Daily Headlines: August 15, 2014

* Mexico: Several politicos allied to Mexico’s ruling National Action Party have come under fire after they were shown on video partying with alleged escorts.

* Uruguay: The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld most of the punishment against Luis Suarez for biting an opponent at the World Cup but allowed him to train and play in friendly matches with new club F.C. Barcelona.

* Brazil: The board of banana giant Chiquita rejected a $611 million takeover bid from a pair of Brazilian firms and found it to be “inadequate.”

* Haiti: U.N. peacekeepers clashed with supporters of ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide upset that the former leader could be arrested on charges of money laundering and drug trafficking,

Video Source – YouTube user Reporte Indigo

Online Sources – ABC News; SBS; The Latin Americanist; LAHT; BBC Sport

Daily Headlines: July 25, 2014

* Mexico: Thousands of peasants and indigenous Mexicans marched in a protest against energy reforms that critics claim would lead to greater economic inequality and environmental damage to farmland.

* Central America: “If we don’t talk about the underlying causes, crises will continue to occur,” said Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina who proposed a greater emphasis on combating the drug trade and boosting economic growth in order to stem the influx of Central American migrants to the U.S.

* Colombia: A U.S. appeals court dismissed all lawsuits against Chiquita that were related to the deaths of Colombian banana plantation workers and activists by right-wing paramilitaries hired by the company.

* Cuba: Mariela Castro, the daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro and a prominent gay rights activist on the island, denied rumors that she died in a plane crash yesterday in Mali.

Video Source – CCTV America via YouTube

Online Sources – LAHT; Businessweek; Reuters; CBS News

Daily Headlines: June 5, 2014

* U.S.: Nearly one year after the U.S. Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill, a recent poll of registered Hispanic voters found that most respondents are upset with both the Democrats and Republicans over their inaction to approve immigration reform.

* Colombia: Is Chiquita, a company that hired guerillas and paramilitaries in Colombia in the 1990s, trying to block a proposal that would “allow 9/11 victims to sue companies that fund terrorists”?

* Bolivia: The world’s highest cable car system was inaugurated last week some 12,00 feet above sea level and connecting the Bolivian capital of La Paz with a nearby city.

* Brazil: The Brazilian government announced a five-year moratorium on a type of catfish with the aim of cutting down on the killing of the Amazon pink dolphin.

Video Source – Associated Press via YouTube  (“Roman Catholic leaders made a rare visit to the border and celebrated Mass (last April) in the shadow of the fence separating the U.S. and Mexico, offering Holy Communion to people on both sides”.)

Online Sources – ABC News; The Latin Americanist; NBC News; Fox News Latino; Sydney Morning Herald

Weekend Headlines: June 4-5, 2011

* Cuba: Political activist Guillermo Farinas announced yesterday that he would go on another hunger strike to protest the death of fellow dissident Juan Soto.

* Colombia: A U.S. judge decided to go ahead with a class action suit by victims of Colombia’s armed conflict against the Chiquita Brands food company.

* Ecuador: Chevron may not have to pay billions of dollars in restitution in an Ecuadorian environmental damages case after a Quito court dismissed criminal charges in the lawsuit.

* Caribbean: Over 2000 Haitians who left for the neighboring Dominican Republic have reportedly returned voluntarily to their homeland as part of a new immigration program.

Image – EFE
Online Sources- AFP, The Latin Americanist, New York Times, MSNBC

Colombia: Chiquita in hot seat over paramilitary ties

In 2007, Chiquita Brands pled guilty in a U.S. court to charges that they paid Colombian paramilitaries to serve as security on banana plantations. Under conditions of the plea deal the company would pay a $25 million fine though it absolved ten former execs from being charged.

In the years since that decision, other lawsuits would be brought up against Chiquita in the name of victims of Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict. Not much has come out of these individual cases yet a South Florida federal judge could permit that all of the cases could be consolidated into one large class action case.

If allowed to proceed, the class action lawsuit representing over 4000 Colombian families could end up costing Chiquita billions of dollars. "A company that pays a terrorist organization that kills thousands of people should get the capital punishment of civil liability and be put out of business by punitive damages," said attorney Terry Collingsworth, whose lawsuit may be part of the class action case.

