It is now safe to include tomatoes in your diet again. Just stay away from Mexican peppers, specifically jalapeños and serranos. The FDA lifted it's warning, that some varieties of tomatoes may contain salmonella amid signs an outbreak of the illness is slowing...Source : NPR
Venezuela has been internationally recognized for the physical beauty of their women; just ask newly-crowned Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza. Yet that fame has a hidden side in the faces of thousands of women hurt by physical and mental violence. Not enough has been done to prevent violence against Venezuelan women according to a report released by human rights group Amnesty International (AI):Thousands of women in Venezuela live in a constant state of fear of violence from their partners, fear for their lives and the safety of their children. When a safety net is not provided, many women feel that they have no choice but to stay with their abuser or to be homeless and unable to support themselves or their children.
The AI report applauded a law passed last year designed to strengthen penalties for those who abuse women yet a senior AI official emphasized that “Venezuelan authorities must enforce it.” The study also noted that there are only three women’s shelters in the entire country and authorities “have not been properly trained” to handle crimes of abuse against women.
Sadly, violence against women is an all too common problem in the Americas; several cases of girls being raped in jail emerged in Brazil while Mexican police have been unable to solve the mysterious deaths of hundreds of women in Ciudad Juarez.
Image- BBC News
Sources- ABC News, BBC News, Amnesty International UK, The Latin Americanist, Reuters UK, El Universal
* Argentina: The country’s Senate voted by a razor-thin one vote margin in favor of farmers and against a government-backed plan to raise export taxes.* Panama: Geologists have found hundreds of animal fossils which could help explain how the American continent was formed.
* Brazil: Thousands of striking workers of state-run oil firm Petrobras may soon expand their strike across the country.
* Cuba: Has Cuba been “working around the U.S. internet embargo” by secretly cooperating with Venezuela?
Image- New York Times (“Farmers in Buenos Aires on Thursday celebrated the rejection by the Argentinean senate of the grain-export tax package.”)
Sources- BBC News, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, Bloomberg, Slashdot
The following video is a 1983 documentary looking at Nicaragua and the effects of the Sandinista regime. Produced by John Pilger, (who Wikipedia describes as a supporter of Hugo Chavez and a fervent critic of U.S. foreign policy), the film praised the “generosity of spirit” in Nicaragua under the Sandinistas and blasted the growing influence of the U.S.-backed Contras.
(Warning: Some scenes Not Safe for Work).
Sources- BBC News, The Latin Americanist, Wikipedia, YouTube
Gunmen reportedly killed a Guatemalan prosecutor who was investigating the deaths of three Salvadoran politicians in February 2007. El Salvador's President Tony Saca blamed drug gangs for gunning down Juan Carlos Martinez as he was driving his car near his home on Monday. “Someone is blocking us from knowing what they are,” said Saca who alluded of a cover-up in the investigation.The bodies of Central American Parliament members Eduardo D'Aubuisson, William Pichinte and Jose Ramon Gonzalez along with their chauffeur were found dead and charred in an abandoned car. Days after the finding, Guatemalan police arrested four cops yet they were soon killed while in jail and before they could testify.
Image- Voice of America (“Agents of the National Civil Police stand before a charred Toyota Land Cruiser where three Salvadoran representatives were assassinated and torched by alleged hit men, 20 Feb 2007.”)
Sources- The Peninsula, The Latin Americanist, Reuters UK
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a temporary injunction against the executions of five Mexican nationals on death row in Texas. The ruling by the United Nations' highest court said that the U.S. should "take all measures necessary" to ensure that the Mexicans do not get executed.Despite the decision Texan authorities claimed that the executions will go on as scheduled such as that of Jose Medellin on August 5th:
"This court ruling does not change anything," said Allison Castle, a spokeswoman in Gov. Rick Perry's office. "Those who come to Texas and commit crimes will have to pay the consequences"…
"(Mexico) hopes for proper enforcement of the injunction because of its legally binding nature," the country's Foreign Affairs Minister Patricia Espinosa Cantellano said in a statement written in Spanish.
The ICJ’s decision was the latest in a five-year dispute between the U.S. and its southern neighbor with Mexico arguing that nationals on death row have been denied their right to consular access.
The international court’s ruling contradicts the U.S. Supreme Court who ruled in March that states did not have to abide by a previous ICJ ruling in favor of Mexicans waiting execution.
