such as culture clashes, conflicts with family, and the struggle to find an identity.
It is the cultural component that has been placed the most blame according to an expert at a conference on young Latinas.Said psychiatrist Mercedes Martinez (and as reported via Notimex):
“(Adolescent Latinas) grow up facing other cultural notions that oppose what their parents try to instill such as sacrificing womanhood during marriage.”
What can be done to take care of the problem?Maybe the answer lies in this snippet from August 2006 USA TODAY editorial:
“With increased awareness, the same cultural forces that often serve as barriers to Latina teens — family bonds, religious beliefs, community ties — can be used to help them succeed.
We've recognized what ails these young women. Now it's time for Latino advocacy groups to step forward and ensure that our society — indeed, our government — treats this crisis with the proper urgency.”
In the meantime, the problem continues as some young Latinas are stuck trying to figure out what to do.
Source (Spanish)- Milenio
Sources (English)- El Diario/La Prensa, PubMed.gov, USA TODAY Opinions
Image- Little Voice Productions (Scene from the documentary “Sweet Ambition” on the difficulties facing Latino youth)
A spokesman for the world’s governing body on soccer affirmed a ban against international games played 8200 feet above sea level.The remarks came in response to an alleged fax sent by the FIFA medical board saying that the ban would be modified to help some Andean states.
Meanwhile, the medical panel representing South America’s soccer board has debated over the health concerns of playing at high altitudes.The split has erupted between countries representing high altitude and low altitude countries, and may lend credence to the claim that soccer giants Brazil and Argentinawere behind the ban.
Nonetheless, the president of South America’s soccer board expressed his displeasure at the ban after meeting with Bolivian president Evo Morales this afternoon.
Source (Spanish)-El Tiempo
Sources (English)-Reuters India, International Herald Tribune, Foreign Policy Passport
Image- BBC News(According to the caption “Bolivian protesters take their argument to Conmebol”)
“(Colombian president Alvaro Uribe) criticized the ‘importance’ given by the media to messages from (FARC spokesman) Raul Reyes.‘What difference is there between Hitler’s torture against the Jews to what Reyes and his gang do to our hostages?None,’ underlined the chief of state.”
Uribe’s remarks seemed similar to those made last year by Donald Rumsfeld and Hugo Chavez.
* Gisele Bundchen (53), Ronaldinho (31), Jessica Alba (78), and George Lopez (73) were named to Forbes’ “The Celebrity 100” list.
* Thirteen players from Haiti’s under-17 men’s soccer team who were reported as missing during a layover in new York on Wednesday were all found by Thursday afternoon.
* Brazil’s GDP grew by over four percent in the first quarter of 2007.
* Popular Guatemalan fast food chain Pollo Campero opened it’s first establishment in China four months after opening its first Asian branch in Indonesia.
* Follow-up #1: Last month we linked to on an article by Miami Herald columnist Andres Oppenheimer on the risks reporters face in the Americas. A correspondent in Colombia from sister newspaper El Nuevo Herald reported that he's received death threats from paramilitaries.
Sources- Forbes, Gothamist, Soccer by Ives, People’s Daily Online, Global Voices Online, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, Earthtimes.org, SignOnSanDiego.com
* About twenty thousand teacher’s union supporters gathered in Oaxaca’s main square to protest the local government.
* Paparazzi discovered actor Mel Gibson and his family vacationing in Cartagena, Colombia.
* Brazil’s president said that Brazilians ought to speak more positively about their country in order to decrease the negative perceptions by the media.
* Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza said he would be willing to head an OAS mission to Venezuela regarding RCTV.
* Coca production in Bolivia increased by 8% in 2006 according to a United Nations study.
* A Peruvian ship dating back to the War of the Pacific was found off the Chilean coast.
* The chief prosecutor in the Dominican Republic rejected the country’s inclusion on an intermediate list of the worst human traffickers.
