Colombian Gov’t Protest “Offensive” World Cup Comments

Colombia may be playing outstandingly well at the World Cup in Brazil, but that hasn’t stopped several public figures from making insulting comments being about the South American nation.

On the same day that Colombia finished its final group game with a third consecutive win, the Colombian government sent a letter of protest to Australians radio station Triple M regarding the “denigrating and offensive” remarks recently made on the air by two of the station’s DJs.

The Colombian Foreign Ministry (CFM) “requested that according to Australian radio’s Code of Practices…that the radio station apologize and punish” Matt Tilley and Joe Hildebrand for “discriminatory” comments made on their June 18th program. 

On the date in question one of the presenters wondered “is Colombia really famous for its coffee?” to which his partner replied, “Are you suggesting there is another stimulant with (the letter) ‘c’ that Colombia is more famous for?”

Later one of them asserted, “It seems to me that if you mention Colombia the one thing they mention is ‘cocaine’” while the other man said several colloquialisms for the drug.

“You know, everybody (in Colombia) has it, sells it…I thought I wonder if that is true or if it offends Colombian people who go ‘You know what? We’re a bit more than that. We have gangs and we kill people too,’” claimed one of the pair.   

They also alluded to the death of Colombian soccer player Andres Escobar who was killed following a World Cup own goal twenty years ago and referred to ex-goalkeeper Rene Higuita’s antics as something chimpanzees can do.

Daily Headlines: April 16, 2014

Note: The following video contains graphic images and is Not Safe for Work (NSFW).

* Caribbean: Cuba and the Dominican Republic joined three other nations including Honduras in their World Trade Organization dispute against Australia’s strong anti-tobacco laws.

* Bolivia: Bolivian President Evo Morales personally handed over documents to the International Court of Justice as part of the landlocked country’s case seeking to regain a coastline from Chile.
  
* Argentina: The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear a case next Monday regarding unpaid debts from the Argentine government’s massive $82 billion default in 2001.

* Haiti: According to Amnesty International, “leading human rights activist” Pierre Esperance received a threat implying that he “won’t escape” the next assassination attempt against him.
    
Video Source– AFP via YouTube

Online Sources – GlobalPost; Reuters; The Latin Americanist; USA TODAY; The Washington Post

Daily Headlines: September 17, 2013

Note: This video might Not Be Safe for Work

* Honduras: The Honduran government filed a dispute at the World Trade Organization against Australia’s anti-tobacco laws that include selling cigarettes in plain packaging.

* Venezuela: Officials in Venezuela strongly rejected a recent White House report claiming that the Latin American country had "failed demonstrably" to combat the illegal drug trade for a fifth consecutive year.
 
* Haiti: Forty-one recruits will be working alongside Ecuadorean military engineers and could possibly become the first members of a potential new Haitian army.

* Mexico: The death toll from inclement weather caused by two converging tropical storms has increased to a minimum of forty-one fatalities.

Video Source – YouTube via Associated Press (Video uploaded in August 2012).

Online Sources- news.com.au; ABC News; The Guardian; NBC News

World Watch: Court-ing Kenyatta

* Kenya: African leaders called on the International Criminal Court to transfer charges of human rights abuses against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to that country’s legal system.

* Australia: Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s top Catholic Church official, publicly apologized for the cover up decades of sexual abuse by priests against children.

* Syria: European Union nations are reportedly undecided over whether or not to sell weapons to Syrian rebels.

* Iraq: At least fifty people were killed when a series of bombs exploded in several areas of the capital city of Baghdad.

Video Source– YouTube via Al Jazeera English 

Online Sources – ABC News; BBC News; The Guardian; Al Jazeera English

Daily Headlines: May 6, 2013

* U.S.: Twenty-eight-year-old Dominican jockey Joel Rosario won his first Kentucky Derby on Saturday after guiding the odds-on favorite Orb to victory.

