A funny thing happened on the way to Bogotá...

With apologies to Stephen Sondheim for title of this post, passengers of one Bogota-bound flight suffered quite the scare on Friday:

"Continental Airlines Flight 881 from Newark International Airport to Bogota International Airport was diverted to Jacksonville International Airport due to a potential person of interest. The plane landed without incident at approximately 5:45 p.m.," the TSA said in a statement.

"The passenger was cleared by the FBI and the flight is continuing to Bogota," the TSA added.

According to a local New York news station the “person of interest” matched the name of someone on the “No Fly list” but his date of birth was different.

Happy travels everyone!

Image- news.com.au
Online Sources- Wikipedia, Reuters, NBC New York

Weekend Headlines: January 30-31, 2010

* Argentina: The dispute between central bank chief Martin Redrado and President Cristina Kirchner came to a climax yesterday after Redrado quit his post.

* U.K.: A family originally from Bolivia was awarded over $159,000 from the British government after being falsely placed in a detention center for 42 days.

* U.S.: A study published yesterday found that Latino immigrants in California’s in San Diego County have the highest level of self-employment.

* Latin America: The 2010 Copa Libertadores began this week with first round home victories for Deportivo Tachira (Venezuela), Colon (Argentina), and Juan Aurich (Peru).

Image – AFP (Argentine central bank chief Martin Redrado resigned amidst his battle with President Cristina Kirchner over how to pay the government’s debt)
Online Sources- Bloomberg, Channel 4 News, signonsandiego.com, Goal.com

Federal Legislation Tries to Overturn Mexico City's Gay-Marriage Law

Back in December, Mexico City became the first to pass a law allowing gay marriage in Latin America. Civil unions were already legal in Mexico City since 2005, as in other areas of Latin America such as Colombia, Ecuador, and Uruguay. The law allowing gay marriage is due to take effect in March, however federal legislation is trying to prevent that from happening. It would also open the door for gay couples to adopt children. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard argues that this law does not violate constitutional provisions and says that he will will defend the new law.

Online Sources: Associated Press, American Free Press

Image Source: CNN

Daily Headlines: January 29, 2010

* Ecuador: Farmers in central Ecuador may lose their crops due to the plumes of ash spewed by Tungurahua volcano.

* Cuba: According to government figures there was an increase in visitors to Cuba last year though they spent less than in 2008.

* Peru: At least 800 tourists remain stranded in Machu Picchu as a result of heavy rains and flooding.

* Brazil: Robinho will return to play club soccer in his homeland after working out a six-month loan from Manchester City to Santos.

Image – PBS (Towns surrounding the Tungurahua volcano were evacuated in 2000 after it became active).
Online Sources- UPI, LAHT, BBC News, Xinhua

More than just the other white meat

Some stories speak for themselves:

Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez has told a gathering at her Presidential Palace that pork is even better than Viagra for spicing things up in the bedroom - and credited a satisfying weekend with her husband to the meat.

"I've just been told something I didn't know, that eating pork improves your sex life," she said in a televised speech to the leaders of the Argentinean meat industry, "I'd say it's a lot nicer to eat a bit of grilled pork than take Viagra"…

Speaking of a weekend spent with her husband after eating the meat, Fernandez said, "We were in high spirits the whole weekend... I'm a pork fanatic."

So how may double entendres did you find among Kirchner’s comments?

Image- Boston Herald
Online Sources- Huffington Post

Out of Honduras, Zelaya starts over

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Manuel Zelaya, former president of Honduras, has arrived in the Dominican Republic, welcomed by Dominican President Leonel Fernández.

The Los Angeles Times reports that he traveled with his wife and two children.

Hundreds of flag-waving fans watched him leave the airport in Tegucigalpa, the BBC adds.

Close friends say he plans to live in Mexico.

Meanwhile, the new president, Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo, called for a new beginning at a speech in the capital's national stadium.

"The Honduran family begins [the process] of reconciliation," Mr. Lobo said.

The Tegucigalpa crowd booed mentions of the OAS, the U.S. Ambassador and Costa Rica President Óscar Arias, who had mediated talks to return Zelaya to power.

