Daily Headlines: December 16, 2011

* Argentina: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights gave an Argentine judge more than 100 photos with images of alleged victims during the Dirty War regime.

* Mexico: Three officials in the Mexican state of Guerrero were dismissed over the deaths of two student protesters during clashes with police.

* Honduras: Honduran police have come under fire after firing tear gas and swinging batons at anti-violence demonstrators.

* Venezuela: A French court sentenced Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as Carlos the Jackal, to life in prison for a second time.

Image Source – Flickr via longhorndave (Art installation with pictures of “disappeared” Argentines placed in front of the infamous Navy Mechanics School). (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources – ABC News, LAHT, Fox News Latino, Huffington Post

Daily Headlines: December 15, 2011

* Chile: Student protest leader Camila Vallejo was named by a nationwide poll as Chile’s Person of the Year.

* Brazil: Federal prosecutors in Brazil are seeking the suspension of operations of Transocean and Chevron as well as $10.6 billion in environmental and social damages.

* Cuba: The National Endowment for Democracy gave their annual humanitarian award to the late Cuban dissident Laura Pollan.

* Colombia: According to the Vatican Radio, Pope Benedict XVI called for the freeing of all the hostages held against their will by Colombian guerillas.

Image Source – Flickr via gpoo

Online Sources – Santiago Times, MSNBC, UPI, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: December 14, 2011

* Central America: Are pesticides and herbicides causing a “major epidemic” of chronic kidney disease throughout Central America?

* Haiti: Politicians and human rights activists in Brazil expressed their concern over a possible “humanitarian crisis” due to an influx of Haitian migrants.

* Venezuela: Citgo, which is owned by the U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela’s PDVSA, will resume a program providing heating oil to low-income U.S. families.

* Argentina: Prosecutors in the U.S. accused eight former Siemens executives of paying over $100 million in bribes to the Argentine government during a ten-year period.

Image Source – Flickr via JoePhoto (“Taken on the outskirts of Chichicastenango” in Guatemala.) (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources – PRI’s The World, El Universal, Sydney Morning Herald, Reuters

World Watch: Cameron’s Crow?

* Europe: British Prime Minister David Cameron defended his decision to veto an E.U. treaty aimed at preventing a worsening of the region's debt crisis.

* Canada: The country’s immigration minister announced the prohibition of the wearing of the burka during the citizenship ceremony.

* Syria: According to U.N. estimates nearly 5000 people including about 300 children have been killed as part of a brutal crackdown by the state.

* Democratic Republic of Congo: Electoral observers and opposition figures accused the government of vote rigging during recent elections.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources – The Guardian, CNN, BBC News

Daily Headlines: December 13, 2011

* Mexico: According to the Mexican archdiocese over 5.6 million people visited the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City this year.

* U.S.: The Supreme Court agreed to listen to a case next year involving Arizona's controversial anti-immigration S.B. 1070 law.

* Colombia: Human Rights Watch blasted a proposed judicial reform that could “virtually guarantee impunity for human rights violations committed by the security forces.”

* Caribbean: Representatives of several countries including the U.S. and Cuba reportedly met last week in order to discuss potential problems with increased Cuban offshore oil drilling.

Image Source – Flickr via Joaquin Martinez (Mexicans domestically and worldwide commemorated the annual celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe yesterday).

Online Sources – Miami Herald, MSNBC, Bloomberg, AFP

Today’s Video: The Minor Fall, The Major Lift

Note: In honor of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities celebrated earlier this month, some of our some of our daily video segments this week will focus on the disabled community throughout Latin America.

In November the legislature in the Argentine province of Mendoza backed an initiative to comply with national law on the disabled. The measure protects the rights of the disabled in Mendoza and also expands public health coverage for disabled individuals. (For example, disabled individuals where previously excluded from the local public health system once they reached the age of twenty-one years regardless of the seriousness of their condition).

For over a decade the families of disabled individuals attempted to push through the plan though they were unable to gain much headway. Their efforts received a much-needed boost from “Caiga Quien Caiga” (“Whoever May Fall” in English), an Argentine TV news show that is presented in an irrelevant manner.

The following video from “Caiga Quien Caiga” shows how Mendoza’s disabled community, with help from the program, helped bring about necessary and long overdue changes:

Video Source – YouTube via LATVARG

Online Sources – United Nations Enable, Diario Uno, Wikipedia

Daily Headlines: December 12, 2011

* Panama: Former dictator Manuel Noriega was extradited to Panama and is expected to start serving a twenty-year prison sentence for crimes committed during his rule.

* El Salvador: The government issued a formal apology for the over 1000 people killed at the El Mozote massacre of 1981.

* Mexico: At least two people were killed after a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck in the state of Guerrero.

* Cuba: Dissidents claimed that “some 200 detentions for political motives” were made by police in the days leading up to Human Rights Day this past Saturday.

Video Source – YouTube via BBC News

Online Sources – Voice of America, Reuters, The Guardian, BBC News