* Cuba: Cuba has become the latest country to launch a legal case with the World Trade Organization against Australia’s harsh anti-tobacco laws.

* Colombia: The Colombian government and FARC rebels claimed that they continue to make progress in peace talks though both sides disagreed on how soon a deal should be reached.

* Puerto Rico: The publicist for the Grammy-winning reggaeton duo Wisin y Yandel rejected rumors that they would be splitting apart.

Video Source – YouTube via Kentucky Derby

Online Sources- Reuters; Businessweek; Al Jazeera English; Fox News Latino

Daily Headlines: April 6, 2012

* U.S.: Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for attempting to sell weapons to Colombia’s FARC rebels, while a separate U.S. court sentenced a “top Juarez cartel figure” to life behind bars.

* Argentina: At least fourteen people were killed after as a result of a “severe storm” that swept through the Buenos Aires area on Thursday.

* Venezuela: At a pre-Easter Mass in Barinas an emotional President Hugo Chavez called on Jesus to “give me life” and “do not take me yet.”

* Honduras: Honduran officials filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against Australian anti-tobacco regulations including a ban on displaying logos on cigarette packs.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources- The Guardian, Boston.com, CNN, MSNBC, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: March 21, 2012

* Brazil: The Brazilian government is urging a thorough investigation into the recent death of a Sao Paulo-born student shot with a Taser gun by police in Sydney, Australia.

* U.S.: According to the Pew Hispanic Center nearly half of all Latinos reside in Texas and California, and the Latino population in the U.S. is “now more dispersed than a decade ago.”

* Cuba: A U.S. judge allowed one of the convicted “Cuba Five” spies to return to his homeland for two weeks and visit his ailing brother.

* Argentina: A strike by grain truckers seeing higher pay will enter its third day with little hope for a prompt resolution.

Image Source – Flickr via Cea. (CC BY 2.0)

Online Sources- Reuters, NPR, Fox News Latino, ABC Online

World Watch: Women's worth

* Congo: Thousands of women marched against sexual attacks days after a report claimed that 15,000 Congolese women were raped in 2009.

* Germany: Will Chancellor Angela Merkel’s claims that German multiculturalism has "failed utterly" mark a shift in immigration policy?

* Philippines: Villagers in low-lying areas have fled for higher and safer grounds due to worries over Super Typhoon Megi.

* Australia: Mother Mary MacKillop, a nun who in the 19th-century denounced sexual abuse by priests, will become Australia’s first Catholic saint.

Image – BBC News (“Many women carried banners with slogans such as ‘No to sexual terrorism’.”)
Online Sources- Xinhua, CNN, Reuters, The Guardian

World Watch: Wipeout

* World: At least 300,000 people were evacuated due to a series of floods in parts of China while recovery efforts have just begun in flood-ravaged Pakistan.

* Middle East: With key peace talks coming up next week Israeli and Palestinian representatives have been quarreling over issues such as security concerns and settlements.

* Australia: Leaders of the country’s two main political coalitions are forced to seek political alliances after neither group won a majority of parliamentary seats in Saturday’s elections.

* Philippines: Eight people including seven hostages died after a former police officer briefly took control of bus filled with Chinese tourists in Manila.

Image – The Guardian (“A road along the Yalu river which was destroyed by a flash flood. Four people have been killed and more than 100,000 evacuated in the border region between China and North Korea. Photograph: Jacky Chen/ Reuters Photograph: Jacky Chen/Reuters.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, CNN, The Age, BBC News, CBC

World Watch: In limbo

* Canada: Detention hearings began for nearly 500 Tamil migrants seeking refuge in Canada.

* Australia: With days left to go in national elections a recent poll showed a slim lead for the ruling Labor Party and Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

* South Africa: Thousands of government workers have gone on strike seeking a pay raise of about 8.5%.

* China: In the latest tragedy to hit flood-ravaged areas of China at least 67 people are missing after a landslide slid through a mountain town.

