Could diplomacy help unclog the impasse between Honduras’ ousted president Manuel Zelaya and interim leader Roberto Micheletti? That’s the gamble being taken by Costa Rica with the backing of U.S. officials:
(Costa Rican president/1987 Nobel prize winner) Oscar Arias will support negotiations between Manuel Zelaya and Robert Micheletti…(U.S. secretary of state) Hillary Clinton said after talks with Zelaya in Washington.
"We are supporting the efforts that the OAS [Organization of American States] has made but we think there needs to be a specific mediator," Clinton said on Tuesday.
"To that end, we are supporting President Arias of Costa Rica to serve in this important role.
"President Zelaya ... agreed that President Arias has a lot of experience going back many years as a mediator.
"[Arias] is willing to serve as a mediator and we have received word that the de facto caretaker president, Micheletti, will also agree to President Arias serving in this role."
In addition, the AP reported that a Honduran Supreme Court spokesman said that the government "could push for political amnesty” for Zelaya though it would ultimately be up to Congress.
Thousands of people for and against Zelaya have rallied in the capital city of Tegucigalpa today. Unlike the ugly violence on Sunday, today’s rallies appear to be peaceful. Honduran First Lady Xiomara de Zelaya even came out of hiding to head a demonstration in favor of her deposed hubby.
Image- AP (“Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya arrives at the State Department in Washington to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Tuesday, July 7, 2009. Zelaya is back in the U.S. after his failed attempt to land in Honduras last Sunday. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)”) Online Sources- Al Jazeera English, AP, Voice of America, The Telegraph, The Latin Americanist,
The violence from last month’s confrontations between indigenous protesters and police is surely still ringing loud in the minds of Peruvian officials. Eager to avoid further problems from upcoming protests and declining popularity, President Alan Garcia is trying to take preventative measures:
Peruvian President Alan Garcia bowed to opposition pressure on Tuesday and said he will reshuffle his cabinet following deadly clashes last month between police and indigenous groups.
Garcia and his cabinet have been sharply criticized for botching negotiations with protesters who were demanding the government strike down laws designed to open their ancestral lands in the Amazon to foreign mining and oil companies…
"He needs to choose a cabinet that would give him breathing room and put him in a better negotiating position," said political analyst German Munoz. "If he does the opposite, he will have more problems."
Prime Minister Yehude Simon announced weeks ago that he would resign from his post though it remains to be seen who else follows him out.
While Garcia tries to avoid damage on one end, he may be opening another can of worms by permitting a major energy project in the Amazon by European firm Perenco.
Image- AFP (“Natives armed with spears set a roadblock at the entrance of the Amazonian town of Yurimaguas” last month.) Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Living in Peru, Vivirlatino, Reuters
U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor received a welcomed boost today after the American Bar Association (ABA) gave her its highest rating.
The ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary unanimously backed Sotomayor as a “well qualified” candidate for the top tribunal of the land. The ABA based its judgment on a review of her “professional integrity, competence and judicial temperament.” The law group refrains from considering judicial ideology.
The ABA had rated Sotomayor twice before; she was deemed as "qualified" by most of the committee when named as a trial judge and "well qualified" by a majority when she was nominated as an appellate judge.
Conservatives have previously blasted the ABA ratings for allegedly being biased towards liberals. Yet thorough reviews were conducted of current Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Associate Justice Samuel A Alito when they were nominated for the Supreme Court and the ABA had gave them "well qualified" ratings.
Critics have attacked Sotomayor as a "reverse racist" for her ruling as an appeals court judge against white firefighters in a civil service promotion case.
They say "she ought to withdraw her nomination because we're mad at her," said Powell on CNN's "State of the Union."
Sotomayor has "an open and liberal bent of mind," Powell said. "But that's not disqualifying."
Image- CNNMoney.com Online Sources- Wall Street Journal FOX News, New York Daily News, AP, Washington Post
I hate to give extra time to people whose fifteen minutes of fame should’ve ended a long time ago, but there are some whose viewpoints are unrealistic and way off the mark. Come on down “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher:
Wurzelbacher’s weak stab at Occam’s razor to solve the immigration problem is obviously far too simplified and problematic. How will a military already spread thin by conflicts abroad be amassed to commit to such a mass deportation? Not every undocumented immigrant has the same legal status so what criteria will be used to decide who stays and who leaves? Wouldn’t the costs of such an operation be exorbitant and how much money will be lost if the borders are closed?