Sources (Spanish)- El Universal, Hoy Bolivia, Folha da Sao Paulo, Hoy Digital, La Republica, El Vocero de Puerto Rico, Milenio
According to the Russian media, the governments of that country and Venezuela brokered a $2 billion submarine deal.The deal- as originally reported by Kommersant and corroborated by a source to RIA Novotsi-would be finalized in time for Hugo Chavez’ diplomatic visit to Moscow later this month but before Vladimir Putin’s visit to the U.S. in July.
Russia has emerged as a major arms dealer not only to Venezuela but to the rest of Latin America; it is the concern over increased “militarization” of the region which led Foreign Policy to deem it one of the most underreported stories of 2006.
Commemorating the silver anniversary of the end of the Falklands War, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner expressed hope that the Falklands islands will return to Argentina.In a speech at a Buenos Aires rally earlier today, Kirchner also responded defiantly to remarks made by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher:
“President Kirchner underlined that the British ‘may have won a battle (but) they will never win justly with reason because the Malvinas (Falklands) belong to Argentina.'”
Since losing the Falklands War in 1982, Argentina has held resentment against the British who (as Kirchner mentioned today) “massacred Argentine youth and soldiers.”That resentment has expressed itself diplomatically as was the case in earlier this year when the Argentine government refused to cooperate in a bilateral commemoration of the war.
Sources (Spanish)- Clarin
Sources (English)- Bloomberg, Monsters & Critics, The Latin Americanist, BBC News, CNN
Image- BBC News(A guard stands watch over a Falklands War memorial in Buenos Aires)
In a battle between Argentines and Brazilians in the Copa Libertadores final, Boca Juniors is at an advantage after beating Gremio 3-0 last night.Much like in the previous rounds midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme (image) was key in Boca’s victory during the first leg of South America’s top soccer club tourney played at “La Bombonera” in Buenos Aires.The deciding second leg will be played in Brazil next Wednesday.
The Porto Alegre club tied in aggregate goals 3-3 with Santos in the semifinals, but a goal by Diego Souza during the second leg in Sao Pauloserved as the tiebreaker in Gremio’s favor.Meanwhile, Boca came back from a 3-1 first leg deficit and won the second leg at home 3-0 over Colombia’s Deportivo Cucuta.
Meanwhile, leaders of several Andean states continue to protest against FIFA’s high altitude ban; a ban that one blogger blamed on Brazil and Argentina. Bolivian president Evo Morales and some of his staff played a makeshift soccer game nearly 20,000 feet up in the AndesMountains on Tuesday.
Sources-Latin Americanist, Foreign Policy Passport, International Herald Tribune, ESPN Soccernet
* “I can tell you that he has recovered his fastball of 90 miles an hour,” said Hugo Chavez on Fidel Castro’s health after the two held a private meeting together in Havana.
* Heavy snowfall stranded hundreds of freight trucks along the Chile-Argentina border.
* Over 400 stolen artifacts will be returned from the U.S. to Peru.
* Follow-up: Less than three months after topping the world’s soccer rankings, Argentina slipped down to fifth place while Brazil remained in third place.
Sources- Bloomberg, Monsters & Critics, CNN, International Herald Tribune, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC
Image-BBC News(Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez meeting)
* In my travels abroad I’ve learned that the best places to eat are usually the most dingiest and unattractive.Chileno proves my point, albeit in Chile’s capital.
* Lastly, here’s the video to Rodrigo y Gabriela’s “Diablo Rojo” (via Brooklyn Vegan):
Sources- Chileno, Huffington Post, Wikipedia, Bloggings by Boz, Ricardo’s Blog, Strange Maps, kottke.org, Borev.net, Foreign Policy Passport, Venezuela News and Views, The Latin Americanist, Two Weeks Notice, Latina Viva, Gothamist, Brooklyn Vegan, Huevos Pericos
Most of the media attention has been placed on the addition of several Middle Eastern countries to the Department of State’s human trafficking list.However, it is also vital to note the Latin American states that are and are not on the list.