Image – CBC (“A translator and lawyers representing the federal government and Tamil migrants sit before an immigration adjudicator in Vancouver.”)
Online Sources- MSNBC, Reuters, CNN, CTV, Bloomberg

World Watch: Thailand’s bubbling cauldron

* Thailand: The crisis between the Thai government and opposition protesters worsened after a soldier was killed and eighteen demonstrators were wounded in clashes.

* Europe: The region’s debt crisis has gotten worse after Standard & Poor’s downgraded Spain’s credit rating one day after doing the same to Greece and Portugal.

* Australia: The country's government will reportedly soon announce plans for plain packaging of cigarette boxes.

* Britain: Gordon Brown’s time as British Prime Minister is likely coming to an end after he insulted a Labour Party supporter by calling her “bigoted”.

Image – Los Angeles Times (“Anti-government protesters using shields advance on police and military forces during clashes in Bangkok, Thailand.”)
Online Sources- Guardian UK, AP, BBC News, Reuters

World Watch: The end before the beginning

* Georgia: Roughly twelve hours before the 2010 Winter Games opening ceremonies Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died after crashing during a practice run.

* North Korea: Discussions over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions may resume soon implied a U.N. envoy on Friday.

* Kenya: An inquiry by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that the Kenyan government misspent over $26 million originally designated to feed the country’s poor.

* Australia: An annual government report on Australia's natives concluded that indigenous children under five were twice as likely to die compared to non-indigenous infants.

Image – Guardian UK (“Nodar Kumaritashvili, of Georgia, died during practice for the luge at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Photograph: Elise Amendola/AP.”)
Online Sources- USA Today, Reuters, BBC News, MSNBC

World Watch: Hair today, gone tomorrow

* Spain: Radios in hair salons across Spain have gone silent in a protest against music industry demands for a radio tax.

* Middle East: Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s declaration of keeping a future presence in the West Bank could further complicate Middle Eastern peace talks.

* China: China may soon become the world’s second largest economy after the government said that 2009 GDP grew by 8.7% to $4.9 trillion.

* Australia: The Williams sisters were among those who moved into the third round of the first Grand Slam of the year – The Australian Open.

Image – BBC News (“"Don't forget to bring your own music from home!," Fedcat's poster says.”)
Online Sources- Guardian UK, Canadian Press, BBC News, Reuters

World Watch: Smacking Silvio

* Italy: Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will remain hospitalized until Tuesday after he was assaulted over the weekend at a political rally.

* Iran: Officials said that they would plan to prosecute three U.S. citizens who have been accused of spying.

* Sri Lanka: According to a former general the government was behind the killings of three Tamil Tiger rebels who had surrendered to the army.

* Australia: Could the cuddly and cute koala bears soon become extinct?

Image – CBC (“Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi leaves Duomo Square with blood on his face after the statue-throwing incident.”)
Online Sources- BBC News, Guardian UK, MSNBC, CNN

World Watch: Up in smoke

* Africa: According to a report by the Global Smokefree Partnership 90% of Africans have no protection against secondhand smoke and tobacco use may double in some parts of Africa.

* China: U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao hours he criticized Chinese online “censorship” at a Shanghai Q-&-A session.

* Australia: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he was "deeply sorry" to about 500,000 "forgotten Australians" who faced child abuse after being placed in orphanages and foster care between 1930 and 1970.

* Afghanistan: Facing mounting international pressure over allegations of corruption, afghan President Hamid Karzai announced the creation of a new anti-corruption unit.

Image – BBC News (“The female chief of a village on Lake Bunyoni in Uganda enjoys a pipe in this picture taken by Shelley Fulton.”)
Online Sources- BBC News, The Telegraph, Voice of America, Los Angeles Times

Notable Quotables: From the Murray River to the Rio Grande

"We had folks send an email saying, in good Australian fashion, 'Hey mate, we've been watching your border for you from the pub in Australia'," he said.