I could go on and on, but why give attention to such a shortsighted perspective? Because such a view will become more popular as the issue of immigration reform continues to be ignored by the powers that be. As long as politicos keep burying their heads in the sand, insensible opinions like Wurzelbacher’s will sadly thrive.
Official tallies show that after 99% of the ballots were counted on Monday, Mexico's PRI party swept the midterm elections, the Los Angeles Times reported.
President Calderon's party, the PAN, earned 28% of the vote, while the PRI won approximately 36.6%. The PRI was able to double its seats in Congress and win as many as 5 of the 6 governships that were at stake. The PAN did have one win that was not expected: the governship of the state of Sonora, which had been a PRI stronghold.
The PRI's gains may make it hard for President Calderon to pass his legislative agenda. He is urging the Mexican Congress to work together. "The competition is behind us, and now we have to focus our efforts on seeking the agreements the country needs to recover, as soon as possible, economic growth, job creation and public safety," Calderon said.
Online sources: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times
* Chile: The U.N. investigation into the death of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto started last week and will be led by Chilean ambassador to the U.N. Heraldo Munoz.
* U.S.: Another reason for immigration reform – an alliance of police chiefs said that it would provide better security and improved law enforcement.
* Venezuela: Antonio Ledezma- the Metropolitan Mayor of Caracas- claimed that he will be going on an “indefinite” hunger strike against what he claimed were efforts by the federal government to undermine his authority.
* Peru: The country’s largest labor union is planning a three-day national protest starting today against President Alan Garcia.
Image- BBC News (“Benazir Bhutto was assassinated leaving a party rally in December 2007.”) Online Sources- LAHT, The Telegraph, AFP, Forbes
Many thanks to everyone who participated and sent in a valid entry to participate in our “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” contest. We always value the input of you, our great readers.
Contest winners will be chosen the morning of July 8 and should be notified in the afternoon.
Good luck to all our participants!
Original Post:
It’s been a very long time since we’ve given away anything on this site. As a “thank you” to our loyal readers we’re holding a really great contest.
Would you be interested in attending one of the special advanced screenings of the newest Harry Potter film “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”? We’re holding a special ticket giveaway where you and three guests can attend a special screening next Monday, July 13th in either New York, Los Angeles, or Miami.
Here are the contest rules:
Send an e-mail message with the subject title “Harry Potter” to ourlatinamerica@yahoo.com
In the body of the message please mention which screening you want to attend. (New York, Los Angeles, or Miami.)
Only one entry per e-mail address so make sure your address is valid!
We will pick one random address Wednesday morning for each screening location.
The contest ends tomorrow (Tuesday) at 8:00pm so enter as soon as you can!
Additional Prize Terms and Conditions:
Prize winners may be required to take part in reasonable post-competition publicity for Warner and may be filmed, photographed or otherwise recorded by Warner or other third parties for publicity and he/she consents to the use of his/her personal data for such purposes.
Prize winners may be required to sign a Prize Acceptance Form before the Prize is awarded. If a Prize winner is under the age of 18 years, a parent or guardian may be required to sign a Prize Acceptance Form before the Prize is awarded.
There is no cash alternative to Prizes which are subject to availability, non-transferable, non-negotiable and non-refundable. Prizes may not be sold, offered for sale or used in connection with any other competition or promotion by the Prize winner.
Prize details are correct at the date of this Agreement. Events may occur that render the Media Promotion itself or the awarding of Prizes impossible due to unforeseen circumstances or reasons beyond the control of Warner. In this situation, Warner may at its discretion vary or amend Prizes so as to provide reasonable alternative Prizes and Prize winners agree that no liability shall attach to Warner or parties connected to Warner as a result.
How bad were the confrontations yesterday between thousands of supporters of deposed president Manuel Zelaya and troops outside of the international airport in Tegucigalpa? The following video from CNN en Español provides a glimpse at the chaos in Honduras:
At least one person- reportedly a young boy- died in yesterday’s violence as officials ordered a 48 hour shutdown of the Toncontin international airport.
In a statement issued just a short while ago, the State Department condemned yesterday’s clashes and urged “the de facto regime and all actors in Honduras to refrain from all acts of violence, and seek a peaceful, constitutional and lasting solution to the serious divisions in that country through dialogue."
