Today’s Video: What Makes Ana Tijoux Tick?

We will be back on Monday to cover several news and notes from the past week in the Americas.

The Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) takes place in New York City from July 11-14 and it includes concerts featuring artists from Latin America and the Caribbean. One of the most exciting performances will be tonight when Puerto Rico's Calle 13, Ana Tijoux from Chile and Ritmo Machine perform for free in Brooklyn's Prospect Park.

If you cannot make it to the concert fans worldwide can still listen to it live via NPR Music starting at 8:00 PM (ET).

Much like Calle 13, hip-hop artist Tijoux does not shy away from mixing politics into her music and she has involved herself in campaigns for immigrants' rights in the U.S.

In the following video via the Brave New Foundation, Tijoux explains how the Pincohet-era dictatorship led her to believe that she cannot separate "a political thought from a musical sensitivity":

Online Sources - NPR, Celebrate Brooklyn, News Taco

Video Source - YouTube via Brave New Foundation

Daily Headlines: July 13, 2012

* Chile: President Sebastián Piñera signed an anti-discrimination bill that was rapidly approved by Congress after the March murder of young gay man.

* Venezuela: "The Bolivarian hurricane is back!" boasted President Hugo Chavez during a campaign rally yesterday, while rival Henrique Capriles said that October’s election would be “a choice between a people that want to progress and a government that wants to stay in power.”

* Mexico: A U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee found that Mexican anti-drug efforts are “largely ineffective” and urged for a greater focus on training police and judiciary.

* Brazil: Is Brazil’s stagnant economy on the road to recovery?

Video Source –YouTube via Al Jazeera English (A hate crime bill that had been stalled for years was approved weeks after the killing of Daniel Zamudio nearly four months ago).

Online Sources- Reuters, CNN, Bloomberg, MSNBC

Today’s Video: Manifestations in Mexico

Opposition continues in Mexico against Enrique Peña Nieto’s apparent presidential election victory.

Leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador launched a legal challenge to the election and alleged that the Peña Nieto campaign "purchased" millions of votes throughout the country. Meanwhile, the head of the conservative National Action Party highlighted that there were "strong questions about the way millions of votes were obtained."

Several sectors of civil society have also expressed their discontent with the possible return of the old guard Institutional Revolutionary Party to the presidency. One of the most vocal contingents is the student-based Yo Soy 132 movement that has held protests opposed to Peña Nieto and the supposed media collusion with his campaign.

In the below video an estimated 20,000 people took to the streets of Guadalajara this week to demonstrate against the "imposition" of Peña Nieto as Mexico's next president:

Daily Headlines: July 12, 2012

* Bolivia: President Evo Morales announced that the government would take over the Malku Khota mining project after five people died in protests last week.

* Mexico: The Nuevo Laredo-based El Mañana newspaper became the latest north Mexican daily to promise not to report on “narcoviolence”.

* Latin America: A new study published in the journal Nature claimed that the first inhabitants of the Americas came over 15,0000 years ago in three waves of migration.

* Brazil: Indigenous demonstrators agreed to end their three week-long protest at the site of the controversial Belo Monte dam project.

Video Source – YouTube via teleSUR

Online Sources- Reuters, Fox News Latino, UPI, NPR, The Latin Americanist

World Watch: Srebrenica

* Bosnia: Over five hundred victims of the infamous 1995 Srebrenica massacre were buried though “bodies of the victims are still being found in mass graves throughout eastern Bosnia.”

* Afghanistan: Demonstrations took place in Kabul condemning the public execution of a woman accused of adultery last month.

* Spain: Thousands of coal miners from around Spain gathered in Madrid to protest against austerity measures that are part of a “soft bailout” from the E.U.

* Space: The Hubble Space Telescope discovered a fifth moon orbiting around the dwarf planet Pluto.

Video Source– YouTube via Journeyman Films

Online Sources – USA TODAY, ABC News, Reuters, BBC News

Daily Headlines: July 11, 2012

* Paraguay: Organization of American States chief Jose Miguel Insulza said that Paraguay should not be suspended as a member due to the recent ouster of Fernando Lugo.

* Ecuador: Gustavo Cortez, editor of Ecuador’s El Universo newspaper, alleged that recent criticism from President Rafael Correa was “a (verbal) attack in violation of his rights”.

* U.S.: Dominican outfielder Melky Cabrera was named All-Star Game MVP after hitting a home run that helped the National League win 8-0 over the American League.

* Argentina: The Argentine government filed a compliant with the World Trade Organization over U.S. and Japanese restrictions on some food imports.

Video Source – YouTube via teleSUR

Online Sources- Bernama, SI.com, Huffington Post, Mercopress

World Watch: Lubanga Behind Bars

* Congo: The International Criminal Court sentenced Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga to fourteen years in prison for recruiting child soldiers in his rebel army a decade ago.

* U.S.: A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that President Barack Obama has a six-point lead over likely Republican candidate Mitt Romney while both candidates are tied according to a separate Washington Post-ABC News poll.

* Syria: United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan is seeking global consensus on a peace plan aimed at ending widespread violence in Syria.

* Spain: The European Union backed a “soft bailout” of Spain that could include pushing for pension reform, cuts in public spending and a sales tax increase.

Video Source– YouTube via International Criminal Court

Online Sources – The Guardian, Voice of America, ABC News, Reuters, Christian Science Monitor

Daily Headlines: July 10, 2012

* Colombia: The director of the Gabriel García Márquez New Journalism Foundation rejected rumors alleging that the Nobel laureate is suffering from senile dementia.

* Latin America: Will India become the next emerging world power behind China seeking to “forge a productive partnership” with Latin America?

* Venezuela: At a press conference yesterday President Hugo Chavez claimed that he was “free, free, totally free” of a cancerous tumor that was originally diagnosed about a year ago.

* Mexico: A $1 million reward has been issued to track down five suspects in the December 2010 death of a Border Patrol agent near the boundary of the U.S. and Mexico.

Video Source – YouTube via EFE (Jaime García Márquez said last week that his brother, acclaimed Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, is in the “throes” of senile dementia.)

Online Sources- Fox News Latino, New York Daily News, Reuters, USA TODAY

Daily Headlines: July 9, 2012

Note: Unfortunately blogging will be very light today. Therefore, we’re posting an extended edition of our daily headlines from around the Americas.

* Peru: Tensions remain high in the Cajamarca region where five people died during protests against the multi-billion dollar Conga gold mining project.

* Mexico: Despite accusations of vote-buying and electoral fraud Enrique Peña Nieto is expected to soon be officially declared the winner of Mexico’s recent presidential election.

* Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez and opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles have accused each other’s campaigns of provoking violence.

* Latin America: According to a newly released United Nations report approximately one-third of young people in Latin America and the Caribbean live in poverty.