Of the sixteen countries deemed the worst of the worst in human trafficking only two are from the Americas: Cuba and Venezuela.Venezuela has been one of two countries sanctioned by the U.S. since last year’s “Trafficking in Persons Report” was issued.
Criticism has been made over those countries that did not end up as the worse human trafficking offenders such as China and India.Regarding the Americas, Mexico and the Dominican Republic were placed on an intermediate list along with Belize who was on the list of worse offenders last year.Yet according to CNN, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte quarreled over the political consequences of placing India on the list.
Something to consider: could politics be why Cuba and Venezuela- two of the biggest critics of the Bush administration- are on the list while several allies are not?
Sources- TIME, International Herald Tribune, Washington post, BBC News, CNN, The Latin Americanist
Image-USA TODAY(According to the caption: “Florencia Molina, a victim of human trafficking, was able to escape the abusive conditions of a dressmaking shop”)
Despite high levels of public support for Colombia’s president, Colombians were nearly split in their support of President Alvaro Uribe’s visits to Washingtonaccording to a poll reported by Colombia’s RCN. In addition, less than one-third of poll respondents admitted to “clearly understanding the details” of Uribe’s trip last Wednesday, which was to garner support of Colombia’s free trade agreement with the U.S. and to ensure continued aid.
As we noted last week, Uribe told the Colombian press that he doubted that his goals would be met on the trip. Yet so far no changes have been made to Colombian assistance in the 2008 foreign aid bill being considered by Congress according to blog Plan Colombia and Beyond.
The family of a mentally disabled citizen deported to Mexico filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government on Monday.Though spokesmen for the Department of Homeland Security and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department claimed that proper procedure was followed, the family of 29-year-old Pedro Guzman believes he is missing in Tijuana:
“"My worst fear is that he is no longer living," said Guzman's brother, Michael Guzman.”He doesn't know how to read. He often can't remember the family phone number. He even gets lost if he gets off the main street in Lancaster (California)."”
Guzman has not been heard from for over a month. The American Civil Liberties Union- a partner in the lawsuit- blamed the Sheriff's Department for acting as “de facto immigration agents.”
Update: The Associated Press issued a minor correction to their original story on Guzman. (See second link).
Sources- Reuters, International Herald Tribune, The Washington Times
Image- Tijuana.com(U.S.-Mexico bordercrossing into Tijuana)
* The U.S. government is “not supporting, participating in, pushing for or subliminally urging any of the people that march” in favor of RCTV, claimed theU.S. Ambassador to Venezuela yesterday.
* El Salvador’s government confirmed that two army units stationed in Iraq came under insurgent fire, while nineteen Mexican soldiers will go on trial for the murders of five civilians who did not halt at an army checkpoint.
* Jamaican police believe that Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was not murdered and instead died of natural causes.
* Ecuador’s president defended his economics minister who was caught in a second secret videotape, while ex-Nicaraguan president Arnoldo Aleman refused a planned amnesty for his money laundering conviction.
* Follow-up: Remember in October when we mentioned the rumors surrounding President Bush’s purchase of 100,000 acres of land in Paraguay?Now speculation is running over the purchase of millions of acres of land in Chileand Argentinaby U.S. multimillionaire Douglas Tompkins.
Sources (Spanish)- El Diario/La Prensa
Sources (English)- ABCmoney.co.uk, MSNBC, Monsters & Critics, BBC News, People’s Daily Online, The Latin Americanist, Yahoo! News
Chilean prosecutors have added the charge of “usurpation of powers” against former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori.Fujimori- who was put under house arrest while awaiting a possible extradition from Chile to Peru-faces eleven counts of corruption and human rights abuses during his decade in power.
On a related note, the presidents of Chile and Peru are expected to meet later this week despite disagreements by each country’s foreign ministers over boundary issues.