Zelaya- who detoured to Honduras after he was prevented from landing yesterday at Toncontin- is expected to soon arrive in Washington and meet with officials including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Online Sources- boston.com, AFP, Bloomberg, YouTube, The Latin Americanist
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara died this morning at the age of 93.
McNamara will most likely be remembered for his role in the buildup and failure of the Vietnam War. Though he would later admit that it was "terribly wrong" to have pursued military action in Vietnam beyond 1963, McNamara’s management and focus on statistics ignored the massive humanitarian cost of the war. "McNamara treated everybody like they were a spare part on a Ford," said the executive director for policy and government affairs for Vietnam Veterans of America who alluded to McNamara’s previous experience as a former Ford executive.
In terms of Latin America, McNamara was hugely influential in shaping a U.S.-Cuba policy that has changed little over the past four decades:
The former secretary of defense was among John Kennedy’s closest advisers during the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis 18 months later.
Those events shaped U.S. policy by hardening an adversarial relationship with Cuba, setting up a 47-year embargo.
Like many leaders in the Cold War, McNamara was obsessed with fighting communism and deterring nuclear war. The invasion and Missile Crisis represented the good and bad of that policy.
From 1968 to 1981 McNamara served as head of the World Bank where he “increased the bank's loans to developing countries and changed its focus from large-scale industrial projects to development in rural communities.”
The following is an excerpt from the brilliant 2003 documentary “The Fog of War”:
Online Sources- Al Jazeera English, YouTube, NPR, Miami Herald, Guardian UK, DC Blog
For several years the U.S. military have occupied a military base in Manta, Ecuador which they use mainly for counternarcotics operations. Ecuador’s government decided last year to not renew the military lease at Manta once it expires next month. Whether an alternative base would soon be established in Colombia or Peru remains to be seen though several hints in recent months indicate that possibility could happen very soon.
Back in April, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia William Brownfield said that discussions were taking place between the White House and Casa de Nariño over expanding to a military base in Colombia. "Colombia and the US are collaborating on the efforts against the illegal drugs, in the efforts against the international delinquency. Part of this collaboration, without doubts, requires the access to facilities between both countries," said Brownfield who was previously U.S. ambassador to Venezuela. Indeed, the Pentagon budget submitted to Congress last May included allocating $46 million to expand the base in Palanquero, Colombia.
After last weeks visit by President Alvaro Uribe to Washington, Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez said that “to be perfectly clear, there will be no new U.S. base in Colombia." Yet an article from Colombian magazine Cambio claimed that Palanquero will be a small piece in a much wider plan:
A soon-to-be-signed, 10-year bilateral cooperation pact will give U.S. military personnel the right to operate from five bases in Colombia, the newsweekly Cambio reported Thursday.
The United States is seeking basing rights in Colombia because Ecuador declined to renew an accord allowing Washington to coordinate drug-interdiction efforts from the Manta airbase on the Andean nation’s Pacific coast.
Colombia’s three main airbases: Palanquero, in the central part of the country; Alberto Pouwels, in the north, and Apiay, in the south, will play host to U.S. units, according to the Bogota-based magazine.
The U.S. military will also have access to the Colombian naval bases at Cartagena, on the Caribbean, and Malaga, located on the Pacific.
Will the U.S. military move its base from Ecuador to Colombia? Stay tuned…
Image- El Tiempo Online Sources- Colombia Reports, LAHT, The Latin Americanist, PRESS TV, CIP Americas
Leaders from the CARICOM countries began their 30th summit this weekend in Georgetown, Guyana, with a varied agenda centered primarily on illegal immigration to and from CARICOM member nations. Many immigrants, including undocumented ones from Jamaica and Guyana, tend to move to Barbados and Antigua & Barbuda, where they are both exploited as cheap labor and discriminated against. The representatives of those two countries, for their part, railed against illegal immigration to their islands and the need to curb the flow.
At the weekend inaugural session, heads of state had the chance to given prepared remarks, and the annual Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC) was bestowed upon Percival Patterson, former prime minister of Jamaica, for his contributions to regional development.
Sources: Jamaica Gleaner, Latin American Tribune, Caricom.org
* Mexico: About 350 people protested the lack of justice and government corruption related to a nursery school fire that killed 48 children last month.
* Venezuela: The government nationalized the Venezuelan division of Spain’s Banco Santander.
