Daily Headlines: September 4, 2015

* Cuba: A Florida International University study found that the push towards normalized relations would help U.S. tourism to Cuba though the embargo against the island serves as a major obstacle.

* Latin America: The number of Internet users in Latin America has nearly doubled from 2006 to 2013 according to a new report yet “local (Web-based) services and applications have not grown at the same rate as connectivity.”

* Brazil: The government rejected rumors alleging that Finance Minister Joaquim Levy was resigning over planned austerity measures backed by President Dilma Rousseff.

* Mexico: A U.S. appeals court ruled against deporting an undocumented transgender woman back to Mexico where she was under threat of being sexually abused again.

YouTube Source – AFP 

Online Sources – Latin American Herald Tribune, Fox News Latino, Voice of America, SFGate.com

Daily Headlines: September 2, 2015

* Argentina: The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo helped positively identify the 117th child stolen and illegally adopted during military rule from 1976 to 1983.

* Puerto Rico: The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority reportedly reached a deal with one of their main bondholders to provide some relief to its $9 billion debt and potentially prevent bankruptcy.

* El Salvador: The 907 murders in August made it the deadliest month in El Salvador since the country’s civil war in the 1980s.

* Chile: Chilean President Michelle Bachelet’s approval rating hit a record low of 24% though it’s greater than the 15% support given by poll respondents to the opposition Alianza coalition.

YouTube Source – teleSUR English

Online Sources – UPI, CNBC, NBC News, Reuters

Daily Headlines: September 1, 2015

* Mexico: Mexican human rights groups claimed that forced disappearances are on the rise including an estimated 26,000 cases over the past eight years.

* Nicaragua: An extra $700 million could be added to the $50 billion price tag for the construction of Nicaragua’s interoceanic canal.

* South America: The Organization of American States (OAS) rejected a Colombian proposal to hold an urgent meeting over a growing migratory crisis with Venezuela.

* Brazil: A feature article in Brazilian newsmagazine Epoca accused ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of acting as a lobbyist in Cuba for a construction firm involved in a major bribery scandal.

YouTube Source – La Jornada (Several thousand protesters marched in Mexico City last week to mark the 11-month anniversary of the disappearance and possible massacre of 43 Ayotzinapa college students.)  

Online Sources – JOC.com, Reuters, NBC News, teleSUR English

Daily Headlines: August 31, 2015

* U.S.: In the decade since Hurricane Katrina ravaged through New Orleans, the booming Latino community has been instrumental in the city’s often-arduous reconstruction efforts.

* Caribbean: Could the tropical storm that recently ravaged the island if Hispaniola affect the hundreds of thousand of former Dominicans of Haitian background who are currently stateless?

* South America: More than 7000 Colombian nationals residing in Venezuela have fled across the border after President Nicolas Maduro on August 19th ordered the closure of several border posts in Táchira state.

* Brazil: The brother of an indigenous Guarani leader became the latest fatality in the bloody and violent land disputes involving small communities and large, wealthy landowners.

YouTube Source – WDSU News (“The Hispanic population in New Orleans took off after the storm and the boom has carried over to neighboring parishes, too.”)
 
Online Sources – BBC News, Fox News Latino, NBC News, USA TODAY, CBS News

The Weekender: Mad Man

“The Weekender” is our feature where every weekend we hope to highlight a short film, movie or documentary pertaining to the Americas. 

Leo Burnett, David Ogilvy and Bill Bernbach were some of the most influential figures in the field of advertisement. For Latin America, however, one of the most renowned names in the ad game is Washington Olivetto of Brazil. Since the 1970s, the Chairman of WMcCann Brazil has won dozens of industry awards for his unique, creative and amazing ads. He has reached such high cultural status in his native country that he graced his image for a Brazilian post office stamp and was celebrated by one of the samba schools at the 2013 Carnaval parade in Sao Paulo.

The video below the page break is the video created in his honor for earning the Clio Achievement Award last year. Included in this video are several of his critically acclaimed ads including the first Latin American entry to win top prize at the prestigious Clio Awards.