Image- Javno
Sources- Voice of America, TheMonitor.com, El Paso Times, The Latin Americanist, CBC.ca
To some he was the man who saved Chile from a communist takeover and helped transform the country’s economy. To others he was a brutal dictator who died in impunity and was the mastermind behind the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians. He was Augusto Pinochet and he continues to be a divisive figure among Chileans to this day.Chilean television network TVN created a series of the greatest Chileans ever and the first episode aired last night. Poet Pablo Neruda, war hero Arturo Prat, folk singer Violeta Parra, and even Pinchot’s predecessor- Salvador Allende- where some of the ten finalists selected. Pinochet was omitted from the preliminary list of sixty; a decision that irked some Chileans:
"They avoided 'by committee' the possibility that the authoritarianism of the masses would rush to their computers and vote in favor of Pinochet," wrote historian Alfredo Jocelyn-Holt in a column for the newspaper La Tercera. "The final list, nevertheless, came out slanted toward a certain politically correct leftism."
Pinochet's influence and power played a pivotal role in Chilean history but go ask the orphans of those whose parents where killed or “disappeared” if he deserves to be the "greatest"? Or the thousands who were tortured by the state and fortunate to make it out alive or the families of Carlos Prats and Orlando Letelier.
Augusto Pinochet as the greatest Chilean ever makes as much sense as Stalin being considered as the greatest Russian ever. In other words: no.
Image- Guardian UK (“General Augusto Pinochet, left, and President Salvador Allende pose together in August 1973, before the coup in which Pinochet seized power.”)
Sources (English)- Inside South America, The Latin Americanist, Guardian UK, Foreign Policy Passport
Sources (Spanish)- chile.com, Grandes Chilenos de la Historia
* Venezuela: On Wednesday we asked if a Barack “Obama presidency could hurt Venezuela’s (Hugo) Chavez?” The answer seems to be “yes” according to remarks made yesterday by Chavez.
* Nicaragua: President Daniel Ortega claimed that he would be “fully willing to contribute to the peace process” with Colombian guerillas.
* Mexico: Should domestic brewer Modelo be worried over the recent takeover of its U.S. partner Anheuser-Busch?
* Haiti: Supporters of ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide rallied in the capital Port-au-Prince on the occasion of his birthday.
Image- TIME
Sources- Guardian UK, The Latin Americanist, Reuters UK, Al Jazeera English, MSNBC
If Barack Obama becomes president then problems will arise for Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, according to an article in today’s Christian Science Monitor. Though Chavez’ views are closer to the Illinois senator than GOP rival John McCain, the piece posits that Obama would be less of a “punching bag” than current president George W. Bush:Mr. Chavez has made an art out of insulting President Bush and his "imperialist" foreign policy. [ed. note – such as this diatribe on Tuesday calling for an “end to the (U.S.) empire"]
A McCain victory would allow him to sustain that message: Mr. McCain, after all, hails from the same party and shares many of the same policies as Bush. But Senator Obama is a different story…
"It's hard seeing Chavez calling Obama 'Satan' and the likes," says Ray Walser, a Latin America expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "He won't get as much traction."
Certainly there are those who back McCain such as right-wingers and proponents of free trade. Yet the article by Sara Miller Llana observes Obama's popularity in Latin America which could force Chavez to tone down his rhetoric:
"He would shift his tone probably away from personal attacks to questioning US policies and engagement in the hemisphere," Walser says. But his real aim "is his idea of restructuring Latin America, to make it an independent force."
What do you think of the article?
Image- stuff.co.nz
Sources- Xinhua, The Latin Americanist, Christian Science Monitor
Colombian President (and Hugo Chavez's new bff), Alvaro Uribe, apologized earlier today for his soldiers using the Red Cross emblem on their uniforms during the rescue mission that liberated former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 14 others. The misuse of the international organization's symbol violates the Geneva Convention and can be considered a war crime."We regret that this occurred," President Alvaro Uribe said in a speech following reports that the Red Cross emblem was displayed on a vest or T-shirt worn by a Colombian intelligence officer who took part in the rescue mission.The Red Cross, said through it's Colombian spokesperson that their symbol must be respected, especially as they continue to work inside Colombia.
Falsely portraying military personnel as Red Cross members is against the Geneva Conventions as it could put humanitarian workers at risk when they are in war zones.
