Daily Headlines: March 1, 2013

* Latin America: Will the Vatican agree with attendees at a recent Brazilian bishops' conference and elect a Pope from Latin America?

* U.S.: The sequestration cuts expected to go into effect today could hit Latin America’s economies hard and affect tourism into the region.

* Venezuela: A recent poll found that 57% of Venezuelans believe that President Hugo Chávez will recover and defeat the cancer hurting him.

* Guatemala: President Otto Perez Molina urged the U.S. government to grant Temporary Protected Status to about 700,000 undocumented Guatemalans.


* Haiti: After several delays, former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier appeared in court on Thursday for the first time to decide if he should face charges of crimes against humanity.

* Mexico: Members of Mexico’s teachers’ union elected a new leader after previous chief Elba Esther Gordillo was arrested and charged with embezzlement and corruption.

* Puerto Rico: Officials unveiled a series of cost saving measures this week including raise the commonwealth’s retirement age and reforms to the public pension system.

* Ecuador: A “top enforcer” for the head of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel is one of the eighteen inmates who recently escaped a prison in Ecuador.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- Deutsche Welle, Bloomberg, VOXXI, The Latin Americanist, Voice of America, Bloomberg, Prensa Latina, infosurhoy.com, BBC News