Daily Headlines: February 25, 2016 (Updated)

* Brazil: Police have sought the arrest of six executives of a mining firm run by Vale and BHP Billiton over the collapse of a dam that killed seventeen people in Minas Gerais last November.

* U.S.: Could Brian Sandoval, the Latino Republican governor of Colorado, be chosen as the Supreme Court successor to recently deceased judge Antonin Scalia? (Update: Nope).

* Guatemala: The brother of former Vice President Roxana Baldetti is the latest figure to be detained as part of a probe into widespread corruption in Guatemala.

* Cuba: The Cuban government gave permission for seven “high profile” dissidents to travel abroad in a move that comes about one month prior to U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to to the island.

YouTube Source – CCTV (Last November, the U.N. found that “Brazil's Doce River contains high levels of heavy metals and other toxic chemicals following the country's worst-ever environmental disaster.”)
 
Online Sources including Update– Sydney Morning Herald, CBS News, BBC News, The Tico Times, CNN

Daily Headlines: February 7, 2013 (UPDATED)

* Chile: The Chilean Navy was ordered to investigate a group of sailors caught on video chanting, “I will kill Argentines, I will shoot Bolivians, I will behead Peruvians.”

Update: A report from the Chilean Navy said that the chant by a group of sailors in Viña del Mar was an "improvised" form of a "typical" song used by the military in training.

The report, which was ordered by the federal government in response to the controversial video, labeled the chant as "offensive" but called for the leader of the chant to be punished rather than the entire group of 27 sailors.

* South America: Police in Peru nabbed the suspected head of Los Urabeños, a Colombian neo-paramilitary criminal gang involve in drug trafficking.

* Cuba: Lack of demand is reportedly to blame for a decline in the number of charter flights between the U.S. and Cuba.

* U.S.: Can Governors Brian Sandoval and Susana Martinez help attract Latino voters to the Republican Party?

Video Source – YouTube via user Guillermo Rossini

Online Sources including Update- La Nacion, ABC News, UPI, Miami Herald, New York Times

Major midterm wins for Latino Republican hopefuls

One of the major media narratives regarding Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections was the gain made by the Republican Party. The GOP regained control of the House of Representatives, won several gubernatorial posts and narrowed the Democrats lead in the Senate in part due to the victories of several Latino candidates.

Marco Rubio won in a three-way race for the Florida Senate post vacated by fellow Cuban-American Mel Martinez. He easily defeated Democrat Kendrick Meek and former governor Charlie Crist who ran as an independent after losing the Republican primary to Rubio.

The former Florida state House Speaker strongly allied with the Tea Party movement during the early part of his campaign. Yet tagging him, as a “Tea Party candidate” is a misnomer since after he won the GOP primary Rubio ran on a more moderate platform. He shied away from taking a hard line on immigration and refused to back privatizing Social Security and this probably helped him gain the support from a majority of independent voters according to one exit poll.

Out west, meanwhile, Susana Martinez made history in that she will become New Mexico’s first Latina governor. A former Democrat, Martinez emphasized the needs for local legislators on both sides of the aisle to come and work together in order “to set a new course in New Mexico.” As the AP reported, however, the future successor to Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson will face a major challenge in reconciling “potentially unrealistic campaign promises not to raise taxes while protecting public schools and Medicaid from spending cuts.”

Harry Reid may’ve been one of the few high points for Democrats after holding onto his Senate seat in Nevada (more on that later). But his son, Rory, did not enjoy the same good fortune after losing to Republican Brian Sandoval in the governor’s race. The former federal judge and assemblyman won by double-digits and will thus become Nevada’s first Latino governor.

Much like Martinez, Sandoval’s campaign pledges to veto any tax increase while cutting as little as possible from social services may have to be broken by the time the next state budget is debated.

Several Latino Democrat representatives retained their seats in the House including Silvestre Reyes, Loretta Sanchez, and Raul Grijalva. Their wins were tempered by victories from the likes of Republican Jamie Herrera who will became the first Latino congressman from Washington state and Francisco Canseco who beat 11-year veteran Ciro Rodriguez.

One political pundit on Univision’s electoral coverage last night claimed that Rubio could become a strong national contender and perhaps even “occupy the White House.” While the victories from the likes of Rubio, Sandoval, and Martinez shouldn’t be understated it certainly remains to be seen if yesterday’s electoral shakeup will lead to major political changes for Latinos.

Image- CBS News (Marco Rubio looked pretty darn confident after leaving the polls on Election Day yesterday).
Online Sources- Los Angeles Times, AP, Las Vegas Sun, MSNBC, Chron.com, UPI, Bloomberg, Miami Herald