Story and photo: via WSJ

Daily Headlines: January 28, 2010

* U.S.: One year and one day ago we wondered if “Ugly Betty” would soon be cancelled. 366 days later we received the unfortunate answer.

* El Salvador: The Salvadoran government lodged a formal complaint against Mexico related to the death of three migrants.

* Cuba: Should the Obama administration put a stop to TV and Radio Marti broadcasts to Cuba?

* Latin America: Mexican archeologists found an 1100-year-old tomb in Guatemala that could reveal important details on Mayan culture.

Image – News.com.au
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, ABC News, Washington Post, Javno, MSNBC

Record drop in remittances to Mexico

Much like the rest of the Americas, the global economic slowdown has hit Mexico very hard. The country has been officially in recession for at least eight months and the GDP dipped by over 10% last year. Remittances to Mexico declined sharply by the end of 2009 while almost concurrently money transfers from Mexico notably increased.

With an ailing economy and remittances to Mexico counting as the country’s second highest source of foreign income the last thing Mexico could afford was to have money transfers nosedive. Unfortunately, Mexico's central bank confirmed those fears:

Money sent home by Mexicans abroad plunged a record 15.7 percent in 2009 as migrants worldwide struggled to find work during the global economic slowdown, the central bank reported Wednesday…

Since the bank began tracking remittances in 1996, they have recorded just one other annual decline — a 3.6 percent slide in 2008, as the world financial crisis exploded.

Central bank president Agustin Carstens attributed the drop to a weak economy in the United States and the increased difficulty Mexicans are having securing employment there. More than 11.8 million Mexicans live in the United States.

Earlier this month a pair of Mexican senators estimated that the decrease in remittances would lead to the drop below the poverty line of at least two million families.

Other countries throughout the Americas that rely heavily on money transfers (for example, El Salvador) have also seen a decrease in remittances throughout 2009. This will surely hinder economic recuperation from the worldwide recession as well as slow down long-term economic growth.

Image- LAHT
Online Sources- LAHT, Foreign Policy, AHN, ABC News, Reuters, The Latin Americanist

Shakira Announces Haiti School Initiative

The Latin icon, Shakira, announced last thursday that her charity organization, Barefoot Foundation (Pies Descalzos) will build a new school in Haiti.

According to Shakira's website, her foundation will work together with Architecture for Humanity to build the school and NGO partners to provide education, school feeding, clean water and sanitation services. Foundation board member Howard Buffett, World Food Program Ambassador Against Hunger and chairman of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, will fund the school feeding component of the initiative and other related services.

The Barefoot Haiti School will be built to model the work of the Fundación Pies Descalzos, the Colombia-based Foundation Shakira founded which provides education, nutrition and psychological support to over six thousand Colombian children displaced by violence.

The long time artist and philanthropist states:

There is a great need for immediate aid in Haiti, but also for longer-term reconstruction,” said Shakira. “For that reason, we are doing our small part to help Haiti rebuild and give the children affected by this disaster the chance to learn and thrive. I hope we can use some of what we’ve learned working in Colombia to help Haiti’s children recover. When we educate children we empower societies, and right now Haiti needs all of our help.”

Source: Shakira.com

Fractured Honduras swears in new president (Updated)

Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo was sworn in as Honduran president today amidst a country still in political turmoil.

“We are emerging from the worst political crisis in our history,” declared Lobo during his inauguration speech in which he briefly paused in order to sign an amnesty decree for deposed president Manuel Zelaya. That order was approved by Honduras’ Congress yesterday and also includes amnesty for the generals behind last June's controversial ouster.

While the crowd at the ceremony reportedly applauded Lobo’s move they also supposedly jeered his thanking of foreign diplomats including Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and Dominican President Leonel Fernandez. Fernandez- who attended today’s inauguration- was key in brokering a deal last week facilitating the safe passage of Zelaya from Honduras. Zelaya is expected to soon leave from the Brazilian Embassy where he has been since September and travel as a private citizen to the Dominican Republic and possibly Mexico. (Update: Zelaya arrived safely in the Dominican Republic Wednesday evening).