Chase Hilgenbrinck announced his retirement from soccer. Admittedly he’s not a big name player as he decided to leave the reserve squad of MLS side New England Revolution after a mere four games with the team. Yet Hilgenbrinck’s decision to retire at the age of 26 was so he could train for the priesthood. “I know that I am moving on to something much greater” said the former defender who will now attend a Catholic seminary in Maryland.
Hilgenbrinck has been no stranger to make such major decisions; after gradating from college and not getting any offers in the U.S., Hilgenbrinck decided to ply his trade far away from home:
(…) A Chilean coach, Claudio Aureas, opened the door for Hilgenbrinck's move 10,000 miles, or 16,000 kilometers, to try his luck in another culture.
On trial with Huachipato, then loaned out to a second-division team, Naval, he was drawn to local Catholic churches. It felt as natural as attending Sunday class at Holy Trinity as a boy. Eventually, he settled at Ñublense, a team he helped get promotion to the top league in Chile. He turned down offers to move closer to Santiago because he felt committed and comfortable with Ñublense.
From the soccer pitch to the church altar; it’s been quite a journey for Chase Hilgenbrinck.
Image- Diario La Discusion (Chase Hilgenbrinck during his days playing for Ñublense)
Sources- Reuters UK, International Herald Tribune, USA TODAY
Auto giant General Motors (GM) has fallen on hard times; yesterday it was announced that they will be suspending its dividend for the first time in over eighty years, withhold bonuses, and will lay off white collar workers. The overall goal is to save $15 billion by the end of the year as plummeting auto sales domestically have led to heavy losses for the largest U.S. automaker.Despite the grim picture at GM there has been a bit of good news; sales in foreign markets such as Latin America grew:
GM reported that second-quarter sales generated by its Latin America, Africa and Middle East division surged 18% and that its market share in the regions rose almost a full percentage point, to 17.5%.
Total division sales for the latest quarter reached 346,100 units, up from 294,000 a year ago, with sales in Egypt doubling in that time. Brazil, Chile and the North Africa markets also hit all-time quarterly sales records.
It may not be enough to pull GM out of its deep financial crisis, but at least there’s some silver lining that can be taken advantage of.
Image- RTE
Sources- AFP, Bloomberg, AFP, MarketWatch
* Brazil: Soccer star Ronaldinho is expected to leave Spanish side FC Barcelona to sign a three-year, $33.4 million contract with Italian club AC Milan.
* Caribbean: Scientists believe that tons of dust from arid regions in Africa could be damaging Caribbean coral reefs.
* Bolivia: President Evo Morales accused the U.S. Agency for International Development of restricting aid to Bolivia.
* Haiti: The family of a mentally disabled Haitian man who died while under custody at a U.S. immigration detention center are still seeking answers as to how and why he passed away.
Image- AFP
Sources- CBC, Xinhua, New York Times, National Geographic
The title to this post may be stating the obvious, but the past few days have been especially sanguinary and brutal in the battles between police and drug gangs in Mexico. According to local media reports, over 120 people were killed in the past week due to gang violence including at least 21 people in the western state of Sinaloa. Authorities estimate that on Thursday alone 16 people were killed in separate incidents including the execution of a police chief in Chihuahua.
Mexican president Felipe Calderon has continued to stand by his aggressive anti-crime plan; “we are determined to recover streets that never should have ceased being ours,” said Calderon in May while attending the memorial of a slain officer. Yet the seemingly out-of-control violence has increasingly claimed the lives of innocent civilians and has had a very strong impact on migration into the U.S.:
Dozens of Mexicans — including police officers, businessmen, at least one prosecutor and a journalist — are asking for political asylum in the U.S. in a desperate and probably hopeless bid to escape an unprecedented wave of drug-related killings and kidnappings south of the border…
"It's hard. I've been doing this work for 25 years. I've been a reporter for 25 years," said newspaperman Emilio Gutierrez Soto, who is seeking asylum. "We had a life there, a house, my family. It's my country. But it's not safe for a journalist."