Sources (English)- Monsters & Critics, The Latin Americanist
Sources (Portuguese)- La Nacion, La Tercera, El Mercurio
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was greeted by a crowd chanting “Long live Cuba! Long live Fidel!” as he arrived in Havana this afternoon in a surprise visit to Cuba.Chavez met a few senior government officials (image), and Cuban television reported that Chavez will meet Fidel Castro and brother Raul later today.
Speaking of Fidel, his latest article in Granma criticized U.S. President George W. Bush’s weekend trip to Eastern Europe.
Sources- Monsters & Critics, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Granma
“Driving the changes (in immigration in Latin America) are concerns echoed in the current U.S. immigration debate: that undocumented workers take jobs from locals, raise the crime rate and drain tax dollars through their use of public school and health systems.
In the same vein, business groups in the region have been opposing new laws that might limit uneducated, low-cost laborers from migrating to countries that need them -- just as in the United States.”
Unlike the U.S., however, immigration reform in some Latin American countries has been successfully enacted:
Argentina passed a proposal four years ago granting illegal immigrants access to public schools and health clinics
Costa Rica approved a plan allowing Nicaraguans to gain citizenship
Chile’s government is considering their own proposals that would help illegal immigrants
Image- BBC News(A Brazilian immigration official take a picture of a U.S. tourist in 2004)
Sources- Bloomberg, The Latin Americanist, Miami Herald
* The judicial proceedings against suspected terrorists at the U.S. base on GuantanamoBay “is causing us far more damage than any good we get from it,” said former Secretary of State Colin Powell in a televised interview.
* Cuba's Episcopal Church consecrated its first female bishop over the weekend in “a historic act that demonstrates women's possibilities.”
* Cuba’s “premier sexologist” is gradually working to break down taboos regarding homosexuality and transsexuality.(One of the island’s most popular telenovelas has done so, as we mentioned last year).
* “Human rights expert” Catherine Chanet expressed her “concern” for Cuban dissidents, yet also backed the government’s suggestion to overhaul the review system at the U.N. Human Rights Council.
“A basket on a rope drops for payment. Money collected, the basket comes down again, bearing hot pizzas, grease soaking through butcher paper wrapping. There is no soda, or napkins.
The basket-on-a-rope delivery method is popular among those who share and sell goods in apartment buildings without working elevators."
Sources- Guardian UK, Newsday, USA TODAY, International Herald Tribune, The Latin Americanist, Voice of America
Image- TIME(2001 image of Cubans celebrating the country’s revolution)
An article in today’s Guardian UK claims that the results of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval were fixed by “underworld” criminals. The report alleges that Carnaval jurors were coerced into accepting bribes by the honorary president of the Beija-Flor samba school or else they would have their relatives threatened with death.
“Claims that Rio's carnival procession was fixed emerged in April after the police cracked down on a gambling racket allegedly involving the payment of bribes to Brazilian judges. During a raid on an apartment in northern Rio, agents found 4m reals (roughly $2 million) hidden behind a fake wall.
Shortly after the crackdown, known as Operation Hurricane, a parliamentary inquiry was set up. Yesterday, as the allegations grew, the 40 carnival jurors were summoned to testify before the commission.”
I wonder if this happens in Bahia? (Hopefully not!)
Sources (English)- Guardian UK
Sources (Portuguese)- O Globo Online, Estado.com.br
Image- BBC News(Parade float goes through the “Sambadrome” in last year’s Carnaval)
* Cuban-American senator Bob Menendez (image) will not only support Hillary Clinton’s candidacy for the U.S.presidency but will serve as her campaign co-chair.
* Congrats to Latina actress Ana Ortiz (best known for her role in “Ugly Betty”) who got married over the weekend in Puerto Rico.
* Follow-up: remember the State Department report that blasted Venezuela’s counternarcotics efforts?Guess which country’s law enforcement seized 2.5 tons of cocaine bound for Africa.
