The English-language forum for all things Latin American, covering business, politics, and culture.
Friday, October 7, 2016
Daily Headlines: October 7, 2016
* Colombia: The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in recognition of “his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end”, and underlined that the recent electoral defeat of an accord with the FARC rebels “does not necessarily mean that the peace process is dead”.
* Mexico: The National Human Rights Commission called on officials in the central Mexican state of Morelos to offer an official apology over their botched handling of 119 victims located in mass graves in 2014.
* United States: Polling firm Latino Decisions believes Hillary Clinton will win the Latino vote in next month’s United States presidential election by the widest margin in recorded history.
* Haiti: Authorities in Haiti claimed the death toll from Hurricane Matthew has reached at least 280 lives but worry that there may be more fatalities in communities isolated by the storm.
YouTube Source – Ruptly TV (An estimated 60,000 people in Colombia’s major cities on Wednesday night marched silently in rallies organized by university students calling for an end to the decades-long armed conflict.)
Online Sources – The Indian Express, The Guardian, Business Insider, Nobel Prize
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Daily Headlines: October 6, 2016
* Argentina: “We have 40 years of love to give you," said the brother of the 121st person positively identified by the Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo as having been stolen and illegally adopted during the “Dirty War” era of military rule in Argentina.
* Caribbean: At least sixty-nine people died in the Caribbean and authorities once again postponed Haiti’s presidential election as a result of Hurricane Matthew.
* Chile: The Chilean government announced an overhaul of the country’s Sename child services system following reports of 865 minors dying over the past eleven years in network shelters.
* Brazil: The International Monetary Fund indicated that Brazil’s recession may be worse than expected based on economic indicators such as declining industrial activity and a rising unemployment rate.
YouTube Source – CCTV America (Video uploaded in October 2014).
Online Sources – teleSUR English, Reuters, Fox News Latino, CNN Money
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Daily Headlines: October 5, 2016
* Venezuela: Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino claimed a deal worked out by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC states to slash oil production could add an extra $10 to $15 per barrel of the commodity.
* Latin America: Mexico’s soccer federation plans to appeal FIFA’s latest fine imposed over homophobic chants by fans as the world governing body also handed down penalties against nine other Latin American countries over unruly crowd behavior.
* Brazil: A poll released yesterday found that most Brazilians continue to disapprove of President Michel Temer, who took over for ousted predecessor Dilma Rousseff and will remain in power until 2018.
* Mexico: Mexican police rescued 122 migrants from the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras from three vehicles on a highway in the northern state of Tamaulipas.
YouTube Source – PBS NewsHour (Video uploaded in June 2016).
Online Sources – Bloomberg, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, BBC Sport, Voice of America, Fox News Latino
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Daily Headlines: October 4, 2016
* Honduras: The case file focused on the murder of prominent Honduran human rights activist Berta Cáceres was stolen last week, which will likely impede efforts to identify the masterminds behind her death.
* Latin America: At least three people died on the island of Hispaniola as Hurricane Matthew continued its northward path through the Caribbean, while Bolivia is facing its worst drought in a quarter century.
* Argentina: Researchers in Argentina believe the first people to reach the southern area of the American continent may have occurred thousands of years than initially believed.
* Puerto Rico: A seven-member panel appointed by the United States government began its oversight of Puerto Rico’s public finances in an effort to prevent worsening the estimated $70 billion debt on the commonwealth.
YouTube Source – euronews (Video uploaded in March 2016).
Online Sources – Fusion, Reuters, Smithsonian, Christian Science Monitor
Monday, October 3, 2016
Daily Headlines: October 3, 2016
* Argentina: “This is a government that governs for the rich and only responds to corporations and multinationals,” proclaimed the head of a Buenos Aires teachers’ union amid growing social unrest that threatens the rule of President Mauricio Macri.
* Caribbean: Hurricane Matthew is expected to hit Haiti, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic today with sustained winds as high as 130 miles per hour and potential rainfall of up to forty inches.
* El Salvador: A Salvadoran judge ordered accepted reopening the investigation into the El Mozote massacre of at least 500 villagers by the army during the civil war in 1981.
* Brazil: Political outsiders were among the big winners in local elections on Sunday as voters punished candidates of major parties tainted by corruption scandals.
YouTube Source – AFP (“Argentine farmers give away 10 tons of apples and pears (last August) in Buenos Aires in a protest to denounce a crisis in the fruit growing sector and demand help from the government”).
Online Sources – Financial Times, Voice of America, Reuters, USA TODAY