* Ecuador: Will 23-year-old Ecuador international Antonio Valencia be enough to replace Cristiano Ronaldo on Manchester United?
* Peru: Nearly a month after claiming he would quit due to violent protests against the government, Prime Minister Yehude Simon said on Friday that he would resign sometime this week.
Image- CNN (“Two girls lay flowers during a funeral of one of the 48 children who died in the day-care fire.”) Online Sources- LAHT, BBC Sport, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, Voice of America
We leave the last word for tonight with the following brief recap of today's events from Al Jazeera including some stunning footage of protesters presumably hit by military fire:
Update (10:00pm):
After circling the Toncontin international airport in Tegucigalpa, Manuel Zelaya's flight never got the green light to land in Honduras. Zelaya told TeleSur that military vehicles at the airport further prevented a safe landing:
According to a Salvadoran government representative, Zelaya's plane will detour to Managua, Nicaragua. No word on whether it will continue onto El Salvador as was originally reported.
Meanwhile, the violence which we mentioned in a previous update seemed to have been worse than was initially reported:
Stephen Ferry, a photographer working for The Times, was at the airport in the capital where the Army fired on protesters. “I saw a kid being shot in the head, I think he is dead,” Mr Ferry said. “There are lots of injured — I don’t know how many. They just opened fire — it was completely unprovoked.”
Jorge Alberto Vasquez, a 27-year-old farmer, described how he had carried the boy's body from the scene. “He was about fifteen or sixteen. He had been shot in the head. I carried him the length of two blocks . . . We were all calm, then the army started shooting into the crowd.”
He said that four people had been killed, although this was not confirmed.
We'll further discuss the very tense and nerve-wracking situation in Honduras on Monday.
Update (7:00pm):
It's still unclear if Manuel Zelaya's flight will try to land in Honduras or if he will be prevented from doing so. Zelaya ordered the military to open the Tegucigalpa international airport while the acting government has ordered his plane to turn away and go to El Salvador.
Meanwhile, at least one person died as police and pro-Zelaya marchers clashed outside the Tegucigalpa international airport. (Let's hope that the 1973 Ezeiza massacre upon the return of Juan Peron to Argentina does not repeat itself in Honduras).
Update (5:15pm):
In remarks made to TeleSUR (or the Nicaraguan media) Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega denied accusations by Honduran acting president Roberto Micheletti that troops were gathering along the Nicaragua-Honduras border. "We are not planning an invasion" said Ortega who added that he was preferred a peaceful solution to the mess in Honduras.
Update (4:45pm):
Zelaya's flight has been supposedly diverted by Honduran authorities to El Salvador. (Thus far it has not been mentioned specifically why).
Zelaya's plane will soon be followed by planes that left from Washington carrying the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador and Paraguay, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States and journalists. (No word if they were diverted too).
Original Post:
One week after being deposed as president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya is planning his return to his native land.
Zelaya is currently on a Venezuelan government plane en route to Honduras and accompanied by the Nicaraguan head of the U.N. General Assembly- Miguel D’Escoto Brickmann. In a telephone interview with TeleSUR, Zelaya has called on his countrymen to remain calm and has asked the military to not shutdown the airport in the capital city of Tegucigalpa.
Zelaya has an order of arrest against him which may be carried out if he arrives today in Honduras. Yet that may not happen as the AP reports that the acting government has ordered the military to turn away the aircraft Zelaya is in.
Thousands of Zelaya supporters have gathered in Tegucigalpa and appear to be on their way to the airport according to video shown moments ago on CNN en Español. Honduran troops had previously closed the road in front of the presidential palace as well as the road to the airport in the capital city.
Meanwhile, acting president Roberto Micheletti accused Venezuela and Nicaragua of “interfering” in Honduran affairs and claimed that troops were gathering along the Nicaragua-Honduras border. Yet at the press conference currently led by Micheletti, he contradicted himself by saying that these troops were "small groups" that represented little harm.
Honduran diplomats “repudiated and denounced” Saturday’s decision by the Organization of American States to suspend Honduras from the bloc. Despite Honduras’ increasing political isolation and criticism of the OAS, Micheletti said that he would send a diplomatic team to meet with OAS representatives. (Perhaps Micheletti and his cohorts are feeling the pressure from so much political isolationism?)