Despite Lobo’s optimism, Honduras has been mired in a deep political division that was exacerbated by Zelaya’s ouster. Though it’s expected that some international aid will be restored to Honduras Lobo will have his hands full trying to tackle the country’s poverty:

Human rights groups documented serious abuses, including deaths, as security forces cracked down on pro-Zelaya protesters and media outlets in the weeks following the coup.

Lobo, a wealthy landowner from the same ranching province as Zelaya, says he wants to get beyond Central America's worst political crisis in decades and get aid flowing again.

"Due to the political crisis, Honduras has lost $2 billion dollars in foreign aid and international investment," Lobo said as he was being sworn in.

Image- CNN
Online Sources- BBC News, Reuters, Dominican Today, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC, Xinhua, New York Times

Venezuela cancels Haiti debt

With earthquake-ravaged Haiti needing all the help it can get the Venezuelan government cancelled its estimated $167 million foreign debt with that Caribbean nation.

Citing Venezuela’s “historic debt” with Haiti, President Hugo Chavez announced the move after an emergency meeting of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA, in Spanish) bloc. Furthermore, Chavez said that the ALBA group- which includes Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and others- started a $100 million “special fund” for Haitian recovery efforts.

As part of an estimated lengthy reconstruction, Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive has urged the cancellation of Haiti’s massive debt to entities like the U.S. and Inter-American Development Bank. Yet there has been very little action taken towards debt relief and this has alarmed some aid groups:

Haiti was already the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and groups including Oxfam and The World Council of Churches called on ministers to immediately cancel its full $890 million (£550 million) international debt.

They also asked for delivery on the IMF's previous pledge to turn a $100 million (£62 million) interest-free loan to into a grant.

Oxfam International executive director Jeremy Hobbs said: "Expecting Haiti to repay billions of dollars as the country struggles to overcome one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory would be both cruel and unnecessary." Britain has already cancelled all debts owed to it by Haiti and called on all remaining creditors to do the same.

As part of his strong criticism of the U.S. relief efforts in Haiti, Chavez recently advised Barack Obama that “every soldier that you send there should carry a medical kit instead of hand grenades and machine guns." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would later respond to the increased global criticism and said that the Haitian “people (are) glad to see us."

Image- AFP (“A boy carries rubbish in a wheelbarrow at a makeshift camp in Port-au-Prince.”)
Online Sources- Wall Street Journal, LAHT, ITAR-TASS, financial Times, The Telegraph, Reuters, AFP

Miercoles Musical: Hanging out with Os Novos Baianos

Via Metafilter:

Os Novos Baianos (The New Bahians) played psychedelic rock blended with regional Brazilian folk styles, heavily influenced by bossa nova maestro João Gilberto. In 1972, after recording Acabou Chorare (which went on to top Rolling Stone Brazil's list of best Brazilian albums), the band moved to a far suburb of Rio de Janiero to live communally, play soccer, and work on the album Novos Baianos F.C. (New Bahians Football Club). In 1973, German television sent music producer Solano Ribeiro to capture their daily life on film.

The following video is the first part of that 45-minute documentary; the film is a must-watch for its peek into the tropicalia movement and Brazilian 1970s culture:

Online Sources- Metafilter, YouTube

Daily Headlines: January 27, 2010

* U.S.: On the eve of tonight’s State of the Union speech, several hundred protestors at an immigrants rights rally called for President Barack Obama to take a more active role towards much-needed immigration reform.

* Chile: Investigators identified the remains of eleven people beloved to have been at the side of President Salvador Allende when he was ousted in a September 1973 military coup.

* Mexico: Californian officials shot down Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “off-the-cuff remark” on sending inmates to Mexico to serve time.

* Argentina: Diego Maradona returned from his two-month suspension to coach Argentina to a 3-2 win over Costa Rica in a friendly.

Online Sources- YouTube, Washington Post, San Jose Mercury News, Goal.com

Womens Expansion into Bolivia's Government

The landlocked country of Bolivia is the poorest country in South America. Some people consider the landlocked nature of the region as one of the contributing factors for why the extermination of indigenous populations was not as severe as in other parts of the Americas, and also why Bolivians have largely retained their traditional culture. Today about half of Bolivians identify themselves as indigenous and more than 30% live in rural areas.

