Daily Headlines: July 18, 2012

* Mexico: The head of Mexico's banking and securities commission defended the regulator amid claims that HSBC ignored warnings of money laundering by drug gangs.

* Cuba: The Cuban government announced an increase in import taxes days after the island received its first cargo shipment from the U.S. in fifty years.

* Colombia: Tensions continue in the war-torn Cauca province where the indigenous community has sought the removal of the military and FARC guerillas.

* Chile: A court charged two ex-military men with torturing and killing the father of former president Michelle Bachelet in 1974.

Video Source– YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- Reuters, euronews, Huffington Post, CNN, BBC News