Image- Christian Science Monitor (“Soldiers stood guard Saturday as supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya arrived after a march at Toncontin international airport in the capital, Tegucigalpa.”) Online Sources- Washington Post, Bloomberg, AP, New York Times, Reuters
* Nicaragua: A small diplomatic tiff was averted when Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega apologized for missing a banquet held in honor of the visiting Taiwanese president.
* Bolivia: Could parts of Bolivia’s’ energy and rail industries soon be nationalized by President Evo Morales?
* Latin America: The biggest upset after two days of the Gold Cup soccer tourney is El Salvador’s 2-1 win over Costa Rica.
---Basketball star Kobe Bryant reportedly had some harsh words to say about Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa during the Lakers’ victory parade last month.
As reported by HispanicBusiness.com, Bryant didn’t want to appear on the same parade vehicle as the mayor though they eventually did. In addition, “Kobe purportedly refused to shake Villaraigosa's hand.”
Villaraigosa took the oath of office Wednesday for a second term. Interestingly, one of Bryant’s teammates- point guard Derek Fisher- acted as master of ceremonies for the inauguration.
Image- fox4kc.com (“Kobe Bryant and family, along with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, wave to fans along South Figueroa Street atop a double-decker bus during the Lakers victory parade en route to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.”) Online Sources- HispanicBusiness.com, Los Angeles Times
Yesterday Colombian officials including President Alvaro Uribe and several former hostages commemorated the one-year anniversary of a rescue mission that freed fifteen people. Uribe claimed that “Operation Check” was made possible via the controversial military operation on FARC guerilla commander Raul Reyes’s camp in Ecuador which set off a regional diplomatic crisis. In addition he praised the operation which freed Ingrid Betancourt, three U.S. contractors, among others and said “I hope we have an ‘Operation Check’ numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6”.
Prognostications that the FARC would be decimated in part due to the rescue may’ve been premature. "Don't underestimate their military importance," said a study released by independent Colombian think-tank Foundation of Ideas for Peace which added that the guerillas are gaining strength in some regions. “With the exception of the July 2008 hostage rescue and a battlefield victory south of Bogotá in March 2008, the military hasn't dealt any further blows to the guerrillas' leadership” observed noted Colombia analyst Adam Isacson in this insightful Foreign Policy article.
For all the joy surrounding the fifteen people freed 366 days ago, hundreds of other hostages remain captive in the Colombian jungle. “For me it is very painful to think that our liberation may serve as a justification to forget them, or to have nothing happen, to turn the page,” said Betancourt days ago. The hard-line by the Uribe administration and the FARC has made it almost impossible for any hostages to be freed and returned to the open arms of their loved ones. Take the case of Colombian soldier Pablo Moncayo who has been held hostage since in 1997:
(The FARC) announced in mid-April it intended to free Moncayo. On Monday, it said it would release a second soldier with him.
But Uribe refused the FARC's demand that Sen. Piedad Cordoba, a close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, be present for any hostage handover. She has attended five previous unilateral releases of a total of 12 hostages since early 2008…
Uribe says he will only accept the International Red Cross and the Roman Catholic Church as intermediaries.
"We don't understand why exactly President Uribe doesn't respect the life of Pablo Emilio," 22-year-old Yuri Tatiana Moncayo, one of the captive corporal's four sisters, told The Associated Press…
“The president isn't going to facilitate any unilateral liberation because he thinks that will boost the FARC's political agenda and hurt the government," said political analyst Claudia Lopez. "It's cruel, but that's the way it is."
Thus, hundreds of hostages continue to be deprived of liberty as they continue to be used as pawns in a sick game between intransigent sides.
Image- Cambio (Gustavo Moncayo- the father of hostage Emilio Moncayo has campaigned vigorously for the freeing of Colombian hostages including walking thousand of miles wearing symbolic steel chains). Online Sources- AP, Foreign Policy, Monsters & Critics, The Latin Americanist, Semana, El Tiempo
A top Honduran military lawyer admitted that the forceful removal of President Manuel Zelaya was illegal.
In an interview conducted to the websites of the Miami Herald and Salvadoran daily El Faro, Col. Herberth Bayardo Inestroza said that the military broke the law during last Sunday’s coup. “We know there was a crime there,” said the coronel who served as the head legal counsel to the Honduran military and added that the correct legal action would’ve been to make him stand trial for abuse of power.