Women have traditionally been the most marginalized and "have been systematically denied education and formal leadership roles." Since President Evo Morales came into power as president in 2006, the indigenous leader has tried to incorporate more women into parliament and has given the indigenous population more of a voice. With the help of 200 non-governmental womens organizations, 33 women were a part of the re-founding of the Bolivian state; they helped to write the country's new constitution which was put into place 11 months ago. This Friday, the leftist leader will be sworn in for a second term. Soon, 28 women will hold seats in the parliament, a number never before seen. Morales has also promised to increase the number of women holding ministerial posts in his new cabinet. Women lawmakers are pushing for more women to hold positions in all of the branches of government. Last Tuesday, Ana Maria Romero became the first woman to ever be elected to preside the Senate.

Though some progressive and positive changes have occurred involving women's roles in the government, women are still deprived in areas of education, land rights, and human rights. Most Bolivian girls in rural regions only go as far as the third grade. Cristina Barreto, a leader from the Bartolina Sisa Federation in the country's capital says, "basically, without education there can be no rights, no creation or defense of human rights."

Online Sources: BBC, IPS, MADRE

Image Source: United Methodist News Service

Cine Martes: South American flicks make Oscar shortlist

A pair of Latin American films made it to the Academy Awards shortlist for the top foreign film.

Argentina’s “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (“The Secret in Their Eyes") and Peru’s “La Teta Asustada” ("The Milk of Sorrow") were named last week along with seven other flicks to the list of semifinalists for the coveted prize.

“La Teta Asustada” won the Golden Bear at last year’s Berlin Film Festival and is vying to be Peru’s first ever finalist for the best foreign-language film Oscar. The movie’s title (which translates to "The Scared Tit”) is based on the idea that the protagonist’s mother passes misery on to her daughter through breast milk:

“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” was described in one film review as a “riveting Argentine thriller spiked with witty dialogue and poignant love stories.” The film faces strong competition in entries like "Samson & Delilah" (Australia) and "Un Prophete" (France) but could be a dark horse candidate for Oscar voters.

The five finalists for the Oscar will be announced next Tuesday.

Online Sources- Variety, The Latin Americanist, YouTube, Hollywood Reporter

Daily Headlines: January 26, 2010

* Argentina: Political tensions are high due to the ugly spat between President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and central bank president Martin Redrado over how to pay back Argentina’s debts.

* Guatemala: Ex-President Alfonso Portillo was indicted in a U.S. federal court yesterday and accused of laundering at least $1.5 million in public funds.

* Peru: Nearly 2000 tourists were evacuated from Machu Picchu after the area was hit with its heaviest rains in fifteen years.

* Ecuador: Ecuador’s foreign debt fell by 19% between November 2008 and November 2009 yet still accounts for over a quarter of the country’s GDP.

Image – Al Jazeera English (Argentine central bank president Martin Redrado refused to step down from his post despite a court order forcing him to do so).
Online Sources- Reuters, New York Times, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal

Cuba and the Beltway Bandits

Given that the Castro regime has maintained unwavering control of Cuba for nearly 50 years and that Fidel himself has survived numerous American-led attempts to oust him, it's hard to imagine that sporadic funding of dissident programs will have any meaningful impact on fostering change within Cuba.

But Cuba's proximity to the US mainland and large Cuban exile community ensure that it plays an outsize role in American domestic politics. As the Miami Herald reports, this fact has led to the US funding dissident groups within Cuba - namely by giving them access to communications technologies that the US hopes will help foster democratic civil society on the island. Of course one man's "democratic civil society" is a Cuban (government) man's subversive meddling. Last month's arrest of American subcontractor Alan Gross highlighted this, shall we say, difference of opinion.

With Gross' arrest as a bargaining chip, Cuba would love to see an end to such programs which, in all likelihood don't accomplish a whole lot anyway.

And the current trends may favor Cuba getting just that. Obama has ushered in a slightly more nuanced approach toward Cuba policy, but the main driver in his less aggressive stance towards Cuba is an evolution in the sentiment in Miami's Little Havana - where younger Cuban Americans are moving beyond the animosity of the first generation of Cuban exiles and embracing a desire to normalize relations with the island.

Within this climate it's getting harder to justify multi-million-dollar outlays to support the slew of democratization efforts that have popped up with USAID and State money over the years. Yoani Sanchez keeps Twittering, after all...