Image- AFP (Policemen carry on the coffins of three officers killed…in Culiacan, Sinaloa State”)
Sources- Los Angeles Times, The Latin Americanist, Houston Chronicle, Newsday.com, La Plaza, Canada.com, Monsters & Critics
With one day before Argentina’s legislature votes on a government-backed farm tax plan, separate rallies have been planned for and against the measure in Buenos Aires. Former President Nestor Kirchner is expected to lead one event this afternoon in support of his wife’s proposal to raise taxes on farm exports. Shortly afterwards, rural groups will have their own protest against the government in the northern Palermo neighborhood.The controversy over farm taxes has been going on for several months and has included several strikes and blockades. Tomorrow’s vote is expected to be a very close one as tensions have grown over the debate:
“We are going head to head on this,'' (opposition Senator Maria Eugenia) Estenssoro told reporters in Buenos Aires yesterday. ``We want senators to vote their conscience and do what their supporters are asking of them''…
(Argentine president Cristina Kirchner) says $1.5 billion additional revenue generated by the increased taxes on grains and oilseeds will help Argentina build more hospitals and roads.
Image- lanacion.com
Sources (English)- Bloomberg, The Latin Americanist
Sources (Spanish)- Clarin, La Razon
In the brief clip below, a distraught Khadr complained of being tortured and shows supposed wounds on his body. Agents reply by dismissing his claims (“I'm not a doctor, but I think you're getting good medical care”) and subsequently try to calm him before leaving the interrogation room:
Sources- Reuters UK, CTV.ca, BBC News, AHN
* Latin America: The latest summit of Petrocaribe oil alliance ended on Sunday with the loosening of terms between Venezuela and several Caribbean states.
* Uruguay: According to a demographics study, Uruguay has the oldest average population in Latin America.
* Cuba: A group called the Venceremos Brigade protested travel restrictions against Cuba by marching over the Peace Bridge linking the U.S. and Canada.
* Argentina: Could an alleged network of faked passports tarnish Argentine soccer?
Image- radiojamaica.com
Sources- Canadian Press, Goal.com, The Buffalo News, Xinhua
Don’t believe me? Then check out her finale where she sings “Me Voy” along with some help from a very thankful audience:
p.s. Thanks for coming out Maegan and letting me hang out with your charming family!
Sources- YouTube
Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt received France’s highest civilian honor on Bastille Day and dedicated her honor to the hundreds still held in captivity. “My heart bleeds because my companions of misfortune, other Colombians like myself still remain in the hands of the FARC,” said Betancourt after she received the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor from President Nicolas Sarkozy.Since being freed along with fourteen others earlier this month, Betancourt has been active in trying to gather support for the hostages still held by Colombian guerillas. Speculating has grown over whether she will run for the presidency in 2010; perhaps to thwart a possible third term of current President Alvaro Uribe. As the Wall Street Journal noted, she may represent a viable center-left option against decades of conservative and right-leaning politics:
Over time, Ms. Betancourt could provide much needed balance in Colombian politics. The development of modern left-wing politics in Colombia has been frustrated because of the association of anything leftist with the FARC…
In interviews this week, Ms. Betancourt said the main difference between her and Mr. Uribe is that he feels Colombia's fundamental problem is violence, which leads to social problems. Ms. Betancourt says she thinks it's the reverse -- that social problems such as inequality lead to violence.
Having met Betancourt during her campaign before she was kidnapped in 2001, she gave me the impression of being a headstrong, determined, and idealistic woman. Though her years in captivity have broadened her outlook, her basic political philosophy continues. This would be a huge asset should she decide to seek Colombia’s highest office.
Image- BBC News
Sources- Voice of America, International Herald Tribune, The Latin Americanist, WSJ.com, Time, Xinhua
The trial of the ex-leader of a violent Haitian paramilitary group began on Monday in a U.S. federal court. Emmanuel "Toto" Constant had been previously accused of crimes such as torture and murder due to his command of the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti (FRAPH) between 1993 and 1994. (In 2006, he was forced to pay $19 million in damages to three women who were gang raped by FRAPH soldiers). Yet Constant is standing trial for the white-collar crime of mortgage fraud after he fled Haiti to the U.S.; a fact that drew the ire of actor Danny Glover in an op/ed piece:(…) Remarkably, for more than a decade until 2006, Constant has been living in relative comfort in Queens (New York) thanks in part to intervention by our own federal government. The twists and turns of Constant's road from paramilitary leader to defendant awaiting trial for mortgage fraud tell us volumes about the last decade of Haiti's difficult history - and the twisted U.S. policy toward the poorest country in our hemisphere…
One day, Emmanuel Constant must be returned to Haiti and stand trial there. First, he must face trial for what he has done to the people of New York.