“This company has committed a crime without name against Colombia,” said semana.com commentator Leon Valencia who also detailed how Chiquita directors and paramilitary chiefs worked out a pact in 1997 that would pay the criminals three cents per every banana crate exported abroad. Hence, as Valencia noted, between 1997 and 2004 “647,706,429 banana crates left Colombia and $19,431,193 dollars went to the paramilitaries’ coffers.”

Chiquita have consistently insisted that they were “blackmailed” into accepting protection from the paramilitaries and that the lawsuits should be thrown out. "Chiquita was extorted in Colombia and company officials believed that the payments were necessary to prevent violent retaliation against employees," said company spokesman Ed Loyd to the AP. But the case against the banana company appears to be strong, especially if the findings of the Justice Department are included:

The lawsuits could be strengthened by the recent release of some 5,500 pages of internal Chiquita documents that were produced during the Justice Department probe. The documents detail how payments were hidden by accounting maneuvers, and shed light on Colombian government and political involvement with the paramilitary group. They also show there was a debate among Chiquita executives about whether the payments were proper.

In a 1997 handwritten note, one Chiquita executive said such payments are the "cost of doing business in Colombia."

"Need to keep this very confidential — people can get killed," he wrote.

On a related note, Colombia’s Congress may approve as soon as tomorrow in favor of a landmark bill that would provide “recognition and reparation” to thousands of victims of the country’s armed conflict. The Victims Law would not only provide monetary and land restitution for victims since 1985 but also for potential sufferers targeted by groups including emerging "criminal groups".

Image- AP via CBS News
Online Sources- CBS News, semana.com, The Latin Americanist, CBS News, Colombia Reports, The Guardian, poder360.com

Daily Headlines: March 10, 2011

* Colombia: The family of a U.S. geologist killed in Colombia filed a lawsuit against Chiquita and accused the food company of hiring guerillas for security.

* Guatemala: Could Guatemala’s Sandra Torres de Colom follow in the footsteps of Argentine Cristina Fernández de Kirchner by becoming the latest First Lady turned President?

* Haiti: With ten days to go until Haitians head to the voting booth the latest polls indicate that Michel Martelly has a slim lead over rival Mirlande Manigat.

* Mexico: Details have emerged over the agreement reached last week by presidents Felipe Calderon and Barack Obama that will allow Mexican truckers to operate in the U.S.

Image – Getty Images/Luis Acosta via CBS News (Chiquita had been previously sued for allegedly hiring illegal paramilitaries to act as security at their Colombian plantations).
Online Sources- Bloomberg, BBC News, Herald Sun, CNN, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: February 9, 2010

* Spain: A recent study found that about 1.6 million Latin Americans made part of Spain’s immigration boost over the past decade though the economic slowdown has lightened that influx.

* Mexico: Is Mexico’s weak economy on the rebound? Senior central bank officials hope so.

* Cuba: A deal has been signed that will allow increased flights between Canada and Cuba.

* Colombia: Chiquita Brands International faces a civil lawsuit filed by the families of 19 missionaries slain by Colombia’s FARC guerillas.

Image – El Tiempo (A group of Ecuadorian and Colombian migrants protested anti-immigration sentiment in Spain).
Online Sources- Guardian UK, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, Canadian Press, Cincinnati.com

Daily Headlines: March 2, 2009

* Colombia: Banana giant Chiquita wants a dismissal of a class action lawsuit relating to the company’s links to brutal right-wing paramilitary groups.

* Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez ordered the army to temporarily takeover rice processing factories that have supposedly evaded government-imposed price caps.

* Dominican Republic: Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden resigned yesterday amidst allegations that he skimmed payments to Dominican baseball prospects.

* El Salvador: Mauricio Funes of the leftist FMLN has a slim lead over Rodrigo Avila with thirteen days left until Salvadoran presidential elections.

