Daily Headlines: May 27, 2013

* U.S.: “Finally, they're going to put my ugly face on this trophy,” joked Brazilian-born Tony Kanaan after he won the Indianapolis 500 yesterday for the first time in twelve attempts.

* Guatemala: Alfonso Portillo, the ex-Guatemalan president who on Friday became the first former Latin American leader ever to be extradited to the U.S., is due in a federal court tomorrow.

* Haiti: A “group of black-rights associations” filed a lawsuit seeking reparations from payments made to France after Haiti gained its independence.

* Venezuela: A U.S. State Department report on religious freedom accused the Venezuelan government of attempting “to limit the influence of religious groups in certain geographic, societal, and political areas.”

Video Source – YouTube via ESPN

Online Sources- USA TODAY; AFP; Bloomberg; El Universal

Daily Headlines: November 16, 2011

* Mexico: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will run again for the Mexican presidency after losing in a very close election in 2006.

* Colombia: A “hardliner” known as Timochenko was selected as the new head of the FARC guerillas nearly two weeks after alias Alfonso Cano was killed in a military operation.

* U.S.: Latino New York City councilman Ydanis Rodriguez will reportedly be released from police custody today after being arrested and possibly assaulted by officers during Monday’s actions against Occupy Wall Street protesters.

* Guatemala: President Alvaro Colom gave permission for the extradition of former leader Alfonso Portillo to the U.S. where he awaits trial on supposed money laundering.

Image Source – Flickr via user Eneas (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- CBS News, Reuters, Huffington Post, CNN, The Latin Americanist,

Weekend Headlines: August 27-28, 2011

* Mexico: President Felipe Calderon deemed as "true terrorists" those responsible for a deadly arson attack in Monterrey on Thursday but would it be better to heed ex-leader Vicente Fox's suggestion of negotiating with drug gangs?

* Chile: Chilean police have come under fire after authorities confirmed yesterday that a teen was killed during major anti-government protests.

* South America: A six-year-long diplomatic quarrel between Argentina and Uruguay over a Finnish-owned pulp mill seems to have come to an end.

* Guatemala: The country's Constitutional Court gave the green light for the extradition of ex-President Alfonso Portillo to the U.S. where he awaits trial.

* Argentina: An agreement was reached that would allow for a 25% increase of the minimum wage.

* Venezuela: Central bank data indicated that the Venezuelan economy is supposed to grow by 2.5% in the second quarter this year, which is 2.3% less than the first quarter.

Online Sources - Xinhua, Sacramento Bee, Voice of America, Reuters, El Universal, Bloomberg
Video Source - YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Daily Headlines: September 6, 2010

* Guatemala: The corruption trial of ex-president Alfonso Portillo began with prosecutors accusing him of embezzling millions of dollars of public funds.

* Latin America: According to the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean exports throughout the region are expected to grow by 21.4% yet "warned against the heavy reliance on earnings from...natural resources".

* Brazil: With less than a month to go in the race for the presidency ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff continues her massive lead over Jose Serra in the polls.

* Venezuela: Vice-President Elias Jaua denied that the government violated the rights of farmer Franklin Brito who died last week after a lengthy hunger strike.

Online Sources - BBC News, Reuters, Canadian Press, UPI
Image Source - EPA

Daily Headlines: March 19, 2010

* Brazil: While Pope Benedict XVI has been caught up in a sex abuse scandal another controversy is brewing in Brazil where a priest was allegedly caught on camera having sex with a teen.

* Guatemala: Former President Alfonso Portillo is a stone’s throw from being extradited to the U.S. to go on trial for corruption.

* Dominican Republic: Dominican police have upped the manhunt to capture the man one U.S. Marshal described as “the Pablo Escobar of the Caribbean.”

* Venezuela: Execs at Royal Dutch Shell backtracked from claims that foreign oil firms are losing interest in investing in Venezuela due to the Chavez administration’s policies.

Image – Huffington Post
Online Sources- CBS News, CNN, Time, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post

Daily Headlines: January 26, 2010

* Argentina: Political tensions are high due to the ugly spat between President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and central bank president Martin Redrado over how to pay back Argentina’s debts.

* Guatemala: Ex-President Alfonso Portillo was indicted in a U.S. federal court yesterday and accused of laundering at least $1.5 million in public funds.

* Peru: Nearly 2000 tourists were evacuated from Machu Picchu after the area was hit with its heaviest rains in fifteen years.

* Ecuador: Ecuador’s foreign debt fell by 19% between November 2008 and November 2009 yet still accounts for over a quarter of the country’s GDP.

Image – Al Jazeera English (Argentine central bank president Martin Redrado refused to step down from his post despite a court order forcing him to do so).
Online Sources- Reuters, New York Times, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal

Fugitive Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo Found in Mexico

For the last four years, former president of Guatemala, Alfonso Portillo, has been hiding from corruption charges in Mexico. Pero, that is about to end. Portillo was extradited to his home country.

Portillo certainly has an interesting background, that includes a shooting. That hasn't stopped some from thinking that he is the best thing that ever happened to Guatemala while others celebrate that he will face justice.

Sources : Global Voices, Wikipedia, Off Topic Tigre 007, Mega Chapines