Daily Headlines: January 9, 2015

* Cuba: Bilateral diplomatic negotiations between the U.S. and Cuba will reportedly take place on January 21st and 22nd while dissidents on the island claimed that 36 political prisoners have been freed over a 48 hour span.

* Peru: Former Peruvian strongman Alberto Fujimori received a twenty-five year prison sentence for corruption on top of four previous sentences on charges including human rights abuses.

* Argentina: Argentine Cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich has come under fire over his remarks on a seven-year-old indigenous girl who died due to tuberculosis and malnutrition.

* Nicaragua: The Chinese firm behind the construction of a controversial interoceanic canal alleged that the project would create some 25,000 jobs for Nicaraguans.

Video Source – YouTube user Pedazosdelaisla (Cuban hip-hop musician Angel Yunier Remon alias “El Critico” was among the thirty-six imprisoned dissidents liberated on January 8th and 9th, 2015).
 
Online Sources – Voice of America; Reuters; Fox News Latino; ABC News

Daily Headlines: January 8, 2015

* Latin America: The Chinese government will invest $250 billion in Latin America and the Caribbean in order to strengthen ties between the region and the Asian country.

* Colombia: Colombia's second largest leftist guerrilla group, the ELN, could soon copy the FARC rebels and hold peace negotiations with the government.

* Mexico: Mexico will move forward with plans to bring more private investment to its oil industry despite the low price of the fossil fuel according to a spokesman for President Enrique Peña Nieto.

* Cuba: Cuban dissidents claimed that officials released three political prisoners including twin brothers sentenced to thirty months in jail.

Video Source – YouTube user CCTV America

Online Sources – Latin American Herald Tribune; The Guardian; Fox News Latino; Voice of America

Daily Headlines: January 7, 2015

* Dominican Republic: Pedro Martinez became the second Dominican and twelfth Latin American to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

* Paraguay: In what sounds like a repeat from 2013, Paraguayan protesters in a labor dispute have resorted to crucifying themselves.

* U.S.: While Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto met with his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, several dozen protesters demonstrated outside the White House against Peña Nieto’s visit.

* Cuba: According to the State Department, Cuba released “some” of the fifty-three inmates regarded by the U.S. as political prisoners.

Video Source – YouTube user CDN 37 (Residents of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic celebrated the election of Pedro Martinez to baseball’s Hall of Fame).
 
Online Sources – New York Times; ABC News; The Latin Americanist; NBC News; Newsweek

Daily Headlines: January 6, 2015

* Guatemala: A Guatemalan court postponed the retrial of ex-dictator Efrain Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity related to the massacre of 1771 people in 1983.

* Venezuela: The U.S. State Department rejected Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s offer of a prisoner swap to free opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.

* Brazil: Slower economic growth and lower prices for key exports could be to blame for Brazil’s first trade deficit since 2000.

* U.S.: Immigrant rights groups in Arizona praised a federal judge’s order against Sheriff Joe Arpaio to halt workplace raids of undocumented workers.

Video Source – YouTube user teleSUR English
 
Online Sources – The Guardian; Reuters; Zee News; Voice of America

Daily Headlines: January 5, 2015

* Latin America: Argentine-born Pope Francis selected fifteen new cardinals including one each from Panama, Uruguay, and Mexico reportedly in order to promote diversity within the Catholic Church.
 
* Panama: A consortium led by Spanish firm Sacyr claimed to have won a $234 million ruling for cost overruns on the expansion of the Panama Canal.

* Cuba: The U.S. Coast Guard have apparently noticed a spike in Cuban migrants traveling by sea since the leaders of both countries agreed to improve relations.

* Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro proposed freeing imprisoned opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez if the U.S. would liberate Puerto Rican activist Oscar Lopez Rivera.

Video Source – YouTube via ROME REPORTS in English

Online Sources – New York Times; CBC News; Reuters; NBC News