Daily Headlines: November 12, 2014

* Colombia: According to a new poll two in every three Colombians back the peace process between the government and the FARC despite the uproar over a deadly rebel attack on an indigenous community last week.

* Peru: The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the recent murder of a Peruvian journalist reportedly investigating on violence caused by local gangs.

* Venezuela: A music lecturer at a British university accused Venezuela’s famed El Sistema youth music program of being “a cult, a mafia and a corporation.”

* Argentina: More than seventy banks, currency exchange locales and other financial institutions were raided as part of a tax fraud investigation.

Video Source – CCTV America via YouTube
 
Online Sources – teleSUR English; Al Jazeera English; BBC News; The Guardian; The Committee to Protect Journalists

Venezuela: Student Protesters Rally Against Violence

Several hundred university students in Venezuela took to the streets on Thursday after three people were killed after demonstrations yesterday.

In the capital city of Caracas, traffic on the Francisco Fajardo highway was halted for several hours as scores of protesters called for an investigation into the death of university student Bassil Da Costa on Wednesday.  Amateur videos uploaded to social networks showed Da Costa shot dead in downtown Caracas amid the chaos following an anti-government protest that was attended by an estimated ten thousand people.  

“We urge the government to guarantee us our freedom as students, said Marcos Mata, a Humboldt University student present with 300 other demonstrators at Altamira Plaza earlier today.  “We repudiate the violence that occurred yesterday.  Our march was peaceful,” added Mata.

Mata also called on the authorities to free two students reportedly detained by the police after Wednesday’s march and whose whereabouts are unknown.

In the meantime, scores of Da Costa’s classmates gathered in the outskirts of Caracas to protest in memory of the slain student.

Students in other parts of Venezuela were also protesting in repudiation of the violence yesterday that left among the dead Da Costa and pro-government activist Juan Montoya. Such was the case in Maracaibo, Venezuela’s second-largest city, where several downtown streets were blocked off and classes were canceled at Zulia University.  Additionally, student demonstrators in Anzoátegui state held signs blasting the government and blamed Venezuela’s main intelligence agency for trying to stifle democracy.

Meanwhile, a few dozen supporters of President Nicolás Maduro and several government ministers congregated in front of the Attorney General’s office in an event deemed as “Venezuelans against fascism.”

Daily Headlines: December 20, 2011

* Puerto Rico: Though the murder rate this year will top a record 1100 homicides, the local government rejected a newspaper report claiming that Puerto Rico shows signs of being a ”narco-state.”

* Brazil: A judge ordered Joe Sharkey, the New York Times' business-travel columnist, to pay a fine of over $26,000 regarding a blog post he wrote on a 2006 plane crash.

* Honduras: The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a letter to Honduran President Porfirio Lobo expressing “deep concern” over violence against members of the media.

* South America: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is expected to attend the Mercosur summit today in Uruguay and back his country’s full membership in the bloc.

Image Source – Flickr via Jason Sturner 72 (Torn poster in San Juan, Puerto Rico reading “Violence – coming to a corner near you.”)

Online Sources- The Committee to Protect Journalists, Fox News Latin, Brazzil Magazine, Mercopress

Daily Headlines: November 17, 2011

* Brazil: Ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva shaved his hair and trademark beard ahead of his next round of treatments to combat throat cancer.

* U.S.: Police in California seized an estimated fourteen tons of marijuana in a cross-border tunnel allegedly used by Mexican drug smugglers.

* Panama: Former strongman Manuel Noriega is one step closer to being extradited to his homeland where he awaits trial.

* Mexico: A statement from the Committee to Protect Journalists expressed “deep concern” over the whereabouts of two Mexican journalists who have gone missing since Monday.

Video Source – YouTube user band

Online Sources- BBC News, MSNBC, Monsters and Critics, Committee to Protect Journalists

Daily Headlines: April 7, 2011

* Honduras: The Honduran police must thoroughly investigate several cases of attacks against press covering recent protests according to a statement from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

* Latin America: Could other U.S. ambassadors to Latin America come under fire after the latest controversies regarding the envoys to Mexico and Ecuador?

* U.S.: Immigration authorities have been accused of breaking their own agency rules by “stalking" Latino immigrants near schools and churches in Detroit.

* Cuba: After a near three-month hiatus the Cuban government resumed mail service of parcels weighing less than 1.1 pounds to the U.S.

Image – AP via CTV News (“A demonstrator kicks at a cloud of tear gas during a protest in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Thursday March 24, 2011.”)
Online Sources- Committee to Protect Journalists, CSMonitor.com, The Detroit News, The Latin Americanist, LAHT

Daily Headlines: February 17, 2011

* U.S.: Congrats to Latina civil rights pioneer Sylvia Mendez who was one of fifteen recipients of the Medal of Freedom this week.

* Ecuador: A small population of Ecuadorians with a dwarfism disorder may hold clues in the prevention of age-related diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

* Latin America: In its annual report the Committee to Protect Journalists decried "a rise in censorship” in Latin America by “government repression, judicial interference, and intimidation from criminal groups."

* Haiti: Will an endorsement by musician Wyclef Jean provide a boost to the campaign of presidential candidate Michel Martelly?

Image – Olivier Douliery, McClatchy-Tribune via The Orange County Register (“President Barack Obama presents human rights activist Sylvia Mendez with the 2010 Medal of Freedom in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday.”)
Online Sources- NPR, Reuters, San Jose Mercury News

Daily Headlines: May 5, 2009

* Cuba: How difficult is it to be a blogger in Cuba? According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Cuba is one of the "10 worst countries to be a blogger."

* Brazil: The country’s Bovespa index hit past the 50,000 mark for the first time since September as stocks rallied over an optimistic commodities outlook.

* Colombia: Sixth time may be the charm for Colombian president Alvaro Uribe who wants to outlaw the personal use of several narcotics.

* Venezuela: No reports of damage or casualties were made after an earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale shook coastal Venezuela.

Image- MSNBC (Yoani Sanchez is Cuba’s best-known blogger and author behind the critical “Generation Y” site.)
Online Sources- MSNBC, Bloomberg, csmonitor.com, The Latin Americanist, AFP