Daily Headlines: July 31, 2015

* El Salvador: Salvadoran authorities are doing too little to protect thousands of children under threat from gang violence according to “U.S.-based advocacy group” Refugees International.

* Mexico: A Mexican judge approved a request to extradite fugitive drug capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the U.S., while 80% of Mexicans in a recent poll doubted the official version of his July 11th escape from prison.

* Venezuela: Soldiers took over the warehouse complex of Venezuela’s largest food distributor, Empresas Polar, amid shortages of basic goods in grocery stores.

* Brazil: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced nearly $600 million in extra education spending cuts amid government attempts to turn around a lagging economy.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English (“The transportation strike enforced by street gangs in San Salvador and surrounding areas continues and has become more violent, with a 7th bus driver killed (on July 29th).”)

Online Sources – Houston Chronicle, Reuters, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: July 30, 2015

* Mexico: At least 129 corpses in 60 graves have been found in Mexico since September 2014 though none belong to 43 missing Ayotzinapa students according to data from the attorney general’s office released on Monday.

* Latin America: The U.N.’s 2015 economic growth forecast for Latin America and the Caribbean was halved to 0.5%, which would be the lowest level in six years.

* Venezuela: President Nicolas Maduro called on the U.N. to mediate a border dispute with Guyana that the opposition claims is a distraction from Venezuela’s domestic problems.

* Chile: Twelve former Chilean soldiers were arrested and charged with burning to death two protesters marching against the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in 1986.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English (“The 2011-2015 class of the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers Training College graduated (on July 18th), with 43 fewer students than would have been the case had they not been forcibly disappeared 9 months ago, sparking a huge nationwide and international protest.”)

Online Sources – The Guardian, Reuters, Vice News

Daily Headlines: July 29, 2015 (Updated)

* Peru: Peruvian authorities claimed to have rescued thirty-nine people including thirteen children held hostage by the Shining Path rebels.

* Puerto Rico: U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew ruled out a federal bailout for Puerto Rico’s massive debt and instead called on changing the law to allow the commonwealth to file for bankruptcy.

* Mexico: The roller coaster ride of Miguel “El Piojo” Herrera as head coach of Mexico’s men’s national soccer team came to a screeching halt after he allegedly struck a journalist.

* Cuba: Rep. Tom Emmer introduced a bill to end the decades-long U.S. trade embargo against Cuba though his proposal faces stiff opposition from fellow Republican legislators.

Update: U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will urge Congress to remove the embargo on Cuba this Friday in Miami.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English

Online Sources including Update – France24, Bloomberg, SI.com, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Politico

Daily Headlines: July 28, 2015

* Colombia: Excavating began to find the corpses of an estimated 300 victims of armed conflict buried beneath a mass grave in Medellin, Colombia.

* Peru: The Peruvian government decreed that telecommunications firms can legally collect cell phone data including geolocation and store that information for up to three years.

* El Salvador: Bus drivers in El Salvador went on strike against rising gang violence on the same day that police found the bodies of five slain drivers.

* Brazil: In the latest sign of Brazil’s slumping economy, the national currency hit a twelve-year low yesterday and could continue to weaken.

YouTube Source – Al Jazeera English

Online Sources – Voice of America, Bloomberg, Colombia Reports, The Guardian

Daily Headlines: July 27, 2015

* Mexico: Is the July 11th prison escape of drug capo Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman a major embarrassment for Presient Enrique Peña Nieto and the Mexican justice system or much ado about nothing?

* U.S.: “I would like you to actually see me as a sign of hope for a third-world country, for Latin America, someone that you can really look up to, and feel comfortable enough to say, I’m proud of you,” declared an overjoyed Pedro Martinez during his induction speech into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

* Cuba: In the latest sign of the diplomatic rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba, the State Department removed the island from a human trafficking blacklist.

* Latin America: The latest edition of the Pan American Games finished with Brazil, the country hosting next year’s Olympics, third in the total medal count and first between Latin American and Caribbean countries. 

YouTube Source – user ODN

Online Sources – AS/COA Online, InSight Crime, SI.com, Reuters, ESPN