Image- ABC News
Online Sources- FOXNews.com, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, Angus Reid Consultants, CBC

Eric Holder’s controversial LatAm links

Eric Holder could be chosen by Barack Obama to serve as the next Attorney General, yet his Latin American ties could obstruct his congressional approval.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, the former senior official in the Justice Department in the Clinton administration is expected to be grilled over Clinton’s presidential pardon of 16 convicted Puerto Rican nationalists. Holder acted as a “Clinton administration point man” in the aftermath of the controversial pardoning which some critics viewed as political posturing for his wife's Senatorial bid.

Furthermore, there are questions over Holder’s work for Chiquita Brands. The company was accused of hiring paramilitaries in Colombia to serve as “private security”. Holder negotiated the 2007 plea deal that forced Chiquita to pay a $25 million fine yet absolved execs from having to serve any jail time. (Chiquita still faces a class action lawsuit brought up by the families of paramilitary victims).

Holder’s possible nomination as top cop is hypocritical of Obama, according to CounterPunch’s Mario Murillo:

The disappointment in Obama's pick for AG should stem from the President-elect's strong words during the campaign in defense of human rights, particularly for those of workers in Colombia. On several occasions, including in the last presidential debate held at Hofstra University just three weeks before the election, the Democratic Candidate said he opposed the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement precisely on the grounds of the human rights violations carried out consistently against trade unionists in Colombia, and the ongoing impunity that has followed in most of those crimes.

Image- New York Times
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Christian Science Monitor, Huffington Post, CounterPunch, CNN

Daily Headlines: March 18, 2008

* A British court overturned an earlier decision brought up by ExxonMobil which froze $12 billion in assets held by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

* Aside from being New York’s first black governor, David Paterson has also become the state’s first governor of Caribbean background.

* Authorities claimed that “a tough zero-tolerance policy” at the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso has lead to a 78% increase in arrests.

* Chiquita Brands may have to return to court after a lawsuit was filed against them by four widows of men "disappeared" by Colombian guerillas.

Sources- Associated Press, CaribbeanWorldNews.com, Christian Science Monitor, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, International Herald Tribune

Image- New York Times

Daily Headlines: November 26, 2007

* On Sunday, the Chilean military ended its airlift of a passengers and crew from a shipwrecked cruise off Antarctica.

* The National Latino Officers Association of America criticized a Rand Corporation report released last week supporting the New York Police Department’s “stop and frisk” practices.

* Brazil’s government may create a firm that would provide free Internet service to public schools.

* First it was workers in Colombia. Now it’s laborers in Panama who have denounced Chiquita Brands for abuses.

* This article will probably be the only time the words “fake” and “Spice Girls” have ever appeared in the same sentence without referring to their singing.

Sources- BBC News, The Latin Americanist, Prensa Latina, NY1, AHN, CBC.ca

Image- ABC News

Chiquita sued again for abuses in Colombia

A class action lawsuit was filed in a U.S. federal court against banana firm Chiquita Brands based on the company’s role in the Colombian civil conflict. The plaintiffs represent 393 people who seek nearly $8 billion in damages against Chiquita who has been accused of paying off Colombia’s largest paramilitary group.

An attorney for the plaintiffs remarked the following after filing the civil suit on Tuesday:

"While Chiquita paid a fine to the United States government of $25 million, none of that money went to any of the victims," said attorney Jonathan Reiter.

"Chiquita has admitted to making payments to the AUC and now it should be held accountable by the families of people who were murdered by this organization.

The “fine” referred to by Reiter was the plea deal arranged by Chiquita and federal prosecutors in September; it absolved ten Chiquita executives while fining the company $25 million for hiring paramilitaries and guerillas to serve as “security’ in Colombia.

Sources- New York Times, AFP, Reuters, New York Daily News, The Latin Americanist, International Herald Tribune,

Image- The Mercury News

Colombia: Judge approves Chiquita plea deal

A U.S. court agreed yesterday to a plea deal involving Chiquita Brands’ funding of Colombian paramilitary and guerilla groups. The arrangement- which had been reached earlier this year- obligates the banana firm to create an ethics commission as well as pay a $25 million fine for hiring illegal rebel factions as “protection” for nearly a decade.

In addition, the Justice Department issue a memo last week absolving ten Chiquita executives involved in the payoffs “based solely on the merits and the evidence” against them.