In the meantime, we must fight to ensure that in the future, our government does not allow our country to be a haven for war criminals.
The chief of one Haitian activist group in New York has advocated that Constant be punished with “the maximum sentence possible”. One would hope that is the case for someone who lived ten years in impunity and masterminded atrocious crimes against his own countrymen.
Image- City Room (“Members of the Center of Constitutional Rights organized a rally in front of the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn for the trial of Emmanuel Constant…”)
Sources- New York Daily News, The Latin Americanist, Wikipedia, Guardian UK, MSNBC
“A line was crossed” during the prosecutions against undocumented workers after an immigration raid in Iowa last May, according a Spanish-language court interpreter. In an essay publicized last week, Erik Camayd-Freixas said that the nearly 400 defendants were “forced” into accepting plea deals which carry five-month jail sentences. Language problems and illiteracy among some of the workers originally from Guatemala and Mexico were circumvented during the “fast-track” legal proceedings, according to Camayd-Freixas:This worker simply had the papers filled out for him at the plant, since he could not read or write Spanish, let alone English. But the lawyer still had to advise him that pleading guilty was in his best interest. He was unable to make a decision. "You all do and undo," he said. "So you can do whatever you want with me"…
"If you want to see your children or don't want your family to starve, sign here." That is what their deal amounted to. Their plea agreement was coerced...
As a citizen I want our judges, not a federal agency, to administer justice. When the executive branch forces the hand of the judiciary, the result is an abuse of power and arbitrariness that is unworthy of a democracy founded upon the constitutional principle of checks and balances.
The observations by Camayd-Freixas bring to light the need for comprehensive immigration reform to be enacted as soon as possible. The status quo on immigration has been an unmitigated disaster which- in the case of the Postville raid- unduly punishes the families of those arrested as well as customers who rely on the plants’ products. The longer politicos wash their hands of trying to fix the immigration issue, the greater the problems that will arise.
Image- New York Daily News (“Two of nearly 400 people arrested during an immigration raid of Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville, Iowa.”)
Sources- New York Times, The Tennessean, AlterNet, Democracy Now
A pair of former senior policemen in Argentina was sentenced to life in prison for their role in a “Dirty War” massacre. Ex-police captains Juan Carlos Lapuyole and Carlos Gallone were found guilty of kidnapping and murder for the 1976 Fatima massacre; an atrocity described by one attorney as "the worst massacre in [Argentine] history":Before dawn on August 20, 1976, thirty illegally detained and drugged prisoners from the Intendencia were forced into a truck and driven away from Buenos Aires up Route 8 beyond the outskirts of the city. About forty miles from the city, the prisoners were unloaded from the truck, blindfolded with their hands tied, and summarily executed. Each received a shot in the head from about three feet away. To dispose of the bodies, guards piled the dead prisoners over a charge of dynamite near the town of Fatima and blew them up. Body parts were found as far as 60 feet from the explosion.
It has been over two decades since the end of the argentine “Dirty War” yet it has been in recent years that there has been a greater legal and political push to punish those who committed barbaric crimes. Telenovelas have recently discussed illegally adopted babies during the “Dirty War” while a soccer match last month celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of Argentina’s World Cup victory also commemorated those who died and “disappeared” during the military regime.
Image- New York Times (“A member of Mothers of May Plaza, a group that has pushed for answers about the dirty war. They wore scarves with names of the disappeared at the trial of the Rev. Christian von Wernich.”)
Sources- truthout.org, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, BBC News
Tropical Storm Elida has been declared a hurricane, and the second of the season on the western coast of Mexico, AP reports:
* South America: The rapid melting of glaciers due to climate change could lead to an energy crisis in South America according to an Andean Community of Nations report.
* Puerto Rico: Did you know that veterans in Puerto Rico get less health benefits than veterans in the U.S.?
* Panama: Another day, another “John McCain may not be eligible for the presidency because of his birth in the Panama Canal Zone” article.
* Colombia: The Swiss government denied allegations by their counterparts accusing a diplomat of aiding the FARC guerillas.
Image- Living in Peru (“Changes in the Qori Kalis Glacier, Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru, are shown between 1978 (top) and 2002. The glacier retreat during this time was 1,100 meters.”)
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Guardian UK, New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, swissinfo