Nonetheless, Inestroza admitted that the country had become a powder keg reasy to explode due to Zelaya. Furthermore, exiling Zelaya to Costa Rica was necessary in order to avoid nationwide violence according to the coronel:
So when the powers of state united in demanding his ouster, the military put a pajama-clad Zelaya on a plane and sent him to Costa Rica. The rationale: Had Zelaya been jailed, throngs of loyal followers would have erupted into chaos and demanded his release with violence.
''What was more beneficial, remove this gentleman from Honduras or present him to prosecutors and have a mob assault and burn and destroy and for us to have to shoot?'' he said. ``If we had left him here, right now we would be burying a pile of people.''
Honduran appointed president Roberto Micheletti has tried to buy time in the midst of massive international pressure. He backed down from his hard-line of holding presidential elections in November and floated the idea of permitting early elections. Nevertheless, the Organization of American States may boot Honduras out of the bloc as early as Saturday while protests grow against the interim government and the figure demonstrators teasingly call "Pinocheletti". (A reference to the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet who came into power in a 1973 coup.)
Image- Straits Times Online Sources- Miami Herald, BBC News, the Australian, Los Angeles Times, the Latin Americanist
* U.S.: A study by the University of North Carolina concluded that “the more bicultural a young immigrant is, the greater his chances of avoiding…risk factors” like dropping out of school or drug use.
* Latin America: Stocks throughout the region tumbled on Thursday after news that unemployment in the U.S. hit its highest point since 1983.
* Uruguay: Local Bishop Francisco Domingo Barbosa Da Silveira resigned from his ministry after admitting to having sex with gay men.
Image- St. Petersburg Times (2005 image of two children learning traditional Hispanic dances at a Florida bicultural school). Online Sources- LAHT, Catholic Culture, Boston.com, The Latin Americanist, CNN
Hit US cartoon series "The Simpsons" will no longer be shown during prime-time in Ecuador while the government ponders its impact on children, a broadcaster said on Thursday…
A government-backed regulator will assess the program's impact on "boys, girls and teenagers," and wants to restrict its broadcast "to assure the protection" of younger audiences.
"It is not going to go off the air, but we had to change its slot to 5:30 am," Pablo Ortiz, Teleamazonas' lawyer told AFP.
This is not the first time “The Simpsons” has come under fire in the Americas. In June 2008, the program was briefly yanked from the air in Venezuela after it was deemed as “unfit” for children. Executive producer James L. Brooks apologized seven years ago after Brazilian tourist officials threatened to sue. As we mentioned last year, some Argentines were peeved at a gag that poked fun at former president Juan Peron and the “Dirty War.”
Online Sources- AFP, Global Voices Online, Wikipedia, The Latin Americanist, YouTube
A Mexican singer known by the nickname of “El Halcón de la Sierra” (“The Hawk of the Mountain Range”) was arrested for alleged ties to a local drug capo.
Fabián Ortega Piñón was nabbed in Baja California along with an accomplice of drug gang leader Teodoro García Simental as part of a sting operation on Tuesday. Police along with other law enforcement agents uncovered one kilo of drugs, several arms, and $20,000 in cash.
Ortega Piñón is a prolific musician with over forty albums to his name and is said to be very popular along the border area of the U.S. and Mexico. The 27-year-old specializes in the norteña and rancheragenres and had sung several narcocorridos, ballads that are based on the drug trade. Ortega Piñón had performed with Valentín Elizalde, a fellow singer who was killed after a 2008 concert supposedly on orders by drug gangs. Ortega Piñón’s next gig was supposed to be an Independence Day concert in California.
Below is one of Ortega Piñón’s songs, a tender ballad entitled “La Primavera” (“The Spring”):
Online Sources- Milenio, El Universal, SDP Noticias, BBC News, YouTube, Wikipedia
One of Cuba’s leading young pitchers has reportedly defected while visiting in the Netherlands.
Twenty-one-year-old Aroldis Chapman left the Cuban national team from a tournament set to begin today in Rotterdam. "I walked out easily, right through the hotel door, and I hopped into a car and left," Chapman said to cubaencuentro.com. The southpaw is currently in hiding but is expected to fly to Miami and soon sign with a Major League club.
Chapman went 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA in two games for Cuba during this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) but his massive potential will surely catch the attention of top Major League sides:
Chapman would be the most heralded defector since Jose Contreras, who left the national team in 2002 during a tournament in Mexico.