The Colombian media has greeted the court’s decision with anger; a headline in El Tiempo notes that the fine against Chiquita "is four times less than the one against McLaren’s Formula 1 racing team”, while political commentator Juan Gossain asks if the fine is “the historic price for our dignity?”

The Colombian government is not too pleased with the plea deal as Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo said:

“From our perspective the U.S. justice system has specific parameters that we respect, yet a doubting public opinion views that such an important case does not lead to the conviction of at least one person.”

Sources (English)- International Herald Tribune, Reuters, BBC News

Sources (Spanish)- El Tiempo, RCN

Image- RCN

Colombia: Chiquita faces “terror” lawsuit

U.S. banana firm Chiquita Brands is a defendant in lawsuit brought up by the relatives of family members killed by Colombian paramilitaries. Earlier this year, Chiquita agreed to pay a $25 million fine in a plea deal where the company admitted to hiring paramilitary groups to provide security on its Colombian facilities. This is expected to be used as a key piece of evidence against Chiquita, according to the relatives’ main lawyer:

“Given that Chiquita has pleaded guilty to the criminal aspects of this case, it is going to be extremely difficult for them to say they are not responsible in any other way for what happened down there.”

A spokesman for Chiquita confessed that he has not seen the lawsuit, but affirmed that the company hired rebels “to protect the lives of employees and their families.”

Image- Al Jazeera (Colombian paramilitary troops)

Sources- BBC NEWS, The Latin Americanist, CNN, Edmonton Sun

Daily Headlines: May 02, 2007

* Freight trucks from the U.S. and Mexico will be allowed to travel on highways in both countries according to the Mexican government.

* Is this good or bad news? – A senior Iranian MP praised Latin America for having “good democratic governments.”

* U.S. banana company Chiquita (sound familiar?) posted first quarter losses partly due to problems with operations in Chile.

* Fourteen Latin American and Caribbean countries are on a special U.S. government “piracy watch list” released this week.

* Upside Down World looks at the latest legal proceedings against ex-­Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt.

Links- The Latin Americanist, Reuters, Hardbeatnews, Upside Down World, ISNA, ABC News,

Image- U.S. Department of Transportation

Doubts raised over relationship between Chiquita and Colombian paramilitaries

According to an article in yesterday’s Houston Chronicle, the relationship between the Colombian division of Chiquita Brands International and right-wing paramilitaries hired for security may have been more cordial than at first thought. Colombian Attorney General Mario Iguaran said that the link was more of a “bloody pacification” where Chiquita willingly and gladly paid paramilitary leaders to provide security against leftwing guerilla groups.

Often the security provided was brutal and banana workers continue to live in fear:

“Even though some 31,000 paramilitaries have disarmed under a government peace process, banana workers in Uraba speak about them in hushed tones because small bands of the gunmen continue to patrol the area. One field hand who asked not to be otherwise identified cut short an interview with a reporter at a restaurant in Apartado, the main town in the region, when a stocky man approached the table and looked him in the eye.

‘I saw him kill three people,’ the worker whispered before slipping out of the restaurant”.

The Houston Chronicle article comes days after a former paramilitary chief admitted to receiving nearly $2 million in payments from Chiquita and predicting that the Chiquita case is “news today and will be forgotten tomorrow.”

Links- Houston Chronicle, Taipei Times, The Latin Americanist

Image- CNN Money

Chiquita pleads guilty to aiding Colombian rebels

Earlier today, representatives of Chiquita Brands International pled guilty to charges that they paid off Colombian paramilitary and guerilla groups to serve as security. The plea was part of a deal with U.S. prosecutors that would fine the company $25 million yet without identifying executives that approved paying off $825,000 in illegal payments.

From Colombia’s perspective, Chiquita is not out of the woods and free of prosecution. President Alvaro Uribe has joined the calls of the Colombian public who wants Chiquita executives to be extradited from the U.S., and the Colombian press observes that local prosecutors are reluctant to drop the charges against Chiquita.

Links- Bloomberg, Boston Herald, CNN, International Herald Tribune, El Tiempo

Image- Univision