The bureaucratic way of expressing this reality is for money to begin drying up without any official word as to why. The Miami Herald points out that money has all but stopped flowing to Cuban pro-democracy advocates in the US. In fact no new funding proposals directed toward Cuba have come from USAID since March.

Obama has taken small steps toward changing the core approach to Cuba, but it remains to be seen if he, like all of his predecessors, will fall back on a tough talk, little action strategy. If his current political woes persist or worsen ahead of the next round of important Florida elections he'd be well advised to do whatever wins him votes in South Florida. If the last 50 years are any indicator, Cuba will keep being Cuba no matter what our donated transistor radios have to say.

Online Sources: The Guardian, Miami Herald, Twitter, McClatchy, CNN
Image Source: Washington Post

Notable Quotable: Latin America’s political mosaic

There are no cold wars in Latin America, no rising or falling tides to be fostered or contained. Just democracies going in different directions, occasionally directions quite distant from the United States. Here in the United States, we have to get used to that, and stop viewing each electoral outcome as a harbinger of triumph or tragedy.

---The Center for International Policy’s Adam Isacson blasted the “all Chávez, all the time” media focus on Latin American politics.

Isacson- whose blog normally covers Colombian affairs- targeted this Washington Post column as an example of the overemphasis placed by the mainstream on the Venezuelan president. “As president of a country of 28 million people, Hugo Chávez’s ability to determine his neighbors’ political destiny was never great” while also noting the mounting problems he has had domestically. Though Isacson claims that there’s no regionwide political pattern, he does note that “Latin American voters’ mood is turning against angry, extreme, polarizing leaders of all political stripes” such as Chavez and even his counterpart in Colombia (Alvaro Uribe).

Care to add any further thoughts, dear reader?

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- Plan Colombia and Beyond, Washington Post

Haiti: To adopt or not to adopt?

In the aftermath of the recent earthquakes in Haiti several North American and European counties have expedited the adoption process of Haitian orphans. Two dozen Haitian children arrived in Ottawa and 32 arrived in Denver yesterday as part of “fast-track adoptions” in Canada and the U.S., respectively. Politicians such as 34 U.S. senators advocated for making adoptions easier of the scores of Haitian orphans left without guardians due to the tremors.

There is anxiety among some, however, that children could be mistreated by changing the adoption process. UNICEF officials warned that child traffickers could easily exploit “the chaos that follows a natural disaster.” Save the Children underlined how "extreme caution must be used and time taken to carefully verify the situation of children" before they’re put up for adoption. Dr. Jane Aronson- founder of the Worldwide Orphans Foundation- gave her advice to the New York Times’ Motherlode blog:

(…) her message to those who want to adopt from Haiti is don’t. At least not right now…

“Adoption is not the way to solve absolutely massive, tragic issues of vulnerable children,” she says. “An earthquake is a traumatizing event. The best thing for these children is to keep them in their communities, with neighbors and relatives, and with food and shelter and safety.”

The issue of Haitian adoptions has become a sensitive topic that will hopefully not turn into a widespread dilemma for some of Haiti’s most vulnerable children:

Online Sources- YouTube, CBC, 9news.com, New Zealand Herald, Motherlode, CNS

Supreme Court to Noriega: Bon voyage

Former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega might as well as book his ticket to France after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear his request to stay on American soil.

The high court ignored Noriega’s appeal to avoid being sent to France where he was convicted in absentia for money laundering. French officials have said that they will grant them a new trial though Noriega wants to return to his homeland where he awaits a 20-year murder sentence.

The high court refused to explain why they rejected Noriega’s appeal though that didn’t stop two of the tribunal’s most conservative justices from voicing their displeasure:

Two justices – Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia – issued a dissent, saying the high court should have agreed to hear Mr. Noriega’s appeal.

Although Noriega is the only official prisoner of war currently in US custody, his appeal sought an examination of the constitutionality of legal provisions passed by Congress to undercut appeals on behalf of terrorism suspects at the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp…

“It is incumbent upon us to provide what guidance we can on these issues now,” Thomas wrote in a 15-page dissent. “Whatever conclusion we reach, our opinion will help the political branches and the courts discharge their responsibilities over detainee cases, and will spare detainees and the government years of unnecessary litigation.”