---Executive director of the Texas Border Sheriffs' Coalition Don Reay comments on people as far away as Australia who monitor webcams along the U.S.-Mexico border.

According to Reay over 100,000 web users worldwide have registered to become “virtual border patrol deputies.”

In a CBS News video we posted last month, the border cameras have something of a cult following though its minor efficacy doesn’t justify its major price tag.

(Hat tip: FP Passport).

Online Sources- FP Passport, The Latin Americanist, Guardian UK
Image- BBC News

Brazil unhappy with U.S. stimulus plan

Yesterday U.S. President Barack Obama signed a $787 billion economic stimulus bill and remarked that it represented “the beginning of the end” for the country’s economic woes. One hopes that his words ring true and that the stimulus is the first step in pulling the U.S. out of its economic quagmire.

Other countries around the world do not share Obama’s rosy outlook, however. An editorial by China's official Xinhua news agency blasted protectionist clauses incorporated into the stimulus plan. Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean criticized the “Buy American” provisions though observed that they did not violate international trade norms.

Brazil’s government may go a step further than just complaining; Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said Monday that he may appeal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to challenge the legality of the "Buy American" clauses. As Reuters reported:

"It's a complex legal analysis, but we're doing it," Amorim said. "(Going to the WTO) is a real option," he told the state television channel TV Brasil in a program to be aired later this week…

Amorim said the U.S. move was counterproductive, likening it to a pain-killer that heals the symptoms of disease but not its cause. He said the Doha round was not dead but would be hard to revive.

“It's a bad sign. ... It's not positive at a moment when the world economy is trying to revive," Amorim said.

Despite the warnings of Amorim and others, some analysts believe that the protectionist clauses will not hurt the U.S. too much. "They have managed to contain the damage…It now looks like the 'Buy American' clause shouldn't be seen as a major concern of our trade partners" said, Inter-American Dialogue head Peter Hakim in remarks to columnist Andres Oppenheimer.

Image- AP (“Vice President Joe Biden looks on as President Barack Obama signs the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009, during a ceremony at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in Denver. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert).”)
Online Sources- Reuters, CNN, bernama.com, The Modesto Bee, Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Today’s Video: The koala survivor

We end our week with this brief video of a koala bear who somehow survived the devastating Australian wildfires of the past few days:

Online Sources- YouTube, Reuters

Daily Headlines: January 22, 2009

* U.S.: A poll released by CNN showed that people in the U.S. are split nearly 50-50 over President Barack Obama’s decision to suspend military trials at the Guantanamo Bay jail.

* Chile: Chilean tennis star Fernando Gonzalez qualified to the third round of the Australian Open after winning against Argentine Guillermo Canas.

* Mexico: The country’s oil output plummeted in 2008 by over 9% and exports hit its lowest point since 1995. (Perhaps I was too optimistic on Mexican oil).

* El Salvador: Despite global economic problems the amount of remittances Salvadorans sent home last year grew by 2.5% to the tune of approximately $3.8 billion.

Image- AP (“In this Dec. 6, 2006 file photo, reviewed by the U.S. Military, a shackled detainee, clutching paperwork of some kind, is escorted by two gloved U.S. Military personnel to an Annual Review Board Hearing, inside Camp Delta detention facility, at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Times of India, abc.net.au, Bloomberg, AP

Daily Headlines: July 31, 2008

* Paraguay: Pope Benedict gave the green light for ex-bishop Fernando Lugo to serve as Paraguayan president without violating church regulations.

* U.S.: More information has emerged regarding a recent salmonella scare in the U.S.; this time health officials said that the outbreak has been linked to a Mexican farm.

* Chile: Chile and Australia have signed a free trade pact which hopes to increase trade and allows more Chilean students to study in Aussie universities.

* Argentina: Soccer star Lionel Messi looks like he’ll be playing with his country’s Olympic team after FIFA decided in his favor.

Image- Catholic News Agency

Sources- Reuters, AFP, The Latin Americanist, CNN, Xinhua