Sources- Guardian UK, Christian Science Monitor, Zee News, Wikipedia, Bloomberg, Monsters & Critics, Wikipedia, USA TODAY, The Latin Americanist, Metro
The Senate voted 53-38 in a “no-confidence vote” against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, yet fell 7 votes short of moving to full debate.Though Democrats were behind the initiative, 7 Republicans voted against Gonzales.Through it all, President Bush has remained supportive of Gonzales and believes there has been “no wrongdoing” in the Justice Department.
The Mexican-American Gonzales has been accused of firing eight federal attorneys due to purely political reasons.Bipartisan pressure has increased against Gonzales to resign especially after his performance at recent Senate hearings.
Mexico’s government dismissed a complaint against the country’s Catholic Church over its political involvement during Mexico City’s abortion debate.Though the law bans priests from “partisan politics or holding political meetings at churches”, the legal complaint arose when some clerics “suggested voters should remember who backed the law at election time”.
Mexican cardinal Norberto Rivera celebrated the government’s decision and vowed to campaign to change the Law of Cults and Religious Associations:
“It has been said that we have a law for cults but not an adequate law of religious expression; a topic discussed during President Calderon’s visit to (the Vatican) and one which will undoubtedly need to be worked on.”
Sources (English)- Guardian UK, The Latin Americanist
Sources (Spanish)- Sol de Mexico
Image- National Geographic(Mexico City’s Zocalo with the Metropolitan Cathedral in the background)
Francisca Davalos- the 23-year-old daughter of Chilean president Michelle Bachelet- remains hospitalized after suffering from a cerebral thrombosis.Doctors at the Clinica Alemana in Santiago have assured that Davalos (image) is in “good condition” and without “neurological damage” after being taken to hospital late yesterday.Bachelet cleared her agenda today and has stayed at Davalos’ side.Davalos is expected to remain in hospital for several days.
Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega met with his Iranian counterpart in Tehran(image) and both agreed to closer relations between the two countries.“Nothing can get in the way of strengthening the ties between our two countries” said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a news conference earlier today. Ortega met with several important political and religious leaders during his visit to Iran.
As we mentioned last week, a pair of Floridian legislators called Ortega, Ahmadinejad, and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez a “new trio of tyrants.”
Note: Originally, our debate was going to look at the finals of the Copa Libertadores soccer tournament.We will post about it later this week.
As we mentioned last week, the bipartisan immigration reform bill was on life-support in Congress.Senators voted against ending debate on the proposal and the House has refused to examine the bill until it possibly gets assed by the Senate. Several key politicos, such as President Bush and leaders for both the Republican and Democrat parties, have vowed to continue working hard for immigration reform.
Still, the failure of the latest proposal has had serious repercussions in Mexico and for local leaders in the border states.Here is what Arizona governor Janet Napolitano had to say in yesterday’s Washington Post:
“If we have no comprehensive immigration reform this year, and if we do not deal rigorously and openly with those already here, silent amnesty will continue. As a border-state governor who has dealt with immigration issues more than any other governor I know of, I am certain that continued inaction by Congress -- silent amnesty -- is the worst of all worlds."
So what do you think?
Did you support the bipartisan reform bill that was considered by the Senate?Why or why not?
Will an immigration reform bill be considered or ignored by Congress before 2008?
Is immigration reform that vital a topic to begin with or is the status quo fine as is?
Will the consequences of the bill’s failure hurt relations with Mexico and other Latin American countries?
Let us know what you think by leaving a comment to this post and/or voting in our poll located on the sidebar.
Let your opinion be heard!
Image- The Irish Times(Pro-immigration reform protestors gather in front of the U.S. Capitol in March 2006)
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Yahoo! News, Bloomberg, Washington Post, ABC News
* New York’s Puerto Rican Day parade drew thousands of boricua supporters along Fifth Avenue, while over 3 million revelers packed the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil yesterday during the city’s gay pride parade (image).
* Several top congressional Democrats warned of “the infiltration of important Colombian state institutions by terrorists and drug traffickers” in a letter written last month to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