By several estimates, Chapman could garner a contract worth anywhere from $30 million to $60 million. Contreras, now with the Chicago White Sox, received a four-year, $32 million contract from the New York Yankees in 2003, which at the time was the biggest ever given to a Cuban defector.
"Without a doubt [he is the best player to defect since Contreras]," agent Jaime Torres said Thursday.
Last December two of Chapman’s WBC teammates- Yadel Marti and Yasser Gomez- defected from Cuba.
Image- daylife.com Online Sources- Havana Times, Riptide2.0, ESPN, MLB.com, The Latin Americanist
Honduras’ appointed president remains defiant despite mounting international pressure for him to leave his post.
On Tuesday, the Organization of American States (OAS) gave the interim government held by Roberto Micheletti a deadline of this Saturday to reinstall deposed president Manuel Zelaya or face expulsion from the bloc. In addition, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning the coup that forced Zelaya out of power while E.U. ambassadors left Honduras today. Leaders from all over the region representing differing ideologies are all united in their opposition to Zelaya having been forced from power.
Faced with the risk of isolating Honduras economically and politically, Micheletti declared that “we can't negotiate anything” with the OAS. He continues to claim that Zelaya was removed legally and that he risks arrest should he return to Honduras.
Thousands of demonstrators for and against the interim government have taken to the streets of Honduras’ major cities in competing sets of rallies despite a nationwide curfew declared by Micheletti. The following video from Spanish TV shows the tensions simmering in Honduras:
Online Sources- BBC News, Bloomberg, Christian Science Monitor, CBC, Xinhua, Al Jazeera English
The swearing-in ceremony of billionaire Ricardo Martinelli as Panama's new president yesterday was below-the-fold news in a Central American isthmus besieged by turmoil and crises (the major news, in fact, was that ousted Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, had the cojones to attend the inauguration as president of Honduras).
The SICA leaders who held 3 emergency sessions just a few short months ago to address the financial crises could not have imagined a worse scenario outside of the economic sphere then the period they have lived through since. From Guatemala's presidential murder mystery and Honduras' military coup, to Nicaragua's loss of international aid and yesterday's surprising suicide of the capital city's mayor, Central America may be undergoing one of its most difficult and trying moments since its peace accords some twenty years ago. All this as the region suffers through yet another brutal hurricane season, leaving the poorest of the poor to suffer the most.
Unfortunately, crises tend to breed other crises. The streets of every Central American capital are daily filled with one protest or another, and at least several accounts report injuries, and seven some deaths by the hands of both rioters and riot police.
As Martinelli sets up shop today in Panama, lets hope he continues to stay below the fold, and that cooler heads prevail in the coming months to fight the longer-term challenges in his neighborhood.
* Puerto Rico: The bullet-ridden house where Puerto Rican nationalist leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios was killed in 2005 may become a museum in his name.
* Mexico: Remittances to Mexico plummeted by a whopping 19.9% in May as the country falls deeper into a recession.
* Brazil: Investigators believe that Air France Flight 447 broke up in mid-air before crashing off the Brazilian coast.
* Bolivia: Bolivian president Evo Morales lashed out against the Obama administration’s decision to cut APTA trade benefits and accused him of breaking his promises made during the Summit of the Americas.
Image- New York Times (“A mural of Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, who became an independence icon after being killed in a gun battle with F.B.I. agents.”) Online Sources- Guardian UK, BBC News, BusinessWeek, The Latin Americanist, New York Times
One of the greatest Latin American boxers of all time died on Wednesday of an apparent suicide.
Legendary Nicaraguan pugilist Alexis Arguello died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The 57-year-old had problems with depression, alcohol and drug use including almost killing himself in front of his young son in 1984.
During the 1980s, Arguello allied himself with the anti-Sandinista Contras after the revolutionary government seized his assets and homes in Nicaragua. In recent years, however, he had a change in heart and was elected as Managua mayor last November while running on the Sandinista party ticket. (The current Sandinista government declared three days of national mourning in Arguello’s honor).
Nicknamed “El Flaco Explosivo” ("The Explosive Thin Man"), Arguello was one of the few pugilists to be a champion in three weight divisions (featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight.). His career spanned over 25 years where he amassed an extraordinary 82-8 record with 65 knockouts. Yet Arguello’s most famous bout was one he lost: his unforgettable fight against Aaron Pryor in 1982.