Noriega was arrested in 1989 after a controversial U.S. military invasion of Panama and convicted three years later on drug racketeering charges. Though his sentence ended in 2007 he remains in the same Miami prison while lawyers carry out his numerous appeals.

Image- Miami Herald
Online Sources- BBC News, UPI, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC, Christian Science Monitor

Paraguayan soccer star Cabañas shot in head

Paraguayan striker Salvador Cabañas is in serious condition at a Mexico City hospital after being shot in the head.

Cabañas was critically wounded in the men’s room of a bar according to a Mexico City prosecutor investigating the incident. “The first report is that the bullet entered the front of his head and did not exit," Miguel Angel Mancera told Mexican television about the incident that occurred due to a suspected robbery or a fight.

Unmentioned by Mancera will be if prosecutors will look into a photo of an injured Cabañas that originated from Twitter and was later published in the Mexican press. (Click here if you wish to view the Not Safe for Work image). Mancera said, however, that two suspects were arrested and investigators will be talking to an eyewitness.

The 2007 South American Player of the Year received interest from English side Sunderland due to the 64 goals marked for Mexico’s Club America and for leading Paraguay to this year’s World Cup. Whether he misses the tournament remains to be seen though the shooting apparently didn’t deter the wounded star:

In comments made to the online version of Paraguayan daily ABC, the wife of Salvador Cabañas said that he had a positive mindset before entering the risky operation…

“He was in all moments positive and told me ‘I will emerge from this.’ He constantly spoke with me, told me his parents were going to visit him, and was conscious until they placed the anesthesia on him said his wife (Maria Alonso Mena). - [Translated text]

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- RPP Noticias, La Tribuna, The Telegraph, peru.com, New York Times, AHN

Sotomayor: Executing mentally ill inmate “not unreasonable”

Last week’s U.S. Supreme Court (USSC) decision to greatly ease campaign spending restrictions has been the main focus of the mainstream press. Mostly ignored was another verdict by the high court that could have strong implications on the sensitive death penalty debate.

In a 7-2 vote, the USSC upheld a lower court ruling against a mentally ill inmate on death row. Attorneys for Holly Wood- an Alabaman with the IQ of a seven-year-old child- argued that the lawyers at his sentencing erred by not presenting evidence to the jury of his diminished mental state. They argued that this supposed mistake led to Wood being sentenced to death, not life imprisonment, for the 1993 murder of his ex-girlfriend.

Sonia Sotomayor wrote the top tribunal’s majority opinion; her viewpoint may calm some of the conservative backlash against her that came to the forefront during her nomination process:

The 7 to 2 ruling was notable because it was written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, her first full opinion on capital punishment since she joined the court. She said that while the wisdom of the lawyer's decision might be "debatable," it was not unreasonable to think he had made a strategic decision that kept out more damaging evidence about his client…

"Even if it is debatable, it is not unreasonable to conclude that . . . counsel made a strategic decision not to inquire further into the information contained in the report about Wood's mental deficiencies and not to present to the jury such information," Sotomayor wrote…

Sotomayor's extensive record as a judge is scant on capital punishment. The pro-death-penalty Criminal Justice Legal Foundation said it was encouraged by Sotomayor's decision to uphold the appeals court ruling.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- AFP, Washington Post, CNN

Daily Headlines: January 25, 2010

* Mexico: In a unique way to celebrate Mexico’s bicentennial, the great-granddaughters of Mexican Revolution leaders Plutarco Elias Calles and Venustiano Carranza will pose nude in Playboy Mexico.

* Bolivia: One day after being inaugurated to his second straight term President Evo Morales named women to half of Bolivia’s new cabinet positions.

* U.S.: Federal agents arrested a bar owner and waiter in Texas accused of hiring undocumented Guatemalan girls and forcing them into prostitution.

* Brazil: At least 1.6 million new jobs will be created in Brazil this year according to the government.

Image – Diario.com.mx (This is one of the few non-NSFW photos on the web that we could find of Fernanda and Isabel Calles Carranza).
Online Sources- Sify, Houston Chronicle, LAHT, AFP