Nearly three decades ago, a ferocious puncher and a brilliant ring tactician waged one of boxing's epic brawls under the twinkling lights of the Orange Bowl in Miami, a fight so big that few remember Roberto Duran was on the undercard.
After 14 back-and-forth rounds, Aaron Pryor brutally knocked out Alexis Arguello to retain his junior welterweight title. The fight on Nov. 12, 1982, left an indelible impression on the 23,000-plus who crowded near the ring in the aging football stadium in Little Havana.
"That was something I will never, ever forget as long as I live," said 77-year-old Bob Arum, who promoted the bout. "That was one of the most memorable fights I ever did”…
"It was a great fight we had," Pryor told The Associated Press, not long after learning of Arguello's death. "This was a great champion."
Image- Guardian UK Online Sources- AP, BBC Sport, AFP, Deadspin, Guardian UK
According to a New York Times article published yesterday the answer is an emphatic “yes.”
In the piece written by Simon Romero, leaders throughout the Americas are leaning towards the “multilateral”, diplomatic approach taken by U.S. president Barack Obama rather than that taken by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. Some political commentators have illogically tried to frame Obama and Chavez as Siamese twins since they (along with dozens of other leaders representing differing ideologies) condemned the coup which knocked Honduras’ Manuel Zelaya out of power. Yet as the director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said, “with Honduras, the Obama administration has taken the mainstream road that is more in sync with other countries in the region”.
Romero warned that Chavez’” antiestablishment rhetoric” still resonates with some around the region and Obama could be in trouble if Chavez’ allegations of CIA involvement in the coup are true. For the time being, however, Chavez may be putting himself in a corner with fewer allies much like one of his most disliked rivals:
(…) Mr. Obama’s nonconfrontational diplomacy seems to have caught Mr. Chávez off balance. “Chávez is beginning to understand that he’s dealing with someone with a very different approach than his predecessor,” said Michael Shifter, vice president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington policy research group…
Meanwhile, Mr. Chávez’s threats of belligerence in Central America led one opposition party here, Acción Democrática, to issue a statement on Monday that was full of irony: “Hugo Chávez has become the George Bush of Latin America.”- [emphasis added]
Ecuador and Bolivia will face different outcomes regarding vital trade benefits from the U.S.
The U.S. Trade Representative's Office (USTR) announced yesterday that it will continue to sever tariff exemptions for Bolivia under the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA). According to the USTR the Bolivian government has engaged in an “"explicit acceptance and encouragement of coca production” and has hurt counternarcotics efforts by booting out DEA agents last year.
The White House’s move continues the decision by the Bush administration in late 2008 to remove Bolivia from APTA benefits. Thus, Bolivian president and ex-coca-growers' union leader Evo Morales was reluctant to blame the current U.S. regime:
"Let's hope that it isn't long before the president of the United States immediately repairs the damage done by former President (George W.) Bush, and not only the economic but the political damage," he said during a speech in La Paz on Tuesday night.
On the other hand, the White house decided to extend APTA benefits to Ecuador. The decision was seen unfavorably by several business interests including Chevron who’s facing a multibillion dollar environmental damage lawsuit in Ecuador.
Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia will all receive APTA help until the end of the year though the benefits are expected to be renewed.
Image- daylife.com (“A Bolivian woman chews coca leaves and places some on her face during a protest against the U.N. coca report, in La Paz March 10, 2008.”) Online Sources- Guardian UK, Reuters, MarketWatch, ABC News
I hate to sound like a whiner, but one of the main reasons why posting has been a little off this past week is since yours truly has been bitten by the flu bug. While I was resting on top of a mountain of tissue boxes yesterday I watched "Ice Age" for the first time and noticed that John Leguizamo was one of the character voices. (Yes, I'm slightly behind with the times).
Back in the mid-90s, Leguizamo starred in a Latino-oriented sketch show called "House of Buggin'". The ensemble included the likes of David Herman and Luis Guzman, and poked fun at "West Side Story" and anti-immigrant measures. (One sketch on a horny priest predated the Padre Alberto controversy by about fifteen years).
Sadly, the show (which I watched religiously) lasted less than a season but the innovative show left plenty of great memories. Take the "Chicano Militant Minute", a recurring sketch on the reexamining of history:
Could diplomacy help unclog the impasse between Honduras’ ousted president Manuel Zelaya and interim leader Roberto Micheletti? That’s the gamble being taken by Costa Rica with the backing of U.S. officials:
